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Is anyone else bedevilled by people who have gone to the expense of testing, but do not respond to e-mails, do not upload their results to Y-Search and do not (apparently) upload to any projects? When the value of a test can only be measured by comparison why do these testers show such little interest? The genealogical community have always moved forward through helping each other. Am I to conclude that many of the testers are not genealogists?
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I have no hard data, but by looking at the information presented in the profiles, I would venture that very few are genealogists.Originally posted by Doublemartini View Post
It is possible that some testers are only interested in their ancestry beyond genealogical time-frame. For example, they want to know which part of Europe or Africa their ancestors likely came from. Do they have any American Indian heritage? Etc.
Some results might be here because somebody was doing a genealogical research with specific individuals, for example trying to confirm or deny lines of relationship.
As seen in the forum, some did DNA testing, but are not prepared (yet) to analyze the result.
W. (Mr.)
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Last week, I landed in the same boat as you are. A very close match appeared, but with no information associated with it... -
I have one perfect match at the y-67. I live in the US and this person lives in the UK. All of their information is hidden, all of it. So yes, I feel your frustration.Comment
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You have my sympathy crhfish. Do they ignore your e-mails? Another frustration is that as three of my near matches are for the same surname (that would be a big coincidence), I joined the project associated with it but my results have never appeared. I can only conclude that because I don't share the surname, and the reason I'm doing this is to try to find my true paternal family, so my paper trail is of no use, and therefore not posted, my results are deemed to be of little use. I was hoping to make contact with at least another of the said testers so that I could go back to the administrator armed with a bit more ammo, but no such luck.
There is a parallel problem here. Most testers seem to be US based but many of their family roots are UK based. More UK based people need to test but as they probably find it easier to trace their paper trail they see no need, especially as it is not cheap as such. Meanwhile, US testers can often only get back so far but can't make that connect back to the UK easily. Seems to me that somehow a strategy needs hatching to try to get more UK folk to test - and participate fully.Comment
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Add one more...Originally posted by dna View Post
They tested, looked that they have thousands of matches (Family Finder, mtDNA or Y DNA). Then got a couple of e-mails in the first hours after receiving the results, so they immediately removed all the information from their profiles...
W. (Mr.)Comment
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My 2nd, 3rd and 4th FF matches with the most shared cM do not answer my e-mails. One of them I am dying to get some info from and....nothing....Sometimes I wonder if these people are still alive.Comment
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Here's one for you. I have an unknown great grandfather and have been waiting for almost three years for the elusive 1st - 2nd cousin to show up as a match. One does at Ancestry (I tested there too) and she is uncooperative. At first she wouldn't answer my email...took her a month. Now she writes back these one liners like she's playing some kind of gameOriginally posted by IslaMel View Post
Of course she may just be an NPE from any of my family lines but who knows....Comment
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The non-responsive match is VERY frustrating. I somehow expect it more at Ancestry (lapsed subscriptions) and certainly at 23andMe (just wanted the medical data), but here-?!?
I don't think people are testing at FTDNA for the ethnicity estimates, because of slick TV ads, or because the website is sexy. Why do so many matches just not respond?
Yes, some of them are dead, some of them have gotten bored and moved on to another hobby, some just never check their email--all true, still I can't help but but take offense at those close matches who simply never respond, or worse, finally do respond, but then begrudgingly, as if this isn't really what they signed up for.
Worst of all, in the context of adoption, are those curt responses of No Adoptions In This Family, Ever, and, Goodbye.
Right, if 85 years ago a 3rd cousin of mine had given a child up for adoption I'd know about it, oh absolutely.Comment
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Yes, I and some other cousins from one of my family lines have found two cousins who were given up for adoption in our family. We were not aware of these until dna testing and the cousins searching for their families. One tested here and the other at 23&Me and then ended up on Gedmatch. That's how we came across each other. One is a 2nd cousin born back in the early 1940s and another a 3rd cousin born in the 1960s. No one in our extended family were aware of the NPEs and then the resulting adoptions. Our families are very large..ten children in my mother's family and ten in my father's family. People who say there are NO NPEs in their family history are either naïve or just don't want to believe it.Originally posted by RDickinson View Post
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It might be helpful if all these testing firms actually, when listing matches, gave a date when the tester tested. At least that way we could make a judgement as to whether or not it's likely someone had died or possibly changed e-mail addresses, or had moved away from family history. My suspicion is that many e-mails just are delivered to dormant accounts.Comment
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My daughter is designated as the beneficiary of mine and her father's accounts. She has passwords and instructions in our safe deposit box how to handle all my genealogy accounts.Originally posted by Doublemartini View PostComment
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No reason to let 40 years work go to waste. She's very interested....just doesn't have the time now with a career and a family.Originally posted by dna View Post
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I have been waiting for my tests results to come back and am wondering what is the turn around time? It feels like weeks have gone by.
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From the Family Tree DNA Learning Center: After I return the kit, how long will results take?Originally posted by marksie View PostI have been waiting for my tests results to come back and am wondering what is the turn around time? It feels like weeks have gone by.
Also there: Are you rerunning my results?
I am highly recommending spending those weeks or months, still ahead of you before the results are posted, on learning how to interpret the results. Try to learn as much as you can, also about the scientific side (statistics, population genetics, rules of inheritance etc.) More you learn, more comfortable you are going to be
W. (Mr.)Comment
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