Trace Your Past Reviews 236

The research was well worth the wait. The researcher looked at my information on Ancestry.com for her start. She did not duplicate what information that I already had. She provided documentation for each step of her investigation to answer my questions regarding my 2 great grandmothers. Her investigation necessitated getting information from Romania in addition to New York. She answered more questions for me that I did not even ask about. The information enabled me to update more on my family tree. It was interesting too, to see foreign written as well as translated records from over 100 years ago. Ironically, I ended up with having my great grandmother's name ( that I didn't know previously) as my middle name.

Concise and to the point. Able to understand my research objective clearly.

I contacted Trace in hopes of finding the birthplace of my husbands ancestor. After providing as much information as I had to them, I was presented with a proposal. Unfortunately, the cost at this time to trace an elusive ancestor was not in my budget. The account manager, Will, was polite and professional and understood when I had to say no at this time. Hopefully, I’ll be able to use their services sometime soon.

I am beyond thrilled with the results of Trace genealogy services. It was daunting to hand over $1,500 to them, not knowing if they would really work and provide honest efforts and research for the objectives we both agreed upon. They were better than their word. They provided me consistent updates as to their progress, and then, after my 46 years of dead ends trying to find a lost grandfather--they found him in just several weeks! Not only him, but his family, his parents, grandparents, and with recommendations of where to pick up the trail for further research. It was breathtaking for my family and me to find that all we had assumed about our ancestral grandfather was partly wrong. The only complaint I had about Trace, was that during the process I was never able to get a return call or response to my emails when questions came up during the process, which did create some concern. Other than that, they came through and I would definitely use their services again but establish some agreement of how to get a return phone call or better communication. Perhaps they were just too busy. As for what they did provide, I highly recommend them to anyone who is stuck on tracing an ancestral lineage.

What they did really well was keep you aware of where they were in the process. However, the information was of little value to what I was searching for, and hoping they could track down for me. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

I got more results then I asked for and a nice explanation of all they found. I was well pleased.

I’m trying to be totally honest and base my comments on strictly the information gleaned from this magnificent document that you’ve sent to me. I’m fascinated! Totally blown away! I’m an amateur, but I put significant time into doing research on my family. Both my mother and father passed away and probably like many families, I wish I had asked my parents more questions. The information I’ve been able to go over so far is remarkable! Looking at my family’s genealogy and tracing back through all these documents has already brought my family closer together. My brothers and sisters have been completely blown away, as have I, with the accuracy, the information and documentation of everything. I’m positive I’ll have more to say as I get a chance to go through everything. Please realize it’s a lot of information, a lot of discovery, a lot of smiles, a lot of nods of confirmation and a lot of tears. Let me say this and close this way for now; what you’ve done for my family is a blessing! We were already close, but we’ve become even closer and I haven’t even had a chance to go over everything with them yet. Actually, I haven’t had a chance to go through everything myself yet. Thanks again!
Sincerely,
Joseph Oliver

My experience with Trace was positive, even though I did not accept the proposal. After submitting the initial fee, I received a very comprehensive proposal outlining in detail the steps to be taken and noting that in genealogy research, nothing is guaranteed. Unfortunately, the price was way more than I was willing to pay. That said, I am not suggesting that the proposal was overpriced, but only that it was out of my price range.

I used Trace to find my maternal grandmother's family in the Ukraine. I was very pleased with the findings, the researcher went above and beyond my expectations. He was very thorough, all supporting research documents were provided to me with translation into English (they were written in Russian and I had requested translation). I had also asked for a description of the historical circumstances that impacted my family and was provided with helpful information and recommendations for books to learn more. The cost of the work was reasonable and the quality was outstanding.

Trace is a good company. They aren’t the fastest in getting back to you, but the work is quality. I recently engaged them to research some polish records for me and they provided them with a reasonable amount of time.

I paid the introductory price for 3 separate research projects and had the initial interviews, discussing them at length after spending lots of time downloading information. No one has ever followed up, even after my inquiries! This is very disappointing and makes me feel like I was duped. What happened to your promises to discuss with genealogists and get back to me?

After 10 years of never gaining any ground in my research a whole new treasure trove of information came my way through the efforts of Trace research. Their researchers found records that broke down a "brick wall" and advanced my ultimate goal of finding the immigrant ancestor in Colonial America. They supported every conclusion with documentation and even outlined steps in the next phase of research. I will use Trace again if/when I need to. I have already recommended them to friends.

I got what I asked for. Great report and proofs provided. I have the information, but I still don’t know anything about the man I asked about. I already had much of the information without some of the records that I didn’t know how to get. I don’t know where the bio father was living or working when I was conceived. There just wasn’t much about him in the report. After I submitted all my info to Trace, I discovered additional information that would have helped. I was promised updates and contact every couple weeks or so, but never got it. Even after contacting Trace twice and being told someone would get back to me. I have pictures of my probable half brothers, provided by a DNA consultant on Facebook, but not my bio father. That volunteer DNA consultant gave me the same info overnight, based on the DNA strings and segments. Even that my 1232cM match to Martha Schubbe Smetanka was as a half-aunt and likely the daughter of Michael’s older brother, Barney.
I know you research based off the information i provided. Thank you for the report. I am still in the same place today as I was $4200 ago. Although I DO appreciate how you linked me to all the cousins with whom I have been in communication.
All in all, I think I know more now than I did.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with Trace and the outcome of my search for my father’s biological parents. I was frustrated with the length of time involved which was more than a year, but I know the pandemic slowed things down. I was also disappointed in the monthly updates which encompassed nothing more than “work is still in progress”. In the end, I was very happy with the final report which was very in-depth. I have a few questions and I hope for their response soon.

Finally found out if my family stories were true and more. I got my answers.

The researcher was exceedingly diligent, the report clear and thorough. Trace answered our questions in a timely manner. I would not hesitate to recommend them to other law firms for serious genealogical research projects.
R. Evans, Attorney
Northampton, Massachusetts

Although there was no "WOW you found it" at the end of the research for birth certificate or burial place for Eliza Burnett, there was a very interesting find. It was the obituary for the husband of Eliza so that when I shared it with my cousin who has been researching our common ancestor for 45 years, she did reply WOW!!! I am grateful for that find. And it leads us to believe that the burial for the wife is where the husband laid to rest. Might mean a trip to Iowa in the coming year or so.

I was very happy with the results of the research Trace did for me. The researcher uncovered information that was different from what had been reported by other family members. He noted both of those possibilities then outlined why he believed one over the other. The format he used was easy to follow and was backed up with documents. I would definitely recommend Trace for anyone who is exploring their ancestry, especially in areas that difficult to research. The only difficulty I had was occasionally experiencing challenges with getting information regarding the finished product. Some of that was my own difficulty with technology and concerns for privacy, but I would suggest that this could be a problem for some others as well. It might be helpful to have a better discussion earlier in the contracting process to help people be aware of what to expect. Having said that, I am still highly satisfied with the results of my research with Trace

I was very happy with the timeliness of the service and the information provided. I learned many more details of my great-grandmother that I was unaware of, and I am so grateful for the information. The report means a lot to my family. I am. looking forward to the next project with Trace!

I paid $100 ($50 discount from Rootstech) and got 2 proposals for the same project. One was $500 and the $2,500. The descriptions on the proposals for the services to be rendered read exactly the same. Twice they promised me a more detailed proposal so I could determine why a $2,000 discrepancy in the 2 quotes. Twice they never delivered the differentiation. So I could never make an informed decision. They feel if they send you an e-mail with any sort of quote they have met their obligation. Total rip-off!