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My tour was fantastic. Zbigniew, my genealogy guide did an outstanding job preparing for the trip and we found some amazing information in the Polish Archives, far more than I expected. I also got to see all the villages where my ancestors lived. My flight to Poland was cancelled just hours before I was scheduled to leave and Magdalena worked Friday night and Saturday to adjust my itinerary so I wouldn't miss anything. In fact she was able to add a walking tour of Krakow that was not part of the original plan. I would heartily recommend Polish Origins to anyone wanting to learn more about their Polish ancestors.…
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Date of experience: June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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I paid $650.00 USD to Polish Origins to do family research in April. It is now June and after harassing my researcher Ola to give me an update (it would take her 2 days at least to respond) I finally recieved my "report". Sadly, the report contained 70% of information I already had in my Ancestry tree (which I had provided a link to). I didn't need "confirmation" of what I already knew. I was looking for specific information about my grandfather's siblings (and I pointedly asked that) and also if we could go back any further than my great grandfather. All I recieved was information about my great grandmother's father's line (most of which I already knew from online resources). Absolutely no mention of the people I had specifically asked about. So, it seems to me that it is less about "research" and more about simply trying to "hook" you to buy more time and services. If the report had been more substantial with information I did not know, I would have gladly contracted more time. I was even considering using this company for a Poland tour, but now my confidence is shaken and I wouldn't consider it. I might show up at the airport in Poland and be stranded because they can't be bothered to keep up with details. I imagine pre-pandemic this company was great. Perhaps it was just the one person I was hooked up with that was incompetent. Whatever the cause, I will not spend 3,000 to 4,000 dollars and trust this company with my trip. They just can't respond in a timely and accurate manner.…
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Date of experience: June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Response from PolishOrigins, Owner at PolishOrigins. Genealogy, History and Cultural Tours.
Responded Oct 25, 2021
Dear Allison, Because you published similar review on our FB page my response is not different from the one I published there. Here is the copy of my response to your review (which also didn't get any reaction from you neither publicly nor in private): --- Alison, You didn't answer my email from yesterday, although you did write to us every few hours before. But you had time to publicliy post reviews. I can’t leave your opinions without comments that’s why I took the liberty to copy my email from yesterday replacing real names with description of paternal and non-paternal lines. “Alison, I am very sorry to hear that your had a most frustrating experience. want to resolve the issue and I analyzed your project and communication between you and Ola. 1. I understand that Ola found information about siblings of your grandfather (paternal) and siblings of your great grandfather (paternal) you didn't know about. 2. Ola found ALL possible Paternal family members in all the metrical sources she was searching through including contacting parish office and checking records availability there. 3. In response to one of Ola's email with the update you described history of “not paternal” line attaching screenshot of your findings on geneteka and JRI just for reference. Also, when Ola wrote you about her findings of non paternal documents you didn't tell her that this is not what you were interested in. This might be incorrectly understood by Ola, that you were also interested in pursuing this line. 4. I know from Ola that while she was searching the paternal line she was also finding non-paternal people in the sources and she was, as experienced genealogists do, making notes and included them in the report. 5. I understand that yesterday was one delay with providing the research report. Please correct me if I am wrong in understanding the facts above. If there is anything important I should know about also please let me know. Sincerely, Zenon Znamirowski“ One more thing in reference to your comments about ignoring paternal line. I am considering to publish the report with covered names (only giving information about required paternal line) to show others how “the list of names” and “it did not include my primary ancestral line” looks like. Zenon Znamirowski CEO of PolishOrigins
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We booked a 3 day tour Oct 22-24, 2019. This was our first trip to Poland and first time ever booking a customized genealogy tour. Zbigniew was our driver, genealogist, tour guide, and translator. The trip exceeded our expectations. Not only did we see the towns where my grandparents were from and expanded the family tree, we also met relatives on both my grandmother’s and grandfather’s sides of the family. The families were surprised and happy to see us and all were kind and welcoming. None of the family members spoke English and we don’t speak Polish, so we were grateful to have Zbigniew translate. We accomplished a lot in 3 days. I wish we would have booked a longer tour because 3 days wasn’t enough. I would highly recommend this company. Katarzyna was great working with us to setup the tour and Zbigniew was an amazing guide.…
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Date of experience: October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Our Polish Origins customized family history tour was very successful. This was because of the skill and hard work of our genealogist Zenon, and the organization and understanding of our tour manager Aga. After I toured Poland to learn more about its culture and history, I visited the civil and church archives and small towns where our ancestors lived. With Zenon's help, I met all of my family history research goals. I would definitely use this company again…
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Date of experience: October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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+1
Wanted to get a feel of what our Grandparents' Homeland was like as well as see modern day Poland. Thanks to the sites we saw and the experience of walking through homes like our Grandparents probably lived in during the turn of the 20th Century - the Polish Origins Galicia Tour did this to a tee!. The museums, exhibits and presentations were great. Presentation staff all spoke English and the full size reproductions were amazing. Additionally our wonderful Guide, Pawel, provided addition insight, as well as answered questions regarding living conditions back then. Then we would have a wonderful local meal each evening at a different restaurant to enhance the experience. If your ancestors were from Southern Poland this is the tour for you. Then there were the churches, castles, town squares - absolutely wonderful tour.…
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Date of experience: September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
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