"First, check the possible shared name list AND the whole name list for possible quirky spellings."

Agree--the Ancestry surname list is exact matches only; no Soundex or similar spellings.

"Second the "other company has its own issues"

Agree on this as well. I have tested with all four companies (still waiting for 23 and Me results) and find that I needed all of the information I could get to resolve some of my research issues.

"Last, I do know how to read raw data and am patiently awaiting to see it so I can evaluate some of my matches with conflicting data."

Because I have my autosomal data from another source this is less urgent for me but I am hoping it might come with some analytical tools that could help me understand more of my Ancestry matches.

Jim