Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/20/2022

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 10/13/2022, I purchased 6 Embark tests for my recent litter (whelped 10/01/2022). It should be noted that I have purchased a total of 26 Embark tests for my dog breeding program, a significant investment! The 6 kits arrived & I returned them to Embark in 2 separate packages (which is the norm) on 10/25/2022 & 10/27/2022, respectively. At that time, Embark sent 2 notices verifying that the swabs were on their way to the lab. Unfortunately, 1 package was lost. On 11/03/2022, I enquired to Embark, raising my concerns...I was told to wait 10 business days at which time they would send 3 replacement tests free-of-charge. This occurred & on 11/09/2022, Embark sent out 3 replacement tests. As of 11/16/2022 the tests show as delivered to the lab, yet the swabs remain at a standstill. As regards the OTHER swabs which had successfully begun "processing" by Embark in late October, a "glitch in the system" (according to Embark customer service emails) has the results expected by late December. UNACCEPTABLE!! I was told by customer service the following: "Thank you for circling back. I appreciate the information.I have checked the tracking information, it does show that they were delivered on the 16th of November, they should be scanned into our system within this day. You'll be notified automatically once we scanned them and the swab will begin processing. Rest assured, the bug in our system won't affect your dog's results in any way and you should still receive the results as provided in the initial update, which is in November." Nothing was been scanned in yet. Worse, the system (upon log-in) still shows that I have 3 puppies who will have results available in "late December" & 3 puppies whose swabs have been "activated on November 13th, awaiting return". As time is of the essence in matters of DNA testing & lab performance, one would expect "glitches" to be of concern to Embark.Very Truly,***********************

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2022

  Hi *****: 

  I'm sorry about your experience with your latest samples. As our **************** team explained, there was a technical issue on our end that causes the "results by" date to change. I can completely understand how the late December messaging can be alarming. We do provide a conservative estimate, however results are typically ready much sooner than what's listed. I checked on your samples earlier - the processing is almost completed and you should have your results soon! Again, I apologize for your experience and that this batch of samples took a little longer than previous ones. If there's anything else we can assist with, please reach out to our Customer Support team at ****************************************************************.

   

  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/01/2022

  Dear Embark Veterinary,

  Thank you for your reply to my BBB complaint. I'm astonished that half of my 6 time-is-of-the-essence DNA samples activated in late Oct./2022 have simply fallen into a "technical issue" category. I don't believe that myself or any customer should be the victim of an issue not in their control. Apparently you do though...hence, my moving all of my business to *****************. I have spent approximately $4,000.00 at Embark & am embarrassed for you. I've never felt so thoroughly devalued as a customer! I have filed a claim with the attorney general's office for the ***********, hopefully that will incite you to express your technical issues transparently to your clients before they invest in testing...not AFTer you've received their (in my case) $774.00.

  
  Regards,

  *****

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 01/03/2023

  Hi *****

  I'm sorry to hear that you remain disappointed. I completely understand your frustration with your latest batch of samples. As it was previously stated, there was a technical issue and we are very sorry that you were impacted by it. I checked your account and see that all of your results have been returned to you at this time. Thank you again for your business and for your feedback.

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/20/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The results that came back from this company said our new dog was 100% American Pit bull terrier. We saw this dogs parents and they were clearly mixed breeds and the owner advised the same. They breed in error and were both mixed. I showed our vet the result and they assured this result had to be an error. Taking one look at this dog it doesnt take science to see shes not 100% APB Terrier. Assuming this was clearly an error or mix up I asked about this and was assured she was at least 95% American put ****************. In disbelief because I saw her parents and also having a full blooded APB terrier in the past I was certain something was off here. I went to the top rated company I could find and did a new dna test on her. This test confirmed what I already knew that she was in fact mixed, and with many breeds. American PIt bill terror was the highest percent at a whopping 48% along with 9 other breeds. When asking them to do the right thing and refund the error since I had to get another company to get the correct results instead of Embark doing the right thing, I am told the same answer Im seeing in many other complaints of this manner. There are several reasons why test results can differ between complains and the three same completely ridiculous answers that seem to excuse the bad results, and seem to be a templete they send to everyone and all their replies felt very scripted. DNA is DNA no matter what algorithm and markers, and the reference panel?! I assume they are saying is this the same dog? Its clear to anyone except embark that their result on this was the incorrect result in this case and wasnt in any way accurate. *** also asked for a manager to review and contact on the matter and I just get the same representative with her scripted answers responding and doing nothing to make this right.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/27/2022

  Hi *****

  
  I'm sorry to hear that you remain disappointed with your experience with Embark. As it was previously explained, there are many reasons why results can differ between companies. While you are correct that DNA is DNA, each company has their own methods for testing that include different reference panels and algorithms. It is also not unusual to have a purebred American Pit Bull Terrier, even though they don't have the expected "look" of one. For example, we see a lot of dogs who were adopted as Lab mixes that then test as American Pit Bull Terriers or American Pit Bull Terrier mixes. Pit bull terriers (or related breeds) are among the most common dogs in *******, so its not at all surprising that ancestry related to them would show up in a large, perhaps even disproportionately large fraction of American dogs. 

  Unfortunately, we do not offer complimentary retests and, per our public refund policy, we are unable to provide refunds for scientifically sound results.

  Thank you.

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/02/2022

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 
  

  my dog was not adopted at a shelter as Embark has suggested. Her mother was there and clearly mixed as well, and accidentally breed with a neighbor dog that again was mixed! Im telling you this and went as far as to pay to have another test done which proves the same that Im telling you all along. The 2nd DNA test proves she was not 100% American PBT and resulted 11 breeds. Them saying their algorithm differing causes their result to test 100% American PBT vs another company showing 11 breeds is a joke. This would be telling me DNA truly isnt DNA and you could just pull my results out of any ole hat because you and 5 other companies could come back with that different of a result based on the algorithm?? This far off the ****** So you believe you are correct and cannot admit that you could even possibly have made an error is very concerning? Giving people bad results who then have to spend extra money to get retested to show you these results are just as suspected, wrong!  Your results are clearly not as sound as you say and the fact your company cant admit when they even could be wrong and have zero wiggle room to help a very unsatisfied customer is just bad business All around. You calling a refund a complementary test is very offensive. A complementary test would be you doing another test to fix your mistake but to call refunding a bad test is not complementary. Seeings as how we went to the extreme of buying another test from another company tells you we arent in this to get a complementary test. Were asking you to do the right thing and refund a bad read. A customer who is so unsatisfied she had to go else where to get results because this company didnt do the right thing to begin with. To all those who I have shared this story with, Id love to be able to say this is a good company that fixed their mistake in the end but so far from what I can tell from the many complaints ive seen, you do whats best for you not your customers. This is not a good way to run a business. Im sure youve done a good job for many but you have to be able to admit error and have room to help your customers and stop repeating the same script to all of them. This whole situation is very disappointing. 

  [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.  If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]
  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  Nicki

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2022

  I'm sorry to hear that ***** remains disappointed with her experience. Regretfully we do not offer complimentary retests and, per our public refund policy (https://help.embarkvet.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000237293-Can-I-return-my-test-kit-and-get-a-refund-), we are unable to provide refunds for scientifically sound results.

   

  
   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/12/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We sent in our dog DNA over 6 weeks ago. I have reached out a number of times asking where our results are, with zero answers. First, it started with emails between "****" who works in customer service, he asked me to give him a week to figure out where our DNA sample was. A week later I got no reply, so I emailed **** for an update. The only thing he returned with was "we have no idea how much longer it will be, but since the delay is on our end we will give you a 10% refund on the purchase price. Umm, what? I reply saying I don't want that- I just want a straight answer. **** stops replying. This morning I call, first speaking to *****- the only one who actually spoke to me with any sort of respect. She could not give me an answer or actual update, so I asked that a supervisor call me. She called, I missed the call, but called back within 5 mins. She couldn't even say my name correctly, kept talking down to me and refused to let me speak to her boss. We want our DNA results or a full refund. Otherwise, I will assume you have stolen $139 from me.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/16/2022

  Thank you for reaching out and sharing your feedback. I apologize for the frustrating experience. Unfortunately, your dog's results were delayed due to a technical issue on our end. which was preventing the results from being displayed in your account. At the time you had contacted us, our team did not have a specific ETA on when the issue was going to be resolved, so we were unable to provide you with a specific rate. Our engineering team was working as quickly as possible to resolve this for you and other affected customers. Again, I'm sorry that this was your experience. I see that since leaving this complaint you have received a full refund from our company. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/02/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased an embark *** test for my dog received it in the mail from Amazon did the *** test packaged everything up when I went to make my account it kept saying that the code could not be found I called him bark they said they would manually put a code onto my account I sent off the package last night and this morning and ***** sends me an email saying that they had a huge batch of embark test kits get duplicated during manufacturing That they are selling on Amazon when I spoke with Amazon they had no idea that they were doing this and bark never notified them Ive notified them yesterday and today that something was going on I have the emails attached for proof I dont know why these items arent being recalled and if duplicates can be made of test how do we know *** is not also getting messed up or mixed up or sent to the wrong people or duplicated and sent to two people instead of its intended owner when I reached out to him bark their customer service is overseas it appears they are not helpful they want me to jump through hoops to prove I placed a purchase for an order that they can prove is duplicated As you can see in their email I sent them everything needed and requested a refund because I cannot work with a company that does shady business dealings like this beware beware beware beware beware beware beware beware all future customers

  Business Response

  Date: 09/09/2022

  Hi *****

   

  Thank you for contacting us. We apologize for the miscommunication regarding your activation code and have followed up with the representative you spoke with. There was a bug on our end that was preventing you from activating your test kit. It has since been resolved. Please feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions or if there's anything else we can assist with.

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/29/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Purchased Embark Breed ID Kit, at our local PetCo, to get an idea of what kind of breeds are in our adopted dog's DNA. We were very upset when the results came back saying our dog was an American Village Dog with traces of various terrier and chihuahua breeds. However, there was no percentage breakdown for each of these breeds that might be mixed in with ******************** Dog DNA. Furthermore, the other dog which is supposedly 6.8% related to dog, ****** had each breed (that was supposedly mixed in) broken down into percentages. Our results simply tell us what we already know that ****** is a chihuahua-terrier mix. Why is there no percentage breakdown for each of the terrier and chihuahua breeds that are supposedly mixed in with ******'s DNA? We are very upset that there was no explanation for this. We would like to ask for a full refund because these results are unacceptable.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/08/2022

  I'm sorry to hear that the customer is disappointed with their dog's results. We'd be happy to discuss them further with them if they'd like to write in to our Customer Support team. The team can be reached at ***********************************.

   

  Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/25/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased ah Embark DNA breed kit on June 11th. The company advertises a 99 percent accuracy result. I received the results and it says the dog is a 100 percent poodle. There is no way this puppy is 100 percent poodle. It does not have the body, face, hair or coloring of a purebread poodle. I want a refund of my 109 dollars for false advertising.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/05/2022

  We're very sorry to hear that you're disappointed. While we can never guarantee a dog is 100% anything, I can say that the *** profile of your dog is consistent with a single-breed poodle, which means your dog is almost certainly at least 95% poodle and possibly even 100%. Purebred dogs are abandoned in shelters all the time, especially ones that don't have the right look for the breed, and even 1-5% mixture with another breed (usually undetectable by a *** test) can yield some surprising looks in an otherwise purebred dog.  We see no evidence of ancestry from another breed in your dog's ***.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/08/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hi, We paid $150 for this product off the product website, waited over 3 months for the results, only to get back 3 breed results and be told that 16% of the reminder was "super pup" and could not be calculated. Other DNA tests, like wisdompanel.com define dna results to the percentage. I called to reasonably ask for more defined results or a refund and ***** handled my call. I am sorry to say that he was the most condescending and unhelpful customer service rep I've ever dealt with. He told me that I just didn't understand and that no one could help me, nor would they offer a refund. He also refused to let me speak to a manager to find any other solution. I believe this is a ******** would like a more complete dna result or our money back please.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/13/2022

  Since submitting this, the customer was put in touch with a Team Lead and exchanged several emails. As our Team Lead explained, we have a quality threshold for breed reporting, and much ancestry below a 5% threshold cannot be confidently assigned. Because of this, we designate this portion of a dog's DNA as "Supermutt."

  We do regularly update our breed database, and as we do, we are able to assign breeds over time with an increasing degree of precision. As our database updates, we are sometimes able to reassign breeds with a greater degree of confidence, and some dogs do see that "Supermutt" percentage reassigned as actual breeds. These updates take place automatically and we will notify the customer automatically when that happens.

  Regretfully, we cannot offer refunds, per our terms of service. 

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/14/2022

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

   

  Hi, I know this is what they responded, but their lack of a database is their issue as a business, not mine, particularly when they clearly show and advertise (falsely) that they have a robust DNA database and "the most scientifically advanced dog DNA test" (their words), when other companies clearly provide more info, down to 1% (see attachments for example). 

  They are taking a lot of money and falsely advertising that they are the best when they can clearly not provide what they offer and even admit it in their response email. I do not accept their response and would like further action. 

  Thank you. 

  [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.  If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]
  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  *****

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 06/22/2022

  There are several reasons why test results can differ between our results and another company's results, including:
  
  - The algorithms used
  - The reference panel
  - The specific markers that are used to make the determination
  
  We cannot speak to the methods used by other companies, including their quality thresholds. As we have previously explained, we have a quality threshold for breed reporting, and much ancestry below a 5% threshold cannot be confidently assigned. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/12/2022

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a DNA kit from Embark, and mailed it April 29. The tracking number shows it was delivered & picked up May 6th. As of May 12th the Embark portal continues to show awaiting arrival of swab. I called the customer service line on May 12th and was told that despite the **** tracking stating the swab was delivered and picked up they didn't have it and didn't know where it was nor could anyone tell me this. I've asked multiple times to speak to a supervisor yet they refuse to make a transfer, and I cannot get a call back. This kit costs over $100.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/18/2022

  We apologize for the confusion and extenuating delay. We recently updated our process in terms of the swabs being shipped back to us. Our old process was to have swabs mailed to our ****** headquarters and then sent to our facility in *********, but our new process cuts out ****** and the swabs are now being shipped directly to *********.

  I looked up the customer's account and can confirm that we received their dog's swabs at our lab on May 13th and it is currently processing. In general, it take about 2 weeks for the results to be available, which would be around the end of May in this case. 

  Again, I apologize for delay. Thank you.