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:09/18/2024

  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.

  05/09/2024 I purchased the age and breed tests. It was bundled and cost me $238. The results that came back for the age test were wildly inaccurate. They indicated that my dog was 3 months old at that time. The vet had indicated he was over 2 years old. I reached out to Embark for help and an explanation. I received a very canned response that basically told me they were sorry the results were not what I wanted to hear. That wasnt the issue. Its not about what I wanted to hear. I wanted accuracy. They claim that the age range is 18 months which is already a very large range to give themselves room for error. Even if we allow 18 months. Their results were off more than that.I purchased a test from Epi-Paw and their results matched up exactly with what the vet said and with what others who knew Max said was my dogs birth month.Embark said my dog was born on *****************. The vet, other experts and ******* indicated Max was born in *************. Embark was almost 2 full years off.I brought all of this to their attention. ***** from Embark responded with very vague responses and general answers about the science. He would not address why **** test results were so far off. He refused to help. He refused to retest my dog. He refused to refund any money. He didnt care at all. I did research on this company and found out that they had pulled their own products from the market in the past for bad results. Then they thought they had fixed the errors in their methodology and put new and improved products back on the shelves. I think that was a mistake. If Embark had simply offered to retest my dog with new DNA or retest one of the 2 samples of DNA they already had, I wouldnt have been so upset. But, they refused to do anything at all.I want a full refund of the age test as well as reimbursement for the test I bought from Epi-Paw that provided me accurate results. That test was $120 plus shipping.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/23/2024

  Hello

  I'm sorry to hear that you're disappointed with your experience and feel that Max's results are incorrect. As ***** on the Customer Experience team explained, the prediction interval provided in your dogs results tells you the range of dates that are likely to contain your dogs birthday. It is possible that your dogs birthday is on a different day but is still within this prediction interval as 90% of dogs have a true birthday within that range. What the results are saying is that there is a 90% chance that Max's birthday falls within the dates provided with his results. Based on what you are reporting, while we did not get the birthdate exactly, it is still within the prediction interval range. We are confident that the model meets our standards for accuracy and scientific integrity, and matches the prediction interval claims that are represented on our website and other customer-facing materials. Were not able to provide refunds or. complimentary retests.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/23/2024

  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 ************************************ is saying that their results were within the 90% prediction interval. However that is just false. I have uploaded the docs to show that they said Maxs DOB is ********. However, his true date of birth is **********. They were MORE than 18 months off  The prediction interval is 18 months. What ***** explained AGAIN is a canned response that in THIS case is factually incorrect. It seems they refuse to address this. I have uploaded screen shots from the Embark website. If what they said was true then their results would have been within 18 months of Maxs actually birthday. The results were not. 
  

  It is obvious to me that they simply provide the same response over and over as if repeating it will somehow make it true. This is likely why they have such a low rating with the BBB and are not even registered with the BBB. There are so many complaints about this company.

  I wish I had checked here before I bought these tests and wasted over $250. The face that the company simple refused to offer anything to make it right speaks volumes.

  I will be filing more complaints with every agency and website that is available. If Maxs age DID actually come out within the prediction interval I would not have filed this complaint. The fact that the company wants to parrot their talking points instead of just helping a paying ex-customer tells you all you need to know about the way they do business. The science is only as good as the humans conducting the tests and/or following the chain of command with my dogs DNA. They are so sure they could not have possibly made a mistake anywhere else that they just go back to false statements  

  That is very sad. I want my money back or another test for Max of equal value that I dont already have. I will not accept false statements from the company as the final word. It does not work that way.

  Thank you,

  *****

   

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 09/30/2024

  I'm sorry to hear that you remain disappointed. As we mentioned previously, the birth date provided by your dog's vet and EpiPaws are also estimates, with their own prediction intervals. In regards to the EpiPaws results, there are several reasons why test results can differ between companies:
  - The algorithms used
  - The reference panel
  - The specific markers that are used to make the determination

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/30/2024

  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. 

  Finally, you address the other test. Thats a start. But you now miss the larger point. If YOUR prediction interval is 18 months, your test results are still outside the actual birthday. That is problem. I rescued Max a dog and you tell me he is 4 months old  yet hes over 2 years old. Can you even understand why your results are meaningless to me? Giving yourself an 18-month interval when the animal is less than 2.5 years old pretty much almost insulates you from EVER being wrong. That is my problem. You could have guessed that Max was anywhere from 7 months old to 4 years old and your results would have been within the prediction interval. But would those results really be meaningful. Your test said Max was a puppy. But that was false. He was and IS a full grown adult dog. That is why your results were meaningless for all intents and purposes. Lastly, again, your own results did NOT fall within the stated prediction interval by your company. Thats a huge FAIL. Please give me a refund.

     
  Regards,

  *****

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/26/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 had email conversations with an employee there. They don't have a phone system. I recently was made aware of that they will give your dog(s) health information out to others. Which is concerning the amount of information I found out was shared. In their policy it strictly says they wouldn't unless they have my permission, which they didn't. Emails were evasive and dodgy.I also found that their tests aren't reliable when trying to download reports. The reports aren't legible/consistent and can change. My overview appeared fine one day and couple weeks goes by and a health concern pops up after I already viewed the data. Overall, I wouldn't use them again. The employee was rude and dismissive when I had issues. When I provided proof I didn't make edits, I was accused of altering their report. Overall experience was terrible. The lady had to send me a copy thay was correct because now my report for that one dog don't download at all and she closed out the case regardless of my complaints.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/12/2024

  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.

  We had our rescue dog DNA tested through Embark. When we received the results we were confused and dumbfounded. This company did not provide an actual breed or breed breakdown of our dog, rather they provided us with a colloquial/slang term called American Village Dog. Through extensive research into The American village dog it is a term that is distinctly funneled to their websites algorithm as a dog breed. This is not a breed recognized by any accredited kennel club or by any veterinary organization. This company tried to disseminate this information scientifically sound. I asked for a refund and was given no recourse or an actual answer to why this breed was acceptable as an outcome. They didnt even offer to rest.Our dog isnt a pure breed or from a breeder this is why we entrusted this company to help us determine her genetic makeup. She is obviously made of a many other dogs which should be scientifically distinguishable DNA. I was saddened to know that with all the medical, technological and diagnostic advancements that are highlighted and advertised for this DNA test that this is the outcome. We just dont want others to make the same mistake as us and entrust this company.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/17/2024

  I'm sorry to hear that you are disappointed with your dog's results. I understand how these results can be surprising! A Village Dog result means the majority of your dog's DNA doesn't come from any purebred dog breeds. Village dogs were around long before modern purebred breeds (which, remember, really only started having closed populations in the past century or so), and there are still a lot of dogs in the world today who have little to no ancestry from breeds.  If you'd like to learn more about village dogs, we recommend this resource: **********************************************************************************************************************

  As per our policy, we do not offer refunds. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/04/2024

  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.

  I had an interaction with ******** who accused ******* fellow Vietnam Veteran of being the same person.The content of her emails to both my ********** had unprofessional accusations which could be considered defamatory.After reviewing this issue over the last few hours and researching my options of being defamed, I find it appalling her attitude on this issue.I'm elderly & my friend is older than I. She treated us like criminals.My **********, we're both vet's, risked our lives for freedom she enjoys as we celebrate TODAY!!! My friend is older than me... He can't work a computer.I've helped him before with other "online only" issues and NEVER had anyone accuse us as criminals! I would like my money back if this is the way you treat your customers Veterans or NOT. WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS No one deserves this abuse...

  Business Response

  Date: 07/08/2024

  Hi *******

  We reviewed your interaction with ********. She did not accuse you or your friend of fraud. Our system flagged that the code was being used by the same person. With that being said, she offered to extend the refer a friend discount to your friend if they are still interested in this offer, please have them contact our team directly for assistance.

  Thank you.

  *******

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/19/2024

  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.

  Its clear an original DNA test was done wrong and has in correct results Ive tried over and over to get the company to retest the dogs in question and I cant even get a reply If they refuse to retest these dogs I want a full refund for tests bought as a breeder The faulty tests were originally on a breeding stud and breeding female these faulty stud results have affected breedings in a negative Context Specific example they say this stud does not carry a Lh **** (long coat) so he was breed to a dog that did have that **** ** do not want full LhLh dogs in our breeding program so this ShSh male was bread to a female with a LhSh we should NOT have gotten any LhLh in that liter yet we got a lot of them.This created a COSTLY negative affect on our breeding program

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/30/2024

  I have not heard from the business in response to my complaint.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/09/2024

  We are responding to this customer directly. Thank you. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/09/2024

  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. 

  [this Business keeps saying they will contact me but they never do, I get a ticket number but never a reply I get told upper management will email me but I never get an email, this is an ongoing delay tactic to try to avoid giving me a refund or retesting the dogs in question or both now.. .]
  
  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: 07/30/2024

  We are responding to this customer directly.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/30/2024

  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 ******************************************* is trying to blackmail me into signing an NDA because they know I will be putting the inaccurate DNA test results into a docuseries Im creating they want me to sign away my LEGAL RIGHT to honestly and publicly review their product I just want my money back for REAL money i spent with them.  
  

  they think they can threaten me with legal action if I review their product and the way their employees provably acted. Knowing I am an ****** resident they are trying to prevent me from getting a refund by demanding I appear in ************* in order to do some arbitration that I supposedly have to pay for ]
  
  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,

  ******

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/17/2024

  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.

  I purchased an embark testing kit through Chewy (a business that sells the testing kits). I received the kit and followed the instructions for activation and mailed back the tests. They have lost the test results and have asked for my proof of purchase, which I have provided in many ways and many emails and they will not send me a new test kit and they do not seem to be interested in resolving the issue in any way.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/20/2024

  Hello and thank you for reaching out. I apologize for the delay in getting this issue resolved. I have escalated the manner internally and a team member will be in touch with you today.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/31/2024

  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.

  Embark Vet regularly updates their testing funded by the people who purchase their test kits. They have updated their testing protocol 2 times so far this year and refuse to update existing test subjects with new data. The initial breeders kit is $99 there after each kit is $159. I have tested more than ********************************************************************************* to pay $99 to retest each dog claiming that is the best they can do. It is hostage marketing. They are taking your money and not providing thorough results. Dogs who received their tests even 1 day before they offered the Copper Toxicosis update will not be updated and after investing so much money to help further their testing they think a repeat test when most of the basic information is already there is an acceptable of a cost of $99 per dog is the best they can offer. They are stealing people's money through us providing their data base.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/11/2024

  I have not heard from the business in response to my complaint. I requested a supervisor contact me. I was told that they wouldn't give any different response.  I then requested the email of **************** who is the *** of the company.  *********** is using hostage marketing to extract additional money from it's existing client database by updating their testing protocol to include potentially deadly diseases and requiring an additional $99 dollars after paying $159 for the initial test.  They would only be providing an additional 2% information.  It is unrealistic for current clients who have tested more than 30 animals to be required to pay this much when 98% ofvthe test data is in their database and will not change. I have tested 13 animals since January.  5 were tested in May. On May 30th, June 4, June 7. These results were within 6 days and 3 of the dogs do not have all the testing information as the newest 2. No supervision contacts you back. They do not provide information to contact anyone higher then customer service.  Their is no way to locate information on the internet.  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/13/2024

  Thank you for reaching out and sharing your feedback. I'm sorry to hear about your disappointment. Regretfully, we are not currently able to automatically add new results to previously tested dogs. We are looking into this though as a possible future enhancement that we can offer our customers. As you noted, we do offer the option to retest your dogs in order to receive the latest conditions and traits for a discounted price of $99 per kit. This is to cover the processing fees for your sample(s). Regarding the current new health conditions, I see that you have reach out to the Customer Experience team and a specialist is working with you directly on a resolution. Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/18/2024

  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. 

  [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,

  *******

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/22/2024

  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.

  I purchased an age test from embark to see how old my rescue dog was; there was an 18 month window her birthday could fall in, and I was okay with that. However, upon receiving her results, I knew they were false. The 18 month window overlaps with some of the time my dog was in the shelter, so she was alive and accounted for when embark claimed she was born. When I reached out to embark, they sent a link to a page about being disappointed with results. According to embark, my dog is younger than she is, which is no reason to be disappointed. They did not respond when i inquired further about a possible mistake. I wrote a review for their website, but it was never posted despite other reviews written more recently being posted. I opened another ticket with embark asking for a refund, since they clearly werent going to help any further, and were not willing to listen to the fact that theres paper record of my dog at that time. They declined stating their test is scientifically accurate. I understand these tests arent 100%, and Im okay with that, but this is 100% wrong, and they wont do anything to fix it. I even confirmed with her shelter that she did not come in as a puppy, so the results are WAY off.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/28/2024

  I'm sorry to hear that you remain disappointed with your experience with Embark and your dog's age test results. The results provided with the Age Test are an estimate of your dogs age and birthday. It cannot (yet) pinpoint the exact birth date because methylation technology has not yet come far enough to predict age with that level of specificity. The results you received for your dog is a range of dates that are likely to contain your dogs birthday, also referred to as a prediction interval. The estimated birthday in your dogs results is the midpoint of that age range. However, it is possible that your dogs birthday is on a different day but is still within this prediction interval as 90% of dogs have a true birthday within that range.

  With the Age Test, 90% of dogs have a true birthday within 18 months of their estimated birthday. In other words, there's a 90% chance that *****'s birthday is within 18 months of the date we provided. 

  I hope that this explanation provided further clarification on how our Age Test works and what information is included with your dog's results.

  Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/29/2024

  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. 
  
  This is the exact message embark sent me when I first inquired about incorrect results. As you can tell per the reply, embark still has not acknowledged that there is a 0% chance my dog falls outside of the 18 month window despite attaching her medical documents to everything. They continue to deny factual evidence 

  [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: 06/13/2024

  I'm sorry to hear that you remain disappointed. As it's been previously stated, we stand behind our results and, per our policy, will not issue a refund.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/17/2024

  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. 
  

  [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
  The results embark stands behind are factually false. They can be proved 100% false. According to embark, my dog was either spayed under 4 months old or born spayed; both of these options are impossible. Ive attached the record of her spay surgery occurring in October 2017
  Regards,

  ********

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/05/2024

  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.

  Jan 2024 the kit was sent in. Result on Feb 16th The test was the premium version of Embark and key was to find the breed of my dog. They sent the results as 100% European Village dog. I sent in the picture of my dog as she is a Bichon Maltese. Their results were 100% village dog with traces of other dogs, NONE of them Bichon Maltese.Email sent multiple times and they close it as solved without responding. They seem to have to answer and just avoiding.They should reply and give a scientific answer and if they cant then they should refund the money

  Business Response

  Date: 04/02/2024

  Hello

  I'm sorry to hear that you are disappointed with your dog's results. As our Results Specialist explained, sometimes looks can be deceiving and while your dog can look like a specific breed (or breeds), their genetic make up tells a different story. Our team reviewed your dog's results and found to be consistent with the **************** Village Dogs in our reference panel. 

  If you have any additional questions or would like more information about how our testing works, please feel free to reach out to our team directly.

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/23/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 ordered a new Rmbark DNA testing kit. They sent one that is expired. The company knowingly sends bad kits and states that they are, in fact, less functional and degraded. They expect customers to take the garbage they send instead of the degraded kits that were paid for. They refuse replacements or refunds until pressed multiple times. They replace with equally expired kits, refusing to honor h the e contract we made or issue replacements or refunds. They are defrauding customers in a large scale and have written a response in their website FAQ which states that they expect customer to try the kits on the off chance they might work. They are knowingly stealing from customers.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/05/2024

  I have not heard from the business regarding their policy of scamming customers.