Went to purchase a test kit and realized it was incorrect. Tried to cancel the order and as an impossible to get a hold of anyone, they do not answer their phone. They do not respond to messages via email. They do not respond to messages via chat avoid this company at all cost.
GI
Gina
Here's proof Embark is not as reliable as Wisdom Panel.
We have used Wisdom Panel for all of our dogs in the past. We decided to try out Embark, paid $139 for our kit. The QR code does not work and there is no way to use this kit without scanning that QR code. The only way to contact Embark is via their website, which we have many many times in the past few days. No answer. We want our money back so we can switch back to the more reliable Wisdom Panel.
MW
Michelle W.
Expected More
For a $199 kit (DNA + Health), I expected the pre-paid return mailer to use USPS Priority Mail with faster delivery, but it was just standard snail mail. I shipped both of my dogs’ kits on the morning of 6/23. One was received on 6/26, scanned into their lab on 6/29, and results were shared on 7/10—just under a 3-week turnaround, which isn’t bad.
Assuming both swabs arrived together, I emailed customer service on 6/29 to ask why only one had been scanned. Turns out, despite dropping them off at the same time and place, the second kit took a more scenic route and wasn’t delivered until 7/2—a full week later. Even then, it wasn’t scanned into their lab until 7/8. I’m still waiting on those results. It’s disappointing, especially since I hoped to receive both sets of results at the same time and share the news together.
As for the results I did receive, they included the three breeds I suspected—plus five more, two of which seem questionable.
The health upgrade wasn’t worth the extra cost in my opinion. The information provided is breed-related and fairly generic—stuff I could have looked up myself. For example, if your dog is 11% German Shepherd and 89% Poodle, the report lists health conditions common to both breeds without considering the DNA proportion.
To their credit, customer service responded within 24 hours of my inquiry and gave me a $5 promo code for the delay. Still, that small gesture isn’t enough to make me consider purchasing again.
MC
Marcela C.
I paid $99 expecting a proper breed…
I paid $99 expecting a proper breed breakdown, ancestry map, or at least some insight about my dog. Instead, I got a vague label:
"100% Costa Rica Village Dog"
Which translates to: we don’t know what your dog is, and we didn’t try that hard.
They don’t warn you that their database is U.S.-centric and won’t work well for mixed breeds outside of North America. There is no breed composition, no percentages, no family tree. Just a vague write-up and a generic sketch of a dog.
If your dog is from Latin America, or really anywhere not represented in their database, this test will be useless. And they won’t tell you that beforehand.
I feel misled and disappointed. Save your money. Embark should be more transparent about what their test can and cannot detect. This felt like a scam dressed up as science.
SN
Sneaks
Rip off
So not happy i placed an order and got no confirmation email I placed an order according to my bank I made a payment of 229 to embark vet dna but according to embark I never made a purchase so now im out 229 I have to report fraud now get a new card and loos out on the money so dont order from these guys unless you want to get scammed for ur money and there good at that as well not happy at all with my expierence didn't even get what I want I showed the the screen shot of my bank and the purchase and they still deny it complete waste of time
CE
Carolyn E.
Results are not accurate
Results are not accurate. Embark uses a combination of linkage based testing and assay testing. The ones that are linkage based are not reliable and when tested with a reputable lab that uses assay testing results may be different. Reason is that the tests were developed for assay testing. Horrible customer service or rather non-existent. You are unable to talk to a person and responses are standard AI replies. No real answers. Database is too narrow for rare breeds which makes results erroneous. This is a money making "con" company not a true genetic testing company.
SS
S S.
"DO NOT" use this scam of a company
"DO NOT" use this scam of a company. There is absolutely NOTHING scientific about their results, and you can't talk to anyone because all they do is email. Do your due diligence before using them. They told me I wouldn't get a refund, so I called my credit card company, and they refunded me because they didn't bother responding. So, Embark, just because you say you won't refund, you're full of it. I hope your business goes under because you are a scam. I also contacted the BBB, and they, too, did not receive an answer. They advertise that they have an outstanding rating, but if you look on the BBB, they have a -D rating, and multiple negative reviews with the same complaints. Their results are not even close to accurate. When I asked that they either retest or refund, I got a typical response of:
I'm sorry this information did not give you confidence in our results. Per our public refund policy, we are unable to provide refunds for scientifically sound results.
All the best,
Peter
Senior Genetic Results Specialist
Embark Vet
JW
J.W.
Unlawful False Advertising
Advertises a referral discount but refuses to honor it, which is illegal under California false advertising laws. If you click a referral link you get a screen that says your friend has given you $50 off, but the code they just generated doesn't work and if you contact support they say they've ended their referral program. OK, so then why does clicking a referral link still create a code and show a screen saying the code is good for $50 off?