Updated Review of 23andMe Services

Sometime ago I had posted a preliminary review of 23andMe Personal Genome Services. Since some time has elapsed and I have finally had time to explore all that they have to offer, I thought I would post an updated review.

First let me say that if I were to give this company a star rating with a ten being top notch and excellent and a 1 being the most awful company on the face of this planet, I would have to give them a 9.

The reason that I do not rate them a 10 overall is their lack of Customer Service.  From my experience that seems to be the number one overall complaint that I have gathered from what time I have spent on the forums and on their Facebook wall. First, they only offer contact for their customers via an email support system. It sometimes results in a cookie cutter response. They do have a phone number but it is well buried and hidden on their site. They do not advertise a phone number at all. They want their customers to correspond via email only.

My thoughts on that alone are not good. When I as a consumer want to do business with someone online, the first thing I do is check out their contact information. Why do I do that? Because I want to rest assured should I encounter a problem with my order, I am going to be able to contact customer service in order to have my concerns rectified. I, as a customer should not have to search high and low to find a phone number or an email address or some other form of contact. If I do, I will likely deem the business as shady and take my business elsewhere.

My number one thoughts on running a company of any size is the importance of interacting with your customer base on a personal level. We as consumers want to know that our concerns are being addressed and that we get that level of service we would were we to walk into a brick and mortar store.

To sum it up, 23andMe lacks on this aspect only.  Now, for the good things. I feel they offer a wonderful product and the lack of customer service at this point is not enough to make me walk away. I have already had my test ran and gotten my results back a few months ago. I am currently in the final stages of waiting for hubby's results to come through.

I realize that it appears their recent reduction in price has allowed them to attract more customers which it clearly seems that they were not prepared for. All in all, I think it is a great service and I highly recommend it.  If you start this venture just be sure you have the patience to see it through because it can take in excess of 6-8 weeks currently before you get your results.