As it says on the front page, I actually got a refund from BioResolve today.  Hooray!

This morning, I woke up and read this:

Provided I actually get my refund, I will be happy to find out this company is at least making an effort.  I will be sure to inform everyone of my refund as soon as it arrives.

Below is our Bioresolve story. 

My girlfriend and I got our kits back in April and sent in our samples.  When we asked, Alexandre projected that we would have our results in 2-3 months.  When that came and went, we began the cycle of asking what the status is, and him giving some kind of excuse.  The first big one was that they had had to change laboratories, and the latest was that there was not enough DNA replicated (he seems to have said that to a number of people). [Indeed! he fed me that line a number of times!] For quite a while we were very understanding; we have friends who have done startups and know how hard it is.  But eventually we became more insistent, at which point he stopped returning emails.  The most recent reply he gave was that our results should be available the next week; that was September 20.

Today my girlfriend (by being sugary-sweet and not letting on which customer she was) was able to get through to Alexandre on the phone.  He basically blew her off with the same "we're working hard on it, and intend to give everybody their results" story.  Apparently the receptionist answered in French, and her attitude changed when my gf spoke English; we wonder whether Alexandre is only scamming US customers since we don't have much legal recourse.

It looks like Alexandre Harvey-Tremblay would love to make a quick buck from recent concern about the flu: http://www.prweb.com/releases/bioresolve/dna/prweb2386194.htm. 

Unfortunately, it seems you'll be long dead before you ever know anything about your flu susceptibility. 

I came across your blog after having a very similar response from Biosresolve - except that I got NO response to phone message, email, etc. Today, I called again and was told that the person answering, simply does that, i.e., answers the phone and sends the call on - nothing to do with the company?? I'm a child psychiatrist and read about Bioresolve and having a genome study done in the Child Psychiatry Newsletter - written by Dr. David Mrazek, a very well respected child psychiatrist. I will let him know that this "lab" takes money but is otherwise good at marketing a non-existent service. I will also report Bioresolve to the Canadian BBB, but doubt I'll ever see the $300 again.

Carol Lebeiko, M.D.

If you Google "Alexandre Harvey-Tremblay", one of the top results is a post by the BioResolve president himself on the US News and World Report website, under an article about heart disease risk testing.  Under the comments section, he posts this:
Oh, really, Alex?  BioResolve just happened to come to mind?  Why would that be?  Maybe because, uh, you f*cking work there?! 

Of course, I'm sure this isn't illegal, and maybe it's not even immoral, but I certainly don't think that this is the kind of advertising that a serious company should engage in.  It just looks childish, cheap, and pathetic. 

BioResolve received my sample on 05/19/2009.  I sent them a polite email checking on the status of my results on 08/12.  I got an email back from Alexandre Harvey-Tremblay, the company's president, saying that they'd be ready soon.  He also attached an authorization form that he said I needed to sign to get my results. I signed it and faxed it back to him, and later he emailed me a scanned copy of the signed document.

On 09/09, I emailed them again, asking where my results were.  He said my "results will be available very soon."  However, he replied to the same email chain to which my authorization was attached, and he asked for me to sign an authorization for again!  Not a big deal by itself, but this is when I started to realize that this company wasn't exactly right.

On 09/24, he said "The laboratory is working full time on your sample therefore the results will be available in days."

I emailed him this on 10/31:


I got no response.  So on 11/04 I called the number on the website and left a message.  No reply.  On 11/05, I sent another email, and I called a different number, listed on a different website, and left a message in Harvey-Tremblay's personal voicemail, telling him that I was thinking about having my lawyer handle this.  Suddenly, I get an email from Harvey-Tremblay's saying "Your clinical report is ready and is attached to this email."  No apology.  No explanation.  I thought the guy was an ass, but at least I got my report, right?

Wrong.  It turns out that it's just a small fraction of the report.  I email him back asking what's going on?  He says that that is the most important part of the report but that the rest is coming soon. 

On 11/10, I email and call him again.  No response.  I email and call again on 11/11.  No reponse. 

Finally, I file a BBB report on 11/12, and I call him again, telling his secretary to tell him that I filed a complaint and am disputing the charge on my credit card.  No response. 

So, I made this website to find out if other people are getting screwed.  If BioResolve has taken your money, please let me know so I can post your story here, and please file a BBB complaint here.