Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased a five room kit, thinking I could test two rooms, have mold remediation performed, and retest after mold remediation. Buyers can only use one test kit per laboratory testing submission. If you do not plan to test five rooms at the same time, do not buy the five room kit. I mistakenly thought that I could do two rooms prior to mold remediation, and two rooms afterward, but this is not possible since only one control canister is included in this kit and a control canister must be submitted with any other exposed canisters for each lab submission thereby limiting the number of times a buyer can send in exposed canisters to one per purchased kit, unless more canisters are purchased. I also was mistaken that I could use the kit to find out whether or not toxic mold (a black mold strain) was present, but the lab report does not reveal the specific mold strains present, only whether or not mold is present. If buyers wish to use the kit post-mold remediation to ensure that remediation efforts were successful, they are warned: "My Mold Detective (MMD) should not be used to verify if remediation activities are successful." The highest cost is not the kit itself, it is the lab charges. As another commenter pointed out, this fee is disclosed “right there” so be certain to read that it will cost $35 per canister (wording used on Amazon’s website is per “sample” which I misconstrued to equate to a statistical sample size, which can include a varying and vast number). To be clear, the reference to sample means 1 test canister @ $35 each for laboratory testing. For this 5 room kit, that will cost buyers $210 for one submission of all five canisters (four test canisters and one control (outside) canister). My kit was missing return envelopes. Although I sent an email to the vendor - Showerdoordirect - its reply was to contact the manufacturer. I asked for an address to pay for the mailing of the canisters but was not given one. The manufacturer provided the lab address but stated that I needed to pay for the mailing costs - there were no prepaid mailing labels in-house. I ultimately hired an Environmental Solutions company for $700 to test for more than just mold. I needed a professional assessment for any harmful bacteria or the presence of any toxic substances in the air and in the exposed soil (my concrete basement slab had been jack hammered up to replace pipes and install a French drain). The environmental engineer told me that there is mold present in the air in almost all buildings particularly basements so mold kits should show a presence of mold (if the screening kit is working well and the collection and testing is performed properly). The goal is to discover whether or not the mold is a strain that is toxic to humans/pets. But this was a professional testing company with a laboratory designed to detect the strain of mold and other harmful bacteria, etc. This kit does not specify the strain of mold.