If your sample fails processing twice, you can get a refund minus shipping and handling, but only if you agree never to resubmit through a new purchase. Known data errors that occur even in successful processing are explicitly excluded from any refund entitlement.
This analysis describes what 23andMe's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The refund offered after two failed processing attempts is conditional on you giving up your right to ever resubmit a sample, and separately, no refund is available for known data quality errors even when they affect your results. These are meaningful limits on your consumer remedies.
Interpretive note: The enforceability of the condition requiring users to never resubmit as a prerequisite for a refund, and the exclusion of refunds for known data errors, may be limited by statutory consumer protection rights in multiple served jurisdictions.
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If your saliva sample cannot be processed after two attempts, you receive a refund minus shipping but must agree to never purchase the service again. Additionally, if your results contain known data errors, the terms state you are not entitled to any refund for those errors, which may conflict with consumer protection rights in some jurisdictions.
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"If the second attempt to process the sample is unsuccessful, (up to 0.65% of all samples fail the second attempt at testing according to 23andMe data obtained in 2019 for all genotype testing),* 23andMe will not send additional sample collection kits and the user will be entitled solely and exclusively to a complete refund of the amount paid to 23andMe, less shipping and handling, provided the user shall not resubmit another sample through a future purchase of the Service. Note: If the user breaches this policy agreement and resubmits another sample through a future purchase of the Service and processing is not successful, 23andMe will not offer to reprocess the sample or provide the user a refund. Even for processing that meets our high standards, a small, unknown fraction of the data generated during the laboratory process may be un-interpretable or incorrect (referred to as 'Errors'). As this possibility is known in advance, users are not entitled to refunds where these Errors occur.— Excerpt from 23andMe's 23andMe Terms of Service
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This refund limitation provision engages consumer protection and distance selling frameworks in each served jurisdiction. In Australia, the Australian Consumer Law provides statutory guarantees for services that cannot be excluded by contract, including that services must be fit for purpose and delivered with due care and skill. Similar protections exist in New Zealand, Singapore, and many European countries served by this international version. The condition that a refund is contingent on the user forgoing future service purchases may be evaluated as an unfair contract term under applicable consumer law. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The clause that excludes refunds for known data errors ('As this possibility is known in advance, users are not entitled to refunds where these Errors occur') is operationally unusual. Pre-disclosing a known failure mode and using that disclosure to defeat a refund claim is a risk management approach whose enforceability under consumer protection law is uncertain and may vary significantly by jurisdiction. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: Australia, New Zealand, and UK consumers (though UK has a separate ToS version, the international version may be accessed by UK-adjacent jurisdictions) have statutory rights that may override contractual refund limitations. The condition requiring the user to never resubmit a sample as a prerequisite for receiving a refund may constitute an unfair contract term under national consumer law in several served markets. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: The refund policy references 23andMe data from 2019 to characterize failure rates, which may not reflect current laboratory performance. Compliance teams should assess whether this dated data point creates any disclosure adequacy concern under applicable law. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Legal teams should evaluate whether the refund limitation and the error exclusion clause comply with statutory consumer guarantees in each jurisdiction where the international service is sold. The requirement that users forfeit the right to future purchase as a condition of receiving a refund should be reviewed under unfair contract term frameworks in Australia, Singapore, and other served markets.
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The refund offered after two failed processing attempts is conditional on you giving up your right to ever resubmit a sample, and separately, no refund is available for known data quality errors even when they affect your results. These are meaningful limits on your consumer remedies.
If your saliva sample cannot be processed after two attempts, you receive a refund minus shipping but must agree to never purchase the service again. Additionally, if your results contain known data errors, the terms state you are not entitled to any refund for those errors, which may conflict with consumer protection rights in some jurisdictions.
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