Refunds and cancellations

The short version

You pay for analytical testing, not a particular result. Cancel before we receive your sample and the testing fee comes back. After receipt, fees for work performed or committed are not refundable, except in the cases below or where the law requires a refund.

Orders accepted before September 23, 2026 keep the Gold Standard guarantee they were sold with: the affected panel fee is refunded if we miss the quoted report date, or if an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory materially contradicts our result on the retained sample.

Before we receive your sample

• Cancel any time before the package is received and logged in: full refund of the testing fee. The shipping label is kept only if the carrier has already scanned the package: the label line on your order, at the carrier rate shown at checkout (or, on an order without a label line, what the label actually cost). Otherwise the label line is refunded with the testing fee.
• Refunds return to the original payment method, usually within 5 to 10 business days for cards and wallets and 2 to 3 for ACH. Cryptocurrency is refunded as the US dollar amount due, less network fees.

If the sample is not checked in within 30 days

No laboratory check-in within 30 calendar days after the first carrier possession scan: we refund the full remaining paid order amount and cancel the order, with no deduction for used shipping. Carrier delivery is not laboratory check-in and confirmed carrier loss is not required. We verify receiving and testing records and prior payment/refund activity before returning money to the original payment method. Payments that cannot be returned automatically are handled by the team. This additional policy does not remove rights under the agreement accepted for your order.

After we receive your sample

• Once a sample is logged in, prepared or sent to a partner laboratory, work has begun and fees are not refundable except as described here.
• Too little material: if a container holds too little for a requested test, we contact you before proceeding. You can send more material or drop that test for a refund of its fee.
• Mismatched lot numbers pause the order until you confirm. If you cancel then, the fee is refunded less a $35 handling charge.
• Do not send controlled or other prohibited material. Unsafe or prohibited material is handled, isolated or disposed of as required by law; any lawful deduction is explained and statutory refund rights remain.

What does not trigger a refund

• A missed turnaround estimate, or a test that takes longer than expected within its 180-day service window.
• Carrier, customs or transfer delays before the 30-day missing-receipt rule applies.
• A failed or repeated run, an instrument or software problem, or an alternative method.
• A result that is failing, unwanted, inconclusive or qualified. A failing result is a result: it is published like any other and the fee is earned.
• A different result from another laboratory. Use the analytical review below instead.
• A regulator, marketplace, retailer or anyone else declining to accept a report.

Rush fees

Expedited and priority service buy priority handling and a shorter target. If we issue neither the report nor a qualified outcome for a rush-tier test by its rush target, the rush surcharge for that test is refunded. The base testing fee is not. A hold while we wait on you extends the target.

If we cannot complete a test

Turnaround is typically less than one week from the Ready-for-Testing Date. Certain compounds and tests may take 14–21 days. These typical times are estimates, not guaranteed completion dates. The contractual Service Window is up to 180 calendar days from the day the test is ready for testing, subject to the holds and extensions described in the Terms. If that window passes with no report or qualified outcome, tell us in writing and we have 15 business days to complete the test, rerun it, use another method or laboratory, issue a qualified outcome, or credit its fee. If we cannot provide the test at all, its fee is refunded.

If you think a result is wrong

Tell us while we still hold your retained sample (about 90 days after the report). We re-check the raw data and calculations and, where warranted, rerun the retained material, use a second method or send it to another laboratory. If we made a material error we correct or retract the certificate publicly, and if the error cannot be fixed by correction or rerun, we credit or refund that test.

UPS door pickups

• The pickup fee is refunded if you cancel before 8 PM Central the evening before, if we cannot book the pickup, if the box is dropped off at UPS instead before the pickup date, or if a missed pickup is neither rebooked nor collected within 48 hours.
• One free rebooking is offered after a missed pickup. A pickup fee is not a guarantee of collection time or delivery.

Group pools

• The funding method is disclosed before contribution. Contributions may be charged immediately with a refund if the pool does not proceed; an authorization-only model applies only where explicitly offered.
• Cryptocurrency contributions settle on chain immediately and are refunded to the sending address, minus network fees, if the pool misses.
• Once a pool fills and shares are captured, the refund rules above apply pro rata to every share.
• An organizer who cancels a filled pool before shipping owes the label cost; contributors are refunded in full.

Equipment shop and marketplace

• Items sold by Gold Standard Analytics: the return policy stated on each listing applies as written. Listings marked "Used, operation unverified" or "as-is" are sold as pictured with no warranty and no return for non-function; a listing must say "30-day DOA" for that guarantee to apply. New items carry the manufacturer warranty only.
• Freight damage must be noted on the carrier receipt and reported within 48 hours with photographs.
• Items sold by marketplace sellers: the seller’s stated return terms apply. Funds are held by the lab and released to the seller five business days after confirmed delivery; disputes opened in that window are resolved by the lab and refunded from the held funds where the item is not as described.
• Misdescription: if a lab-sold item materially differs from its listing, report within 5 business days of delivery with photographs for a full refund on return; buyer pays return freight unless the error is ours.

How to request a refund

Email team@goldstandardanalytics.com or use your account with the order number or accession. We acknowledge within one business day. Nothing on this page limits a right the law does not allow us to waive. Effective October 1, 2026.