Weve all been there before.
You forget to cancel a subscription and it auto-renews, charging you for something you dont even use anymore.
But what happens when you know you canceled the subscription and still get charged?
Illustration: Vicky Leta/Gizmodo
Thats what some23andMecustomers allege.
And many say the genetics testing company still refuses to give them a refund.
Strangely, many insist they did cancel before the renewal date.
Or, if 23andMe doesnt consider them problems, theyre business practices that the average American would consider unfair.
Our policy with regard to refunds is that payments for kits and/or membership services are non-refundable.
We do not provide refunds or credits for partially used membership periods, the 23andMe spokesperson wrote late Thursday.
Many tech businesses have developed a subscription model over the past decade that comes with both positives and negatives.
But we all know the downsides.
And the consumer complaints about 23andMe filed with the FTC are in that same vein.
Below weve pulled 25 complaints that help give an idea of what challenges customers say theyre facing.
I never received any other communication from them, nor did any money get refunded to my credit card.
2) I immediately logged in, thinking I was hacked.
I was asked to try a service on 23andMe over a year ago.
I saw no benefit to the service, so I did not set my account to auto-renew.
My wife mentioned we were charged $99 from the company.
I immediately logged in, thinking I was hacked.
I went on their Contact Us page and clicked their Chat icon.
Considering I hadnt used it, I felt I would receive a full refund.
The chat person said they may deduct some, considering a few days had passed since it auto-renewed.
I found this odd since thats usually included in an email from chat.
I have since deleted my entire account even for the free services they provide.
I want my $99 refunded.
However, I was STILL charged for a renewal.
I did not authorize this.
I did not receive any emails telling me that I was going to be charged again.
I turned it off 11 months earlier.
Based on all of the complaints I see here and online, this is a terribly unethical company.
You CANNOT charge people who have turned off renewal.
4) Which is a load of garbage…
I have the same complaint it seems everyone else has.
Was charged a $29.99 fee for something I dont remember ever signing up for.
I dont even think Ive signed into my account in the last 11 months.
Ive asked for proof that the emails went out and havent gotten it.
Nevertheless, they charged me an annual fee on January 15, 2023.
The customer service will not refund despite their practices being predatory.
I cancelled all my recurring subscriptions on or around 11/20/2022.
I was charged the cost of an annual subscription today.
7) I am a single mother out of work for over a year.
This morning I received a $79 charge for auto renewal.
The guy I spoke with refused me a supervisor to speak to.
This is a complete scam.
This is why I cancelled last year due to my financial status.
On Saturday August 12th, I received notification that my card was charged the $69 membership fee.
I proceeded back to my account and again clicked cancel my subscription.
Then two representatives proceeded to disconnect the chat on me once they heard what the problem was.
9) This business is shady and a scam.
They said that I must have and there are no refunds.
I argued with them but they refused to help.
So I lived with the fraudulent charge from them.
I was sure to cancel the autorenew.
I deleted the email and DID NOT nudge the link.
Then the next day I received another unlawful $69.99 from 23andMe.
Again, they refused saying I must have done it since it shows I logged in.
But I only logged in so that I could use their chat and get their customer service info.
Never did I sign in before that time.
This business is shady and a scam.
I called 23andMe and spoke to a representative stating my concerns.
The cancelation and membership features were hidden in the tweaks area where the average person would never look.
Screenshot enclosed showing no such emails about renewal were found.
I further stated I was unaware that I had signed up for auto renewal.
I needed customer service to manually cancel his auto renewal for him.
I have these emails if needed.
I have a screenshot of this.
I hope this charge can be reversed.
I hope this company revises its online autorenewal policies and access to cancelation for its members.
How this is set up is a total scam.
On 4/13/23 23andMe withdrew $29 from my account for an auto-renew membership charge.
I requested proof that these emails were sent as I did not receive them.
They have stated they are unable to produce the emails in question but assure me they were sent.
If they were sent they should be able to be resent logically.
I requested a refund to which I was told it was non-refundable.
Its a shady business practice to not notify customers of an upcoming charge on a non-refundable service.
Businesses should not be able to have these types of practices.
They have this set up on an auto-renewal and non-refundable basis for a reason.
Saw a charge on my account, finally figured out how to finalize??
12) Same day I requested to cancel the membership…
Annual membership renewal charged on Dec 17th 2022.
Same day I requested to cancel the membership and refund but I got no refund due to policy.
The 23andMe+ membership is non-refundable, and we do not pro-rate memberships.
On 3/15/2023 I noticed a $29 charge from 23andMe on my Discover account.
I dont recall signing up for this service and have been charged $29 on 3/2021 and 3/2022.
However, this isnt the biggest issue.
When I attempted to investigate, or cancel any recurring charge it was IMPOSSIBLE to get through to anyone.
That one did not exist either.
When I went back to the chat, it was gone.
I was going to begin another and the button for the option to chat was gone!
So I tried the phone number.
No option for canceling a service, nor any option to speak to a representative.
This is a predatory and completely UNETHICAL practice.
I have contacted my credit card company for assistance.
And I wanted to prevent anyone also from getting into this situation.
So frustrating and so very wrong.
I want my refund and after this I will totally delete all my data they have and part ways.
Bad management and terrible service.
15) Im not sure how a business with this kind of practice is allowed to exist.
The charge was for a subscription renewal I didnt know I had signed up for.
Upon investigation, I logged into my 23andMe account to find that a trial subscription had auto renewed today.
Im not sure how they had access to charge my Apple Wallet.
I immediately requested a refund from customer care.
Upon talking to 4 representatives, 2 of which were supervisors.
They refused to reverse the transaction and give the money back.
They still continue to refuse the refund.
I believe this is a shady and misleading business practice.
I have not taken advantage of this service at all.
Im not sure how a business with this kind of practice is allowed to exist.
They treat their customers very poorly and do not listen to concerns.
This morning I was charged $69 at 6:08am.
This was completed at 6:22am.
The process to cancel was a bit cumbersome having to click through several are you sure throw in pages.
In the companys response I was told there are no refunds for the service without exception.
I decided to look further into the issue.
The credit card that was linked to the agreement was stolen back in May.
A more than 250% price increase autorenewal, and failure to refund after 14 minutes seems predatory.
17) This should be illegal!
On July 26, 2023, I was charged for renewal of my 23andMe+ membership.
I noticed the charge on August 2, 2023.
I was surprised by the charge and the fact that it was $50 more than last year.
When I contacted 23andme, their customer service refused to cancel my new membership and refund my money.
There was no offer of even a prorated refund.
Instead she started restating a prewritten script that offered no solution.
I find their stance outrageous and completely customer unfriendly.
This should be illegal!
I received an alert that I was charged $69 via Apple Wallet from 23andme.
I contacted customer care immediately.
They refuse to refund my money, even though the transaction was processed today.
I believe this charge was made under shady, manipulative and misleading business practices.
19) There was no empathy…
I cancelled my membership on the same day the membership was set to renew.
There were no indications that this could not be done on the same day as the renewal date.
I was still charged $69 for the membership fee.
There was no empathy and no willingness to escalate my request.
We utilized the 23andMe+ subscription for the first year as it was included with our purchase.
We have had nothing but issues since.
In 2021 we forgot to cancel the subscription despite not utilizing the app.
We realized that was our fault, cancelled and moved on.
We were refunded and ensured the account was closed.
We were now charged again today, 2023 for the $69 subscription fee.
I reached out to customer service and spoke with someone name Renz via chat.
I would like to reiterate there are no refunds.
21) I have tried to speak with a supervisor, but they said they have none.
23andMe charged me for a year of service on 10/29/22 for the amount of approximately $14.99.
Unbeknownst to me, they put me on auto renewal.
On 10/29/23, they charged me the amount of $69.
They claimed to have sent me a renewal notice amongst the bombardment of emails I already get from them.
I open these, but I did not see one for a renewal.
I have tried to speak with a supervisor, but they said they have none.
I also went to their website, but there is no easy way to cancel or contact them.
They are refusing to refund my money and initially refused to escalate my complaint.
I imagine they are doing this to a large number of their customers.
just help me stop their unfair pricing scheme.
22) This has to be illegal, right??
Yearly fee has been $29 the last several years.
Payment made by my PayPal account.
Today they charged $69 without my knowledge or approval.
I called and waited on hold forever and finally spoke to someone.
After 30 minutes on the phone with her they still refuse to refund.
Stating they have a no refund policy.
Well lady, I have a policy as well dont charge me for something I did not authorize.
This has to be illegal, right??
This was charged to a credit card that was previously expired.
23andMe are claiming they sent a reminder email 30 days before renewal, however no email was ever received.
I have checked all inboxes, spam, etc.
24) I made them aware that this is illegal…
I did not received an email nor a notification from the app.
In California this is an illegal practice.
25) It might be just??
$29 but this is theft.
23andMe charged me $29 to renew a membership without giving me notice.
I cancelled the membership as soon as I noticed the charge.
It might be just??
$29 but this is theft.
I want a full refund.
This is not customer service.
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