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Pass guarantee

The pass guarantee is the strongest commitment ClaudeLab makes: complete the full roadmap, hit every readiness condition, sit the exam — and if you do not pass, you get a full refund of the Exam Ready plan.

This page is the reference for how it actually works.

The five conditions​

Eligibility is checked by a database function, check_guarantee_eligibility(), which runs every time you complete a milestone validation. All five conditions must be true at once. None of them are judged manually — every check reads from your account data.

1. Every milestone completed​

Every milestone on your roadmap must be in completed status. Not active, not validation-ready, not failed, not restructured — completed.

2. Every phase completed​

Every phase on your roadmap must be in completed status. A phase only completes when all its milestones are completed.

3. At least 2 mock exams passed​

You must have at least two mock exam attempts where your score is greater than or equal to the certification's passing score (typically 70%). Mock attempts below the passing score do not count, and a single high score does not satisfy the rule — you need two distinct passing attempts.

4. At least 1 gauntlet passed at 80%+​

You must have completed at least one gauntlet session with accuracy of 80% or higher. The gauntlet is a long-form exam-conditions session unlocked at 80% readiness — see the Gauntlet page for details.

5. Readiness score ≥ 80​

Your live readiness score for the certification must be at least 80 at the moment the eligibility check runs. Because readiness can decay, this condition must be true when you sit the exam — not just at some peak point in the past.

When all five hold, ARIA flips guarantee_eligible to true on your roadmap, and the dashboard surfaces an "exam-ready" indicator.

The 60-day exam window​

Once you become eligible, you have a finite window to actually sit the exam. The plan presents this at purchase, and it does not extend automatically. If you let it lapse without sitting the exam, the guarantee no longer applies — but your readiness, milestones, and roadmap remain intact, and you can re-enroll.

If you sit the exam and fail​

If you have all five conditions, you sat the exam within the window, and you did not pass — you are entitled to a full refund of the Exam Ready plan price. Process:

  1. Email support@claudelab.me from the email on your account.
  2. Include your Paddle transaction ID (visible on your purchase receipt).
  3. Attach proof of the failed attempt — typically the official score report or pass/fail certificate from the certifying body.

I respond within 2 business days. Approved refunds are processed by Paddle and typically reach your card or PayPal within 5–10 business days.

The full policy lives at /billing/pass-guarantee-refund.

What does not qualify​

The pass guarantee does not apply if:

  • You did not complete every milestone (any milestone left in failed, restructured, or active status disqualifies).
  • Your readiness was below 80 at exam time (decay matters — the score must be live).
  • You did not pass the mock-exam or gauntlet thresholds.
  • You sat the exam outside the 60-day window.
  • You used a different certification than the one your roadmap was built for.

These rules are not negotiation surface. The point of the guarantee is that the bar is objective — every condition is verified from data, not interpretation. If the eligibility flag is true, the refund is yours. If it is false, the path is to keep working until it flips.

Why I run it this way​

The guarantee is a promise that ClaudeLab works. If it pays out, I want it to pay out cleanly — no friction, no judgement calls. If it does not pay out, that is the system telling you there was still work to do, and I would rather you finish that work than negotiate around it. Both outcomes are fair only if the conditions are mechanical. They are.