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🔍 Identifying the Charge A custom invoice charge like $279.30 may appear due to a billing system error, such as an incorrect charge on a child account or a custom pricing deal not being applied properly. These charges are often linked to subscription overages, migration issues, or duplicate subscriptions. ⚙️ What Causes These Charges Common causes include: custom pricing not applied on self-serve plans, overbilling from un-consolidated recurring topups, duplicate base subscriptions from past due re-checkouts, or Stripe price reversion on Enterprise plans. Engineering tracks these via tickets like double charges, overbilling spikes, and custom deal application failures. 🛠️ How Refunds Are Handled When an incorrect charge is confirmed, the amount is removed from Stripe and a full refund is issued to the original payment method. Refunds typically reflect within 5–10 business days. No action is needed from you once the refund is processed. 📊 Verifying the Refund Check your original payment method after 10 business days. The refund will appear as a credit from Search Atlas. If it does not appear, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Billing: Trials & Auto-Renewals

💳 VIP Trial Auto-Renewal Charge Explained

🎯 Why the Charge Appeared When you registered for the VIP seminar access at $90, a 7-day free trial was included as part of the offer. This trial automatically converts to a paid monthly subscription at the end of the trial period unless you cancel it before the trial expires. The $200 charge reflects the first monthly billing cycle of that subscription. 📋 Refund Policy Terms According to company policy, all subscription sales are final. Refund eligibility is strictly limited to requests made within 48 hours of the initial transaction. Since the charge occurred after the trial period ended, it falls outside the 48-hour window and is not eligible for a refund. 🔍 How to Verify Your Trial Details 1. Log in to your account and navigate to the billing or subscription section. 2. Locate the subscription linked to your VIP seminar registration. 3. Check the trial start date, end date, and the date the paid subscription began. 4. Confirm whether the trial was active at the time of your VIP purchase. ⚙️ Cancel Future Renewals To prevent further charges, cancel the subscription before the next billing cycle. Go to Top-right corner (avatar) → Billing → Plans & Top-ups tab, select the active subscription, and choose the cancellation option. You will retain access until the end of the current billing period. 💬 Need Further Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Billing: Unexpected & Duplicate Charges

💳 Unexpected Charge During Your 7-Day Trial

🔍 What Happened Some customers who signed up for a 7-day free trial were charged immediately instead of at the end of the trial period. This was caused by a billing issue that has since been resolved — plan upgrade charges are now correctly deferred until after the free trial ends. If you were charged during your trial and did not expect to be billed, you are entitled to a refund. ✅ What to Do If You Were Charged Because refunds require action from our billing team, you cannot process this entirely on your own — but contacting us is quick and straightforward. Follow these steps: 1. Check your payment records. Confirm the charge amount and the date it appeared on your bank statement or card. 2. Contact our support team immediately. Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team. 3. Share your details. Let the agent know the amount charged, the date of the charge, and that it occurred during your 7-day free trial. The more detail you provide, the faster your request can be processed. 💰 What to Expect After You Request a Refund Once your refund request is reviewed and approved by our billing team, here is what happens: - Refund amount: The full amount incorrectly charged will be returned. - Refund method: The refund is returned to your original payment method. - Timeframe: Refunds typically appear within 5–10 business days, depending on your bank or payment provider. In some cases it may take slightly longer to reflect on your statement. 🛠️ Is This Issue Fixed? Yes. Our engineering team has deployed a fix so that plan upgrade charges are now deferred to the end of the 7-day free trial rather than being collected immediately at sign-up. New customers starting a trial should no longer experience this unexpected charge. ❓ Still Have Questions If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Cancel: With a Refund Request

💡 Refund and Cancellation for Charges Without Account Access

🔍 Understand the Situation If you are being charged each month but cannot sign in or reach your account, the billing system may still have an active subscription attached to your payment method. This can happen when login credentials are lost, the account was created with a different email, or a technical issue prevents access. 🛠️ Steps to Resolve 1. Gather your billing details: locate the recent charge receipts or bank statements showing the amount, date, and payment method used. 2. Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team. 3. Provide the support agent with the charge information and explain that you cannot access the account to cancel the subscription yourself. 4. The agent will review the billing records and, if eligible, issue a refund for the most recent charges and cancel the subscription on your behalf. 5. Confirm with the agent that the refund has been processed to your original payment method and that no further charges will occur. 📋 What to Expect Based on previous cases, the support team can grant a one-time exception refund for the latest billing periods and confirm the subscription is fully cancelled. Refunds are returned to the original payment method. The agent will provide the refund amount and confirmation details during the chat. 💡 Tips to Avoid Future Issues - Save your login credentials in a secure password manager. - Use an email address you actively monitor for account notifications. - If you change team members or ownership, update the account email in the Account Menu (avatar) → Settings → Email Settings. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Cancel: With a Refund Request

💡 Understanding Refund Eligibility for Pre-Cancellation Charges

📋 Why Your Charge Was Not Refunded If you cancelled your subscription but still received a bill, the charge was likely processed before your cancellation took effect. Our system processes payments based on the billing cycle date, not the cancellation request date. When a payment is successfully captured prior to cancellation, it falls outside the refund eligibility window defined in our refund policy. 🔍 How Billing Timing Works Your subscription renews automatically on the same date each month or year. If you request cancellation after that renewal date has passed, the charge for that period has already been processed. For example, if your billing date is the 11th of each month and you cancel on the 23rd, the charge from the 11th covers service through the next billing cycle and is not eligible for a refund. 📜 Refund Policy Summary Refund requests must be submitted within the eligibility window specified in our refund policy. Charges that were successfully processed before a cancellation takes effect do not qualify for refunds, as the service was available and active during that billing period. The policy applies consistently to all customers to ensure fair and transparent billing practices. ✅ What You Can Do To avoid unexpected charges, cancel your subscription several days before your next billing date. You can view your billing cycle date in the subscription or billing section of your account. After cancellation, you will retain access until the end of the current paid period, but no further charges will occur. 💬 Need Further Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Refund Policy & Eligibility

💳 Refund for Unexpected Free Trial Charge

🔍 Why You Were Charged Search Atlas offers a 7-day free trial for new accounts only. If you previously used a free trial on this email address or account, a new trial will not apply and the subscription begins immediately with a charge. In the case our team reviewed, the customer had an earlier trial on March 10, 2026, so the recent sign-up started a paid plan right away. 🛠️ Steps to Resolve 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Go to Billing via the top-right corner avatar menu and cancel the active plan to stop future charges. 3. Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team. 4. Request a refund for the charge, referencing that you were not eligible for a new free trial due to a prior trial. 💡 Refund Details Once approved, the refund is issued to the original payment method. Refunds typically reflect within 5–10 business days. The amount refunded matches the charge (e.g., $99 for a monthly Pro plan). ⚙️ Prevent Future Issues Before starting a new sign-up, check your email history for past trial confirmations from Search Atlas. Only first-time accounts qualify for the free trial. If you are unsure, contact support via the chat widget before entering payment details.

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