🔍 Overview
If you cancelled your Search Atlas subscription and still received charges after your cancellation date, you are not alone. A small number of customers were affected by a billing system issue that, in some cases, continued charging accounts after a valid cancellation was confirmed. This article explains what happened, how to verify your situation, and the steps to request a full refund.
⚠️ Why Post-Cancellation Charges Can Occur
Our engineering team identified and resolved several billing-related issues that could cause charges to continue after cancellation. These include:
- Duplicate subscriptions: In certain cases, a second subscription was created in our billing system alongside the original cancelled one, causing ongoing charges to resume.
- Re-checkout on a past-due account: Customers who attempted to reactivate or re-enter checkout while their account was in a past-due state sometimes had a second active subscription created in error.
- Stripe account sync issues: A known discrepancy between internal account records and Stripe meant that cancellations were not always fully reflected in the payment processor, resulting in continued billing.
- Billing migration side effects: During a platform billing migration, a small number of add-ons and base plans were incorrectly re-activated.
All of the above root causes have been identified and resolved by our engineering team. If you were affected, any charges made after your confirmed cancellation date are eligible for a full refund.
✅ How to Confirm You Were Affected
Before reaching out, gather the following information to help our team process your refund quickly:
- Locate your cancellation confirmation email from Search Atlas. This confirms the date your plan was officially cancelled.
- Check your bank or credit card statement for any Search Atlas charges made on or after your cancellation date. Note each charge amount and date.
- Log in to your Search Atlas account and navigate to the top-right avatar menu → Billing (Invoices tab) to review your invoice history. If charges appear there that post-date your cancellation, this confirms the discrepancy.
If you have a cancellation confirmation and one or more charges occurred after that date, you are entitled to a refund for those amounts.
💰 What You Can Expect in a Refund
Our team will review all charges made after your confirmed cancellation date and issue a full refund for each one. Refunds are returned to the original payment method used at the time of billing. Please allow 5–10 business days for the refund to appear, depending on your bank or card provider.
If multiple charges occurred across several billing cycles (for example, on consecutive months), each charge will be individually reviewed and refunded where applicable.
🛠️ How to Request Your Refund
- Gather your cancellation confirmation and a list of the disputed charges (dates and amounts).
- Log in to your Search Atlas account.
- 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.
- Share your cancellation confirmation date and the charge details. Our team will verify the billing records and initiate the refund on your behalf.
Having your charge dates and amounts ready will significantly speed up the resolution process.
🔒 How We Have Fixed This
Our engineering team has deployed hotfixes and live remediations to address all identified billing issues. Specifically:
- Duplicate subscription creation during re-checkout flows has been patched.
- Stripe account synchronisation has been corrected to ensure cancellations are fully reflected in the payment processor.
- Safeguards have been added to prevent billing migration events from re-activating cancelled plans or add-ons.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused. Protecting the accuracy of your billing is a top priority, and we are committed to making this right for every affected customer.
❓ 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.
Additional Notes
Billing cycle timing: If a charge occurs within hours of your cancellation, it may have been triggered at the start of a new billing cycle before the cancellation was processed. Charges that fall in this window are sometimes unavoidable but are typically eligible for a refund.
End-of-cycle billing: charges for a period already begun before cancellation; cancellation timing near renewal date; add-on/top-up charges (e.g. OTTO credits) on separate billing triggers; multiple payment methods (e.g. Shopify integration + credit card) causing charges on both sources.
Stacked recurring top-ups, old payment method still active after migration, and refund issued without subscription cancellation (allowing charge to recur next billing period). Also: gather invoice numbers (e.g. LENSRESR-0004), card last four digits, and any chat transcript/reference number confirming billing would stop.
OTTO add-on or top-up still active: Canceling your main plan does not always automatically stop an active OTTO top-up, which may continue charging monthly until explicitly removed. Also: confusing cancellation confirmation email with charge failure/downgrade-to-Free subject line is a known labeling issue and does not mean cancellation failed.
Explicitly request that the support agent: (1) void any invoices charged after your cancellation date. Also clarifies that email-based cancellation requests may not be directly linked to the billing system and require internal processing to fully take effect.