🔍 Why This Happens
In some cases, customers who canceled their Search Atlas subscription have reported seeing a $199 charge appear on their billing statement shortly after cancellation. This is not intentional. The charge is typically caused by a billing system timing issue — specifically, a duplicate or delayed subscription event that triggers a payment even after your account has been marked as canceled.
Our engineering team has identified and resolved the root cause of this bug. However, if you were affected before the fix was deployed, the charge may still appear on your statement.
📋 Common Reasons for the Charge
- Billing timing gap: Your cancellation was processed, but a scheduled billing cycle had already been queued and could not be stopped in time.
- Duplicate subscription event: A known bug caused some accounts to generate a second base subscription charge during checkout or account status changes.
- Account status conflict: In rare cases, an account flagged as past due triggered a re-billing attempt even after cancellation was confirmed.
✅ What You Should Do
- Check your cancellation confirmation: Look for a cancellation email or in-platform notification confirming your subscription was ended before the charge date.
- Note the charge date and amount: Find the exact date and amount on your bank or credit card statement. A screenshot is helpful.
- Contact our support team immediately: Our team can verify your account history, confirm the charge was an error, and process your refund.
💰 Refund Policy for Erroneous Charges
If the $199 charge occurred after a confirmed cancellation, you are entitled to a full refund. Search Atlas does not charge customers for periods following a valid cancellation. Once our team verifies the charge against your account history, the refund is processed promptly. Refund timelines depend on your payment provider but typically appear within 5–10 business days.
You will receive confirmation of the refund once it has been issued. Please keep this confirmation for your records.
🛡️ How We Prevent This Going Forward
Our engineering team has shipped targeted fixes to address the billing issues that caused these erroneous charges. These updates include:
- Improved safeguards to prevent duplicate subscription events during checkout and account status changes.
- Better synchronization between cancellation events and active billing queues.
- Additional monitoring to catch and flag unexpected charge attempts on canceled accounts before they are processed.
If you are a current subscriber, your billing should not be affected. If you notice any unexpected charges on an active account, please report them right away.
🙋 Still Seeing the Charge or Need a Refund?
If you were charged $199 after canceling your subscription and need a refund or written confirmation, our team is ready to 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.
Please have the following ready to speed up your request:
- The email address associated with your Search Atlas account.
- The date you canceled your subscription.
- The date and amount of the disputed charge.
- A screenshot of the charge from your bank or card statement (optional but helpful).