🔍 Why This Happens
After completing a plan upgrade, most accounts update instantly. However, in some cases there can be a short delay between your payment being processed by your bank or card network and Search Atlas receiving the confirmation from our payment provider. This can cause a temporary mismatch where your bank statement shows a charge but your account still displays your previous plan.
Common reasons this occurs include:
- Payment processing delay: Debit card transactions and certain bank networks can take a few minutes longer to send a confirmation signal to our billing system.
- Duplicate transaction attempt: If the payment page was refreshed or submitted more than once, a secondary charge may have been created while the plan upgrade was only partially applied.
- Trial-to-paid upgrade timing: Upgrading mid-trial can occasionally cause a sync issue between your billing date and the plan activation date.
- False failure notice: In rare cases, Search Atlas may display a "transaction failed" message even though the payment was successfully captured by your bank. This is a display error and does not mean your money was lost.
✅ What to Check First
- Wait up to 15 minutes and then refresh your Search Atlas dashboard. Most delays resolve automatically once the payment confirmation is received.
- Check your plan status by navigating to Avatar (top-right corner) → Billing (Plans & Top-ups) inside the platform. Confirm whether the plan name and feature limits have updated.
- Review your email inbox for a payment confirmation or receipt from Search Atlas. If you received a receipt, the payment was captured successfully and the plan should update shortly.
- Check for duplicate charges on your bank or card statement. If you see more than one charge for the same amount on the same date, make a note of the transaction dates and amounts before contacting support.
⚠️ When Your Plan Is Still Not Updated
If more than 30 minutes have passed and your account still shows your old plan despite a confirmed bank charge, do not attempt to pay again. A second payment attempt could result in a duplicate charge without resolving the plan issue.
Instead, gather the following information before reaching out so our team can resolve the issue as quickly as possible:
- The date and amount of the charge on your bank or card statement
- A screenshot of the transaction failed notice (if you received one)
- The plan you intended to upgrade to (for example, Growth, Pro)
- Whether you were upgrading from a free trial or a paid plan
💡 Debit Card Payments — Extra Notes
Debit cards are fully supported, but they sometimes take longer to process than credit cards because the funds are drawn directly from your bank account. If you paid with a debit card and see a pending charge on your statement rather than a completed one, your bank may still be authorising the transaction. Allow up to one business day for the charge to settle and the plan to activate.
If the charge moves from pending to completed but your plan still has not updated, contact our support team using the steps in the section below.
💰 Incorrect Charge Amount
If the amount charged does not match the price shown during checkout — for example, you were billed a different figure than the plan price displayed — do not assume this is correct. Pricing discrepancies can occur during mid-cycle upgrades due to prorated calculations, but the final amount should always be clearly communicated before you confirm payment.
Please contact our support team immediately with your bank statement and the price you expected to pay so we can investigate and, where applicable, issue a correction or refund.
🛠️ How to Get Help
If none of the steps above resolved your issue, our team is ready to investigate your account and billing record directly. 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 your transaction details ready when you start the chat so we can resolve your case as quickly as possible.