🔍 Why Did This Charge Appear?
We understand how alarming it can be to see an unexpected charge on your account. A $199 charge typically appears for one of the following reasons:
- Accidental plan activation: A plan may have been started unintentionally during sign-up or while exploring the platform.
- Duplicate billing: In rare cases, a known technical issue caused some accounts to be billed twice due to a checkout error. Our engineering team has since resolved this.
- Shared account access: Someone with access to your account may have initiated a subscription.
- Trial-to-paid conversion: A free trial may have converted to a paid plan automatically if a payment method was on file.
✅ How to Check Your Subscription Status
Before requesting a refund, verify your current subscription so you have all the details ready:
- Log in to your Search Atlas account.
- Click your profile icon in the top-right corner.
- Navigate to Billing & Subscription.
- Review your active plan, billing date, and charge history.
- Take note of the charge amount, date, and any active plan names — you will need these when contacting support.
💡 What Qualifies for a Refund?
Refund eligibility is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Charges are generally eligible for a refund if:
- You did not knowingly activate or authorise the subscription.
- The charge is the result of a verified platform error or duplicate billing.
- The request is submitted promptly after the charge appears.
Charges that were part of an active, intentionally selected plan are not typically eligible for a refund unless a billing error is confirmed.
🛠️ How to Request a Refund
To request a refund for an unauthorised $199 charge, follow these steps:
- Gather your billing details: the exact charge amount, the date it appeared, and the last four digits of the card that was charged.
- Log in to Search Atlas and open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform.
- Type human teammate to be connected with a member of our support team.
- Explain that you received an unexpected $199 charge and would like to request a refund and cancellation.
- Share the billing details you gathered in step one so the team can locate your transaction quickly.
Our team will investigate the charge, confirm whether a billing error occurred, and process an eligible refund as quickly as possible.
⏱️ How Long Does a Refund Take?
Once our team confirms your refund is approved, the timeline is as follows:
- Refund initiated: Within 1–3 business days of confirmation.
- Funds returned: Typically within 5–10 business days, depending on your bank or card provider.
You will receive confirmation from our team once the refund has been processed on our end.
🔒 How to Prevent Future Unexpected Charges
To avoid unintended charges going forward, we recommend the following:
- Review your active subscriptions and add-ons regularly in the Billing & Subscription section.
- Remove any saved payment methods you no longer wish to use.
- If multiple people have access to your account, review their permissions under account settings.
- Enable billing notifications so you are alerted before any charge is processed.
🤝 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.