🔍 Identify the Problem
Some customers report being invoiced monthly for OTTO AI top-up charges they never subscribed to. These "ghost" charges do not appear in the billing portal or under any active add-on in the platform. The issue is linked to a known billing-system bug (SPE-809/QPB-714) where phantom top-up events are generated and invoiced even though no OTTO AI usage or subscription exists.
📋 Gather Your Invoice Details
Before contacting support, collect the following information for every suspicious invoice:
- Invoice numbers (e.g. 54247, 54248, 54249, 74993)
- Invoice dates and amounts
- The email address used for your Search Atlas account
- Any alternate email addresses you may have used
- Your full name as it appears on the account
Having these details ready speeds up the verification and refund process.
🛠️ Request a Refund via Support
Because ghost charges are not visible in the self-serve billing area, you must open a support case so the billing team can investigate the underlying bug ticket and issue a refund.
- Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform.
- Type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.
- Provide the invoice numbers, dates, amounts, and your account email(s).
- Mention that you suspect a "ghost OTTO AI top-up charge" and reference bug tickets SPE-809 / QPB-714 if asked.
The support agent will escalate the case to the Tier 2 / Billing team, who will verify the charges against the bug records and process a full refund. In the documented case, a refund of $456 covering four erroneous invoices was granted and confirmed within the same conversation.
✅ What to Expect After Submitting
- The billing team reviews the invoices against the known bug.
- If verified, the refund is marked "Granted / Full" and processed back to your original payment method.
- You will receive a confirmation message with the refund amount and the invoices covered.
- Refund timing follows your payment provider's standard processing window (typically 5-10 business days).
🛡️ Prevent Future Ghost Charges
The engineering team has resolved the root-cause bugs (QPB-714 and related tickets). However, if you notice any new unexpected OTTO AI invoices:
- Do not assume they are legitimate — verify in the billing portal first.
- If they are absent from the portal, open a chat immediately and reference this article.
- Keep a record of all invoice numbers for faster resolution.
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.