## **🔍 Overview**

Some customers have reported being charged for an annual plan renewal unexpectedly — sometimes seeing the charge on their credit card statement or email receipt before it appears in their Search Atlas billing history. In a small number of cases, billing system errors have caused duplicate charges, early renewals, or charges linked to a previous plan tier. This article explains why this can happen, what we do to resolve it, and the steps you should take.

## **⚠️ Common Reasons for an Unexpected Annual Charge**

- **Duplicate Stripe account created during an upgrade:** In some upgrade flows, a second billing account was created in our payment processor, resulting in a double charge alongside a lingering charge from your previous plan.
- **Annual plan re-billed at an old monthly boundary:** Customers who changed plans during a special promotional period occasionally had their full annual amount re-billed at the wrong renewal date.
- **Charge not yet reflected in your dashboard:** There can be a short delay between when your payment processor records a charge and when it appears in your Search Atlas billing history. This is usually resolved within a few hours.
- **Charged for a previous plan after downgrading:** In rare cases, a plan downgrade did not fully cancel the previous subscription tier, resulting in a charge for the old plan.

## **✅ Steps to Take If You See an Unexpected Charge**

1. **Check your billing history:** Go to **Settings → Billing** inside Search Atlas. Confirm whether the charge appears there. If it does not, wait up to 24 hours and check again, as processing delays can occur.
2. **Compare the amount:** Note the exact amount charged on your card or receipt and compare it to your expected plan cost. Discrepancies — such as a charge that is double your plan price, or a charge for a plan you previously cancelled — are the clearest indicators of a billing error.
3. **Save your evidence:** Keep a copy of your bank or card statement, your email receipt, and a screenshot of your Search Atlas billing page. You will need these when contacting support.
4. **Contact our team immediately:** Our billing team can investigate the charge, confirm whether an error occurred, and process a refund if one is due. Refund investigations are typically completed within 3–5 business days.

## **💡 What Happens During a Refund Investigation**

When you report a disputed charge, our team will:

- Cross-reference your Search Atlas account with our payment processor records to identify any duplicate or misaligned subscriptions.
- Confirm which plan you were on at the time of the charge and whether the amount matches your agreed pricing.
- Correct any duplicate or incorrect subscription entries to prevent future billing errors.
- Issue a full or partial refund to your original payment method if an error is confirmed.

You will receive confirmation once the investigation is complete and, where applicable, a receipt for any refund issued. Refunds typically take **5–10 business days** to appear on your card statement, depending on your bank or card provider.

## **🛡️ How We Prevent This From Happening Again**

We have already deployed fixes for the known billing errors that caused unexpected annual charges, including issues related to plan upgrades creating duplicate payment accounts, special-offer plan changes triggering early re-billing, and downgrade flows that did not fully cancel previous plan subscriptions. If you were affected by any of these issues, our team will proactively correct your subscription status as part of the investigation.

## **🆘 Need Help Right Away?**

If you have been charged an amount you did not expect and need urgent assistance, please reach out to us 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.