Billing: Understanding Your Charges

💳 Understanding and Disputing OTTO Usage Charges

🔍 What Are OTTO Top-Up Charges? Your Search Atlas plan includes a set number of OTTO sites — for example, some plans include four sites as standard. If OTTO is activated on more sites than your plan allows, the system automatically applies a top-up charge to cover the additional sites. These charges appear as line items on your invoice alongside your regular subscription fee. Top-up charges are designed to give you flexibility to scale, but they should never appear if you have not exceeded your plan's included site limit. If you see a charge you did not expect, it is important to review your OTTO usage and verify your plan details before assuming the charge is correct. 📋 Common Reasons for Unexpected OTTO Charges - Exceeding your plan's included OTTO sites: OTTO was activated on more sites than your plan covers, triggering automatic top-up billing. - Migration or account repair issues: A known issue affected a number of customers during account migrations. In some cases, the coupon or credit that grants included OTTO sites was not correctly applied after migration, causing the system to bill for sites that should have been covered. - Quota display mismatch: In some instances, the OTTO quota shown in the platform did not accurately reflect the number of sites included in the plan, leading to incorrect top-up calculations. - Repeated erroneous charges: A small number of customers experienced a billing error where an incorrect top-up charge was applied every month. If you have received a refund for this charge before but see it appear again, this is a known issue that our team can resolve. 🛠️ How to Review Your OTTO Usage and Plan 1. Click your avatar in the top-right corner of the platform. 2. Select Billing from the menu. 3. Open the Plans & Top-ups tab to confirm how many OTTO sites are included in your current plan. 4. Open the Invoices tab to locate the specific charge in question and note the date and amount. 5. Open the Activity Log tab to review a detailed record of usage events and any top-up activity on your account. If the number of OTTO sites shown in Plans & Top-ups does not match what you were told when you signed up, or if you are being charged for sites you have not activated, this confirms a billing discrepancy that needs to be corrected by our team. ✅ What to Do If You Are Charged Incorrectly If your review confirms that you have been charged for OTTO sites that should be included in your plan, or that a top-up charge has been applied in error, our team can investigate and issue a correction or refund. To get this resolved as quickly as possible, have the following information ready before contacting support: - The invoice date and the charge amount in question. - The number of OTTO sites you believe are included in your plan. - Whether this charge has appeared on previous invoices. 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.

📅 Why Your Billing Date Looks Misaligned

📋 Overview Some customers noticed that after making a payment, their next billing date appeared much sooner than expected — for example, paying on June 15 but seeing a next billing date of June 26. This article explains why this happened, what we fixed, and what you should see going forward. 🔍 Why Did This Happen? The billing date mismatch was caused by a sync issue between our payment processor (Stripe) and the Search Atlas platform. Several specific scenarios triggered this: - Trial plan upgrades mid-trial: If you upgraded your plan while still on a free trial, the billing date in the platform did not always sync correctly with the charge date recorded in Stripe. - Subscription renewals not reflecting correctly: After a successful recurring charge, the platform sometimes failed to update the displayed next payment date to reflect the full billing cycle. - Annual plan users: Customers on annual subscriptions saw incorrect next billing dates inside Quota Top-Up modals, even when their actual renewal date was correct. - Account-specific desync: A small number of accounts experienced a broader mismatch between Stripe records and what the platform displayed. ✅ What We Fixed Our engineering team investigated and resolved all known causes of this billing date mismatch. The fixes covered: 1. Next payment date now updates correctly after every successful subscription charge. 2. Stripe billing dates now sync accurately when a plan is upgraded mid-trial. 3. Annual subscriber Quota Top-Up modals now display the correct next billing date. 4. Account-level billing desyncs have been corrected and reconciled with Stripe records. All fixes were completed and deployed. Your billing dates shown inside the platform should now match the dates recorded in Stripe. 📊 How to Check Your Current Billing Date To confirm your billing cycle is displaying correctly: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Click your avatar in the top-right corner to open the Account Menu. 3. Select Billing → Plans & Top-ups (page 'Billing'). 4. Review the message that reads 'All recurring quotas reset on your next billing date' shown on your plan summary. This date should reflect a full billing cycle from your most recent successful payment. For example, if you were charged on June 15, your next date should fall on or around July 15. 💡 What a Normal Billing Cycle Looks Like Understanding how your billing cycle works can help you spot any future discrepancies quickly: - Monthly plans: Your billing date is set to the same date each month based on when your subscription started or was last renewed. - Annual plans: Your renewal date is one year from your original subscription start date or your most recent annual renewal. - Mid-cycle upgrades: If you upgrade your plan partway through a billing cycle, a prorated charge may apply. Your next full billing date resets from the date of the upgrade. - Free trial to paid conversion: Your billing cycle begins on the date your trial ends and your first charge is processed. ⚠️ What to Do If You Still See a Mismatch If your next billing date still looks incorrect after our fixes were deployed, here are a few things to check: - Allow up to 24 hours after a payment for the platform to fully refresh your billing information. - Hard-refresh your browser (Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows or Cmd + Shift + R on Mac) to clear any cached data. - Compare the date shown in Search Atlas with the receipt or confirmation email you received from Stripe to identify the discrepancy clearly before reaching out. 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.

🛡️ Disputing a Fraudulent Charge on Your Account

🔍 What Is a Fraudulent Charge? A fraudulent charge occurs when a payment is processed on your credit or debit card without your authorization. If you see an unexpected charge from Search Atlas on your statement that you do not recognize, it is important to act quickly to investigate and resolve the issue. ⚠️ Common Reasons for Unrecognized Charges Before assuming a charge is fraudulent, consider the following common explanations: - Shared payment methods: A team member or family member may have used your card to sign up for or renew a Search Atlas subscription. - Multiple accounts: You or someone with access to your card may have created more than one Search Atlas account. - Billing descriptor difference: The charge may appear under a slightly different business name or descriptor on your bank statement (for example, a parent company name). - Forgotten trial or subscription: A free trial may have converted to a paid plan that you did not cancel in time. - Outdated card on file: A card you previously used on another account may still be associated with an active subscription. 🛠️ Steps to Take If You Suspect Fraud 1. Check your email inboxes: Search for any confirmation or receipt emails from Search Atlas, including spam and promotions folders. This can help determine whether an account was created using your payment details. 2. Log in to Search Atlas: Visit your account dashboard and review your billing history in your account settings. Confirm whether the charge amount and date match your records. 3. Review authorized users: If you manage a team account, verify whether any team members initiated a new subscription or upgrade. 4. Contact your bank: If you are certain the charge is unauthorized, notify your bank or card issuer immediately. They can place a hold, issue a provisional credit, and begin a chargeback investigation. 5. Report it to Search Atlas: Contact our support team right away so we can investigate the charge, identify the account it is linked to, and take appropriate action including issuing a refund if warranted. 💳 How Search Atlas Handles Refund Disputes Our team takes fraudulent charge reports seriously and will investigate every case thoroughly. When you report an unauthorized charge, our team will look into the account and subscription details associated with the charge on your card. If the charge is confirmed as unauthorized, we will work with you to reach an appropriate resolution, which may include issuing a refund. Refund processing times vary depending on your bank or card issuer. To help us resolve your case as quickly as possible, please have the following ready when you reach out: the exact charge amount, the date it appeared on your statement, and the last four digits of the card that was charged. 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.

💳 Understanding Your Search Atlas Billing Cycle

💡 Why Did My Payment Process Early? If you expected your payment on a certain date but saw a charge appear earlier, you are not alone. This is one of the most common billing questions we receive. The short answer is that your billing date and your payment processing date are not always the same thing. Here is what is happening behind the scenes when a payment seems to arrive earlier than expected. 🗓️ How the Billing Cycle Works Search Atlas uses a subscription billing model. Your billing cycle is set when you first sign up or upgrade your plan. The key dates to understand are: - Billing date: The official date your invoice is generated and your subscription renews. - Processing date: The date your bank or card issuer actually completes the transaction, which may differ from the billing date depending on your financial institution. - Statement date: The date the charge appears on your bank or credit card statement, which may differ again from the processing date. ⚙️ Common Reasons a Charge Appears Early There are several legitimate reasons a payment may post before your expected renewal date: 1. Bank pre-authorization: Some banks place a pre-authorization hold on funds before the actual charge to confirm funds are available. This can appear as a pending transaction. 2. Weekend or holiday shifts: If your billing date falls on a weekend or public holiday, the payment processor may initiate the charge on an adjacent business day. 3. Time zone differences: Depending on your region, a charge processed at a standard time may appear to post on an earlier or later calendar date in your local time zone. 4. Plan upgrade mid-cycle: If you upgraded or changed your plan, a prorated charge may be generated immediately for the remainder of the current billing period. This is separate from your regular renewal charge. 5. Failed payment retry: If a previous payment attempt failed, the system may retry on a different schedule, which can shift the timing of the successful charge. 📊 How to Check Your Billing Details You can review your billing history, invoice dates, and next renewal date inside your Search Atlas account settings. Navigate to the billing or subscription section of your account to find your invoices and upcoming renewal information. Each invoice includes a timestamp so you can compare it against any transaction on your bank statement. 🛠️ What to Do If You Have a Billing Concern If you believe a charge is incorrect or unexpected, please have the following ready before reaching out: - Your Search Atlas account email address. - The exact charge amount and the date it appeared on your statement. - A screenshot or reference number from your bank statement showing the transaction. 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.

⚡ Understanding Extra Charges on Your Bill

Why Is My Bill Higher Than Expected? If your monthly invoice is higher than your base subscription price, the most common reason is one or more add-on services attached to your account. These are optional features billed separately on top of your core plan. If your invoice is higher than you expected, the difference typically comes from add-ons you activated — either during onboarding, through a plan upgrade prompt, or manually inside the platform. What Are Add-On Services? Add-ons are recurring optional features that enhance your Search Atlas experience. Each add-on carries its own monthly fee, and all active add-ons are billed together with your base plan on your renewal date. How Billing Works for Add-Ons Add-on charges are recurring — they renew automatically each billing cycle until you remove them. Here is how the billing cycle works: 1. Your base plan renews on the same date each month or year. 2. Any active add-ons are calculated and added to that renewal charge. 3. A single combined invoice is generated and charged to your payment method on file. 4. You receive a billing receipt to the email address registered on your account. If you added a service mid-cycle, you may also see a prorated charge on your next invoice to cover the partial period between activation and your renewal date. How to Review and Remove Active Add-Ons To identify which add-ons are contributing to your bill and remove any you no longer need, navigate to the Billing or Subscription section of your account settings. From there you can view a breakdown of active add-ons and their individual costs, as well as your invoice history showing past charges. If you are unable to locate the add-on causing the unexpected charge, or if you need assistance removing it, please reach out to our support team. When escalating, have the following ready to speed up resolution: - Your account email address - The approximate charge amount and the date it appeared on your invoice - The name of the add-on or service you believe is causing the charge, if known 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.

💳 Understanding Your Search Atlas Billing Charges

🧾 Overview of Your Search Atlas Bill Your Search Atlas invoice may show more than one charge per billing cycle. This is normal. Different features and add-ons are billed as separate line items, so seeing two or more charges does not automatically mean there is a billing error. Before raising a billing concern, it helps to understand what each charge represents. The two most common line items customers ask about are their base subscription fee and their AI credit top-up fee. 📦 What Is the Base Subscription Charge? Your base subscription charge covers access to the core Search Atlas platform, including your selected plan features, user seats, and standard toolset. This charge recurs on the same date each billing cycle and reflects the plan tier you enrolled in when you signed up or last upgraded. 🤖 What Is the AI Credit Top-Up Charge? The AI credit top-up is a separate, recurring charge that funds the credits used by OTTO, the Search Atlas AI automation engine. OTTO consumes credits each time it runs optimizations on your behalf, such as publishing on-page SEO recommendations, generating structured data, or executing automated tasks across your connected sites. This charge is not a duplicate of your base subscription. It is a distinct add-on billed independently to keep your OTTO optimizations running without interruption. Common AI credit top-up amounts include $38 per cycle, though the amount may vary depending on your selected credit package. If you see a charge like $99 alongside a separate $38 charge, this typically means: - The $99 is your base plan subscription fee. - The $38 is your recurring AI credit top-up for OTTO optimizations. Both charges are legitimate and expected if you have OTTO features active on your account. 🔍 How to Verify What Each Charge Is For 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Click your avatar in the top-right corner to open the Account Menu. 3. Select Billing to open your billing dashboard. 4. Review your Invoice History to see a full breakdown of each charge, including the line item description and the date it was billed. 5. Match each charge to a plan or add-on listed under your active subscriptions. If every charge on your invoice corresponds to a named plan, add-on, or credit package, your billing is working as intended. ⚠️ What Actually Counts as a Duplicate Billing Error A true duplicate billing error occurs when the exact same charge appears more than once on the same invoice or within the same billing cycle with no corresponding difference in service. Signs of a genuine duplicate include: - The same charge description and amount appearing twice on one invoice. - Your plan being billed twice in a single cycle with no plan change or upgrade between them. - A one-time fee charged on multiple occasions without any action taken on your account. Seeing two different amounts, such as $99 and $38, for two different services is not a duplicate. It is a multi-line invoice reflecting multiple active services. ❓ Was a Correction Promised on My Account? If you were told by a team member that a billing correction would be applied to your account, that correction would appear as a credit or refund in your billing history. You can verify this by checking your invoice history for any credit notes or adjusted invoices. If you do not see the expected correction reflected after the promised timeframe, this is worth escalating to our team directly so they can review your account history and confirm what was communicated. ✅ Quick Reference: Charge Identification Summary - Base subscription fee (e.g., $99): Your monthly or annual plan cost. Covers core platform access. - AI credit top-up (e.g., $38): Recurring add-on that funds OTTO optimization credits. This is a separate and legitimate charge. - True duplicate: The identical charge and description appearing more than once in the same cycle with no service difference. - Pending correction: Should appear as a credit note in your invoice history within the agreed timeframe. 💬 Still Have Questions About Your Bill? If you have reviewed your invoices and still cannot identify a charge, or if you believe a genuine billing error or a previously promised correction has not been applied, our team is ready to help you investigate. 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.

💳 Understanding Extra Seat Charges on Pro Plan

🔍 Overview The Search Atlas Pro plan includes 5 user seats by default. However, some customers have noticed an unexpected $35/month Extra Seat charge on their invoice. This article explains why this charge can appear and what steps to take. ⚠️ Why This Charge Can Appear A known billing issue affected some Pro plan accounts where the platform incorrectly displayed or allocated 4 seats instead of 5. As a result, adding a 5th user — which should be included in your plan — was mistakenly treated as a paid seat top-up and billed at $35/month. This issue has been identified and fixed. If you were charged incorrectly, you are entitled to a refund for any overpayment. 📋 What You Should Check - Your seat count: On the Pro plan, you should have exactly 5 included seats. If your account shows only 4, your quota was set incorrectly. - Your billing history: Check whether a $35 Extra Seat line item appears on any recent invoices, including charges dated around June 12th or later. - Number of active users: Confirm how many teammates are currently added to your account. If it is 5 or fewer, no extra seat charge should apply. 🛠️ How to Fix This 1. Review your current seat usage by navigating to Home in the left sidebar and opening the Quotas section. 2. Check whether your seat quota displays 5 seats. If it shows 4, your account was affected by the allocation bug. 3. If you see an incorrect seat count or an unexpected charge on your invoice, contact our support team immediately for a correction and refund. 💰 Refunds for Incorrect Charges If you were billed for an Extra Seat that should have been included in your Pro plan, our team can issue a refund for the amount overbilled. Please have your billing date and invoice details ready when you reach out so we can process this quickly. 🚫 Preventing Future Unexpected Charges - Only invite users up to your plan's included seat limit to avoid automatic top-up charges. - If you genuinely need more than 5 seats, additional seats are available at $35/seat per month — any top-up beyond your included quota will be billed automatically. - Review your Quotas section regularly to monitor seat usage against your plan allowance. 💬 Need 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.

💳 Request a Temporary Billing Date Delay

📋 Overview If you need extra time before your next payment is processed, Search Atlas can postpone your billing date by up to two weeks while keeping your account and all features fully active. This is handled on a case-by-case basis by our billing team and requires a short review process. This article explains what to expect, what information to have ready, and how the process works from start to finish. ✅ What This Option Covers - A one-time postponement of your next renewal date by up to two weeks - Continued, uninterrupted access to all features on your current plan during the delay period - No penalty or downgrade applied to your account while the extension is active ⚠️ Important Things to Know Before You Request - This option is not available through your account settings — it must be submitted through the live chat widget and reviewed by the billing team - Approval is not automatic; requests are reviewed internally and confirmed before any change is applied - This is intended for short-term financial hardship situations, not as a recurring billing adjustment - Your account will not be paused or restricted during the review period while a request is pending 🛠️ How to Submit Your Request 1. Open the live chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the Search Atlas platform. 2. Type human teammate to be connected directly with a member of our support team. 3. Clearly explain that you would like to request a two-week delay on your billing renewal date and briefly describe your situation. 4. Confirm the email address associated with your account so the agent can locate your subscription quickly. 5. Wait for confirmation — the agent will escalate your request to the billing team for internal review and approval. 📅 What Happens After You Submit Once your request is received, our team escalates it internally for approval. You do not need to take any further action. When the billing team confirms the change, the agent will notify you directly in the same chat conversation with your new payment date. Your account access remains fully intact throughout this entire process. In a recent example, a customer submitted this request and received confirmation that their next payment date had been moved forward by two weeks, with no interruption to their account features. ❓ Frequently Asked Questions - Will my account be downgraded or restricted while I wait for approval? No. Your account remains active and fully functional during the review period and throughout the delay window once approved. - Can I request this more than once? This is evaluated individually each time. There is no guaranteed repeat availability, but you are welcome to contact support to discuss your situation. - How will I know my billing date has actually changed? The support agent will confirm the new payment date in your chat conversation once the billing team applies the change. - Does this affect my subscription plan or pricing? No. A billing date delay does not change your plan, pricing, or any features included in your subscription. 💬 Need 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.

💳 Understanding Automatic Charges and Subscription Billing

💡 Why Did I See an Unexpected Charge? Search Atlas offers an optional automatic top-up for Universal Credits to help ensure your workflows are never interrupted when you run low. Automatic top-up is off by default and can only be enabled or changed by an account admin. When enabled, if your Universal Credits balance drops below the admin-set trigger threshold (default 5,000 credits), the system charges your saved payment method the admin-set top-up amount and adds the credits. This can happen even if you still have some credits remaining. The top-up is triggered whenever your balance falls below the configured threshold, not just at zero. Auto top-up turns itself off after 3 consecutive failed charges. 🔍 What Triggers an Automatic Top-Up? - Low-balance threshold: A top-up fires when your Universal Credits balance falls below the admin-set trigger threshold (default 5,000). - Scheduled or bulk tasks: Running large jobs can rapidly deplete credits and trigger a top-up. - Note: OTTO site top-ups are never added automatically — they must be purchased manually by the customer. ⚙️ How to View All Active Subscriptions on Your Account 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Click your profile icon in the top-right corner. 3. Select Billing from the dropdown menu, then open Plans & Top-ups. 4. Review the Plans & Top-ups page to see your plan, renewal date, and the Add-on button. 5. Check the Activity Log tab (Avatar → Billing → Activity Log) to see a full log of past charges, including automatic top-ups. Each line item will show the charge amount, date, and the specific quota or feature it was applied to. This gives you a clear picture of what is active and what is driving costs. 🛠️ How to Prevent Automatic Charges You have full control over automatic top-up behaviour. Follow these steps to adjust or disable it: 1. An account admin should go to the Billing dashboard. 2. Locate the Plans & Top-ups tab. 3. Toggle the setting off to disable automatic charges entirely, or adjust the trigger threshold (1,000 to 20,000 credits) so top-ups fire less frequently. 4. You can also change the top-up amount charged each time. 5. Save your changes to apply them immediately. Important: If you disable auto top-up, some features may pause or fail when your credits are exhausted. Make sure you monitor your balance manually or set calendar reminders to add credits before they run out. 📊 Tips for Managing Your Credit Balance - Set your auto top-up threshold lower than your typical daily usage to avoid surprise charges mid-task. - Review your Billing History monthly to spot any unexpected patterns. - If you use bulk tools or scheduled reports regularly, consider purchasing a larger credit bundle upfront to reduce the frequency of automatic top-ups. - Check whether any add-on subscriptions or feature-specific quotas have their own separate top-up settings — each may need to be configured independently. 🔒 Is My Payment Information Secure? Yes. Search Atlas processes all payments through a PCI-compliant payment provider. Your card details are never stored directly on our servers. All automatic charges use the payment method you have on file, which you can update at any time in the Billing section of your account. 🙋 Still Have Questions? 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.

💱 Understanding Cross-Currency Billing Charges USD AUD

💡 Overview Search Atlas issues all subscription invoices in USD (United States Dollars). However, some customers — particularly those using cards issued by Australian banks — may notice that their card statement shows a charge in AUD (Australian Dollars), sometimes at an unfavourable exchange rate. This article explains why this happens and what steps you can take. 🔍 Why Does This Happen? The currency shown on your Search Atlas invoice and the currency your bank processes the charge in are two separate things. Here is what typically causes the mismatch: - Card-issuing bank conversion: Even if your card account holds a USD balance, some banks — especially Australian financial institutions — automatically convert international charges to AUD at the point of settlement. This is a bank-side decision, not something Search Atlas controls. - Card type and account settings: Multi-currency cards and accounts do not always default to the matching currency. Your bank's rules determine which currency is used at the time of the transaction. - Payment processor routing: Our payment processor submits all charges in USD. If your bank's systems detect the card as AUD-primary, it may convert the charge automatically before it reaches your account. ⚠️ Known Billing Issues We Have Fixed We are aware of several past billing incidents that may have affected customers, including incorrect cards being billed due to a legacy system migration and duplicate or inconsistent charges for some accounts. Our engineering team has resolved these specific bugs. If you believe your charge was affected by a platform error — rather than a bank-side currency conversion — please reach out so we can investigate your account directly. 🛠️ What You Can Do Follow these steps to minimise or avoid cross-currency exchange fees: 1. Contact your bank first. Ask your bank or card provider whether your card is set up to accept USD charges without automatic conversion. Some banks allow you to opt in to dynamic currency choice or lock a preferred settlement currency. 2. Use a USD-native card or account. If you regularly pay for USD-denominated SaaS subscriptions, consider using a card or account that natively holds and settles in USD (for example, a multi-currency fintech account). 3. Check your invoice. Log in to Search Atlas, navigate to your billing section, and confirm that your invoice currency is listed as USD. If you see a currency other than USD on the invoice itself, that is something our team needs to investigate. 4. Review the charge amount. Compare the USD amount on your Search Atlas invoice with the AUD amount on your card statement. If the difference is larger than the standard exchange rate plus your bank's foreign transaction fee, there may be a billing error on our end that we should look into. 📊 What Search Atlas Can and Cannot Change It is important to understand the boundaries of what our team can adjust: - We can: Verify the USD amount charged, issue refunds if a billing error occurred on our platform, and provide itemised invoices to help you reconcile charges with your bank. - We cannot: Change the settlement currency on your bank's side, override your bank's foreign exchange process, or guarantee the AUD equivalent of any USD charge, as exchange rates fluctuate. 🚀 How to Request a Billing Review If you believe you were charged incorrectly — for example, you were billed twice, charged an unexpected amount, or your invoice currency does not match USD — please get in touch with our team as soon as possible. Have the following ready to speed up the review: - Your Search Atlas account email address - The invoice number or date of the charge in question - A screenshot or statement showing the AUD charge from your bank - The expected USD amount from your Search Atlas invoice 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.

💳 Overdue Balance and Billing Date Not Updating

🔍 What This Issue Looks Like Some customers see an overdue balance on their account — for example, a past-due amount on their PRO subscription — but find that no Retry Payment option appears in the platform. At the same time, the renewal date shown inside Search Atlas may not match the actual billing date recorded in the payment system. This is a known billing display issue that has been resolved at the platform level for most affected accounts. If you are still experiencing it, the steps below explain what is happening and how to get it fixed quickly. ⚙️ Why This Happens A billing system discrepancy can cause your account to be incorrectly flagged as past-due before your actual renewal date has arrived, or to display a renewal date that does not match what is recorded in the payment processor. When this mismatch occurs, the platform may not surface a self-serve retry option because it is waiting on an outdated or incorrect date to trigger the renewal cycle. Engineering has resolved the underlying causes for the majority of affected accounts, including accounts stuck in a past-due state due to incorrect billing date backfills and subscriptions incorrectly flagged before their first renewal date. However, individual accounts can still be affected if the correction has not yet been applied to your specific subscription. ✅ What the Fix Involves There is no self-serve action you can take to correct the billing date yourself — this requires the billing team to update the renewal date on your account directly. Once the date is corrected, your subscription will renew automatically, typically within the same day. Here is what happens when the fix is applied: - The billing team resets your renewal date to the correct date (usually today). - Your subscription renews automatically later that day. - Your overdue balance is cleared once the payment processes successfully. - Normal billing cycles resume from the corrected date. 🛠️ How to Get This Resolved 1. Check your account to confirm the symptoms: an overdue balance is displayed, no Retry Payment option is available, and the renewal date shown in the platform does not seem correct. 2. Contact support using the chat widget (see below) and share the following details: - Your account email address. - The overdue balance amount shown on your account. - The renewal date currently displayed in the platform. 3. The billing team will investigate the date discrepancy and apply the correction to your account. 4. Once confirmed, monitor your account — the subscription renewal should process automatically within the same business day. 📋 What to Expect After the Fix After the billing team corrects your renewal date, your subscription will renew and your access will continue without interruption. You do not need to manually retry the payment or re-enter any payment details, provided your payment method on file is valid. If your payment method has expired or needs updating, you should update it via the top-right avatar → Billing → Plans & Top-ups (Add Payment Method / Manage Subscription) before or immediately after contacting support, so that the renewal can process successfully once the date correction is applied. 💬 Still Seeing the Issue? 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.

🔐 How to Recover a Charged but Inaccessible Account

This article helps you if you have been successfully charged for a Search Atlas subscription — with a payment confirmation or invoice — but are unable to log in or access your account. This is different from a pending or failed payment; your charge has already gone through and the issue is on the account access side. 🔍 Common Causes - Account was cancelled after a billing cycle started, leaving a charge without active access. 🛠️ Step-by-Step 1. Locate your charge confirmation. Find the invoice or payment receipt in your email. Note the exact email address it was sent to — this is the account email tied to the charge. 2. Attempt login with the billing email. Go to the Search Atlas login page and enter the email address from the invoice. Use the Forgot Password link if needed to reset access for that email. 3. Check for a cancellation confirmation email. If you received a cancellation notice, your account may have been closed before or during the billing cycle. Note the date on that email. 4. Gather your evidence before reaching out. Have ready: the invoice or receipt showing the charge, the date of the charge, the email address on the invoice, and any cancellation confirmation you received. This speeds up resolution significantly. 5. Escalate to the support team with all of the above information. The support team can verify the charge on the account record, confirm the account status, and either restore access or initiate a refund review as appropriate. ✅ How to Confirm It Worked You will know the issue is resolved when you can successfully log in to Search Atlas and access your account. If a refund was the agreed resolution, check your original payment method within 5–10 business days for the credit to appear, and ask the support agent for a refund confirmation reference number before closing the chat. 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.

💳 Disputing an Incorrect OTTO Project Overage Charge

🔍 Overview Some customers have been incorrectly charged for exceeding their OTTO project limit when they were, in fact, within their allowed quota. These billing errors can stem from a quota display bug, legacy billing issues, or duplicate billing events. This article explains how to verify whether a charge was incorrect and how to request a refund. 📊 Understanding OTTO Project Limits and Overage Charges Your Search Atlas plan includes a set number of active OTTO projects. If the platform detects that you have exceeded this limit, it may trigger an overage charge on your invoice. However, known billing bugs have caused overage charges to appear even when customers were within their allowed limit. Common causes include: - Incorrect quota display: The platform may show a higher project count than actually exists on your account, leading to a false overage. - Legacy billing conflicts: Accounts migrated from older billing systems may experience duplicate billing events or incorrect per-project pricing. - Cancelled top-up charges not removed: A previously purchased OTTO top-up that was cancelled may have continued to generate monthly charges incorrectly. ✅ How to Verify Your OTTO Project Count Before submitting a refund request, confirm your actual number of active OTTO projects so you can clearly state your case. Follow these steps: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. In the left sidebar, click OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation) (or navigate directly to /seo-automation-v3). 3. Review the list of active OTTO projects displayed on the page. 4. Count the total number of active projects and compare this to the project limit included in your current plan. If your active project count is at or below your plan limit, and you were still charged an overage fee, this is likely an incorrect charge and you are entitled to a refund. 🧾 How to Identify the Incorrect Charge on Your Invoice To locate the charge in question: 1. Navigate to your billing section within the platform. 2. Find the relevant invoice by its invoice number (for example, QP-127290). 3. Look for a line item referencing an OTTO project overage or an OTTO top-up charge. 4. Note the charge amount, date, and invoice number — you will need these when contacting support. 💡 What to Include in Your Refund Request To help our team resolve your refund request as quickly as possible, have the following information ready before reaching out: - Your invoice number (e.g., QP-127290) - The charge amount you believe is incorrect - Your current OTTO project count as verified in the OTTO SEO section - The plan limit for OTTO projects included in your subscription - Any relevant context, such as a recently cancelled top-up or a recent plan change ⏱️ What Happens After You Submit a Request Once our support team receives your refund request, they will: 1. Review your account's billing history and active OTTO project count. 2. Verify whether the charge was triggered by a known billing bug or incorrect quota reading. 3. Process an approved refund to your original payment method, or apply a credit to your account. 4. Confirm the resolution with you via the chat widget. Refund processing times may vary depending on your payment provider, but our team will keep you informed throughout the process. 🛠️ Get Help from Our Team If you believe you have been incorrectly charged for an OTTO project overage, our team is ready to investigate and make it right. 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.

💳 Understanding and Disputing a Billing Charge Increase

🔍 Why Did My Monthly Charge Increase? If your invoice amount has jumped unexpectedly — for example, from $241.50 to $431 — there are a few common reasons this can happen: - Plan or feature upgrades: A change to your subscription tier or add-ons will adjust your monthly total. - Credit or discount expiry: Promotional credits, trial discounts, or one-time adjustments applied to previous invoices may no longer be active. - Auto top-up charges: If your account uses automatic credit top-ups (for example, OTTO AI credits or link-building credits), these can appear as additional line items on your invoice. - Duplicate or stacked charges: In rare cases, a technical issue during billing migrations can cause recurring charges to stack incorrectly, resulting in a higher-than-expected total. Our engineering team actively monitors and resolves these issues. - Usage-based overages: Exceeding the limits of your current plan can trigger overage fees billed at the end of your cycle. 🧾 How to Review Your Current Invoice Before contacting support, take a moment to review your billing details inside the platform. This helps you identify exactly which line items changed. 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Click your avatar in the top-right corner to open the Account Menu. 3. Select Billing to view your current and past invoices. 4. Click on the invoice in question to expand the line-item breakdown. 5. Compare line items against your previous invoice to pinpoint what changed. If you see line items labelled Recurring Top-Up, Auto Top-Up, or charges that appear duplicated, this is important information to share with our team when you reach out. ⏸️ Can I Put My Payment on Hold While This Is Investigated? Yes — if you believe your invoice contains an error or an unexpected charge, you can request a payment hold so that no payment is processed while our billing team investigates. We take billing accuracy seriously and will not charge a disputed amount without first reviewing and confirming it with you. To request a payment hold: 1. Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform. 2. Type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team. 3. Clearly state that you are disputing a charge and would like a payment hold applied to your account while the issue is reviewed. Our team will confirm the hold in writing within the chat and provide a timeline for resolution. 🛠️ Common Billing Issues We Can Resolve Our billing and engineering teams have processes in place to detect and correct the following known issue types: - Stacked recurring top-up charges — where the same top-up fee appears multiple times on one invoice due to a system sync error. - Ghost charges — charges that appear on your invoice but are not reflected in your credit balance or usage history. - Duplicate invoices — where two invoices are generated for the same billing period. - Cancelled invoice charges — payment attempts made against an invoice that should have been voided. If any of these match what you are seeing, make a note of the invoice number and the specific line items before contacting support — this speeds up the investigation significantly. ✅ What to Expect After You Report a Billing Dispute Once you have opened a dispute with our team, here is what happens next: 1. Payment hold confirmed: A teammate will confirm that no payment will be processed until the dispute is resolved. 2. Investigation begins: Our billing team reviews your account history, invoice line items, and any relevant system logs. 3. Resolution provided: We will either correct the invoice and provide an updated total, or confirm that the charge is accurate and explain why. 4. Payment processed: Once you have reviewed and agreed to the corrected amount, payment will be collected. Most billing disputes are resolved within 1–3 business days. Complex cases involving system-level errors may take slightly longer, but your account will remain active and in good standing during the investigation. 💬 Need Help Right Now? 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.

🔒 Account Locked But Still Being Charged

🔍 Overview If you cannot log in to your Search Atlas account but continue to see charges on your payment method, you are likely affected by an account status mismatch — a known issue where an account is incorrectly marked as inactive or past due even though subscription payments have been successfully collected. This article explains what happened, what was done to fix it, and how to get help quickly if you are in this situation. ⚠️ What Causes This Issue A technical bug caused some accounts to be deactivated and treated as past due despite subscription fees being charged and collected on time. This created a frustrating cycle: the account appeared locked to the customer, yet billing continued as normal. As a result, affected customers were unable to log in to cancel, change, or use their plan. This underlying engineering issue has been resolved in production. However, if your account was affected during the period when the bug was active, your account status and any charges for months you could not access may need to be manually corrected by our support team. 🛠️ What Our Team Does to Fix It When a support agent identifies this issue, they take the following steps on your behalf: 1. Correct the account status mismatch — your account is restored to active so you can log in again. 2. Process refunds — any months during which you were charged but could not access the platform are refunded in full. 3. Monitor your account — the team confirms everything is functioning correctly after the fix is applied. In the confirmed case that led to this article, a customer who was locked out and charged $199 across two months (May and June) received full account restoration and a complete refund of both charges. 📋 What to Do If You Are Affected Follow these steps to get your access restored and your refund processed as quickly as possible: 1. Confirm the issue matches your situation — verify that you are seeing charges on your payment statement from Search Atlas for one or more months during which you were unable to log in. 2. Gather your account details — collect the following before reaching out so the team can locate and fix your account immediately without requiring you to log in: - The email address associated with your Search Atlas account - The approximate date you lost access - The charge amounts and dates shown on your payment statement 3. Contact support — reach out to the Search Atlas support team and share the details you gathered in step 2. Explicitly state that you were locked out while being charged — this flags your ticket for the account status mismatch issue so the right team can act on it quickly. If you need further assistance, please contact our support team and we will be happy to help.