This has been mentioned in other threads, but strangely there is no ability to reply to them.
First off, I’m not even sure I was aware there was an expiration of 1 year when I first purchased the credits (why that’s even a thing is a whole other question). Where was that info provided? Did I just miss it, or is it intentionally buried in some disclaimer we scrolled through?
Second, it’s difficult to figure out that your credits have expired. You make an API request, get an “exceeded limits” notification, and then when you check the billing section it just says $0.00 credits remaining. There is zero indication that the API credits expired, no advanced notification that expiration will occur, and no way (that I’m aware) to figure out from anywhere in the dashboard that your credits expired. The only way is simply remember that there was a 1-year limit (which I was never aware of to begin with), and then look at your billing history to see when you purchased the credits, and set a reminder to yourself.
This is a bad experience, and borders on intentional obfuscation. Please consider fixing it to, at the very least, make it clear when the credits expire both at purchase time and as the expiration approaches.
Yes I’m aware as that was mentioned already in the thread by @_j.
When you first log in to platform.openai.com - there is no indication of where this info can be found, and the default dashboard shows “Default Project”, rather than “Organization Overview”:
This happened to my account, while I and many other users were locked out due to a bug on their end they had with an email provider many accounts use. So after weeks of being unable to even use the API, and no resolution in this time, I finally get back into the account to find all the credits gone due to them expiring.
This is very disappointing, I’m hoping customer service is able to help. There should definitely be a clearer notice about the credit system being “use it or lose it” without refunding you for any unused credits, warning you about an upcoming expiration date, etc.
I also encountered a similar problem. This indicates my perspective that AI does not necessarily make the world better; only humanity can achieve this.
I want to share my experience because I feel truly disappointed.
About a year ago, I prepaid $250 of API credits.
At the time of purchase, there was no clear warning that these credits would expire after one year.
During that year, I received no notification or reminder before expiration.
Recently, I discovered my entire balance had expired and disappeared.
When I contacted support, they admitted that my feedback about the lack of warnings is valid and promised to “share it with their team.” However, they also said nothing can be done because of the policy.
But an apology and acknowledgement do not fix the damage. The money is still gone.
This feels unfair and against good faith:
I did not subscribe to a service (subscriptions can expire).
I prepaid credits, and prepaid funds normally should not expire.
If credits expired unused, the fair solution would be to refund them or reinstate them, not to simply keep the money.
I prepaid only to support OpenAI in good faith, and instead of rewarding that, this policy punished me. I hope OpenAI will not just “acknowledge feedback” but actually change this unfair practice.
But an apology and acknowledgement do not fix the damage. The money is still gone.