How do I get hold of billing support for OpenAI?

API
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I have an issue with the billing on my OpenAI API, I have prepaid credits loaded, but my latest bill will not deduct from the prepaid credits and I am about to be suspended. I am shoulders deep in a big project and I can’t afford to be suspended and miss my deadline.

I have tried the help feature on the API page but my messages go days without even being seen by anyone. Who can I contact, and how, to get help with this?

2 Likes
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Welcome to the site.

As we’re volunteers here, we can’t help you.

I’d try help.openai.com again…

Were you just switched from pay at end of the month? If so, you might need to handle that last one as I’m not sure if credits will cover it as it’s another billing system/style?

Good luck!

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Pending monthly bills from past usage will not be paid for by credits. That is by design, and fixes a huge oversight previously.

You need to ensure that the payment method that was previously used for paying monthly bills continues to function through the satisfaction of your final monthly bill that still will be billed at the normal time.

To contact OpenAIs contracted support, in your API account at platform.openai.com, select help, and a help widget will come up with an area for messages, where you first must navigate a phone tree. You must be very clear that you need account services for payments from staff able to look at your account and accept payments, and not simply “bot support replies” likely not even in the native language of the operator, and still will likely be shrugged off by these outsourcers who’s job is just to make communications go away.

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Ah ok @_j ?

What is the statement in the terms and conditions, and what is your understanding? It’s clear described and the opposite of your statement, without any reference.

This means that any API usage you incur will first be deducted from the prepaid credits. If your usage exceeds the credits you’ve purchased, you’ll then be billed for the additional amount.

What is prepaid billing? | OpenAI Help Center

The terms provided for prepaid billing at OpenAI outline how pre-purchasing API usage works. Here are some key points:

  1. Pre-purchase of Usage: Users can pre-purchase their API usage, primarily to prevent abuse through pay-as-you-go billing and secure resources for trusted users.
  2. Application of Credits: The purchased credits are applied to the monthly invoice, with API usage first being deducted from these credits. If usage exceeds the purchased credits, the additional amount is billed.
  3. Setting up Prepaid Billing: Users on a monthly billing plan can switch to a prepaid plan but must first cancel their existing plan.
  4. Delayed Billing: There may be delays in billing, causing usage to exceed available credits, which will then be accounted for in the next credit purchase.

Regarding the statement that “pending monthly bills from past usage will not be paid for by credits,” there is no direct reference in the provided terms. It seems that the credits are intended to cover future usage, and there is no explicit mention that credits cannot be used to settle already incurred debts.

@thisiszeev Same here

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It is clear that OpenAI has adapted the language to a scenario they now have, where the model is not immediately shut off (or even shut off for many hours) simply by running your balance into the negative or even past the hard limit you set. There are several anecdotes of those with prepaid billing being at a negative balance - like hundreds of negative. No safety against abuse. And OpenAI will get their money.

That is not a problem to those with monthly billing accounts. There is no negative balance, there is only the monthly bill amount that will be charged. Click “buy credit” on a monthly account, and that is what will be used first and your outstanding balance will remain.

The concern in this topic is about those who had been transitioned from monthly billings accounts to requiring prepay. If that switch happened March 15, lets say, then the account may have accrued a $50 positive balance owing that would be billed in April. And it still would be billed in April, the purchase of prepay credits would not reduce or terminate that prior billing, it would only pay for future use.

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Did you eventually ever get a reply? Unfortunately, I have a case where more than of 200 USD are in dispute, and I’m waiting for 12 weeks already. So interested, whether you ever got your case solved?

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Hello, how are you? Please help. I have a program for AI
And I made it Api but it’s not work i don’t know why
When I try it on my program, it does not work and does not give me anything No response or anything
You can enter my program and watch it
Magic Ai Krd .com
Email admin@admin.com
Pass 12345678
You can go to api And you see that I have given the api But it doesn’t work
I want help