I have been using the OpenAI API for the past six months or more for testing and for a satirical fake crypto news magazine.
My account is registered to an inbox(dot)ru email address, which I have been using for the past 20 years (yes, I am a coding dinosaur). At the same time, I have been living in Bulgaria for almost as long and have no ties to Russia except for language and nationality.
Today, I received this message without any warning from OpenAI. All the responses from the “smart AI” boiled down to the fact that I needed to register a new account using Gmail.
When I asked for a refund of my deposit (fortunately, there was about $6 left, but the point is that I think I have automatic replenishment enabled), the clever chatbot suggested that I log in to the same place that I am not allowed to access and submit a refund request. When I asked how I could do that, it suggested that I register again with a different address.
It rejected my request to change the email address to the one I use, and after a few rude words, it promised to connect me with a live employee in a couple of days.
Dear OpenAI administration, if you decide to randomly violate the principles of network neutrality and etiquette (which, incidentally, has been observed throughout the network for several years now), then at least allow access to blocked accounts so that the email address can be changed to one that is permitted by your policy or at least a refund request can be created.
