I had made a payment of a couple hundret dollars and it says in the Usage page, that they are expired?
Hello? Are you serious?
Under German law, the expiration of prepaid funds is generally not permissible, as it constitutes an unfair disadvantage to the consumer (Section 307 of the German Civil Code - BGB). Additionally, companies offering services in Germany or the European Union must comply with applicable consumer protection laws.
I kindly request clarification on this matter and the reinstatement of the expired balance. Alternatively, I ask for a refund of the remaining $500.
From my own experience I know that this is not possible at all. We had customers coming into shops with vouchers they paid for 10+ years ago and we had to find the right way for taxation on that since the tax rules had changed but the funds were still valid (even with terms stating otherwise)…
I’ve had a very similar experience with customer service and wanted to share my story while adding further documentation for reference.
I’ve been locked out of my API account for several weeks due to an issue with OpenAI’s handling of Apple Private Relay emails. The system required email verification, but a bug on OpenAI’s side prevented the verification emails from being sent. With no way to switch to a functional email address and support often redirecting users to Apple (which didn’t help), or not responding at all, I was left completely locked out for a very long time.
During this time, my prepaid API credits expired—credits I couldn’t use due to no fault of my own. Despite repeated attempts to reach out to customer support, I’ve yet to receive a resolution. It feels deeply unfair to have my prepaid credits consumed without receiving the services I paid for.
For additional context, here’s further documentation from other OpenAI API users detailing similar problems since January:
I’m kindly requesting that my expired credit balance be fully restored. It’s critical that OpenAI resolves these issues promptly—not just for me but for the many others impacted. If this remains unaddressed, I may have to escalate the matter further.
Thank you for your understanding, and I hope OpenAI takes swift action to make this right.
Beside that, I don’t see any reason why prepaid balance should expire at all. Who of you stood there and said “You know what? I have a cool idea how to totally piss off the guys paying money in advance…”
Similar here. I got this reply from support ticket: “… 1. API Credit Expiration : Your current API credits are confirmed to expire on January 1, 2025.
2. Extension of Credit Validity : At this time, there is no option to extend the expiration of existing credits. However, we completely understand how this limitation might impact your plans. Your feedback is invaluable to us, and it will be shared with the relevant teams as we strive to enhance our services.” I have to be more carefull with loading API credit next time…
I hope you don’t mind me reaching out. I’m following up because support hasn’t been able to help resolve my issue with expired credits caused by a bug on OpenAI’s end that locked me out of my account for weeks. Despite my repeated attempts, I either receive no response or generic replies stating there are no exceptions—without any acknowledgment of the unique circumstances.
Requests to escalate the issue or speak with a higher-level support representative are simply ignored. Is there an alternate contact or process that might be able to address this? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
What is connection to this ? Like you are in Germany , but it doesn’t mean everybody in the world should do same … like common, read terms and conditions, try to understand first . Not opposite than to cry around . Same way how you know exact paragraph section of “law” i think next time better to read all terms in same way , and know them .
But in general, yes , better overview will better. Now for newcomers all this expires thing can be confused. Happy coding
Nah in Germany let’s say you add a clause like “when visiting this website you owe the life of your first born son to the website owner” somewhere in multiple pages of terms, then those parts of the terms are invalid. It’s customer protection. And the boundaries of what is allowed to be put in such terms are regulated. If no severability clause exists, even the entire contract is invalid.
So you don’t really need to read the entire terms in detail.
This does not neccessarily apply to other countries and also keep in mind that having rights and the other party granting them might also involve needing to get to a court.
I don’t think OpenAI really had to refund me. They could have just waited if I meet a lawyer and spend time and money to get my rights.
So I see this as a gesture of goodwill.
On top of that I might need to mention that they didn’t unexpire my funds. They have granted me with a new amount that expires in 12 months. And I guess since I didn’t go to a court for the expired paid amount that after a year, when the newly granted funds have expired I might have lost my right to go to a court for the paid credits since I have accepted it quietly.
Well, I will use it anyways… So yeah, can live with that.
Maybe announcing “unused credits expire after 12 months” with a checkbox to agree to that term in the payment process could make it valid. I am not a lawyer though. So all I said is just speculation.
I’m in the same boat; it seems crazy for them to expire. Seems like that fact was pretty well obfuscated when purchasing. Dashboard hid it for a long time, too.
I’m hoping they do right and restore them, especially considering mine just recently expired, and there were periods throughout those 12 months when the API wasn’t even usable.
I don’t have much on there, but it’s just the principle.
I’m also in the same boat. I bought $600 in API credits at the end of 2023, expecting to use them over time. Now I log in, and they’re just gone, expired without any warning. No reminder emails, no notifications, nothing. OpenAI support has been completely useless, just repeating the same message: “Credits expire after a year, we’ve already provided the best possible solution.”* But what solution? They won’t reinstate anything or offer any flexibility.
I saw that some of you managed to get new credits issued with a fresh 12-month validity. How did you do it? Who did you contact at OpenAI?
I’m running a small business, and this loss is not small for me. I can’t just deposit another $600 right now. If anyone can share how they got OpenAI to actually do something, I’d really appreciate it. Right now, support just feels like a bot that repeats the policy with no real help.
I am being concerned about this too. Why is the reason users cannot be being notified credits are being expired some amount of time before the credits are expired?
Mine expired in Dec’24, didn’t know they expire … had like $40 worth credits in there that I barely used. Based on what @jochenschultz shared, I too have contacted support asking them for a one-time exception, thanks for sharing that @jochenschultz … hopefully I’d get my credits back too
WTH… when was this introduced? I didn’t see it when I purchased credits. Thats really not acceptable business practise. There wasn’t even a heads up - your credits will be expiring.
I initially added $600 to my account just to simplify my bookkeeping and because I figured I’d need it sooner or later. Back then there was really no reason to buy prepaid because there was still monthly invoices. When I topped up in November 2023, I don’t remember seeing anything about the credits expiring after a year. Maybe I missed it, but honestly, why would I knowingly put $600 into something that expires so soon?
… had like $40 worth credits in there that I barely used. Based on what 
