Switching subscription plans can lead to account bans

ChatGPT Support
1

I received an account suspension notice on June 25. I appealed multiple times, but received no response at all—no email, no notification, absolutely nothing.

Yesterday, OpenAI informed me that my appeal had failed and my account has been permanently banned.

I have always used the account properly by myself, only with Codex, Codex CLI, and Pi for my work, and I never shared my account with anyone.

I’ve talked to many other users who were also permanently banned, and we noticed one common factor among us: we all switched our subscription plan in June.

Because the 10× had expired, I upgraded my subscription plan to the Pro 20x in June.

If this is indeed the root cause, then I think it makes no sense at all—are users not allowed to switch to a subscription plan that suits their needs?

OpenAI must give us an explanation!

2

I’m experiencing the same issue. I upgraded my subscription from Plus to the 5x Pro plan on June 22, and then my account was deactivated on June 26. However, I never received any email or notification about the deactivation.

I really hope this issue can be resolved as soon as possible.

3

I also changed my subscription from Plus to Pro 5x on June 6, and my account was deactivated on June 26. I have also posted my own case in the community, but OpenAI Support has not replied to me yet. However, I noticed that OpenAI Support is active and replied to other posts a few hours ago, so I hope they can also look into these similar cases.

4

I have encountered the same issue. I switched from the Pro 10x to the Pro 20x.

Case ID:C-5L5l4UlyPzi7

5

same to me, i update my account from 5X to 20X at June 4, but got banned at June 25 too.

6

ME TOO.

* I subscribed to ChatGPT Pro (USD 200/month) on May 27, 2026, because I temporarily needed higher usage limits for my research project. The Pro subscription period was expected from May 27 to June 26.

* Around June 1, I completed the project and decided to downgrade from Pro back to Plus after the current billing cycle ended, I changed that setting on Google Play.

* Around June 25, my payment method was successfully charged USD 20 for the upcoming ChatGPT Plus subscription period in Google Play. My account therefore had an active and valid payment arrangement at the time of suspension.

* At the time my account was suspended, approximately 85% of my Codex overall quota remained unused.

* I have never shared my account credentials or allowed others to use my account.

My account ID is: C-pEOWktIU3BFP. I hope this matter can be resolved.

7

Exactly the same here, bro. Most of us got banned on the 25th, and just yesterday, our appeals were denied.

8

I haven’t received a reply yet.

10

我也是。

·我于2026年5月12日通过Google Play订阅了ChatGPT Plus。在同一计费周期内，我将中间周期升级为Pro计划(200美元/月)，因为我的研究项目需要更高的使用限制。

·2026年6月12日，我的专业版订阅通过Google Play正常续订，确认我的付款安排有效且信誉良好。

·在我的账户被暂停时，我的付款方式是有效的，我从未错过任何费用。

·我从未共享过我的帐户凭据或允许他人使用我的帐户。

·本人认为暂停可能与对本人订阅历史的误解有关。我所有的升级和付款都是通过Google Play合法进行的，我没有违反任何服务条款。

我的账号是：C-IPifUgWlwjIj，希望能再次审核解决。

11

I’m in a very similar situation, though not exactly the same.

I didn’t switch plans in June. I actually upgraded from Plus to Pro back in May, and my June payment was just a standard, automatic renewal. However, just 10 days after my June renewal processed (on June 24th), I was permanently banned out of nowhere.

Even though my upgrade happened a month earlier than yours, your theory still makes a lot of sense. It strongly suggests their automated system has a critical bug tied to the Pro plan’s billing or renewal cycle.

I paid $200 and barely even used 20% of my limits. I’ve appealed multiple times, but support just replies with a generic ‘terms violation’ template, refusing to provide a single piece of evidence or a refund.

OpenAI urgently needs to investigate this flaw.

User ID: user-2SmhP5L2lMd6LbBTTxegEyjm

12

Hello,

Thank you for appealing the decision to deactivate your account access. After carefully reviewing your account, we are upholding our decision to deactivate your access. We will no longer consider additional requests to appeal this case.

Thank you for your understanding.

Best,
The OpenAI team

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out. We have already reviewed your appeal and the original decision stands.

Best,
The OpenAI team
If you have any questions please contact us through our help center.

May I ask why?

13

I have the exact same issue, and I even have the email logs to prove that OpenAI’s billing system is caught in a ridiculous, contradictory loophole with Google Play subscription changes.

My original account was completely banned, so I actually had to register this new account just to come here and post this. To make things worse, OpenAI never sent me any warning or notification email about the ban. I just suddenly found myself completely locked out with an account_deactivated error out of nowhere.

Here is my exact timeline and how the system locked me into a dead end:

June 12: I upgraded from Plus to Pro via Google Play for a heavy development phase, paying a prorated charge of $116.04.

June 23: I went into the Android app and downgraded the plan back to Plus so it wouldn’t renew at the Pro rate for July.

June 26: Google Play issued an automated “Order Cancellation Receipt” (which is just how Google handles future renewals being canceled). OpenAI’s system immediately flagged this as a “Dispute” and silently banned my account without sending any notification email.

When I reached out, OpenAI Support replied with a generic message saying:
“We understand that you may have filed a dispute… To resolve this, we kindly ask that you withdraw the dispute with your bank… Once lifted, you can log in and go to ChatGPT settings to downgrade your plan.”

This makes absolutely no sense for two reasons:

First: I never filed a dispute or chargeback with my bank. OpenAI kept my $116.04, and no refund was ever issued to me. This was purely an automated Google Play status change.

Second: The system locked my account, so I cannot even log in to follow their instructions to “go to settings and manage my plan.”

When I replied to explain that I am completely locked out and didn’t file any bank dispute, a robot closed my ticket almost instantly with the standard template: “After carefully reviewing your account, we are upholding our decision.”

This is a terrible automated loop that wrongfully locks out regular paying customers for simply using Google Play’s standard subscription features. Hopefully the OpenAI team can look into this or escalate it. The automated support loop is completely broken.

Case ID: C-NOIZIosvikk1

14

@openai_support" What is the point of making a decision like this without even a basic warning? You have zero respect for your customers. This is completely irresponsible!. "Hi there,

Thank you for getting back to us.

At this time, we do not have any additional updates to share beyond confirming that the appeal is being handled through our review process. These reviews are completed as carefully as possible, and the time required can vary depending on the complexity of the case.

If our Trust & Safety team requires any additional information or documentation to assist with the investigation, they will contact you using the email address associated with your appeal. There is no need to submit another appeal unless you have new, relevant information that may assist with the review. You can learn more about account deactivations and appeals in our Help Center.

We appreciate your continued patience and understanding. We will be in touch as soon as there is an update.

Best,

OpenAI Support"

15

My appeal was just rejected (Appeal ID: C-5L5l4UlyPzi7), but I believe this decision is unreasonable.

  • My account has been active for nearly 3 years with no prior violations or warnings.
  • I have always subscribed to Pro legitimately through Google Play.
  • All usage was strictly for scientific research, coding, and investment analysis — I did not engage in any prohibited activities.
  • Important research records and work data are still locked in the account and cannot be exported.

It feels particularly unfair that the account was banned simply due to switching subscription plans.

16

@openai_support , come to resolve this, say something, stop pretending to be blind.