Is there anyone who are able to help me from cloud support? I’m still waiting for the solution from last Monday.
The situation is actually quite clear in the images. There was a significant increase on August 23rd. This is even more evident in the SKUs. While everything was normal on August 22nd, the blue area on August 23rd and 24th was the source of the problem. That part was processed as if I’d created an image using the “Generate_content image output token count for Gemini 2.5 Flash Native Image Generation” API, even though I hadn’t used it at all. But by the 25th, things were back to normal. I don’t know if this is the case elsewhere in the world, but there’s no problem right now. The only issue right now is the refund of the money received. I’m also continuing to use APIs and AI with peace of mind.
This is a massive dent in confidence - Please Google put some failsafe in here for Devs. eg on signup if I click I am a Developer default to a maximum hard billing cap of maybe £100 per month (can use a slider to increase up or down as preferred). But please don’t default to open ended. Also - we are encouraging non-tech users to experiment and they may not be as au fait with dangers of API key safety.
Was the problem solved throughout GC? $25/1mio Tok’s is ridiculous! Which model?
Was the vertex ai api in gcc ‘enabled’?
Hey Logan, thanks for this update.
Quick question: I was told that a refund would take 2-3 days, and it has currently been 7 days since this error in your billing system has occurred. Can you please provide a real estimate of when we can expect the refund, issue to be resolved, and the credit to our accounts in compensation for Google’s error?
Not only has the money not been refunded, but last night I was charged additional money, which I assume was the total remaining (from the malfunctioning billing system) on the billing account after I had locked billing.
I would like to continue to use the Gemini CLI, however I am hesitant, due to the risk of another billing issue, as that is not something I can afford.
Can you please provide a revaluated ETA for the refund, correction of the error, and when it will be clear for us to continue using the API services?
Cheers,
Sam
*edit: noted additional charge on account while checking for refund"
I have a similar question: when can I safely resume using the Gemini API?
Due to this billing issue, I had to delete all my projects and lock my Visa card out of caution. I’m currently hesitant to create a new project.
Additionally, I need to know when the threshold charged on my Visa card will be removed or refunded. This is a very significant amount for me, and I’m honestly quite concerned by the support I’ve received so far. Google Cloud Support representative has repeatedly assured me that “the team is handling it” and my account will be updated, but it has been over a week, and there has been no change to my billing statement.
Could you please provide a clear and detailed update on this matter?
A similar billing bug is occurring with Gemini 2.5 Pro.
Currently, the billing support team is inquiring with the technical team and waiting for a response.
Thank you very much, this was very helpful in explaining this to Google billing support.
I was treated similarly, but they finally acknowledged my issue after I provided them with the following information.
- Inform them that there is a Gemini billing bug.
A bug in the billing system is causing erroneous charges on ‘Gemini 2.5 Flash Native Image Generation’ for some users. All such charges will be refunded.
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Open the Gemini API in your billing statement, take a screenshot that includes ‘Gemini 2.5 Flash Native Image Generation’, and send it to them (attached).
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Send them this thread on the Google Developer Forum.
Gemini API cost suddenly skyrocketed - #107 by Tomohisa_Ikuta
@Sardor_Islomov do you get this resolved? I’ve faced this problem on 2.5 pro also.
Any updates on this from Google’s team?
I was told 2-3 days and its been over a business week.
Hey everyone,
I saw an update that this issue has been resolved and incorrect charges have been refunded on the AI Studio status dashboard (Google AI Studio).
However, my account still hasn’t been updated. Has anyone here had their billing or refund processed yet?
I saw that status too. I have not received the refund OR credit to my account.
When I contacted support they said I would get a refund in 2-3 days, and a credit to my account for the inconvenience. It has been over 2 weeks since then, with little to no action on Google’s part, just the “we know about this issue, you don’t have to do anything, we’ll handle it” message from Logan.
I’m going to wait until the end of the week for the refund before I just report the transactions as fraudulent and start a chargeback process with my bank.
I still haven’t found a solution. I finally got through to billing support today and they said it would take about 3-5 days to investigate.