Hello,
We need help with a billing problem on our Gemini API account that we cannot explain ourselves.
We run a live webinar platform. The Gemini API generates images and video for the audience during broadcasts, so the account is in active daily use.
The problem. Our console currently shows a red banner: “You’ve reached the billing account monthly spend cap and service has been paused.” On the same screen, the Monthly spend cap panel shows: €413.47 / –. The dash is the cap value. No spend cap has ever been configured on this account. We are being told we reached a limit that does not exist. The feature is labelled Experimental in the console. Alongside this, our tier keeps moving between Tier 2 and Tier 1 every two or three days, with no failed payments.
What our spend actually looks like: €529.62 total from 26 July to 22 August (28 days), €413.47 in the current month, roughly €19 per day, steady, with no unusual spikes. That daily volume is not achievable under Tier 1 rate limits. The spend is therefore evidence that the account was on Tier 2 while it was being spent — not evidence that anything was exceeded. The cap notice appears only after a downgrade, when spend made under Tier 2 is measured against Tier 1 limits. Our daily usage chart drops to almost zero on 19 and 22 August — the exact days of the downgrades. That is the service being cut off, not a drop in our own usage.
Payment history this month: payments received and successful on 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 18 and 21 August. On 5 August one payment was declined by our bank; the account was suspended and restored the same day. On 8 August we were upgraded to Tier 2. On 11 August we received two emails on the same day — one for Tier 1 and one for Tier 2. On 16 August the service was paused with “spend cap reached” and the account went to Tier 1. On 19 August it was set to Tier 1 again, and we submitted the Gemini API Quota and Billing Cap Increase Request form. On 22 August it was set to Tier 1 again. The 5 August decline was a one-off on our bank’s side and was resolved within hours. It does not explain downgrades two and three weeks later.
Why this matters to us. The tier determines our daily generation quota. Our webinars run in the evening with an audience already in the room. When the tier drops, we only find out when generation begins failing during a live broadcast, in front of viewers. We cannot plan capacity for an account whose tier changes every few days.
What we would like to understand. First, why does the console report a monthly spend cap as reached when no cap is set on the account? Second, what causes a downward tier recalculation on an account with no failed payments — the documentation explains how a tier is reached, but not how it is lost? Third, why would one account receive Tier 1 and Tier 2 notifications on the same day? Fourth, we submitted the Quota and Billing Cap Increase Request on 19 August and have had no response — what is the normal turnaround, and is there anything we should do differently?
We are glad to provide the billing account ID, project number, screenshots of the console and the full email history — just tell us where to send them.
Thank you!