Good day, I feel like a similar topic must already exist, but I feel hurt and offended by Google over what seems like pure greed.
Here’s the situation:
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For the sake of testing Gemini API batching, I topped up my account with 10 euros.
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I asked a Gemini agent to create a script processing batching.
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I ran the script, knowing that I had 10 euros available on my account to operate with.
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In the evening, after logging into my account, I saw a bill for minus 70 euros for allegedly used tokens.
As it turned out, Gemini wrote the script correctly, but it used the Gemini 3.5-flash model and did not turn off thinking/reasoning, which ultimately led to a huge token count inflation.
Google, on the other hand, writes:
Please note that the usage-based APIs meter and report telemetry asynchronously. When a massive data volume (such as 17 million tokens) is processed quickly via a batch job, there is a natural propagation delay before the usage records are fully processed, aggregated, and reflected against your account balance in real time
But I didn’t need those 17 million tokens. All I needed was to spend 10 euros, not go 70 euros into the negative… I’m trying to make my own app, but at the moment I’m a student and a migrant in another country due to the war, and I don’t have these 70 euros, ahahaha
At the same time, Google writes:
“We recognize this is not the outcome you were hoping for, and we sincerely apologize for the difficulty this places on you. To prevent similar issues in future development work, we strongly recommend implementing strict budget alerts and spending caps within your Google Cloud project settings.”
It feels like a slap in the face-on one hand, they tell you to set up your spending cap, and on the other, they say they can’t calculate tokens on their side. Lol, what?
In today’s world of neural networks, you can’t calculate token costs?
Has anyone encountered a similar situation? Can anyone help with advice or just offer some support? Because I’m feeling really frustrated and upset…
