Help with Unexpected Billing – Used Only for Learning, Not Commercial

[morimoves]

I recently received an email regarding unpaid charges on my Google Cloud Billing Account. I want to clarify that I created the account only for learning purposes while I was in college. I never used Google Cloud for any commercial activity or financial gain.

I was just exploring and trying out services to understand how things work, and I had no idea that charges were being incurred. If I had known that my actions would lead to billing, I would have stopped immediately. Unfortunately, I didn’t receive any clear warnings or notifications about costs until it was too late.

I respectfully request guidance or support regarding this issue. Since the usage was purely educational and non-commercial, is there any possibility for a waiver or adjustment of the charges? I would really appreciate any help or direction on how to resolve this.

Thank you for your time and support.

Ajay Kumar Sahu

[a_aleinikov]

Hi @morimoves ,

If your usage was educational and non-commercial, here’s what you should do:

1. Contact Google Cloud Billing Support directly via the Billing Help page. Clearly explain the situation — learning use only, no intent to incur charges.

2. Mention you're a student, and ask if a one-time courtesy credit or waiver is possible. Google has granted such adjustments in similar cases.

3. Review budgets and alerts in your account to avoid future charges.

Act quickly — billing disputes are easier to resolve the sooner you raise them.

[morimoves]

Hi @a_aleinikov, thank you so much for your kind and helpful response.

I did try to contact Google Cloud Billing Support, but I’m facing a few issues:

• My original billing account (the one with the charges) is now closed, and I’m not able to re-open it to raise a support request.

• I even tried reaching support from another active billing account, but it shows:
  "Human agent chat support is only available to paid members".

• I couldn’t find any direct email or way to raise a proper support case — it just keeps redirecting me to the AI support chat, which hasn’t helped much.

Right now, I feel quite stuck and unsure how to proceed. I’m still a student and was only using GCP for learning. I genuinely didn’t know it would lead to charges, and unfortunately I can’t afford to pay the amount.

If there’s any way I could request a waiver or one-time courtesy credit, it would be a huge help.
Could you please guide me on how to reach the correct support team or raise this with someone at Google who can actually look into my case?

Thanks again for your time and support 🙏
Ajay Kumar Sahu

[morimoves]

Hi @a_aleinikov, thank you so much for your kind and helpful response.

I did try to contact Google Cloud Billing Support, but I’m facing a few issues:

1. My original billing account (the one with the charges) is now closed, and I’m not able to re-open it to raise a support request.
2. I even tried reaching support from another active billing account, but it shows:
   "Human agent chat support is only available to paid members".
3. I couldn’t find any direct email or way to raise a proper support case — it just keeps redirecting me to the AI support chat, which hasn’t helped much.

Right now, I feel quite stuck and unsure how to proceed. I’m still a student and was only using GCP for learning. I genuinely didn’t know it would lead to charges, and unfortunately I can’t afford to pay the amount.

If there’s any way I could request a waiver or one-time courtesy credit, it would be a huge help.
Could you please guide me on how to reach the correct support team or raise this with someone at Google who can actually look into my case?

Thanks again for your time and support 🙏
— Ajay Kumar Sahu