[BUG] Pro Annual plan changed to Max monthly without authorization — "Gift Max 20X/5X" invoices generated on account
Preflight Checklist
- [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
- [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
- [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code
What's Wrong?
I am a Claude Pro Annual subscriber. Starting April 9, 2026, a series of unauthorized billing events occurred on my account without any action on my part.
Timeline:
Apr 9: Annual renewal charged successfully ✅
Apr 16: A second invoice appeared for "Gift Max 20X - 1 months" — a product I never ordered. Status: Overdue.
Apr 16–19: Repeated Stripe payment confirmation emails for this unknown product.
Apr 19: My plan was silently changed from Pro Annual (valid until April 2027) to Max monthly (expiring May 19, 2026) — without any action or consent on my end.
Apr 19–20: Internal credits and storni applied automatically (−€103.88), duplicate invoices generated.
Apr 20: Two new Stripe emails for "Gift Max 5X - 1 months" — again, a product I never ordered.
Possible trigger:
Anthropic sent me a promotional one-time free credit for extra usage (email received early April). I redeemed the voucher. Shortly after, the billing system began generating unauthorized invoices.
Support experience:
Ticket open since Apr 16 — Conversation ID: 215473937152899
All responses from Fin AI Agent only — no human billing specialist has responded
AI agent initially attempted to process an unwanted refund that would have cancelled my subscription
Chat support confirmed escalation to human specialist — still waiting
Expected Behavior
Pro Annual plan remains active until April 9, 2027
No invoices for products never ordered ("Gift Max 20X", "Gift Max 5X")
No unauthorized plan changes
Actual Behavior
Plan changed to Max monthly expiring May 19, 2026
Multiple Overdue invoices for unknown products
Billing system generating new invoices autonomously with changing amounts
Available credit decreasing without explanation
Related Issues
#41499 — Gift Max 20X proration bug destroying subscription credit
#47290 — Gift subscription silently cancelled, support unable to escalate
#48780 — Double billing and account degraded to Free plan
Account
Email: [gigiograndi@gmail.com](mailto:gigiograndi@gmail.com)
Support Conversation ID: 215473937152899
Card on file: Visa ****3750 (empty — no unauthorized charges succeeded)
What Should Happen?
Pro Annual plan remains active until April 2027.
No invoices generated for products never ordered.
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
- Have an active Claude Pro Annual subscription
- Redeem a free usage credit voucher sent by Anthropic via email
- Observe unauthorized invoices appearing for "Gift Max 20X" and "Gift Max 5X"
- Observe plan changed from Pro Annual to Max monthly without user action
Claude Model
None
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
N/A — billing issue on claude.ai
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
Other
Additional Information
<img width="865" height="1400" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8463f772-a7a8-4820-b614-22b99f752768" />
<img width="399" height="779" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b6e7776a-b62f-4429-a1b5-2d76090dd132" />
<img width="818" height="843" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0ed32f21-710e-4494-a9f0-5934371d2e29" />
17 Comments
This is far beyond a UI billing-display bug if the reported sequence is accurate. The core issue is unauthorized plan mutation plus invoice generation for products the customer says they never purchased.
That makes this a control-plane integrity problem:
Even if some internal promotional-credit or migration workflow triggered the chain, the user-facing result is indistinguishable from account compromise or backend billing corruption.
Billing systems have to be boring and legible. When plan identity, invoice identity, and support escalation all become unstable at once, trust collapses very quickly. This needs human review and a durable audit trail, not just automated explanation.
Same here - charged for gifts I didn't order, and the chatbot was completely useless. It refunded my paid subscription, which I actually wanted to keep, and did nothing to resolve the gift issue.
<img width="866" height="898" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/94de2cdf-5c79-402e-a657-76aedf534240" />
And this is for today, folks!
<img width="391" height="754" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/46dc23c4-935f-4b24-9b32-cfcb3136af51" />
<img width="386" height="741" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/bad85249-bc52-48c4-80b6-de5a4944ea1e" />
<img width="361" height="744" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d6d78c89-e876-4ccc-8f6c-cac873c1e659" />
<img width="391" height="754" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1d4a3a7a-90da-4148-986b-96380447bee6" />
<img width="366" height="760" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/89495e64-3c37-44ec-9b40-198793963f38" />
<img width="390" height="755" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a93c0ec6-6a40-4977-bfeb-42281ce35aec" />
Here I am: Case #45335
From here:
<img width="955" height="1232" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/92068185-f6b7-4c99-91f5-5e40624bf1eb" />
to there:
<img width="1427" height="430" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c4dcf2f7-d0ea-4798-9361-3e6f86176f9a" />
No action from my account, everyday a bunch of payment requests from Anthropic Ireland. Fortunately, I've used a pre paid Credit Card and it's now empty.
They downgraded my annual pro profile, paid in advance directly from Claude.ai, with regular receipt and invoice, first to a monthly Max plan and then, after a few days with a monthly Pro plan (voucher sent by them) they are totally out of control
I had to cancel my pro subscription for fear of more charges to my account. I am a student and Anthropic charged my card till overdraft. Multiple Gift Max 5X, Gift Max 20X, and pro gift charges. Claude help says that only my legitimate monthly claude pro charge is eligible for a refund. Anthropic support has failed to react to my emails - My bank is still in the process of reclamation proceedings. I am just at a loss for words.
Did cancellling your plan stop the charges? I just got charged £540 unauthorized @PatientQ
My subscription have been converted in monthly, they gave me an extra month that expires tomorrow. I avoided the charges on my card because I use a Wise card to pay for these subscriptions, and now it's out of credit.
The fake invoices stopped some time ago. I have no further updates.
Update: After a Chargeback ticket open with Wise, The Bank offer me the complete refund.
Not bad
Great news! I'm waiting on mine. Did they open a fraud investigation? Monzo
bank told me they couldn't process it as fraud because I gave my details to
Anthropic.. I can claim a charge back though. What happened in your case?
On Mon, 25 May 2026, 09:26 gigiograndi, @.***> wrote:
I've open a chargeback issue in wise website, alla emails, all screenshots, all invoices and receipes that I have teh ask me. After about two more request for investigations, they offered me the refund, 95% of entire amount, becasue the issue was started after 10 days of regular subscription
Ok, well light at the end of the tunnel!
Thanks for sharing.
On Mon, 25 May 2026 at 15:58, gigiograndi @.***> wrote:
4月から5月にかけての同型の集積の合図の整理と、 利用者の対応の経路の整理を共有させていただきます。
本起票の合図と同じ様式の起票が、 anthropics/claude-code の経路で6件以上の独立な合図に整理されました。
3軸の様式の整理: 軸A は未承認の Gift Max の自動の購入 (本起票と #62461)、 軸B は Max の自動の降格と二重の課金 (#41581 / #56895 / #61339)、 軸C は促進の経路の誤適用と過大の課金 (#54133)。 加えて、 第三者の経路 (Capterra と The Register と Trustpilot の経路の利用者の声) で同じ様式の合図が観察されています。
@gigiograndi さんと @classyjoes さんの経路の合図 (Wise と Monzo の経路の chargeback の整備の成功と進行中) は、 利用者の側の対応の経路の中核の合図です。 5月20日から5月25日の経路で、 chargeback の経路の整備が利用者の側の対応の最強の合図の経路。
5月30日の整備の段で、 6件の起票の経路の整理と、 利用者の側の早期の検出の5つの確認の経路を HTML の頁として整備しました (MIT、 引用と再配布が可能の経路): https://yurukusa.github.io/cc-safe-setup/billing-incident-detection.html
頁の整備の経路:
道具の経路 (cc-safe-setup の hook) では予防できない上流の整備の合図のため、 利用者の側の早期の検出と対応の経路の整備に焦点。 14日の経路の対応の不在の段で、 chargeback の経路 (クレジットカードの発行元への直接の経路) の整備の判定の入力。
@gigiograndi さんの経路の合図 (Wise の chargeback の整備の完成段) と @classyjoes さんの経路の合図 (Monzo の chargeback の整備の進行中) は、 14日の経路の整備の最強の合図の経路。 同じ経路の利用者の集まりの整理の経路の参考として整理させていただきました。
I got a very similar issue today
<img width="647" height="170" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/704f01e5-809d-4325-aeb6-75814df1ea5a" />
<img width="453" height="545" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/71716d82-6b87-4b33-8c8f-f9ad0a4748de" />
same issue
my last subscription was about to expire today (pro) instead i was billed 210 € for a max subscription that i had never upgraded to and the cancelation was obviously not respected either
the chatbot told me it would be canceled/refunded but it feels not great to rely on such an automated response
hopefully it will work (5-10 days apparently)
it is a quit horrible bug and makes me question their internal use of ai for such tasks.
ps: they appear to have accidentally also have started refund on my previous subscription (20€) which i did purchace and which i never complained about..
<img width="1091" height="721" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6d5eb62d-061d-44de-9655-74c9d633c082" />
Hi,
Here we go folks
The Chargeback is done! Keep working with Chargeback and whenever (As my issue) Anthropics refuses the Chargeback with some bull****s, keep working on. Never give up
<img width="1206" height="1806" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1a57c446-6a79-4dc9-ad36-8caeed8b86a3" />
Mine also went through.Good handling of mistake.Still incredible mistake to have happen.On 11. Jun 2026, at 12:09, gigiograndi @.*> wrote:gigiograndi left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#51168)
Hi,
Here we go folks
The Chargeback is done! Keep working with Chargeback and whenever (As my issue) Anthropics refuses the Chargeback with some bull**s, keep working on. Never give up
voila.jpg (view on web)
—Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>
I experienced a very similar issue.
In May, I subscribed to the Pro plan. Shortly afterward, my account was upgraded to the $200 Max plan without my authorization. I never clicked to upgrade or purchase Max. I contacted support, requested a refund, and Anthropic refunded the charge. After that, I decided to remain on the Free plan.
Four days ago (July 2), while still on the Free plan, I received a $200 charge attempt. The charge failed because my credit card did not have sufficient available credit. Shortly afterward, I was charged $100 for a Max plan subscription instead.
Once again, I did not upgrade my plan, purchase Max, or authorize any change to my subscription. I immediately contacted support. The automated system denied my refund request, but my case was supposedly escalated to a human agent. It has now been four days, and I have not received any follow-up email or response.
I have seen multiple Reddit posts and GitHub issues describing similar billing and subscription problems. A recurring theme seems to be the difficulty of reaching a human support representative.
At this point, I am beginning a chargeback process with my credit card issuer. I would have preferred to wait for a response from the support team, but after several days without any communication and seeing similar experiences reported by others, I do not feel I have many alternatives.
If Anthropic staff are monitoring this issue, I would appreciate clarification on how these Max plan subscriptions are being activated and why unauthorized charges appear to be affecting multiple users.