[BUG] [BUG] [Billing] $2,196 in runaway Auto-recharge charges on Max 5x plan — chat-only user, no Claude Code, no API keys — invoices missing from both claude.ai and Console billing

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?

What's Wrong?
On June 8, 2026, my account was hit with three consecutive Auto-recharge credit purchases via Stripe, totaling $2,196.17 (tax included), despite being a chat-only Max 5x user with no Claude Code installed and no API keys created.
Charges successfully billed:

WVAOCDF6-0003: $546.17 (Receipt #2692-3876-1195)
WVAOCDF6-0004: $770.00 (Receipt #2965-8834-0211)
WVAOCDF6-0005: $880.00 (Receipt #2621-1734-1494)

Charges blocked by card suspension:

$880.00, $551.63, $330.00, $38.34 ×2, $27.50 (Total: $1,865.81)

Had my card company not intervened, the total would have reached approximately $4,062.
Why this is a billing system bug:

Usage pattern: I only use claude.ai chat. Claude Code is not installed. No Console API keys exist. Console shows Free (evaluation) plan.
No Extra Usage charges for 2 months: Since upgrading to Max 5x on April 16, 2026, zero Extra Usage charges occurred until June 8. My usage pattern did not change.
Invoices missing from claude.ai billing: The $2,196.17 in charges do not appear in claude.ai Settings > Billing invoice list. The largest invoice shown is the $110 monthly Max plan fee.
Invoices missing from Console billing: Per Anthropic support's instructions, I checked Console (platform.claude.com) Settings > Billing. It shows "Purchase credits to get started" with zero purchase history, zero consumption, and no Invoice history.
Escalating amounts: Invoice numbers are sequential (0003→0004→0005) with escalating amounts ($496→$700→$800), indicating auto-reload fired repeatedly in an uncontrolled manner.
Matches known bugs: This pattern matches issues #32544, #41605, #53262, #57096, and #60923 where Max plan usage is incorrectly routed to Extra Usage billing.

Support experience:

Fin AI Agent (Conversation ID: 215474619626790) refused to transfer to a human operator
Fin stated the charges were "outside refund policy" without investigating the root cause
Emails to [support@anthropic.com](mailto:support@anthropic.com) received only AI-generated responses that did not address the core questions
My card company has classified the full $2,196.17 as fraudulent and will not pay Anthropic

Current account state:

Extra Usage: OFF
Auto-reload: OFF
Console API keys: None
Claude Code: Not installed
Environment variable (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY): Not set

What I need:

Root cause investigation: Why did $2,196 in charges occur on a chat-only account with no record in either billing system?
Cancellation of all outstanding unpaid invoices ($1,865.81)
Written confirmation that registering a new credit card will only result in Max plan monthly charges ($110) and no other charges

Support ticket: Conversation ID 215474619626790

What Should Happen?

What's Wrong?
On June 8, 2026, my account was hit with three consecutive Auto-recharge credit purchases via Stripe, totaling $2,196.17 (tax included), despite being a chat-only Max 5x user with no Claude Code installed and no API keys created.
Charges successfully billed:

WVAOCDF6-0003: $546.17 (Receipt #2692-3876-1195)
WVAOCDF6-0004: $770.00 (Receipt #2965-8834-0211)
WVAOCDF6-0005: $880.00 (Receipt #2621-1734-1494)

Charges blocked by card suspension:

$880.00, $551.63, $330.00, $38.34 ×2, $27.50 (Total: $1,865.81)

Had my card company not intervened, the total would have reached approximately $4,062.
Why this is a billing system bug:

Usage pattern: I only use claude.ai chat. Claude Code is not installed. No Console API keys exist. Console shows Free (evaluation) plan.
No Extra Usage charges for 2 months: Since upgrading to Max 5x on April 16, 2026, zero Extra Usage charges occurred until June 8. My usage pattern did not change.
Invoices missing from claude.ai billing: The $2,196.17 in charges do not appear in claude.ai Settings > Billing invoice list. The largest invoice shown is the $110 monthly Max plan fee.
Invoices missing from Console billing: Per Anthropic support's instructions, I checked Console (platform.claude.com) Settings > Billing. It shows "Purchase credits to get started" with zero purchase history, zero consumption, and no Invoice history.
Escalating amounts: Invoice numbers are sequential (0003→0004→0005) with escalating amounts ($496→$700→$800), indicating auto-reload fired repeatedly in an uncontrolled manner.
Matches known bugs: This pattern matches issues #32544, #41605, #53262, #57096, and #60923 where Max plan usage is incorrectly routed to Extra Usage billing.

Support experience:

Fin AI Agent (Conversation ID: 215474619626790) refused to transfer to a human operator
Fin stated the charges were "outside refund policy" without investigating the root cause
Emails to [support@anthropic.com](mailto:support@anthropic.com) received only AI-generated responses that did not address the core questions
My card company has classified the full $2,196.17 as fraudulent and will not pay Anthropic

Current account state:

Extra Usage: OFF
Auto-reload: OFF
Console API keys: None
Claude Code: Not installed
Environment variable (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY): Not set

What I need:

Root cause investigation: Why did $2,196 in charges occur on a chat-only account with no record in either billing system?
Cancellation of all outstanding unpaid invoices ($1,865.81)
Written confirmation that registering a new credit card will only result in Max plan monthly charges ($110) and no other charges

Support ticket: Conversation ID 215474619626790

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

What's Wrong?
On June 8, 2026, my account was hit with three consecutive Auto-recharge credit purchases via Stripe, totaling $2,196.17 (tax included), despite being a chat-only Max 5x user with no Claude Code installed and no API keys created.
Charges successfully billed:

WVAOCDF6-0003: $546.17 (Receipt #2692-3876-1195)
WVAOCDF6-0004: $770.00 (Receipt #2965-8834-0211)
WVAOCDF6-0005: $880.00 (Receipt #2621-1734-1494)

Charges blocked by card suspension:

$880.00, $551.63, $330.00, $38.34 ×2, $27.50 (Total: $1,865.81)

Had my card company not intervened, the total would have reached approximately $4,062.
Why this is a billing system bug:

Usage pattern: I only use claude.ai chat. Claude Code is not installed. No Console API keys exist. Console shows Free (evaluation) plan.
No Extra Usage charges for 2 months: Since upgrading to Max 5x on April 16, 2026, zero Extra Usage charges occurred until June 8. My usage pattern did not change.
Invoices missing from claude.ai billing: The $2,196.17 in charges do not appear in claude.ai Settings > Billing invoice list. The largest invoice shown is the $110 monthly Max plan fee.
Invoices missing from Console billing: Per Anthropic support's instructions, I checked Console (platform.claude.com) Settings > Billing. It shows "Purchase credits to get started" with zero purchase history, zero consumption, and no Invoice history.
Escalating amounts: Invoice numbers are sequential (0003→0004→0005) with escalating amounts ($496→$700→$800), indicating auto-reload fired repeatedly in an uncontrolled manner.
Matches known bugs: This pattern matches issues #32544, #41605, #53262, #57096, and #60923 where Max plan usage is incorrectly routed to Extra Usage billing.

Support experience:

Fin AI Agent (Conversation ID: 215474619626790) refused to transfer to a human operator
Fin stated the charges were "outside refund policy" without investigating the root cause
Emails to [support@anthropic.com](mailto:support@anthropic.com) received only AI-generated responses that did not address the core questions
My card company has classified the full $2,196.17 as fraudulent and will not pay Anthropic

Current account state:

Extra Usage: OFF
Auto-reload: OFF
Console API keys: None
Claude Code: Not installed
Environment variable (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY): Not set

What I need:

Root cause investigation: Why did $2,196 in charges occur on a chat-only account with no record in either billing system?
Cancellation of all outstanding unpaid invoices ($1,865.81)
Written confirmation that registering a new credit card will only result in Max plan monthly charges ($110) and no other charges

Support ticket: Conversation ID 215474619626790

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

N/A (Claude Code is not installed — this is a billing bug affecting claude.ai chat-only usage)

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

_No response_