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Unexpected Charges on Azure Storage

DOWC Technologies 0 Reputation points
2024-02-08T10:38:45.35+00:00

Upon reviewing our recent billing statements, we were surprised to discover significant charges that appear to be unrelated to our intended usage of Azure storage services. To provide clarity, we have not intentionally utilized any additional services beyond basic storage functionalities. The breakdown of charges within the Cost Analysis section of the Azure portal highlights these unexpected charges for blob features. It's important to emphasize that we have never actively used or configured these features beyond the basic storage functionality. We are deeply concerned about the origin of these charges and would like to request a thorough investigation into the matter. Considering the discrepancy between our intended usage and the billed amount for blob features, we respectfully request a refund for any services or resources that were billed erroneously.

Azure Storage Accounts
Azure Storage Accounts
Globally unique resources that provide access to data management services and serve as the parent namespace for the services.
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Azure Cost Management
Azure Cost Management
A Microsoft offering that enables tracking of cloud usage and expenditures for Azure and other cloud providers.
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  1. Andreas Baumgarten 104K Reputation points MVP
    2024-02-08T11:23:07.4933333+00:00

    Hi @DOWC Technologies ,

    the best option might be to open a support case with Microsoft Azure support for clarification.

    Azure Billing and Subscription support is offered by Microsoft by no cost and it's for free.

    Source: Azure Support plans

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    (If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

    Regards

    Andreas Baumgarten

  2. Nehruji R 4,766 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2024-02-09T06:03:45.6366667+00:00

    Hello DOWC Technologies,

    Greetings! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Platform.

    Adding to above response, I understand your concern regarding the unexpected charges related to blob features in your Azure billing statements.

    In order to analyze the billing Azure provides a feature called Cost Management and Billing that helps identify anomalies and unexpected changes in your cloud costs.

    refer - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/understand/analyze-unexpected-charges The following article helps you identify anomalies and unexpected changes in your cloud costs using Cost Management and Billing. There's no charge to use Cost Management and Billing features for your Azure subscriptions. You start with anomaly detection for subscriptions in cost analysis to identify any atypical usage patterns based on your cost and usage trends. Then, you learn how to drill into cost information to find and investigate cost spikes and dips.

    You can also create an anomaly alert to automatically get notified when an anomaly is detected.

    For your specific scenario I would recommend trying below provided links to create a support ticket from anyone of the following ways,

    create a support request over here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/create-ticket/. The ticket enables you to work closely with the support engineers and get a quick resolution to your issue.

    FYI: Azure Billing and Subscription Management support is included in the Basic Support Plan without any charge. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/plans/ You can also try Azure Support Options | Microsoft Azure and ideally the “Submit a support ticket” button will work on this page for them as a first step too.

    This article gives detailed information on Azure spending limit.

    For detailed information: When you create or use Blob Storage resources, you'll be charged for the following meters: User's image At the end of your billing cycle, the charges for each meter are summed. Your bill or invoice shows a section for all Azure Blob Storage costs. There's a separate line item for each meter.

    Data storage and metadata are billed per GB on a monthly basis. For data and metadata stored for less than a month, you can estimate the impact on your monthly bill by calculating the cost of each GB per day. You can use a similar approach to estimating the cost of encryption scopes that are in use for less than a month. The number of days in any given month varies. Therefore, to obtain the best approximation of your costs in a given month, make sure to divide the monthly cost by the number of days that occur in that month. 

    Reference Link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-plan-manage-costs#how-youre-charged-for-azure-blob-storage

    Pricing calculator: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/pricing/calculator/

    Hope this answer helps! Please let us know if you have any further queries. I’m happy to assist you further.    

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