UNAUTHORIZED BILLING

Question

Charge made to my credit card for subscription renewal. My operating system is windows 10. It also shows my subscription has expired because of this. I was still billed for it. Please return my funds ASAP

Answer 1

The charge and the “subscription expired” status can happen together if the renewal failed or was applied to a different account or order. To resolve the billing and request a refund, follow these steps:

1. Check which account and subscription were billed
   1. Go to the Manage your payments page of the Microsoft account dashboard and select Investigate next to the charge to see what it is for and which subscription it belongs to: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2246882
   2. If the subscription shows as expired but you see a recent charge, it may be:
      • A charge on a different Microsoft account, or
      • A charge related to a previous billing cycle or a previously declined payment that was retried.
   3. If you don’t recognize the charge, use the same Manage your payments page to investigate it further. For more detail, see How to investigate a billing charge from Microsoft.
2. Confirm the subscription status and recurring billing
   1. Go to Services & subscriptions for the signed-in account: https://account.microsoft.com/services
   2. Check:
      • Whether the Microsoft 365 subscription is Expired, Suspended, or Active.
      • Whether Recurring billing is turned On or Off.
   3. If recurring billing is on and the subscription is still showing as expired, there may have been a payment or activation problem. In that case, use the support options below.
3. Request a refund (if eligible)
   1. First, cancel the subscription from Services & subscriptions if it is still active or recently renewed.
   2. After cancellation, check refund eligibility using the guidance in How to get a refund on a Microsoft subscription. Not all cancellations result in a refund, but the article and self-help tool will walk through the options.
   3. If the charge is not recognized or appears incorrect, use the Manage your payments → Investigate flow to classify it as unrecognized and follow the prompts.
4. If the charge looks fraudulent or cannot be found
   • If the charge does not appear on any of the Microsoft accounts checked, or appears to be unauthorized, contact the bank or card issuer to dispute the transaction and request a refund. They may also recommend blocking the card and issuing a new one.
5. Contact Microsoft Support if the portal steps do not resolve it
   • If the charge appears in the Microsoft account but the subscription still shows as expired or the refund options are unclear, contact Microsoft Support for billing help. Use the Contact Microsoft Support path described in the Q&A guidance to reach a billing agent (category: Microsoft 365 & Office → Billing and Payment Updates → Chat with a support agent).

These steps will allow identifying exactly what was billed, correcting the subscription status if needed, and requesting a refund through Microsoft or the bank, depending on what the investigation shows.

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References:

• How to investigate a billing charge from Microsoft
• Unable to cancel your Microsoft subscription
• How to get a refund on a Microsoft subscription
• Cancel a monthly charge on my visa credit card - Microsoft Q&A
• Can I speak to someone? -- Billing issues - Microsoft Q&A
• Request refund - Microsoft Q&A
• Problems renewing a Microsoft 365 subscription