Cannot cancel purchase of projects

Question

Our company moved our tenancy from GoDaddy to Microsoft a number of years ago. We have Business Basic and Business Standard. One manager needs Projects, so I searched for Projects, went through the purchase, not realizing it was being purchased on a personal account that no longer exists, as it was moved to our Microsoft tenant. Now I have no way to cancel or retrieve the program, as we cannot log into the account it was purchased under. This account should have been deleted, yet we were still able to purchase it. Now I don't know how to cancel the purchase. Our business support says they cannot help me with that issue. Or put us in touch with an agent that can.

Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

Dear Tracy McGowa,

Thank you for the additional information.

To help clarify what may have happened and guide you toward the appropriate resolution, could you please assist with a few details regarding the purchase?

Purchase process

• Could you please describe how the Project subscription was purchased?
• Were you signed in at the time?
• If so, did it indicate a work account or a personal account during the purchase?

Sign-in experience

• You mentioned that the previous password is no longer accepted. Just to confirm, were you able to successfully sign in with this email and password prior to the tenant migration?

Subscription details

• Do you happen to know which Project plan was purchased (for example, Project Plan 1, Plan 3, etc.)?

Admin center verification

• As your organization is now using a Microsoft tenant, it may be helpful to check whether the subscription is associated with your work account:
  • Please ask your admin to go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Billing >Your products
• Verify if any Project subscription appears there. In some cases, the subscription may have been created under a work account without being immediately apparent.

Providing these details will enable me to offer the most accurate next steps and, if necessary, route your request to the appropriate team for further assistance. Looking forward to your response so I can assist you further!

Answer 2

Because the Project subscription was purchased on a different (now inaccessible) personal account, cancellation must be handled as a subscription/purchase issue for that original account.

Use these steps and decision points:

1. Confirm where and how Project was purchased
   • If Project was bought directly from Microsoft (not via GoDaddy, Apple, Google, or another reseller), it is managed as a Microsoft 365 subscription under that personal Microsoft account.
   • If it was purchased through a third party (for example, Apple App Store, Google Play, Amazon, Best Buy), cancellation and refund must be handled with that retailer, not Microsoft. See: “If you purchased a Microsoft 365 subscription from a third-party retailer… contact them directly to manage your subscription and billing.”
2. If the purchase was via a personal Microsoft account
   • Normally, cancellation is done by signing in to the account at the Services & subscriptions page and turning off recurring billing or cancelling the subscription.
   • In this case, the account cannot be accessed, so self-service cancellation is not possible.
3. Escalate through Microsoft billing/support
   • Because the account is inaccessible and the purchase is unrecognized/stranded, this must be handled by Microsoft Support as a billing/refund issue.
   • Use the guided support path for subscription/billing problems and request an agent specifically for:
     • “Unrecognized or inaccessible account charge for Microsoft Project”
     • Ask them to locate the subscription by transaction details (date, amount, last 4 digits of card, business name on card) and cancel/refund if eligible.
   • For refund eligibility and process, see “How to get a refund on a Microsoft subscription.”
4. If the Project purchase is actually a self-service purchase under your organization
   • If the Project license was bought as a self-service purchase tied to your organization’s tenant (rather than a completely separate personal account), a Microsoft 365 admin can take over and cancel it:
     1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, open the self-service Project subscription.
     2. On the subscription details page, under Subscriptions and settings, select Take control of this subscription.
     3. In the details pane, select Cancel subscription.
     4. Choose a reason and confirm Cancel subscription until the status shows Deleted.
   • This only applies if the subscription is visible as a self-service purchase in the tenant.
5. If the wrong Project product was purchased for the tenant
   • If a Project Online/Project subscription was added to the tenant but is simply the wrong SKU, an admin can cancel it from the Microsoft 365 admin center:
     • Go to Billing > Subscriptions, select the Project subscription, and choose Cancel subscription.
6. If none of the above paths work
   • Collect evidence: invoice/receipt, bank statement showing the charge, and any email confirmation for the Project purchase.
   • Contact Microsoft Support again using the subscription refund article’s “Contact Support” entry point and clearly state:
     • The account used no longer exists or is inaccessible.
     • The purchase is for Microsoft Project and is unusable.
     • Business support previously redirected without resolution.
   • Ask to be escalated to billing for manual cancellation/refund review.

For future purchases of Project for the organization, ensure that:

• Purchases are made from within the Microsoft 365 admin center under the correct tenant.
• Self-service purchases are controlled or taken over by admins as described in the Project and self-service purchase documentation.

---

References:

• Manage self-service purchases and organizational trials for Microsoft Project
• Manage self-service purchases and trials (for admins)
• Project Online setup sequence
• Unable to cancel your Microsoft subscription
• How to get a refund on a Microsoft subscription
• How to connect with Help and Support - Microsoft Q&A
• Can I speak to someone? -- Billing issues - Microsoft Q&A
• Cancellation - Microsoft Q&A
• cancel subscription - Microsoft Q&A
• i have been charged twice - Microsoft Q&A
• Cancel an order or pre-order from Microsoft Store