Unexpected €15,000 Azure token bill after a bug, can someone from billing help with my full-waiver request?

Question

Unexpected €15,000 Azure token bill after a bug, can someone from billing help with my full-waiver request?

Ghaith Almasri 60

Hi everyone,

I’m posting because I honestly don’t know what else to do. A bug caused unintended token usage on my Azure subscription, and I ended up with a bill of around €15,000.

I already have a support case open and asked for a full waiver. Microsoft offered to waive around €4,700, but I haven’t accepted that offer. I’ve escalated again to ask a supervisor or manager to review a full waiver of the accidental charges.

I’ve never received a goodwill billing waiver before. This isn’t money I have, and even with the €4,700 reduction, I still couldn’t afford the remaining bill. It’s been a really stressful few days, and I’m genuinely overwhelmed by the situation.

Is there someone from Microsoft’s billing or finance team who could look at my existing case and speak with me directly about my full-waiver request? I’ve already tried the support route, but so far it hasn’t helped me resolve this, and I’m not sure who else to contact.

I can explain what happened and provide my case number and supporting details through a verified private Microsoft support channel. I’d also like to know whether payment deadlines and collection activity can be put on hold while the case is being reviewed.

If anyone has been through something similar and managed to get a full waiver after an initial partial offer, I’d really appreciate hearing what helped. I’m hoping someone can help me reach the right person to review this.

Thank you for reading.

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Answer 1

Nathan Roberts (SN) 13,536 Student Ambassador Volunteer Moderator

Hey there, Ghaith Almasri

Sorry to read about your experience with Azure and the token usage causing a high bill on Azure. I can not imagine the amount of stress this has caused.

Sadly, I have seen people post on the community who have fallen foul to unexpected costs incurred from Azure. It is mainly university students and people who are experimenting with Azure that run into unexpected costs because they either forget about the resource and accidently leave it running or chose a resource that has a high cost % for usage they didn't realise.

I have found the best way to get a resolution about this is to reach out to the billing team on Azure Support, which from reading your question, is what you have done. Although, the costs they had ran up was ~£1,000 or less.

Asking to speak to the supervisor is a good step, as this allows you to speak directly to them and see if they are able to waiver the cost for you. They may have more permissions then the agent (But I am unsure for sure if that is the case).

Unfortunately, we are unable to do this and I don't think the Microsoft external staff are able to communicate to the team who can issue a refund directly.

In terms of the bug that caused the high token usage, have you explained this to the billing team?

As you mention token usage, I am guessing this is a project in Microsoft Foundry. However, it if isn't, I am sorry for mistaking this for Foundry. As you have identified a bug, please report this bug using the built-in feedback method in the Foundry portal by signing into your account here: https://ai.azure.com/

Once you have signed into your account, please click onto the face icon on the left-hand side of the face

User's image

This will bring up a feedback form where you can enter information about the bug that caused a high token usage. Please make sure you tick the box to allow Microsoft to contact you. This will allow the product group to see this feedback. This should be an addition to contacting the supervisor.

Thanks,
Nathan

Ghaith Almasri 60 Reputation points

2026-09-05T20:59:55.6+00:00

Hi Nathan,

thank you for the message and you are indeed correct it was a project on azure foundry. Honestly, its kind of naive of me to not have set up proper budgets; i just never imagined something like this could happen (lesson learned believe me haha). I have done exactly that, after the 4700 waiver that got offered i asked for another escalation through the billing support manager this time, lets see what comes out. Do you perhaps have an idea of what happens after my resources and subscription get deleted? How much time will i have to pay off such number in the worst case my waiver request gets rejected, before it reaches collection and ends up as a court case and so on? I was unable to find any details on that tbh.
Nathan Roberts (SN) 13,536 Reputation points Student Ambassador Volunteer Moderator

2026-09-06T09:30:51.9+00:00

Hey there, Ghaith Almasri

thank you for the message and you are indeed correct it was a project on azure foundry. Honestly, its kind of naive of me to not have set up proper budgets; i just never imagined something like this could happen (lesson learned believe me haha).

This is why I think, when people first sign up for Azure, it should ask them if they would like to create a budget first, before allowing them access to the portal. At least, if it provides an option to create a budget, it will stop people making mistakes in the portal and incurring charges they were not expecting.

Do you perhaps have an idea of what happens after my resources and subscription get deleted?

When the resources and subscriptions get deleted, they don't generate any further charges. The only thing I would be careful of is making sure you have stopped the resources first before deleting them.

This is due to resources taking time to fully delete from the Azure portal and service. Depending on the resource, this can take two minutes or 20 minutes. While it is deleting the resource and running, I fear that it will incur charges. So, to be better safe then sorry, I always recommend stopping the resources first then deleting them. You can find out more about deleting resources here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/manage-resources-portal#delete-resources

It is also worth noting that some resources do soft delete before being deleted fully. This is another reason why I would always recommend stopping the resource first, before deleting them. Soft deletes mean that the resource can be undeleted when they are in a soft delete state. These resources can be in a soft delete state for around 14 days depending on if it is being backed up. You can find out more here: https://docs.azure.cn/en-us/backup/soft-delete-virtual-machines?tabs=azure-portal

If you have got any Azure VMs running, please make sure that any backups are also deleted.

How much time will i have to pay off such number in the worst case my waiver request gets rejected, before it reaches collection and ends up as a court case and so on?

The only article Microsoft has around resolving past-due balances can be found here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/resolve-past-due-balance

In the article, there is an FAQ it states that if you forget to pay, the service is cancelled and the resources are no longer available to you. Your Azure data will be deleted 90 days after the service ends.

This goes with what I have seen with other Microsoft services where people don't pay their Xbox Game Pass subscription, or Microsoft 365 subscription, as an example. They keep getting email reminders to resolve their past due balance. Then after around three months their Microsoft account is suspended and they can no longer use it.

This seems to be the same with Azure. If you don't pay their bill, then they delete your resources and the service is cancelled. What I don't know is if the Azure service is cancelled or if they will suspend the Microsoft account. However, you can find this information here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/resolve-past-due-balance#if-i-forget-to-pay-what-happens

Microsoft does have a data retention policy for Azure services found here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/trust-center/privacy/data-management#leave

I haven't heard anyone getting taken to court because they haven't paid their bill. Instead, I have seen folk getting their accounts suspended or service cancelled. However, I can't speak for Microsoft because I am not a Microsoft employee, nor do I represent them. So I wouldn't want to give you wrong information about this. You are welcome to ask Azure support team you are speaking with what happens if the bill isn't paid. They may be able to give you a clearer answer then what I can provide.

Hope this helps,
Nathan