Any one else getting robbed by Microsoft Ads?

Anonymous
2023-07-14T15:18:30+00:00

Our spend was PAUSED for a year and then we got billed for ~$500 randomly.

After some looking, surely enough, this spend was from the exact campaign that has been paused for a year (as all our records show)

Which means that with the toggle switch in the OFF position (as you would see in Meta Ads, Google Ads, etc), Microsoft spent our funds without authorization.

After requesting a refund for this robbery, we were told that they would give us a credit instead, which we have zero interest in.

ANYBODY ELSE experience this fraudulent activity before? We have submitted a chargeback with our credit card company.

Microsoft Advertising | Billing and payments | Billing queries

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-11-08T01:57:32+00:00

    Yes this just happened to me. Just got an almost $500 bill and I paused all my campaigns.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-31T13:11:18+00:00

    Hi

    The same thing just happened to me. Ads were paused in Oct 2022 and then June 2023 they were set live by Microsoft ads I know this as I looked at the changelog! We received no notification the ads were set live which resulted in nearly £1109.08 charges to our card. We are very small business and we did reach out to the support team and live chat and each time I explained we had been charged as they unpaused our ads they disconnected on live chat and didn't reply to me via email and twitter!

    I am absolutely disgusted that Microsoft Ads have not even responded! I wish you luck getting this resolved.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-17T18:11:09+00:00

    Hi,

    I have been charged after the ads were paused and deleted . Initially I paused the ads but due to Google import it was reactivated and when I saw I paused but my account was charged . I deleted everything from account and still I was charged till 3 hrs of delete and now support team says it valid charges and offering me a refund of 50% instead the refund after the ads were deleted. Best part from last one month support team soft phone was not working and today when they called me when ever you ask a valid question they cannot hear you .

    Microsoft is cheating their customer for their wrong doings . If I don’t get a refund I am going to sue them for mental torture and wrong practice .

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-07-14T15:57:58+00:00

    Hi charp92,

    Thank you for reaching out Microsoft Advertising Community Forum.

    We appreciate your time bringing this to our attention. We understand that you want to get more information why the account went live after pausing it for a year and why you are being charged.

    There are a couple of scenarios that may have happened that may have changed the status of the account. Below are some of examples;

    • Account went on financial hold, but payment just went through when the system swiped the card on file.
    • Import schedule
    • Automated Rule

    Many times this happens as a result of the Google Import Tool. When setting up a Google Import, a schedule is created as well, then the Microsoft Advertising Account continues to pull in information from the Google Ads account. This would also apply to the status of the account, such as moving from Paused to Enabled. You can find the schedule by clicking on “Import” at the top of the Microsoft Advertising Web interface, then clicking on “Import schedule & history”. There is more information on this at this link: What gets imported from Google Ads (microsoft.com)

    With Automated Rule you save time by automatically making changes to your campaigns based on criteria you define. These are called automated rules. Here are a few ways to use the rules to help with campaign management (the settings provided are for example only—adjust yours as appropriate for your own campaign and advertising goals):

    I will send you a private message so that I can continue to support you with more account related information.

    Kind regards,

    Jerome | Microsoft Advertising Support Specialist | 800-518-5689

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-07-18T20:36:18+00:00

    Hi charp92,

    We appreciate your reply.

    To better assist you with your concern, please check my DM so we can discuss this further. Rest assured we will look into this and see what we can do.

    Kind regards,

    Jerome | Microsoft Advertising Support Specialist | 800-518-5689

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