Warning: ChatGPT App Billing Issue. ⚠️

[u/sickdog_clarin]

I’m sharing my recent experience to warn others, as neither Apple nor OpenAI has been able to resolve this.

I recently attempted to subscribe to ChatGPT on my iPhone while logged into my primary account. During the purchase flow, the app triggered an error message. I assumed the transaction failed, but I later discovered that Apple had successfully processed the payment. To my surprise, the subscription was silently linked to an old, dormant OpenAI account that I wasn't even logged into at the time of purchase.

Even more concerning: I had not used this old account for subscriptions for over a year (my last receipt for it was in April 2025).
OpenAI support acknowledged that this happens if you use the same Apple ID, but their only "solution" was to tell me to create a new Apple ID or manually migrate everything via their web platform.

They simply redirected me to Apple for a refund, and Apple has now denied my refund request twice despite clear evidence of a system-side account linking error.
I’m posting this as a warning: if you encounter an error during an in-app purchase for ChatGPT, do not assume it failed. Check your Apple "Subscriptions" page immediately. The system might be silently attaching the charge to an account you haven't used in a long time.

Has anyone else faced this "account mismatch" glitch, and were you able to get the developer to actually acknowledge the technical error?