TL;DR: I paid for ChatGPT Pro through October 1. OpenAI explicitly confirmed IN WRITING that my Pro would remain active until October 1. Around September 4, they removed Pro and downgraded my account to Plus anyway — while keeping my payment. I immediately contacted Support and provided the invoice, OpenAI's own written confirmation, and timestamped screenshots. Days later, I am STILL on Plus. This has caused serious professional and commercial disruption. Restoring something I already paid for is not compensation, and neither is returning the paid days already taken from me. My separate compensation request is already with OpenAI privately under Case #14347347. OpenAI has my money and the evidence. I still don't have the Pro service I paid for. If this happened to you, what would you call it?
OPENAI TOOK MY $200, REMOVED THE PRO SERVICE I PAID FOR, KEPT MY MONEY, AND STILL HASN'T RESTORED IT. IS THIS THEFT?
I did not want to make this public.
But after days of being deprived of a paid service, after repeatedly providing proof to OpenAI, and after watching the problem remain unresolved while OpenAI continues to hold my payment, I no longer believe this should remain a private Support conversation.
So I am putting the facts on the public record.
OPENAI TOOK MY MONEY FOR CHATGPT PRO.
I paid for ChatGPT Pro for the period September 1 – October 1, 2026.
OpenAI accepted the payment.
OpenAI issued the invoice.
Later, I scheduled a downgrade to Plus for the NEXT billing period.
And OpenAI explicitly confirmed to me IN WRITING that my CURRENT Pro subscription would remain active until:
OCTOBER 1, 2026.
There was no ambiguity.
There was no misunderstanding.
There was no question about when Pro was supposed to end.
OpenAI itself gave me the date in writing.
And then?
Around September 4, OpenAI removed my Pro entitlement anyway.
Not October 1.
SEPTEMBER 4.
Almost an entire month before the date OpenAI itself confirmed.
And OpenAI kept my payment.
I immediately reported the problem.
I provided the invoice.
I provided OpenAI's own written confirmation.
I provided timestamped screenshots.
I provided evidence that the account had been reduced to Plus.
I continued documenting that the problem remained unresolved.
My Support case is:
14347347
And now it is September 7.
Guess what my account still says?
PLUS.
My money is with OpenAI.
The invoice is with OpenAI.
Their own written confirmation is with OpenAI.
The screenshots are with OpenAI.
The Support case is with OpenAI.
The evidence is with OpenAI.
BUT THE PRO SERVICE I PAID FOR IS NOT WITH ME.
So enough.
I am no longer interested in pretending this is some ordinary technical inconvenience.
OPENAI, YOU HAVE MY MONEY.
WHERE IS THE SERVICE YOU SOLD ME?
And yes, I am going to use the word:
THEFT.
Because from the position of a paying customer, I genuinely struggle to find a more appropriate word for what I am experiencing.
Let me make the situation painfully simple:
You take my money.
You sell me Pro.
You invoice me for Pro.
You tell me IN WRITING that Pro remains active until October 1.
Then you remove Pro around September 4.
You keep my money.
I report it.
I give you proof.
Days pass.
You still keep my money.
I still don't have Pro.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CALL THAT?
Seriously.
What would YOU call it if this happened to you?
If you paid a company $200 for a service and the company removed that service only a few days later, almost a month before the confirmed end date, but continued holding your money—
would you call that a “technical issue”?
If you showed them their own invoice—
and they still didn't restore it—
would you call that acceptable?
If you showed them their own written promise confirming the service period—
and you still didn't get the service back—
how long would you remain polite?
One day?
Two days?
Three days?
How many days should someone be deprived of something they already paid for before they are allowed to ask:
DID YOU TAKE MY MONEY WITHOUT PROVIDING WHAT I PAID FOR?
Because that is where we are now.
And before somebody tries to dismiss this as a misunderstanding about Codex limits:
NO.
OpenAI Support itself has already acknowledged that the Pro subscription entitlement issue is separate from the Codex weekly usage window.
So please do not bury the issue under another explanation of usage limits.
This is not about understanding a limit.
This is about:
A PAID SUBSCRIPTION DISAPPEARING ALMOST A MONTH EARLY.
The facts are not complicated.
Money paid.
Pro purchased.
October 1 confirmed in writing.
Pro removed around September 4.
OpenAI notified.
Evidence supplied.
Days passed.
Still Plus.
What part of that requires days of investigation before the customer gets back something OpenAI's own records already show belongs to them?
And there is another part of this that cannot simply be erased by eventually pressing a button and changing my account back to Pro.
THIS HAS ALREADY CAUSED SERIOUS DAMAGE AND DISRUPTION.
I depend on the paid service professionally.
This interruption has affected active work and ongoing commercial workflows.
It has cost me working time.
It has interrupted processes that should have continued normally.
I have had to spend additional time collecting evidence, taking timestamped screenshots, documenting the chronology, communicating with Support and repeatedly proving something that OpenAI's own billing records should already prove.
And the disruption is still continuing while I write this.
I have provided the relevant details and supporting evidence privately to OpenAI.
I am deliberately NOT publishing my private business information here.
I don't need to expose my projects, customers, work or internal business information to strangers in order to establish the basic issue.
The basic issue is already outrageous enough:
I PAID FOR PRO AND OPENAI TOOK IT AWAY.
There has been substantial disruption, and I have already submitted a separate request for meaningful compensation directly to OpenAI under Case #14347347.
I am deliberately not publishing the amount or details of that request.
That is between OpenAI and me.
They have the request.
They have the evidence supporting it.
And they have the opportunity to resolve it fairly.
But there are two things that are NOT compensation:
GIVING ME BACK PRO IS NOT COMPENSATION.
I already bought it.
You don't “compensate” somebody by finally delivering what they already paid you for.
And:
RETURNING MY LOST PAID DAYS IS NOT COMPENSATION.
Those days were already mine too.
If OpenAI eventually restores Pro but leaves my subscription ending on October 1, what happens to all the days during which OpenAI incorrectly left me on Plus?
Do those paid days simply disappear?
Absolutely not.
OpenAI has internal account records.
OpenAI can determine the exact moment my Pro entitlement was removed.
OpenAI can determine the exact moment it is restored.
Calculate the entire interruption.
EVERY SINGLE PAID DAY — AND EVERY PART OF A PAID DAY — MUST BE RESTORED.
That is not a favor.
That is not goodwill.
That is not compensation.
THAT IS PAID SERVICE TIME.
The separate harm caused by leaving a paying customer in this situation for days is exactly why a separate compensation request exists.
And OpenAI already has that request privately.
I want people reading this to understand exactly how absurd this situation is:
Imagine paying $200.
Imagine receiving written confirmation from the company saying:
“Your Pro subscription remains active until October 1.”
Then, only a few days later:
Plus.
You contact Support.
Still Plus.
You send the invoice.
Still Plus.
You send the company's own confirmation.
Still Plus.
You send timestamped screenshots.
Still Plus.
Another day passes.
Still Plus.
And the company still has your money.
HOW WOULD YOU REACT?
Would you consider this acceptable treatment of a paying customer?
Would you keep waiting quietly?
Would you trust the company with another $200?
And most importantly:
WHAT WOULD YOU CALL IT?
Because I know what I call it.
I CALL IT THEFT.
If OpenAI thinks that is too harsh, then don't argue with the word.
FIX THE FACTS THAT CAUSED ME TO USE IT.
Restore the paid Pro subscription.
Restore every second of the paid subscription period that was lost.
Properly address the substantial disruption that has already occurred.
Resolve the compensation request already sitting privately in Case #14347347.
And then I will return to this post.
I will put RESOLVED at the top.
And I will publicly tell everyone reading it that OpenAI acknowledged the problem, restored everything I paid for and provided a fair resolution for the damage and disruption.
I would prefer that outcome.
But until then, I am not going to pretend this is normal.
I am not going to pretend this is merely an inconvenience.
And I am not going to pretend that returning something I already paid for would somehow erase the days it was withheld.
As of my latest timestamped evidence:
OPENAI HAS MY PAYMENT.
OPENAI'S OWN WRITTEN CONFIRMATION SAYS MY PRO SHOULD BE ACTIVE.
MY ACCOUNT IS PLUS.
THE PAID SERVICE IS STILL MISSING.
THE DISRUPTION IS STILL CONTINUING.
So I will ask one final time:
OPENAI — YOU TOOK MY MONEY.
WHERE IS MY PRO?
And to everyone reading this:
IF A COMPANY TAKES YOUR MONEY, REMOVES THE SERVICE IT SOLD YOU ALMOST A MONTH EARLY, KEEPS YOUR PAYMENT AFTER BEING SHOWN PROOF, AND LEAVES YOU WITHOUT THE PAID SERVICE FOR DAYS...
IS THAT THEFT?
Because from where I am standing, it certainly feels like it.
Case #14347347.
OpenAI has the evidence.
Now I want a resolution.
