[BUG] Possible Usage Credits billing issue: 35 unexpected charges while repeatedly blocked by daily / weekly limits

[cabueno360]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Unexpected Usage Credit charges despite being blocked by weekly limits

Describe the bug

I experienced what appears to be an unexpected Usage Credits billing behaviour.

I was subscribed to Claude Pro and later upgraded to Claude Max. Throughout my usage, whenever I reached my plan limits, Claude consistently informed me that I had reached my weekly limit and that I needed to wait until my quota reset before continuing.

I always followed those instructions.

Later, I discovered 35 separate Usage Credit charges totalling €1,809.55.

The behaviour is confusing because I believed I was only using my subscription allowance. If Usage Credits were actually paying for my continued usage, I would not have expected Claude to repeatedly block me and tell me to wait for my weekly reset.

Additionally, many of the charges were processed consecutively during a single night, including while I was asleep and my computer was turned off.

Another observation is that the charges followed a remarkably regular pattern. Rather than occurring at random times, many of them were processed approximately every 4–6 minutes. This repetitive interval does not resemble my normal interaction with Claude and makes me wonder whether an automated billing process repeatedly triggered Usage Credit charges.

I found similar reports, including:

• [BUG] July 17 mass billing incident: usage credits charged despite plan allowance; $704.71 disputed #81703
• [Billing][Bug] Auto-recharge loop charged consumer plan 29x ($661) in error; Fin support admits malfunction but cannot escalate to a human #68773

I'm trying to understand whether this is expected behaviour or whether my account may have been affected by the same or a similar billing issue.

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Steps to reproduce

Unfortunately I cannot reliably reproduce the issue.

The sequence that led to it was approximately:

1. Enable Usage Credits.
2. Use Claude normally until reaching the weekly plan limit.
3. Claude reports that the weekly limit has been reached and instructs the user to wait until the quota resets.
4. Wait for the reset before continuing to use Claude.
5. Later discover multiple Usage Credit charges in the billing history.

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Expected behaviour

Once the weekly limit has been reached, I would expect one of the following:

• Usage stops until the quota resets; or
• If Usage Credits are being consumed, the interface clearly informs the user that paid usage is continuing instead of displaying that the weekly limit has been reached.

The current behaviour is confusing because it appears to do both.

In addition, I would expect the billing history to clearly show:

• which request generated each Usage Credit charge,
• the timestamp of the usage,
• the model used,
• and why an automatic charge was triggered.

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Actual behaviour

• Claude repeatedly displayed "You've hit your weekly limit" and instructed me to wait until my quota reset.
• I followed those instructions before continuing to use the service.
• My billing history later showed 35 separate Usage Credit charges totalling €1,809.55.
• A significant number of those charges were processed during a single night while I was sleeping and computers off.
• The timestamps follow an unusually regular pattern, approximately every 4–6 minutes.

Example:

05:51
05:55
06:01
06:06
06:10
06:14
06:19

• Many of these charges occurred while I was asleep and my computer was turned off.
• I cannot find any Usage Credits history explaining which requests or conversations generated these charges.
• Because the charges follow such a regular interval, I am wondering whether they were triggered by an automated billing process rather than individual user actions.

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Screenshots

Weekly limit reached

The Claude reported that I had reached my daily weekly limit and needed to wait for the quota reset and stoped.

At the same time, my account later accumulated dozens of Usage Credit charges.

Questions

• Is this expected behaviour?
• Can Usage Credits continue charging while Claude simultaneously reports that the weekly limit has been reached?
• Is there a known issue related to this behaviour?
• Why do the charges appear to follow a regular interval of approximately 4–6 minutes?
• Is there a detailed Usage Credits log showing which activity triggered each individual charge?
• Can billing events be correlated with the actual usage timestamps?

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Additional information

• Subscription: Claude Pro (later Claude Max)
• Total Usage Credit charges: 35
• Total amount charged: €1,809.55
• Many charges were processed overnight while I was asleep.
• I could not find any detailed Usage Credits consumption history explaining these charges.
• The interface repeatedly instructed me to wait for my weekly quota reset, leading me to believe I was not consuming paid Usage Credits.

What Should Happen?

Sould not charge

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

It is not possible to show

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

1

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

No response