Hey folks,
I'm in a bit of a pickle and could use some advice. I was experimenting with AWS, mainly using SageMaker to learn about notebooks, and mistakenly ended up incurring over $2,000 on my bill because I didn't realize other services, like Data Wrangler, were running in the background. I thought I had shut everything down after the first day.
Fast forward a few months later, and I get slapped with a bill that covers February, March, and April! I reached out to AWS support, and they were helpful enough to reinstate my account and give me a partial billing adjustment of $1,233. However, I still have a remaining balance that wipes out more than six months of my savings.
To give you more context:
- I only used SageMaker once and had no clue Data Wrangler was active.
- I didn't know the free tier wouldn't stop services after reaching the quota.
- I thought shutting down the endpoint would stop the charges, but it didn't.
- I've since cleaned up all resources and set up budget alerts.
I've asked AWS if they can wave the remaining balance as a one-off exception, but I'm not sure they'll be willing to go that far.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Any tips on how I can strengthen my appeal? Thanks!
4 Answers
I’ve had a few months where my AWS bill shot up, but I found keeping billing alerts on really helps. That way, you’ll know when your spending hits a certain point. I also use EventBridge and Lambda to start and stop services automatically while I'm learning, which can save a lot of headaches!
Sounds like a hard lesson about the importance of checking the documentation, especially regarding pricing before using AWS services. Keep pushing back on AWS. If the bill is more than you can afford, you definitely don’t want them taking money from a vital account, so consider changing your payment method for now.
I've never heard of a partial adjustment being this steep. If you're really struggling with that remaining balance, keep fighting for a total waiver. The amount they forgive can depend heavily on who you talk to in support.
It's a tough lesson learned. The first thing I’d suggest is to always set a billing alert when you start. It’s too easy to rack up costs without realizing it when you’re just experimenting.
I get it now. I really didn’t know that back then, and the term 'free tier' misled me, thinking it would stop charges!
Yeah, I totally get it now and have set that up myself. Back then, I thought free tier just meant services would stop if I hit the limit. I didn’t know it would actually start charging!