All posts tagged: billing

‘What a joke’: Github Copilot’s new token-based billing spurs consternation among devs

‘What a joke’: Github Copilot’s new token-based billing spurs consternation among devs

Published by skeptic

The golden age of Microsoft’s Github Copilot appears to be at an end — for the little guy, at least. The company is switching its billing system from a flat subscription rate to a token-usage system that has the potential to bill users at a significantly higher rate. Bigger enterprises may still have the juice for it, but smaller companies and workers could find themselves wondering how they’re supposed to balance the monthly budget. The changes, which will take place June 1, mean that users will charged based on how many tokens they burn through as they work instead of a low flat rate based on requests. Some developers with financial whiplash have taken to places like Reddit and X to bemoan what — in many cases — appears to be a drastic escalation in cost. “What a joke,” one Redditor recently wrote, claiming that, while they currently only pay around $29 per month, the new rate will balloon their costs to nearly $750 a month. “This new usage model is just stupidly expensive. I’m adjusting …

Apple Pulled Cal AI for Deceptive Billing Design, Not External Payments

Apple Pulled Cal AI for Deceptive Billing Design, Not External Payments

Published by skeptic

Apple recently cracked down on Cal AI, an app owned by MyFitnessPal that tried to skirt Apple’s in-app purchase rules. Apple told TechCrunch that it briefly pulled the calorie-counting app last week for violating purchasing guidelines and using a deceptive billing design. When the app was pulled last week, there was speculation that it was removed for implementing web-based payments, something that is now allowed in the U.S. Apple said that’s not the whole story, though, and the app was violating other guidelines. Apple’s ongoing legal battle with Epic Games led a judge to force Apple to allow U.S. developers to include links to external payment systems in their apps, but apps that are not classified as reader apps also have to include an in-app purchase option. Apps like Netflix and Spotify that offer streaming content are considered reader apps, but Cal AI is not. As a non-reader app, Cal AI was allowed to direct users to a non-Apple purchase option for a subscription, which it did with a purchase flow using Stripe, but the …

Thames Water is billing me for its own mistake | Water bills

Thames Water is billing me for its own mistake | Water bills

Published by Sam Flores

Thames Water has blindsided me with a bill for nearly £2,000, backdated to 2020. It turns out that it mistakenly stopped collecting my direct debits back then and has not sent any bills since. It admitted its error and promised to write off charges older than 12 months, but now it is trying to recover almost the full amount. AD, London You assumed that back-billing rules applied to water bills as they do to energy. They don’t, or at least not for domestic customers. While businesses can’t be back-billed for more than 24 months, water firms can claw back up to six years’ worth of charges from householders if they forget to bill them. The regulator, the Consumer Council for Water, says it expects firms to waive these if the mistake was of their making, and will look at complaints if this doesn’t happen. Thames Water buckled when I intervened. It admitted that a system error ended your direct debits six years ago, and it has now agreed to waive all charges between April 2020 …