OpenAI charged a UK advertiser for ads delivered after it paused its campaign — and refused a refund

UK-based Excel4Business encountered a billing issue where OpenAI continued serving and charging for ChatGPT Ads after the company paused its campaign. OpenAI initially indicated it would issue a refund, then reversed that decision and denied any refund by citing Section 11.1 of its Advertising Terms, which allows ads to run and be charged for up to one business day after a campaign is canceled or changed .

What happened

Ed Bolton, managing director of Excel4Business, told The Register that his company saw charges for ads that were delivered after they had paused the campaign. When they asked for a full reconciliation, OpenAI's support team first agreed to a refund, then reversed course .

OpenAI's support message stated: "Section 11.1 of our Advertising Terms provides that ads may continue running for up to one business day after a campaign is canceled or changed, and advertisers remain responsible for ads delivered during that period. Pausing a campaign constitutes a campaign change and does not guarantee that delivery or associated charges stop immediately" . This is consistent with the publicly posted Advertising Terms, which note that metric-based fees are based on OpenAI's measurement and data .

A company spokesperson confirmed the policy, saying it can take a business day to process a campaign change and that this is not an intentional effort to run ads after an advertiser has disabled them .

The global expansion context

OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the US in February 2026 and has been expanding steadily. As of August 11, 2026, the service launched in the UK, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea . With 50 million paid users out of 900 million weekly users as of February 2026, advertising revenue is a key part of OpenAI's plan to offset costs and demonstrate a path to profitability ahead of a potential IPO .

Industry norms and comparisons

The Register notes that online ad platforms from Google and Facebook have long given advertisers control over when ads appear, but do not always perfectly adhere to instructions. OpenAI's billing delay mirrors similar timing and accuracy issues seen across the industry . The postpay billing model and nonrefundable ad credits are also common in programmatic advertising .

OpenAI's ad credit terms state that credits expire 90 days after allocation, are nonrefundable and nontransferable, and cannot be used alongside other credits or discounts . This approach is in line with broader industry practices, but the Excel4Business incident highlights a specific friction point: advertisers may not expect charges to continue accruing after they have explicitly paused a campaign.

What this means for advertisers

For businesses considering ChatGPT Ads, the Excel4Business case serves as a practical warning: pausing a campaign does not immediately stop ad delivery or billing. OpenAI's terms allow up to one business day of continued charges after any campaign change, including a pause. Advertisers should account for this delay in their budgeting and campaign management workflows.

The incident also underscores the importance of reviewing platform-specific advertising terms before committing spend. While OpenAI's billing delay is not unusual by industry standards, the reversal of an initial refund promise suggests that advertisers may face an uphill battle when disputing charges that fall within the platform's stated policy.