I wanted to share what happened to my team with an email service we tried last year. Maybe this will help someone else avoid the same problems.
We decided to switch from our usual email validation service to try something cheaper. The new provider seemed good at first and offered better pricing for the same features we needed.
Everything worked fine until December 2024. Right during the holidays we got hit with millions of unexpected email validations that we never requested. Our account showed over 10 million validations appeared overnight and we got charged huge overage fees. We checked everything on our side but couldn’t find where these came from.
When we contacted support they said it was our fault and refused to remove the charges. We had to pay thousands in fees for something we didn’t do.
Then it happened again in January 2025. Another 6 million validations showed up from nowhere and more surprise fees. Again they blamed us even though we proved it wasn’t from our systems.
We finally switched back to our original provider and ended the contract in June 2025. But guess what happened next? The day after our contract ended we got an invoice for over $30,000 from them.
I’m pretty sure their system got hacked and they just passed the costs to customers instead of admitting it. Sometimes paying more upfront saves you from bigger headaches later.
This is exactly why you need automation monitoring - could’ve saved you this whole nightmare.
I see this vendor management mess constantly. People set up integrations and just forget them. No monitoring, no alerts, nothing.
You needed real-time tracking of every API call and validation request. Something that screams at you the second weird activity starts - not after millions of mystery validations already drained your account.
I’ve got automated workflows watching all our third-party usage. Every API call gets logged, billing thresholds trigger alerts, and weird patterns send instant notifications. I catch problems in minutes instead of discovering them months later on the bill.
For email validation, I built a system that batches requests, validates responses, and cross-checks against our internal logs. It automatically switches to backup providers when something’s off.
Setting up proper monitoring isn’t as hard as people think. You just need the right automation platform handling the complex stuff.
Check out https://latenode.com for building these protective workflows. Would’ve definitely saved you that $30k headache.
This hits way too close to home. We dealt with the exact same thing three years ago with a cloud provider. Started with small phantom charges that kept growing. Their support kept blaming our apps for generating all this traffic. We spent weeks auditing everything before figuring out their metering system was double-counting operations. Then they had the nerve to slap cancellation fees on top of the bogus usage charges. Had to get our lawyers involved and threaten to sue before they finally backed off. Now we run our own client-side tracking alongside whatever the vendor reports. It’s caught two more billing scams since then. Bottom line: don’t just monitor - track your own usage independently so you’ve got hard data when vendors try pulling this crap on you.
Same thing happened to me with a different SaaS provider a few years ago. Those sudden usage spikes you’re seeing? Classic signs of billing system bugs or security breaches on their end. Most legit companies will work with you when there’s obvious weird activity, especially repeated incidents. That $30k bill after cancellation is sketchy as hell. Document everything about these disputed charges and file complaints with your state’s consumer protection office and BBB. Some providers cave fast once they see customers going beyond their support team. Next time you switch vendors, negotiate hard usage caps and demand written approval before they can charge above set limits. I learned this lesson the expensive way. Yeah, you’ll pay more for established providers, but the peace of mind beats gambling on unknowns.
That’s a complete nightmare. Getting phantom charges twice then hit with a massive final bill? Absolutely infuriating.
I’ve dealt with this billing chaos from tons of service providers. The worst part? They won’t investigate their own broken systems and just blame you instead.
For email validation at scale, I handle this totally differently now. Instead of dealing with unreliable providers and their surprise bills, I built an automated workflow that manages multiple validation services and monitors usage in real time.
My system automatically switches between providers based on cost and reliability. It tracks every single validation request with timestamps and source tracking. When billing gets weird, I’ve got complete logs proving exactly what we sent.
It also alerts me if usage spikes unexpectedly, so I catch issues before they become huge bills. No more surprise invoices or arguing with support teams.
This automation saved my team from exactly what you’re going through. You can build something similar pretty easily with the right tools.
wow thats insane! $30k after canceling?? sounds like they were definitly trying to scam you. did you dispute those charges with your bank or anything? this is exactly why i stick with the same providers even if theyre a bit more expensive - switching always seems to bite you in the end somehow.
ouch, that’s a total nightmare. a friend’s startup faced a similar thing with another provider - wild charges kept showing up after they cancelled. these companies are banking on people not fighting a $30k bill in court, so they hope you’ll just pay. have u tried disputing it with your credit card?