Foto Master

AI Credits Issues

Updated 5 days ago · 4 min read

Credits are the fuel for every AI operation in the Foto Master cloud. Most credit complaints fall into three buckets: credits depleting faster than expected, credits not deducting when they should, and the booth saying "no credits" when the dashboard clearly shows credits available.

Quick Diagnostics

Before troubleshooting, confirm:

  • You can see your current credit balance at cloud.fotomaster.com.
  • Your subscription is active (check Billing — declined card transactions silently disable auto-renewal).
  • You have refreshed the dashboard (cached balance can be stale).
  • You know which AI feature the credits are being charged for (different features cost different amounts).

How Credits Work

Each AI operation deducts credits from your Cloud balance. AI Headshot Speed is the cheapest, Quality is moderate, Elite (required for groups) is the most expensive. AI Style Pop / Cartoon vary by style; AI Background Removal is on the lower end.

Costs are per operation, not per session — a workflow with two AI elements deducts twice. A failed AI job should not deduct credits, but this rule has occasional exceptions worth checking.

Common Issues

Credits Depleting Too Fast

Problem: You started the event with a healthy balance and ran out partway through.

Cause: The workflow may have multiple AI elements (each charges separately), you may be using Elite mode when Quality would suffice, a subscription renewal may have deducted from credits (when card billing fails), or re-runs are deducting on every retry.

Solution:

  1. Sign in and open AI > Usage History. Sort by date and review actual deductions.
  2. If you see subscription charges pulled from credits, contact support — this happens when a card is declined and is recoverable.
  3. Reduce the number of AI elements in the workflow if possible.
  4. Drop from Elite to Quality mode for individual portraits.

Tip: A $50 unexpected deduction can occur when a subscription renewal is pulled from credits because the card on file failed. When that happens, the deduction is reversed once the card is corrected. Always check before assuming an unexpected deduction was correct -- contact support if anything looks off.

"AI Says No Credits" but Dashboard Shows Credits

Problem: The booth tells you credits are exhausted, but the dashboard shows a positive balance.

Cause: A cache mismatch between the booth and the cloud — the booth is showing a stale local cache.

Solution:

  1. Restart the booth software to force a fresh credit check.
  2. Sign out and back in of your Cloud account from Settings.
  3. Confirm the booth is signed in to the right Cloud account. Common mistake: booth is on a personal/test account while credits are on a business account.
  4. Run a test AI session — if it succeeds, the cache was the issue.

Credits Not Deducting at All

Problem: You ran 50 AI sessions and your credit balance hasn't moved.

Cause: Either the dashboard is stale, or the AI calls were not actually charged (which usually means they were not processed cloud-side either).

Solution:

  1. Refresh the dashboard and check Usage History for the time window.
  2. If there are no entries, the AI calls did not reach the cloud — investigate as if AI were not generating at all.
  3. If entries are there but the balance hasn't dropped, contact support — there may be a billing reconciliation lag.

Credit Balance Disappeared

Problem: Your credit balance dropped to zero or by a significant amount without an obvious reason -- for example, a sudden $98 loss from the balance.

Cause: A subscription renewal that pulled from credits, an unrecognized AI session run by another booth on the same account, or a billing system issue.

Solution:

  1. Open Usage History and Billing History side by side.
  2. Match every credit deduction to an AI session or a subscription line item.
  3. If you find unexplained deductions, screenshot them and email support@fotomasterltd.com with your account email and date range.
  4. Check whether anyone else on your team is signed into the same Cloud account — multi-booth setups share credits.

Setting Up Auto-Recharge (Recommended)

Problem: You ran out of credits mid-event because nobody noticed the balance was low.

Solution:

  1. In the cloud dashboard, open Billing > Auto-Recharge.
  2. Set a threshold (e.g., recharge when balance drops below $20) and a recharge amount (e.g., add $50).
  3. Make sure your card on file is current.
  4. Also enable low-balance email notifications for warning before auto-recharge triggers.

Tip: For pay-per-use operators running AI experiences, always keep a healthy credit buffer. Auto-recharge plus low-balance notifications is the standard setup for events.

Failed AI Jobs Should Not Deduct (But Verify)

In theory, failed AI generations don't charge credits. In practice, failures after the cloud has already started processing (e.g., a content-violation error like ticket 238186487's "Error (Content Violation) — $0 / $67.30") may show a listed cost alongside an actual charge of $0. Compare both columns. If a failed entry shows a real deduction, screenshot and contact support.

Disputing an Incorrect Deduction

Email support@fotomasterltd.com with: Cloud account email, date and time of the disputed deduction, screenshot of the Usage History entry, why you think it was incorrect, and your expected vs. actual balance. Support reconciles against cloud-side logs and credits your account if valid — this can take a couple of business days.

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