AI Credits Missing or Not Deducting

AI Credits power every Cloud AI feature on Foto Master -- background removal, AI headshot, Draw Me, SMS, and more. When credits look wrong on your dashboard it usually traces back to one of a small number of patterns: a sync delay after a purchase, a charge that was deducted from credits when it should have been from a card, a coupon-driven credit grant that has not been activated yet, or credits lost because a subscription expired without being downgraded to Pay-As-You-Go. This article covers each scenario and how to recover.

Quick Diagnostics

1. Check your current balance in Cloud > Billing (the Cloud dashboard is the source of truth, not the FMX app).
2. Refresh the page once -- the balance does not always update in real time after a purchase or AI use.
3. Compare your remembered balance against the Usage History to see which deductions actually happened.
4. If a balance jumped down by exactly the amount of a recent subscription charge, that is almost certainly the known "subscription paid from credits" sync issue described below.

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Common Issues

How to Check Your Current Credit Balance

Problem: You want to verify how many credits you currently have.

Cause: Customers sometimes look in the wrong place and assume the balance is missing.

Solution:

1. Log in to cloud.fotomaster.com.
2. Go to Billing (or Dashboard > Credits, depending on your account view).
3. The number displayed there is your authoritative balance. The FMX app shows a cached copy and can lag behind by a few minutes.
4. To see how the balance got to its current value, open Usage History -- every AI run, SMS send, and credit purchase is itemized with a timestamp.

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"I Bought Credits But They're Not Showing"

Problem: You purchased additional credits and the balance has not increased.

Cause: Most often a brief sync delay between the payment processor and the Cloud account. Less commonly, the purchase did not complete due to a card decline that the user did not notice.

Solution:

1. Wait 2-5 minutes and refresh Cloud > Billing.
2. Check your email for a credit purchase receipt. If you have a receipt but no credits after 10 minutes, the purchase succeeded on the payment side but did not reach the credit ledger -- this needs support.
3. If there is no receipt, the purchase did not complete. Try the purchase again with a different card, or check Billing > Payment Methods to confirm your card is still valid.
4. Contact support@fotomaster.com with the receipt and your account email if credits are still missing after 10 minutes.

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"Credits Were Deducted But the AI Feature Did Not Work"

Problem: You ran an AI feature, the credits were charged, but no AI photo or output was delivered.

Cause: The AI processing started, hit an error, and did not complete -- but the credit deduction had already been written. This is rare but does happen on transient Cloud or network errors.

Solution:

1. Check Cloud > Usage History and find the failed entry.
2. Email support@fotomaster.com with the timestamp, the AI feature you used, and your account email.
3. Support will verify the failed run and refund the credits to your account. Failed-job credit refunds are routinely processed when a Cloud-side error caused the failure, in line with the Foto Master Terms of Service and Refund Policy.

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"My Balance Went Down Without Using Any AI"

Problem: Your credit balance dropped (sometimes by a large amount like $50) but you did not run any AI features.

Cause: A Basic Monthly subscription renewal can be paid out of your AI credit balance if the auto-renewal feature is set to charge credits before falling back to the card on file. For example, a $50 Basic-plan renewal can be drawn from credits rather than the card -- the charge is correct, but it can be unexpected if you assumed the card would be used.

Solution:

1. Open Cloud > Usage History and look at the timestamp of the deduction.
2. If the deduction matches your subscription renewal date and amount, the charge came out of your credits as designed.
3. To prevent this in the future, go to Billing > Payment Methods and make sure your card is set as the primary payment method, with credits used only for AI features.
4. If you believe the deduction was incorrect (no matching renewal, no AI use, and no manual purchase), email support@fotomaster.com. Support will pull the credit ledger and confirm with the Cloud Manager. Credits can be restored when the deduction is confirmed to be in error.

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Bonus Credits From a Coupon Did Not Appear

Problem: You upgraded with Basic2Credits, Basic2Free, or Pro4Free but the bonus credits never landed in your balance.

Cause: The discount portion of these codes applies automatically, but the bonus credit grant requires a manual activation step on our side.

Solution:

1. Confirm the coupon was actually accepted -- check your subscription confirmation email.
2. Wait 10 minutes and refresh Cloud > Billing.
3. If the bonus credits still are not showing, email support@fotomaster.com with your account email, the coupon code used, and the subscription date. Support routes this to Roman (Cloud Operations) for manual credit activation.

See Coupon Code Not Working for full coupon troubleshooting.

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Credits Disappeared After Subscription Expired

Problem: Your subscription lapsed and now your previously purchased AI credits are gone.

Cause: When a Basic or Pro subscription expires and the 30-day grace period ends without you downgrading to Pay-As-You-Go, the account is closed and all unused credits are removed with it. Prepaid credit balances of any size -- including $150 or more -- are not recoverable once the account is closed.

Solution:

1. If the loss happened recently (within days), contact support@fotomaster.com immediately. As a goodwill gesture, support has been able to restore credits and reopen the account under Pay-As-You-Go in recent cases. Do not delay -- the longer you wait, the less likely a restore can be done.
2. Going forward, if you do not plan to actively use the Cloud subscription, downgrade to Pay-As-You-Go before your plan expires. This pauses billing while preserving your credits and your account.
3. The reminder email about expiration is sent in advance -- watch for it and act inside the grace period.

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When Are Credits Permanently Deleted?

Problem: You want to know when credits truly go away for good.

Cause: Customers want clear rules so they can plan.

Solution:

Credits are only removed when the account itself is closed -- specifically:

• The Basic or Pro plan was allowed to expire without downgrading to Pay-As-You-Go.
• The 30-day grace period that follows expiration has elapsed.
• The account is then considered closed, events are removed, and credits are removed with the account.

Credits are not removed when:

• You downgrade to Pay-As-You-Go (credits are preserved).
• Your subscription is briefly suspended due to a payment failure but you reactivate within the 30-day grace period.
• You stop using AI for a while -- credits do not expire from sitting in your balance.

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How to Dispute a Credit Issue

Problem: You believe your balance is wrong and your usage history does not explain it.

Cause: Disputes need supporting detail to resolve quickly.

Solution:

When you write to support@fotomaster.com, include:

• Your account email
• The expected balance and the actual balance shown on the dashboard
• The approximate date you noticed the discrepancy
• Any relevant entries from Usage History (timestamps and amounts)
• A screenshot of the current balance if possible

Support will pull the credit ledger and coordinate with the Cloud Manager. Most disputes are resolved within 1-2 business days.

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When to Contact Support

Email support@fotomaster.com if:

• A credit purchase succeeded but the credits did not arrive after 10 minutes.
• An AI run failed but credits were still deducted.
• A coupon-driven bonus credit grant did not activate.
• Credits were lost due to a recently expired subscription -- act fast.
• Your usage history does not account for the current balance.

Always include your account email so we can pull your record on the first reply.

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