Microsoft won't let me pay a $24 bill, blocking thousands in Azure spending

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Azure billing lockout & support dead-ends

  • OP describes being unable to pay a small ($24) Azure bill, which in turn blocks thousands in planned spending and account use.
  • Attempts to resolve via normal support channels are met with AI gating, circular flows, and no effective human assistance.
  • When OP finally reaches a human (by going through sales and claiming a large budget), the official advice is to “create a new account and start over,” which is seen as unacceptable for any serious infrastructure.

Authenticator and account management issues

  • Several comments criticize Microsoft’s push for its own Authenticator app rather than standard TOTP, though some note TOTP can work depending on configuration.
  • Others report being locked out of Azure or DevOps due to 2FA problems, with no viable recovery path and AI support insisting on self-service that doesn’t exist.
  • There are also longstanding bugs in the Microsoft Partner Network and account domain handling, where UI and actual state diverge and support loops with canned responses.

Alternatives and comparisons (AWS, GCP, Hetzner, smaller clouds)

  • Many say they would have immediately switched to AWS, GCP, or a smaller provider; some have a blanket rule to avoid clouds without real support.
  • OP ultimately uses the experience to convince a client to move a projected ~$10M, 10‑year project from Azure to AWS, citing easier VM setup and direct access to human support.
  • Others share similar “can’t pay, account locked” loops with Hetzner and Google Cloud; a Hetzner representative explains their stricter late-payment policy and reliance on wire transfers.
  • Some promote European or smaller clouds (Exoscale, BuyVM, fly.io, render) and even self-hosting (large home NAS) for cost, privacy, and human support.

Broader takeaways

  • Many see this as a symptom of mega-corps optimizing away human support, accepting some customer loss.
  • Several argue the only real escape from such Kafkaesque loops is to drop the provider and avoid deep lock-in.