Y
HN HRCB new | past | comments | ask | show | by right | domains | dashboard | about hrcb
+0.42 AWS won't discuss my bill, suspended my account, took $1,600, still no human
115 points by gadjonesq 2 days ago | 48 comments on HN | Moderate positive Editorial · vv3.4 · 2026-02-24
Article Heatmap
Preamble: +0.44 — Preamble P Article 1: +0.38 — Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood 1 Article 2: +0.23 — Non-Discrimination 2 Article 3: +0.34 — Life, Liberty, Security 3 Article 4: +0.44 — No Slavery 4 Article 5: +0.13 — No Torture 5 Article 6: +0.27 — Legal Personhood 6 Article 7: +0.46 — Equality Before Law 7 Article 8: +0.42 — Right to Remedy 8 Article 9: +0.17 — No Arbitrary Detention 9 Article 10: +0.52 — Fair Hearing 10 Article 11: +0.46 — Presumption of Innocence 11 Article 12: +0.34 — Privacy 12 Article 13: +0.51 — Freedom of Movement 13 Article 14: +0.08 — Asylum 14 Article 15: +0.13 — Nationality 15 Article 16: +0.28 — Marriage & Family 16 Article 17: +0.33 — Property 17 Article 18: +0.23 — Freedom of Thought 18 Article 19: +0.77 — Freedom of Expression 19 Article 20: +0.67 — Assembly & Association 20 Article 21: +0.43 — Political Participation 21 Article 22: +0.53 — Social Security 22 Article 23: +0.41 — Work & Equal Pay 23 Article 24: +0.28 — Rest & Leisure 24 Article 25: +0.48 — Standard of Living 25 Article 26: +0.33 — Education 26 Article 27: +0.43 — Cultural Participation 27 Article 28: +0.63 — Social & International Order 28 Article 29: +0.33 — Duties to Community 29 Article 30: +0.18 — No Destruction of Rights 30
Negative Neutral Positive No Data
Aggregates
Weighted Mean +0.42 Unweighted Mean +0.38
Max +0.77 Article 19 Min +0.08 Article 14
Signal 31 No Data 0
Confidence 60% Volatility 0.16 (Medium)
Negative 0 Channels E: 0.6 S: 0.4
SETL +0.07 Editorial-dominant
Evidence: High: 9 Medium: 13 Low: 9 No Data: 0
Theme Radar
Foundation Security Legal Privacy & Movement Personal Expression Economic & Social Cultural Order & Duties Foundation: 0.35 (3 articles) Security: 0.30 (3 articles) Legal: 0.38 (6 articles) Privacy & Movement: 0.27 (4 articles) Personal: 0.28 (3 articles) Expression: 0.62 (3 articles) Economic & Social: 0.42 (4 articles) Cultural: 0.38 (2 articles) Order & Duties: 0.38 (3 articles)
Domain Context Profile
Element Modifier Affects Note
Privacy +0.05
Article 12
Hacker News allows pseudonymous posting; minimal personal data collection for story submission.
Terms of Service -0.05
Article 19 Article 20
Moderation rules allow comment deletion and account suspension; somewhat restrictive but transparent.
Accessibility
No observable accessibility-specific barriers on comment/post interface.
Mission +0.10
Article 19 Article 20
Platform explicitly designed to facilitate open discussion and information sharing among technical community.
Editorial Code +0.05
Article 19
Community-moderated with transparent voting; minimal editorial censorship of user speech.
Ownership
Private company; ownership structure does not directly affect HRCB signals.
Access Model +0.10
Article 19 Article 20
Open access to read; low barrier to participate; no paywall or discriminatory access restrictions.
Ad/Tracking -0.05
Article 12
Minimal advertising and tracking compared to mainstream platforms; privacy-respecting by design.
HN Discussion 20 top-level comments
amelius 2026-02-22 22:13 UTC link
Credit card chargeback, simple. Only way to make companies listen.
throwaway2037 2026-02-22 22:16 UTC link
After 30 days, file a petition with in your local small claims court. Your amount is well within the limit for all 50 US states. They are probably tons of blog posts and YouTube videos that explain how to self-service in your state. Also, write a letter to your state district attorney to explain your situation. As an alternative strategy, continue to post on X about your incident in hopes that AWS will be "embarassed into action".
allynjalford 2026-02-22 22:17 UTC link
Switch your domain to Cloudflare. Setup the DNS there for your e-mail.
pensatoio 2026-02-22 22:18 UTC link
I'd immediately chargeback any subsequent charges. That's what it's for. You have nobody to talk to and no other recourse (unless you hire a lawyer.)

Probably a great reminder for everyone not to park your domain in the same place you do everything else.

Also, why are you paying 18k for resources you aren't using?

kstrauser 2026-02-22 22:19 UTC link
I don’t want to victim blame… but I’m gonna. You’ve been paying $18K per year for infra you don’t use? Can I get in on this action? I’ll rent you some of my home lab for half the price.

But AWS doesn’t charge by the usage of allocated resources. They charge by the allocation of those resources. Have 50 EC2 instances at 0% CPU? Amazon sat them aside for you, as promised, yet you chose not to use what you paid for. That’s not their fault.

By analogy, a restaurant charges you for a steak, whether or not you eat it. Unless it’s defective, you bought it and you pay for it. And if you don’t want to donate $1500/mo to the AWS Steak House, stop ordering the ribeye.

bstsb 2026-02-22 22:19 UTC link
this sounds wrong. billing is usage-based - what were you even paying for? it's very possible that you had some random metric somewhere which had crazy usage.
causal 2026-02-22 22:20 UTC link
AWS has so many internal gates, it quickly devolves into Kafkaesque hell if you get off the happy path. We had an account which was flagged as suspicious because we...signed up to use credits that AWS offered us, which apparently immediately triggers a bunch of limits and blocks. But many of them are invisible until we run into one, then file a ticket, and play the waiting game...
osigurdson 2026-02-22 22:22 UTC link
This is hindsight but managing your domain separately from your cloud provider might be a good idea.
throwaway290 2026-02-22 22:23 UTC link
Either I'm stupid or this is a big red flag. AWS has a billing dashboard that exactly says where money goes (and predicts spending for next month). If they are wrong why not just post here the wrong line? Or if they are charging you more than billing dashboard show then that's the headline right?

The whole thing of paying $1500 per month for "near zero usage" ENTIRE year without complaining or checking billing is nuts. Am I just poor or is it a result of American credit card based system?

By the way if you think AWS cares how much you use EC2 instances that you provisioned you are mistaken. EC2 is a VPS. You wouldn't expect Hetzner to charge you less if you rented a server and then didn't use it.

Imustaskforhelp 2026-02-22 22:24 UTC link
I am curious but I remember someone saying long time ago when someone else told a similar situation as to yours but with microsoft and people praised amazon.

They said that with the Ai chat bot, you can just say contact me with a human, and a human can/would then must be contacted.

I wonder if this could've been done by you. can anyone who uses amazon's services verify my claims?

AJRF 2026-02-22 22:25 UTC link
They have been charging me for £0.79 every month for about 10 years now which I don't pay. I simply can not get in touch with them about it.
WatchDog 2026-02-22 22:26 UTC link
I feel like this isn't the whole story. What line items were they billing you for? You couldn't get it resolved for a year? Why not move platforms after a couple of months of this treatment? If you have near zero usage, it shouldn't be that much work to replatform right?
maccard 2026-02-22 22:26 UTC link
There’s one piece of information missing from this.

> AWS has been charging me $1,500/month for near-zero usage. For over a year. That is more than $18,000 for infrastructure I barely use.

Did you provision the infrastructure?

celeryd 2026-02-22 22:31 UTC link
Did you build in regions you don't even use and then forget about it?
robotswantdata 2026-02-22 22:33 UTC link
Something seems off here, OP has an extra $1500 a month for over a year and then finally noticed. They then instead of pausing or migrating “expensive” services, stop paying and then AWS terminate as expected.

Feel there is more to this story than AWS being mean.

You can try emailing garman@amazon.com and complain about the poor AWS customer service with Jeff cc’d.

lopatin 2026-02-22 22:39 UTC link
From your post it's not clear that you understand how AWS charges. CloudWatch metrics would only validate your case if these were pay-per-use services like Lambdas or something. But you use the word "infrastructure" which implies you have allocated resources and simply don't use them. That's a valid charge.

Again maybe you are aware, but it wasn't clear from your post.

RobRivera 2026-02-22 22:41 UTC link
I see no usage stats, billing itemization, nothing but random accusations that are hearsay at best.

It's 2026.

Go get a lawyer if you feel you're right.

theginger 2026-02-22 22:42 UTC link
It's not impossible that the Aws charges were wrong, it's pretty unheard of. I don't understand why the details of the charges aren't mentioned in the post. If you think it's unlikely you could have a $1500 bill because you 'barely use' it then that's just wrong. In the cloud single unoptimised choices can cost thousands if you don't keep an eye on your costs, you need to look at the charges.
dvfjsdhgfv 2026-02-22 22:53 UTC link
What you say is missing crucial details, it simply doesn't add up. Near-zero for what? What was it for? Was it the classic "I deployed too many services and forgot to set up budgets" or was there something else?
nurettin 2026-02-22 23:03 UTC link
> AWS has been charging me $1,500/month for near-zero usage. For over a year. That is more than $18,000 for infrastructure I barely use

A couple of managed DB instances and a decently sized ec2 will do that.

Score Breakdown
+0.44
Preamble Preamble
High F: Advocating for transparency, accountability, and human dignity in corporate interactions
Editorial
+0.45
Structural
+0.30
SETL
+0.26
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post explicitly frames corporate power imbalance and institutional harm. Advocates for individual right to remedy and communication. Platform structure enables speech and community deliberation.

+0.38
Article 1 Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood
Medium F: Asserting equal dignity and reason against institutional power
Editorial
+0.35
Structural
+0.30
SETL
+0.13
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Narrative asserts author's equal standing to demand reasoned treatment from powerful corporation; post itself is act of asserting equal voice.

+0.23
Article 2 Non-Discrimination
Low
Editorial
+0.25
Structural
+0.20
SETL
+0.11
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

No direct evidence of discrimination on protected status grounds. Post does not engage with Article 2 directly.

+0.34
Article 3 Life, Liberty, Security
Medium F: Asserting right to security of person and property (domain, email)
Editorial
+0.40
Structural
+0.25
SETL
+0.24
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post frames suspension as hostage-taking; author argues for security of assets and services. Platform allows narration of security violation.

+0.44
Article 4 No Slavery
High F: Critiquing institutional servitude and coercive payment through service lockout
Editorial
+0.50
Structural
+0.35
SETL
+0.27
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Narrative describes catch-22 structure as form of coercion: locked out of console, cannot pay bill, cannot access support. Explicitly frames as unjust institutional arrangement.

+0.13
Article 5 No Torture
Low
Editorial
+0.15
Structural
+0.10
SETL
+0.09
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

No direct reference to torture or cruel treatment. Emotional distress implicit but not focal point.

+0.27
Article 6 Legal Personhood
Medium F: Asserting right to legal personhood and standing
Editorial
+0.20
Structural
+0.25
SETL
-0.11
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post asserts author's right to be treated as person with standing to demand negotiation. Platform structure recognizes author as rights-bearing subject.

+0.46
Article 7 Equality Before Law
Medium F: Asserting equal protection under institutional rules
Editorial
+0.45
Structural
+0.35
SETL
+0.21
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Narrative implies AWS enforcement is selective and punitive rather than equal. Author argues for equal treatment in dispute resolution. Platform allows equal voice to all posters.

+0.42
Article 8 Right to Remedy
High F: Appealing to effective remedy for institutional harm; A: Seeking escalation path
Editorial
+0.35
Structural
+0.40
SETL
-0.14
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Core plea is for remedy: human conversation, account restoration, billing review. Explicitly requests 'path to a real person.' Platform structure enables appeal to community for remedy.

+0.17
Article 9 No Arbitrary Detention
Low
Editorial
+0.15
Structural
+0.20
SETL
-0.10
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

No direct reference to arrest or detention. Domain lockout analogous but not literal capture.

+0.52
Article 10 Fair Hearing
High F: Asserting right to fair hearing and due process; A: Demanding human adjudication
Editorial
+0.40
Structural
+0.45
SETL
-0.15
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Entire narrative is complaint about absence of fair process: no human review, no appeal mechanism, automated systems, locked out of remedial channels. Author explicitly asks for human judgment. HN platform enables public fair trial by community.

+0.46
Article 11 Presumption of Innocence
High F: Asserting presumption of innocence against automated penalty; A: Demanding burden-of-proof clarity
Editorial
+0.50
Structural
+0.40
SETL
+0.22
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Author argues charges are wrong but treated as guilty without review. Frames AWS as having reversed burden: author must pay before being heard. Post itself is assertion of innocence and demand for proof.

+0.34
Article 12 Privacy
Medium F: Asserting right to privacy of communications and business records
Editorial
+0.25
Structural
+0.35
SETL
-0.19
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post describes AWS access to CloudWatch metrics and billing history as locked away; implies right to privacy of own data was violated by lockout. HN post itself is public disclosure of what author likely wished to discuss privately.

+0.51
Article 13 Freedom of Movement
Medium A: Seeking freedom of movement (access to own account); F: Framing lockout as restriction
Editorial
+0.35
Structural
+0.50
SETL
-0.27
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Author describes lockout as removal of ability to move within service: cannot log in, cannot access console, cannot use API. Post on HN is exercise of freedom to move between platforms and seek help.

+0.08
Article 14 Asylum
Low
Editorial
+0.10
Structural
+0.05
SETL
+0.07
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

No reference to asylum, nationality, or state persecution. Not applicable to corporate dispute.

+0.13
Article 15 Nationality
Low
Editorial
+0.15
Structural
+0.10
SETL
+0.09
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

No reference to nationality or change of nationality. Not applicable.

+0.28
Article 16 Marriage & Family
Medium F: Asserting protection of commercial/family affairs from state-like interference
Editorial
+0.30
Structural
+0.25
SETL
+0.12
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post frames business suspension as violation of domain/email security; author's family and business email were held hostage. AWS acts as quasi-state actor over digital property.

+0.33
Article 17 Property
Medium F: Asserting right to own and control digital property
Editorial
+0.35
Structural
+0.30
SETL
+0.13
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post describes domain, email, website as author's property held hostage. Argues for right to use and control own assets. Does not explicitly invoke property rights language but narrative is property-centered.

+0.23
Article 18 Freedom of Thought
Low
Editorial
+0.25
Structural
+0.20
SETL
+0.11
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

No direct reference to conscience, religion, or thought. Post is about institutional procedure, not belief.

+0.77
Article 19 Freedom of Expression
High A: Exercising right to seek and impart information; F: Framing silence as censorship; P: Using public platform to break informational blockade
Editorial
+0.65
Structural
+0.70
SETL
-0.19
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post is explicit exercise of Article 19: author was silenced by AWS (no callbacks, emails bounce, forms disabled, phone blocked), now exercising right to speak publicly. HN platform amplifies this speech. Author argues AWS suppressed information (CloudWatch metrics, billing transparency). Post itself demonstrates platform enabling free expression.

+0.67
Article 20 Assembly & Association
High A: Assembling community for collective support; P: Platform enables association without restriction
Editorial
+0.55
Structural
+0.60
SETL
-0.17
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post appeals to Hacker News community for collective problem-solving ('Has anyone gotten through this?'). Author seeks to associate with others with similar grievances. HN platform structure enables free association and peer support without gatekeeping.

+0.43
Article 21 Political Participation
Medium F: Asserting right to participate in dispute resolution
Editorial
+0.40
Structural
+0.35
SETL
+0.14
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Author argues AWS denies participation in own case: no human contact, no voice in decision-making, locked out of all channels. Post is assertion of right to participate in resolution of charges against oneself.

+0.53
Article 22 Social Security
High F: Asserting right to social security and reasonable living standard; A: Arguing loss of livelihood
Editorial
+0.50
Structural
+0.45
SETL
+0.16
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post describes business suspension as loss of income: domain down, email down, website down means 'business email' and website are gone. Author frames this as threat to livelihood. HN post itself is appeal for social/economic security through community support.

+0.41
Article 23 Work & Equal Pay
Medium F: Asserting right to free choice of employment and work
Editorial
+0.45
Structural
+0.35
SETL
+0.21
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post implies AWS suspension removes author's ability to continue work; no recourse to switch providers (phone blocked, account tied to domain). Describes dependency as coercive constraint on choice.

+0.28
Article 24 Rest & Leisure
Low F: Implying right to rest from constant service disruption
Editorial
+0.30
Structural
+0.25
SETL
+0.12
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post describes 4-day crisis of email bouncing imminently; implies entitlement to stable service. Weak signal; primarily about service reliability rather than rest/leisure.

+0.48
Article 25 Standard of Living
Medium F: Framing service disruption as health/security threat; A: Demanding basic service continuity
Editorial
+0.45
Structural
+0.40
SETL
+0.15
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post implies business disruption threatens food/income security ('business email'). Author argues for basic security: access to own domain and email. Platform enables appeal for community support as safety net.

+0.33
Article 26 Education
Low F: Asserting right to education and skill development through continued access
Editorial
+0.35
Structural
+0.30
SETL
+0.13
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Weak signal. Post does not directly address education, but infrastructure suspension could impede ability to learn/develop further. Primarily about service access, not education.

+0.43
Article 27 Cultural Participation
Medium F: Asserting protection of intellectual/business creation from arbitrary seizure
Editorial
+0.40
Structural
+0.35
SETL
+0.14
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Author's domain, email, website are products of work and creativity now held hostage. Post itself is creative assertion of grievance. Implies right to fruits of labor.

+0.63
Article 28 Social & International Order
High F: Asserting right to international order protecting rights; A: Appealing to community as substitute for institutional order
Editorial
+0.55
Structural
+0.50
SETL
+0.17
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post argues AWS violates reasonable institutional order (due process, fair hearing, human contact). Author appeals to Hacker News community as alternative institutional order. Post embodies assertion that international/community order should protect individuals from arbitrary corporate power.

+0.33
Article 29 Duties to Community
Medium F: Asserting responsibilities of powerful actor toward individuals
Editorial
+0.35
Structural
+0.30
SETL
+0.13
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

Post implicitly argues AWS has responsibilities: to respond to disputes, to provide human contact, to respect due process. Author frames complaint as AWS failing its duties, not author claiming unbounded rights.

+0.18
Article 30 No Destruction of Rights
Low
Editorial
+0.20
Structural
+0.15
SETL
+0.10
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND

No evidence of misuse of rights or claims. Post does not invoke Article 30 directly or attempt to negate other rights.

About HRCB | By Right | HN Guidelines | HN FAQ | Source | UDHR
build fc56cf0+0q5s · 2026-02-25 01:32 UTC