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Unauthorized Professional plan upgrade triggered by shared file permissions

  • January 18, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 26 views
Bastian Landskron

Hello,

I’m reporting a billing issue related to file and team permissions.

I shared a Figma project strictly in an educational context. Without my authorization or confirmation, users who accessed the file were upgraded to Professional seats, and my account was charged automatically.

I did not approve a plan upgrade, paid seats, or any billing change.

This appears to be a permissions and billing control issue, where third-party access triggered a paid upgrade without explicit owner consent.

I have already opened a support ticket (#1694611), but I wanted to ask if this behavior is expected or if there is a recommended way to prevent unauthorized billing when sharing files for educational purposes.

Thank you.
 

Best answer by Celine_

Hi Bastian, thanks for taking the time to explain what happened in detail! That context is helpful, especially given that the seat upgrades weren’t intentionally added.

I’m Celine from Figma, and I am working closely with Junko, happy to help move things forward! As Junko mentioned, our support team is best equipped to review the charges on your account and determine whether a refund is possible. For security and privacy reasons, we’re not able to handle billing or account-specific details here in the Forum.

I’ve added a follow-up note to your existing case with the additional context you shared here. If there’s anything else you think might be helpful, feel free to reply directly to your case number so the assigned agent has the full picture.

Thanks for your patience while the team reviews this, they’ll follow up with you directly as soon as they can.

Update: I see in the backend that our support team was able to cancel the plan and process the refund.
I’ve gone ahead and marked as solved here!

    3 replies

    J
    Figmate
    • Junko3
    • Figmate
    • January 19, 2026

    Hi ​@Bastian Landskron, 

     

    I understand your concern about unexpected charges related to file sharing and seat upgrades.

     

    I checked on our end and can see that you’re currently the owner of a Professional plan team, which was upgraded a few months ago. It looks like the additional charges you’re seeing are related to paid seats being added to that Professional team.

     

    To help prevent future charges from collaborator edit requests without your explicit approval, we recommend adjusting your team’s seat approval settings.

    You can set seat upgrades to Manually approve, which allows you to review and approve incoming seat requests before any paid seats are added to your plan.

    To understand your team’s current settings and how each seat approval option behaves, please review the guide below:

    Approve or decline seat upgrade requests

    This guide may also be helpful for understanding how billing works on Professional plans: 

    Manage billing on the Professional plan

     

    Since you already have a support ticket open (#1694611), our support specialist will be able to review the specific charges and assist you further there. If you have any additional questions regarding this, please feel free to ask in the ticket.

    Thanks,

      Bastian Landskron

      Thank you very much for your response and for looking into this.

      The core issue is that I only shared a file for viewing purposes, but the people I shared it with requested edit access, and paid Professional seats were automatically assigned to them without me being prompted to approve or deny those requests.

      This happened twice:

      • The first time, I noticed it quickly and removed the seat, but I was still charged USD 6.

      • The second time, I did not notice it in time, and the charge was fully billed, again without my explicit consent or approval.

      At no point did I receive a clear notification or approval step before these paid seats were added. From my perspective, the upgrades were applied automatically as a result of collaborators requesting edit access, even though my original intent was only to share the file for viewing.

      Because of this, I believe these charges were not authorized by me, and I would appreciate it if you could review both charges and advise on a possible reversal or refund, since the Professional plan upgrades were applied without my explicit consent.

      Thank you in advance for your help, and I look forward to your response.

      Best regards,
      Bastian Landskron

        Celine_
        Figmate
        • Celine_
        • Community Support
        • Answer
        • January 19, 2026

        Hi Bastian, thanks for taking the time to explain what happened in detail! That context is helpful, especially given that the seat upgrades weren’t intentionally added.

        I’m Celine from Figma, and I am working closely with Junko, happy to help move things forward! As Junko mentioned, our support team is best equipped to review the charges on your account and determine whether a refund is possible. For security and privacy reasons, we’re not able to handle billing or account-specific details here in the Forum.

        I’ve added a follow-up note to your existing case with the additional context you shared here. If there’s anything else you think might be helpful, feel free to reply directly to your case number so the assigned agent has the full picture.

        Thanks for your patience while the team reviews this, they’ll follow up with you directly as soon as they can.

        Update: I see in the backend that our support team was able to cancel the plan and process the refund.
        I’ve gone ahead and marked as solved here!

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