[Resolved] Overcharging on Automatic Translation Credits
This thread is resolved. Here is a description of the problem and solution.
Problem: The client reported significant overcharging in credits for automatic translations in WPML. Multiple translation jobs were created for the same content, leading to repeated charges. The client provided specific job IDs and examples where the credits charged were substantially higher than the actual word count.
Solution: We investigated the reported jobs and confirmed the creation of duplicate jobs with identical credit amounts. We identified that these duplicates were likely due to minor changes like title updates, which should not have resulted in additional full charges. We are currently conducting an internal investigation to identify the root cause and to calculate the total overcharged credits for a potential refund. We have temporarily added 3348 credits back to the client's account as an immediate measure. Further, we have escalated the issue to our developers for a permanent fix.
If you're experiencing similar issues with credit overcharges in WPML, we recommend checking your translation jobs for duplicates and reviewing your usage credits under: WPML → Translation Dashboard → Tools → Usage. If the problem persists, or if this solution does not apply to your case, please open a new support ticket. We also highly recommend checking related known issues at https://wpml.org/known-issues/, verifying the version of the permanent fix, and confirming that you have installed the latest versions of themes and plugins.
For further assistance, please contact us through the WPML support forum.
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I have reviewed several of my most recent posts that were translated using the automatic translation system, and I have identified significant overcharging in credits.
This issue is not related to the media translation problem I encountered in the past. It is also not related to the known bug involving a conflict between Gutenberg and Elementor.
The discrepancies are not minor - they are substantial and repeated.
For the post hidden link
Jobs: 178849256, 178849764
I was charged 4,060 credits, representing 1,015 words.
The actual post contains only 306 words.
This is more than three times the real word count.
For the post hidden link
Jobs: 182214073, 182219836, 182219921
I was charged 1,268 credits, representing 317 words.
The post contains only 131 words.
This is more than double the actual content.
I was charged 3,400 credits, representing 850 words.
The post contains only 279 words.
Again, approximately three times the real word count.
In addition, job 184155080 for hidden link
charged 68 credits for a post that had already been translated. This makes no sense.
These are not small rounding differences. The system is charging two to three times the actual word count, and in one case charging for content that was already translated.
I expect a full explanation of how these word counts were calculated, a correction of the overcharged credits, and a refund where applicable. I also request that you investigate whether similar overcharging occurred in earlier translation jobs on my account.
Please investigate this urgently and provide a comprehensive review of my account’s credit usage.
Repeated discrepancies of this magnitude raise serious concerns regarding the reliability of the credit calculation mechanism.
Thank you for contacting us and for sharing such a detailed explanation — that was very helpful.
We’re sorry to hear that you may have experienced an issue, and we’d be glad to help investigate and resolve it.
I’ve reviewed some of the jobs you shared and, based on what I can see, the word count and credits charged appear to be correct. For example, for the first post (job ID 178849256), I see: Words: 373 Credits: 1652
Could you please clarify where you see you were charged more for these jobs/posts, or explain why you think the credit usage is incorrect? Any specific example would help us investigate further.
You can also review your usage credits under:
WPML → Translation Dashboard → Tools → Usage
Looking forward to your clarification so we can assist you properly.
The issue is not with a single job viewed in isolation. The problem is that there are multiple translation jobs created for the same page, resulting in repeated charges for what appears to be the same content.
For example, for the post hidden link, the following jobs exist:
182219836
182219921
Both show exactly 612 credits, and are 23 seconds apart. This raises strong suspicion of duplicate billing. Even if each individual job appears technically correct on its own, the duplication of jobs for the same page is what causes the overcharging.
The same pattern appears in the other examples I listed. The total credits charged per page are significantly higher than the actual word count of the content, which indicates that the same material may have been processed multiple times.
I am familiar with the usage report, however, that view only shows aggregated numbers. It does not provide a detailed breakdown of exactly which content was translated in each job, which segments were processed, or why multiple jobs were created for the same page.
I would like to receive a complete and detailed report covering ALL translated material since I started working with WPML, including all pages, posts, and any other translated site content. The report should include:
* Every translation job created
* The exact credit usage per job
* The word count per job
* The specific content or segments translated
* The reason multiple jobs were generated when applicable
Only with a full historical breakdown can I clearly determine what I was charged for and identify any duplicate or excessive billing.
That said, investigating the creation of duplicate jobs and verifying whether the same content was processed multiple times should primarily be handled on your side. From my perspective, the pattern strongly indicates repeated processing.
I appreciate your assistance and look forward to a comprehensive review.
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation and examples. That was very helpful.
I have checked the specific jobs you mentioned and I can indeed see that there are duplicate jobs created for the same page, with identical credit amounts and created only seconds apart. Seems that new job was created because there was change in title, but that should not charge you again same amount, only that title. I understand why this raises concerns about double charging.
I will review this further with our team to first try identify the root cause. Once we confirm what happened, we will calculate the total credits charged across your full history and verify the exact amount that may need to be refunded.
Regarding your request for a complete historical breakdown (all jobs, credits, word counts, segments, etc.), I would suggest that we first focus on resolving the duplicate job issue and confirming the billing discrepancy. After we clarify this part and keep the current ticket focused and simple, we can then proceed with your broader request for a full historical report, if you still wish to pursue it. I will be happy to coordinate that internally once we close the initial investigation.
Thank you again for your patience. I will update you as soon as I have more information from our side.
Thank you for your thorough review and for confirming that duplicate jobs were indeed created. I appreciate the time and effort you are investing in identifying the root cause and calculating the necessary refund.
Please proceed with your internal investigation and the full credit reconciliation across my account history. I agree that resolving the duplicate job issue and confirming the billing discrepancy is the immediate priority.
Once your investigation is completed and the appropriate corrections are made, I would like to formally request a complete historical report covering all translated content since I began using WPML. This report should include not only job IDs, credits, and word counts, but also the actual text segments that were translated in each job.
Having the full translated text per job is essential for me to independently verify what was processed, compare it against the original content at the time, and ensure that no duplicate or excessive billing occurred beyond what is already being identified.
To be clear, this request is for transparency and reconciliation purposes, and I would like it prepared after the current investigation is concluded.
Thank you again for your assistance. I look forward to your update once the internal review is complete.
Thank you for your detailed message and for your patience while we review this matter.
We will proceed with the internal investigation to identify the root cause of the duplicate jobs.
Once the investigation is finalized and any necessary corrections are applied, we will follow up and check with you regarding your request for a comprehensive historical report.
We appreciate your clear explanation of the purpose of this request, and we will update you as soon as the internal review is complete.
Thank you again for your cooperation, and please note it may take a day or two before I get any update from my team.
We just have one quick question to help us move further:
Have you enabled “Translate Everything” mode, or did you send jobs manually via WPML → Translation Dashboard, or by clicking the plus icon from the page edit screen and translating using automatic translation inside the WPML Advanced Translation Editor?
I have reviewed your usage reports for the past few months and calculated the credits that appear to have been used twice. The total comes to 3348 credits, and I have added 5k credits back to your WPML.org account.
As for the bug that caused this issue, we have escalated it to our developers and they will investigate it further and fix it on our side soon.
Let me know if you have any further questions or doubts.
Thank you for reviewing the account and for adding back the 3348 credits. I appreciate the effort to investigate the issue and escalate the bug to your developers.
As mentioned earlier in this thread, I would still like to receive the complete historical report for my account. In order to properly verify the credit usage on my side, the report should include all translation jobs since I started using WPML, together with the full details of each job, including the actual text segments that were translated.
Without the translated text per job it is not possible for me to independently verify what content was processed and confirm that no additional duplicate or excessive billing occurred.
Please let me know how we can proceed with obtaining this report.
Thank you for your patience while we reviewed this internally.
I discussed your request with our team to check whether it would be possible to generate the type of report you described, specifically one that would include the actual text segments translated within each job.
At the moment, unfortunately, this type of report cannot be generated. Producing it would require a significant amount of manual work and the output would likely be very abstract and difficult to interpret in a meaningful way.
Regarding the issue itself, it appears to be a newly identified problem on our side and our developers are already preparing a fix so this situation should not occur going forward, and it does not seem to have been happening for a long time.
As for your account, the discrepancy we identified is relatively small (around 3.5k credits), and I have added 5k credits to your account. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention, as it helped us identify and address the problem.
You are of course free to review your current usage report, and if you notice anything unusual we would be happy to help, refund credits if needed, or assist in any other way. Note I did review your usage for last 4 months, and found only issue in February for few translation.
Thank you again for your patience and for reporting this so clearly, let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.
Thank you for the investigation and for adding the 5000 credits back to my account. I appreciate the fact that the issue was identified and acknowledged.
However, I have to be clear that this situation raises serious trust concerns for me. Credits were charged multiple times for the same content without any indication that duplicate jobs were being created. As a user, there is no practical way to detect this in real time, which makes it difficult to rely on the system with confidence.
Because of this, I have disabled the “Translate Everything” automatic mode, as I currently do not trust it. From now on I will monitor translation activity and credit usage very closely, review every translation action manually, and report to you any irregularity or unexpected behavior that I encounter.
I also want to note that I am not satisfied with the lack of transparency regarding the reporting. I requested a complete historical report including the translated text segments in order to independently verify the charges, and I am disappointed that this could not be provided.
I hope the fix your developers are preparing will fully resolve this issue going forward.
