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Anyone else get a vague GitHub shakedown notice?

https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/qgis-developer/2026-July/068430.html
34•jjgreen•1h ago

Comments

jjgreen•1h ago
A QGIS-Developer post, original title anyone else get a vague github shakedown notice? is this about qgis?
OptionOfT•45m ago
I got the same email, and I don't have a credit card on file with them. I wonder what they're going to do?
echoangle•27m ago
Is this really the normal way to do this in the US? Does no billing info mean you’re immune? If they have your real name in Germany, they would just send it to collections and get their money if you really owe them something, even if they don’t have a way to charge it directly themselves.
picofarad•17m ago
Yeah, as far as I know. Also github doesn't have my real name, for instance. I am sure they could know it, but I never agreed to any billing, either.
literallyroy•15m ago
Generally yes, though I remember seeing a post on hacker news in the past month where a SAAS sent an invoice after the free trial ended rather than terminating it.

I always expect a failed billing or no billing info after a trial to cancel and not be pursued (I regularly do trials with a temp card that I immediately de-activate so it cannot be billed in case I forget to cancel)

forsalebypwner•14m ago
For the vast majority of services, yes
iamnothere•12m ago
This would be fairly uncommon for consumer facing services in the US, outside of medical services.

I guess if you signed up for a cell phone contract and didn’t pay after the first month, and didn’t have a billing method set, it would go to collections. Things like that are generally uncommon though. It usually only happens with things like medical services, loans, auto repair, home repair/contractor services, and contractual services such as cell phone plans and utilities.

Aurornis•7m ago
No, nobody is getting bills from GitHub for trivial things they didn't sign up for. This feature wasn't even available on free personal accounts.

One of the organizations they're a part of has it enabled. The e-mail should have had more details, but they only cut out a little section.

The person posting this is confused because they think they're getting the bill. The e-mail says it's about the organization. The organization admin controls billing.

And no, a SaaS service isn't going to send anyone to collections for a small feature like this. If you don't pay your bill the service just gets turned off until you pay it. You have to get a substantial balance accumulated before it becomes something they send to collections.

Aurornis•11m ago
The e-mail is pretty clear that it's about an organization. You can't even enable this feature on free personal accounts.

It must be some organization you're a member of.

dewey•36m ago
What about this email is a "shakedown"?
drcongo•34m ago
I was thinking the same thing, but I think it's down to this person not actually using the thing that GitHub are saying is moving to a paid service. It's hard to stop using something you don't use.
pocksuppet•34m ago
The part where it says they are about to start taking your money?
dewey•28m ago
Sending a billing notification to someone who has no billing information on file, but is part of an organization where someone probably enabled that beta feature ("You're receiving this because your organization is using the GitHub Code Quality public preview.") isn't a shakedown.
bobmcnamara•13m ago
Christ it's the airport bellhop scam:

Someone appears, gives you a service unprompted(carries your bag of spams some AI code reviews), them later demands payment.

dewey•6m ago
Did you even read the email? It's an extremely boring standard billing notification that explains exactly why that person received it "You're receiving this because your organization is using the GitHub Code Quality public preview." and when it would be come into affect.

It's not a small print somewhere, or one of these weekly app store subscriptions that run up high bills because someone clicked "Yes" in a game.

It's like calling a Netflix renewal email a "shakedown" just because they send you an email giving you a heads up that your trial will convert into a paid subscription.

pocksuppet•33m ago
No, I didn't, because I quit GitHub when they started demanding mandatory SMS 2FA
thenewnewguy•30m ago
Huh? Just to make sure I wasn't missing something, I checked and my GitHub account has only a TOTP app and hardware security key configured, no SMS/phone number.

As a matter of fact GH even has a red "Less secure" badge on the SMS 2FA in the settings discouraging its use, as well as the following text in the description: "We strongly advise against using SMS because it is susceptible to interception, does not provide resistance against phishing attacks, and deliverability can be unreliable."

graton•23m ago
> No, I didn't, because I quit GitHub when they started demanding mandatory SMS 2FA

They haven't demanded that of me. I have 2FA with a Yubikey and a TOTP app.

I don't ever recall giving them my phone number.

andai•31m ago
This links to this, which says

https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/concepts/about-code...

> GitHub Code Quality is currently in public preview and will become generally available on July 20, 2026. During public preview, Code Quality scans will consume GitHub Actions minutes but you will not be billed for other usage. From July 20, 2026, usage will incur additional charges. See GitHub Code Quality billing.

>If you want to avoid charges, disable Code Quality before July 20, 2026. See Disabling GitHub Code Quality.

https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/how-tos/maintain-qu...

>( Repo > Settings > Code Quality)

I don't see that tab, so either the docs are out of date, and it's called something else now, or it's not on all accounts/all repos. (Due to being in preview?) I don't know.

drcongo•26m ago
It's probably now called CoPilot Code CoPilot Quality CoPilot™. Do you see that anywhere in your settings?
jerf•10m ago
Oof, you're reminding me of Microsoft Redesigns the iPod Packaging video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXnJraKM3k

For those lucky 10,000 just learning about that today, for extra frisson, enjoy the fact that that video came from Microsoft itself: https://www.engadget.com/2006-03-15-microsoft-we-created-the...

Aurornis
dumbfoundded•28m ago
It sounds like they gave you a feature for free you didn't want, and now are trying to charge for it. Very much a dark pattern.
Aurornis•14m ago
The person writing this doesn't have the feature. It would have had to be enabled by someone on a GitHub org they were a member of.

It's not even available on personal free plans like the person says they have. Either the e-mail was sent in error, or it's enabled by someone else in an organization they're a member of.

Aurornis•18m ago
I'm a GitHub admin. Did not receive this e-mail. We don't have the GitHub Code Quality feature enabled anywhere, though.

The e-mail seems clear: Someone enabled the feature in the organization. The feature was in free preview, but the free preview is ending. If they leave it enabled, it will be billed at the new rate.

It's pretty clear that "organization" is being used throughout the e-mail, so they're not referring to this person's free personal GitHub account.

•
15m ago
> I don't see that tab, so either the docs are out of date, and it's called something else now, or it's not on all accounts/all repos.

Correct. It's only for certain plans like GitHub Team and Enterprise Cloud.

The weird part about this e-mail is that they said they recently left some organizations because "the tone of the paid services" increased. So either they're still a member of one of these organizations, or GitHub mistakenly sent the e-mail to past members?

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