throwaway2019V

Reading on my laptop introduces far too many distractions, so I'm looking into a tablet/e-reader device. What is your preferred device?

Hi all, updated with the same question.

ORIGINAL: I recently found a charge from Google Cloud on my credit card statement (small charge ~$20) that I didn't recognize. Asked friends + family, no one has used my card. Checked GCP and firebase, no usage or charges. I filed a report here (https://payments.google.com/payments/u/0/unauthorizedtransactions#)

And they closed my case stating that it was not an unauthorized charge without stating what the charge was for. Since the case is closed, I have no way to contact them. At this point, I would usually just chargeback the company, but it's Google. I've heard of Amazon shutting off access to their entire platform and products over disputes/chargebacks and I can't afford to do with Google since I have emails and such going back ~15 years.

What would you do in this situation?

UPDATE: I submitted the form again (shortly after my post here) with the same CC charge ID asking for more info, and they closed my case again. I checked my CC statement today and found a new ~$30 charge. But again, I literally checked all my GCP accounts and I can't find any usage anywhere. At this point, should I just cancel my card and chargeback? I'm still scared of retaliation by Google, but I'm also now fearing the possibility that my card's been compromised and I should act instead of counting on receiving a response from Google.

I recently found a charge from Google Cloud on my credit card statement (small charge ~$20) that I didn't recognize. Asked friends + family, no one has used my card. Checked GCP and firebase, no usage or charges.

I filed a report here (https://payments.google.com/payments/u/0/unauthorizedtransactions#)

And they closed my case stating that it was not an unauthorized charge without stating what the charge was for. Since the case is closed, I have no way to contact them. At this point, I would usually just chargeback the company, but it's Google. I've heard of Amazon shutting off access to their entire platform and products over disputes/chargebacks and I can't afford to do with Google since I have emails and such going back ~15 years.

What would you do in this situation?

So I'm a software consultant, and having worked with a few large clients now, something has become very obvious: the less profitable the company, the more miserable it is to work there (for myself and the company's employees).

Working with hugely profitable companies, we can charge $200k for a project, and it's relatively lax, expectations are reasonable, and deadlines are flexible. Even if it's a total flop, it's only $200k and they can write it off as an experiment. Working with far less profitable companies (within the same sector), even our $50k projects are miserable, scope-creeping, infighting experiences where the employees will try to extract maximum value from us while also trying to claim credit for the work (to obtain promotions and raises, which are limited due to the aforementioned limited profitability).

So I'm curious to learn about your personal experiences working at these companies that we generally consider to be hugely successful. I'm sure there is massive variation amongst different teams and projects, but I'm interested nonetheless. Are you still working against tight deadlines and fighting for promotions? Or are you enough of a cog that you can get by while doing the absolute bare minimum to get your annual raise? How does your job now compare to your previous experiences?