HERE Maps Billing Portal
Yes, I know Link to heading
I should have known better than to run code I didn’t check, especially with a third party API attached to it.
How did it happen? Link to heading
I was working to generate a map which could provide engineering coverage for the UK & Ireland.
The map was to provide a quick way to check travel time for every engineer to a specific location, alongside proving we had required coverage at all times of the day.
Accuracy for driving time required access to an API, so I went with HERE.
The API setup was simple, but it omitted some pretty basic guard-rails: rate limiting options and a max spend cap. Neither of these options appeared though I didn’t expect to overspend - and if I did, it would be only a few Euros. So I thought anyway.
I decided to check the API usage after finishing some testing and noticed the headline figure shown above.
How did I react? Link to heading
Poorly.
What did I do next? Link to heading
I looked at the code to confirm there was a mistake, then I contacted HERE.
I asked if they could credit my account a little due to the mistake (worded much more delicately). I was politely told to read the documentation and that they wouldn’t help.
How did I react then? Link to heading
Just about as poorly as before.
So what did I do next? Link to heading
I contacted HERE again to no avail.
I know this is my fault but I’ll admit I was a bit dismayed by the experience with HERE.
- There are no guard-rails or protections (like a spend cap) - they aren’t even offered to their customers, as confirmed by support.
- There are no notifications when you exceed free-tier, only “usage alert feature” which is available to “enterprise customers” only.
- There’s no rate-limiting after free-tier usage,
- HERE don’t find it unusual that a new account would generate nearly €900 in usage in under 12 hours - so the system is ripe for fraud,
- And to top it off, they didn’t waive my bill! (/s)
I know - it isn’t their fault that I messed up. The blame lies with me. It’s an expensive lesson and some sympathy would have been nice.
I did suggest rate-limiting and spend cap as a feature in my correspondence with HERE by the way but they didn’t respond to that part.
What will I do differently in future (and what you should do too) Link to heading
I believe tools like the one I was trying to build will help businesses prove their ability in the future. Incremental gains in efficiency will help small businesses survive as costs continue to increase. Ironic statement considering this invoice.
TLDR; Things I have learnt:
- Don’t trust AI coding, especially if it could cost you real money.
- APIs can get expensive quickly - ensure rate limiting and cost caps are in place. If these features are not offered, use a different service.
- Add HERE to my DNS black-hole so I don’t use their services again (kinda /s).