[nkkollaw]

I bought some extra space from Google for photos (which I have backed up in many places), my credit card didn't work for some reason, and they immediately downgraded my account to the free tier, with no warning.

It might have been because there were actually no files taking up the extra space, but losing all my pictures because my CC didn't work and they don't have their $1.99 or being paranoid that that might happen is not worth it.

[moultano]

The behavior in this case is that new uploads are blocked but your existing files remain.

https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2736362?hl=en "If you cancel your storage plan or when your storage plan expires, your storage limits will reset to the free levels for each product at the end of your billing cycle. Everything in Google Drive, Google Photos, and Gmail will still be accessible, but you won't be able to create or add anything new over the free storage limit. If you reach or exceed the free storage limit"

[nkkollaw]

Ah, that would make me a lot more confident.

Don't a lot of people archive terabytes of stuff and just leave after 1 month, though?

[mavendependency]

Gmail would refuse to recieve mail until you either free up space or upgrade. They share the same storage space.