Awaiting Benefits 7+ days after March 21, 2026 approval + cannot submit support ticket

[wrierwrier]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Benefit Activation/Waiting

Hi everyone,

Hi everyone,
My Student Developer Pack application was approved on March 21, 2026 (Application Type: Student). It's now been 7+ days, but my status is still "Awaiting Benefits" with the green progress bar. The official message says benefits, including Partner offers and Copilot, should become available after 72 hours.
I've already tried the usual troubleshooting steps:

Full logout/login (browser + mobile app + incognito mode)
Clearing cache
Checking Billing page (no free Pro yet)
Trying the Copilot student signup link

When I try to submit a support ticket, the category "I’m a verified student but can’t access benefits" is not accepting new tickets right now.
GitHub username: @wrierwrier
Is this a known delay for March 2026 approvals? Could a GitHub staff member please help manually activate my benefits?
Thanks in advance!

[Dennebog]

Context: I signed up for a GitHub trial (GitHub Pro / Copilot), where I was told a small verification charge (~$10) would be momentary and immediately released.

GitHub’s handling of this charge is frankly unacceptable.

This was not a “temporary” hold in any meaningful sense. The authorized amount has now been locked for a week—and can reportedly last up to 30 days—despite being presented as something that would be reversed almost instantly.

GitHub Support claims the refund was processed “right away,” but this is misleading. In practice, GitHub delegates the release of the authorization to a financial intermediary, fully aware that this is not an immediate process. Describing that as “momentary” is simply inaccurate.

After speaking with my bank, the situation is clear: the hold has not been released in a way that makes the funds available. There are only two ways forward—either wait for the authorization to expire (which can take up to 30 days), or have GitHub explicitly confirm to the bank that the hold should be released.

This is the key issue: it should not be the customer’s responsibility to resolve this. If GitHub initiates the authorization, then GitHub should also ensure its timely release—without requiring users to chase their own money through banking procedures.

In practice:

GitHub claims it’s been handled
The funds remain inaccessible
The burden shifts to the user to fix it

For anyone on a tight budget, this is not a minor inconvenience—it directly affects day-to-day expenses.

If GitHub knows these authorizations can persist for weeks, then calling them “momentary” is misleading and should be corrected. Users deserve clear, honest expectations about how long their money may actually be unavailable.

This situation reflects poorly on both the transparency and accountability of GitHub’s billing practices.