A software developer who used Claude Code at work for months reports being permanently banned from the platform after attempting to use it for personal projects. The user was banned twice: first after one hour of usage with a VPN enabled, and again a month later when signing up without the VPN but using the same credit card. Refunds for the $120 subscription were issued.
The bans occurred despite the developer's claims of using Claude Code only for legitimate tasks like summarizing markdown files or refactoring payment modules. Support responses provided only a generic statement citing a violation of the Usage Policy, with no further detail or path to appeal. The user has turned to Hacker News seeking visibility from Anthropic employees.
Each ban happened within about an hour of account creation, preventing the developer from progressing beyond initial investigation into real coding projects. The repeated use of the same credit card appears to have triggered the second ban. No specific policy violation was cited, leaving the user uncertain about what triggered the action.
This case highlights potential friction in Anthropic's account verification and enforcement processes, where automated flagging may catch legitimate users. The lack of detailed explanations or human review in support responses risks alienating paying customers who feel unfairly targeted.
Anthropic has not publicly commented on the case, and the developer's plea on Hacker News has so far drawn only community discussion without official acknowledgment.