How to turn Compute Engine service OFF

Question

A couple of weeks ago, I was casually playing around with the Google Cloud Console, and created a Compute Engine VM. The process was as simple as "create a VM, name it something, save", and that is it. I have no need for a Compute Engine instance right now, so I wandered off and left it. Yesterday, I got a bill for $42 for a Google service, because of my un-used VM. I deleted the instance, and tried to turn the "Compute Engine" service off completely, but was told it can't be turned off because it still has instances associated with it.

If this were actually the case, I would expect to at least be able to see a VM instance in the console, but of course I can't, having DELETED IT.

Today, I notice that my current balance has risen by $3 (apparently because non-existent/un-used VM instances don't grow on trees, and have to be paid for by somebody). Trying, again, to turn the Compute Engine service off, I'm informed that an error has occurred, and I should try again later.

Clicking into the "Customer Support" area brings me here, because I am not a Silver, Gold, or Platinum level customer.

Can anyone tell me how to turn this money-burning furnace OFF?

UPDATE: I think I figured it out. A GCE instance consists of a VM image, associated disks, networks, zones, etc. All of these items (except for zones) are billable, and are not deleted when a VM instance is deleted. What I had done was:

1. Delete the VM instance.
2. Disable Billing.

Since GCE console requires Billing, you can't see anything if Billing is disabled. When disabled, Billing continues until the end of the month, then after the final credit-card hit, it terminates.

Re-enabling Billing enabled me to get into the GCE console and see that I still had disks, an IP address, and a network associated with the VM. I removed those, and was then able to turn the GCE service off.

Answer 1

As you discovered, you had additional resources in your project that caused a bill to be emitted for the partial month when you were using them. It is actually by design that we don't automatically delete things left over when you disable billing... Imagine if a user accidentally disabled billing, only to re-enable it a few minutes later and find that all their stuff was gone! :/