Just had my account balance drop from $98.20 to $95.29 right in front of my eyes as I'm surfing iStockPhoto. With my portfolio being only a few months old, I've yet to receive any of the infamous refunds until now, though I've read much about them. Definitely doesn't feel great, but I understand it's a common thing.

What's a little strange though is how I've yet to received the traditional notification of refund -- I would have expected it to be immediate or at least prior to the balance being deducted. Does anyone know how long do they usually take to issue these notices?

Darn, so close to payout too...

Don't worry. It's probably a server-cache thing. If you didn't receive any refund email it means no file was refunded. The same happened to me many times.