IŽd just like to warn ESTA users out there that their automatic e-mail system to warn you that you have to renew was prepared by some moron who did not include a code to verify if the renewal was already processed.

I renewed mine weeks ago before they started charging for it, and yesterday got an e-mail reminding me that it was about to expire. Went online again to check if there had been some unforeseen problem, but no. It seems everyone gets the renewal e-mail 2 years after applying, regardless of current status.