Check your billing statements carefully...

[Nissan197]

This has happened before, but not for some time. About a year ago I went to automatic payment on my phone bill, which also includes my internet service and DISH. The payment changes a few cents every month due to taxes, etc. My fault, but I really have not paid attention to it for the last couple of months until the other day and noticed a line guard charge for $5 and another charge on the DISH for a protection plan for $6. I called and asked when I approved these charges and they said they were put on in October, 08 and that I had to approve them. I never did. I know it is only $11 a month, but that adds up and could be going to my outbuilding fund. Luckily it only happened for 3 months.

Make sure everyone is checking their bills every month. I wonder how much $$$ companies are making by putting these bogus charges on bills and people are paying. I know from now on I will be checking each bill thoroughly every month instead of just assuming.

 

[mjarrels]

I will never have automatic payment any more... Suggest you cancel it. Had compuserve internet service once, 12.95 a month for unlimited internet service... WOW they drained my checking account one month to the tune of almost $700.00 dollars... never did get my money back and I suspect they did this to everyone and then went out of business?

mark

 

[Mgrove]

We also experienced a similar problem. It seems that some company that sells some kind of a buyer discount program, decided to add it to our phone bill. IT was $15.00 a month. We were told first that our son applied for the service, which he denies (he's 40 yrs old) and then when my wife called, they claimed that her husband (me) had applied for it. We finally got it removed after several phone calls. Comcast did a dirty trick last spring, they send a tech out to put a block on my cable tv, (the bill was paid in full), then they sent me a bill for the tech fee $19.95. We were getting basic cable free because of the internet, but now they decided that they were going to bill me for the last two months even tho the bill had already been paid! It seems that the cable internet has gotten so slow, that they could now block the cable tv, where they couldn't before! I'm not going to be with them much longer. ARE YOU AWARE if a business sends a bill to your bank account, they can drain your account, WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION, and the bank is not liable!
Max

 

[Wayne County Hose]

I thought that doing autopay would be so much easier, so I did it with quite a few companies. After my house burned, I got burned again by Dishnetwork. I asked them to send me a bill for their equipment which obviously went to equipment heaven in the fire. I could not get a bill from them. I needed it to get reimbursement from the ins company to pay them for their lost equipment. They kept calling me asking me to return the equipment. I told them repeatedly that it burned and was non returnable and that I needed a bill so they can get paid. About 3 months later, they deduct about $800 from our account for the equipment. It took me getting a local tv consumer affairs reporter to get a bill from them. Even he couldn't believe how ridiculously stupid they were that they couldn't comprehend that all we needed was a bill.

Basically, I will never do autopay again with any company for any reason. It gives them a license to drain your account whenever they feel like it.

 

[dmccarty]

Did autopay once for car insurance and never again. It was heck to get them to stop taking money out of my account when I switched providers.

Now pay bills via the Internet and credit union. Its pretty easy, fast, and I don't get writers cramp. You can setup automatic billing where YOU send the payments each month. You can stop when you want. I don't do this but the function is there.

Later,
Dan

 

[LBrown59]

Basically, I will never do autopay again with any company for any reason. It gives them a license to drain your account whenever they feel like it.

No auto pay for me.
A one time pmt. may be oh kay but ya still gotta watchem!

 

[Brokermike]

I use autopay to my AMEX, and pay it every month. AMEX gives you pretty high levels of protection against fraud so I feel pretty comfortable.

 

[LBrown59]

I will never have automatic payment any more... Suggest you cancel it. Had compuserve internet service once, 12.95 a month for unlimited internet service... WOW they drained my checking account one month to the tune of almost $700.00 dollars... never did get my money back and I suspect they did this to everyone and then went out of business?

mark

How could compuserve be out of buisness .
They are my I S P ?

 

[rox]

I thought that doing autopay would be so much easier, so I did it with quite a few companies. After my house burned, I got burned again by Dishnetwork. I asked them to send me a bill for their equipment which obviously went to equipment heaven in the fire. I could not get a bill from them. I needed it to get reimbursement from the ins company to pay them for their lost equipment. They kept calling me asking me to return the equipment. I told them repeatedly that it burned and was non returnable and that I needed a bill so they can get paid. About 3 months later, they deduct about $800 from our account for the equipment. It took me getting a local tv consumer affairs reporter to get a bill from them. Even he couldn't believe how ridiculously stupid they were that they couldn't comprehend that all we needed was a bill.

Basically, I will never do autopay again with any company for any reason. It gives them a license to drain your account whenever they feel like it.

I think I would have taken a digital picture of their burned equipment and e-mailed it to them and saying, "really we DID have a fire and i need a bill from you for the equipment so I can collect from insurance in order to pay you."

BTW what started your fire?

 

[Bedlam]

I don't understand the equipment just burned to dust? Id send them a box of dust . Unreal how a company would even think of harassing someone who had a devastating fire. Shame on them.
Sorry for your loss.