Amit's Blog

Always scrutinize your bills

Sometimes it’s more obvious than others, but you should always double check those pesky monthly bills you get (electricity, gas, cable, etc.). Since I have a horrible memory, I keep a document with a list of my monthly recurring bills with an expected amount. When that time of the month comes, I compare the bills in my inbox to my expected amounts. Sure if it’s been an extremely hot summer or frigid winter, my electricity or gas bill will be off, but within good measure.

Then today I got my bill from AT&T Home Entertainment, a.k.a Dish Network. Here’s the first red flag: when a service is provided through a third party, I guarantee your billing will be screwed up. Low and behold, I open my bill to find they had overcharged me by 900%! Now this is just your basic satellite setup, and it’s a set charge, so I should never see anything different from my expected amount. I come to find that they decided to charge me for everything but the kitchen sink. I call in to customer service and they are nice enough to clear all the charges, but that took another 30 minutes out of my day. Not bad for me, but I wonder if other people are willing to put in the effort.