$16 Million Cable Invoice Quickly Reversed By Time Warner
Many corporations claim that computerized billing systems make life simpler and bills more accurate. One cable customer has been charged $16 million for one month’s worth of TV. Watching the March Madness games on pay-per-view was the beginning of this overcharging nightmare. While Time Warner has already reversed the bill, the incident reveals the threat of putting your finances on autopilot.
Paying $16 million for cable
In Ohio, there’s a resident named Daniel DeVirgilio. He gets Time Warner cable service at his house. At the end of last month, DeVirgilio received notification that his credit card had been dropped when he tried to pay his cable bill. A charge of $1 million per basketball game during March Madness was put on his account by Time Warner. This added up to $16.4 million total. Upon being informed of the glitch, Time Warner corrected the charges.
Autopay may not be a good choice
The cable invoice Daniel DeVirgilio pays was on autopay, as many people experience. Many consumers will do automatic bill pay. This means they have given their credit or debit card number to the company for monthly charges. Each month, the invoice gets paid on its own. Bill payers don’t have to worry about it. If the charge hadn’t been $16 million and gotten his charge card declined, Daniel DeVirgilio would never have noticed. This is the only reason why he noticed something wrong.
Ways to remember your bills
As the $16 million cable invoice highlights, putting your finances on autopilot can be hazardous. A lot of people (this writer incorporated), however, have a tough time remembering the due date of every bill. It is easy to do watchful waiting. There are things you can do to keep away from forgetting though. The first option is to do the simplest thing — pay each bill the day you receive it. It can be helpful to track the dates on a calendar since sometimes that isn’t always a choice. Auto bill pay may be a fantastic choice for you. If you do this, make sure you are spending a few hrs every month checking your payments to make sure they are all right. The likelihood you’ll encounter a $16 million cable bill is small, however an additional few dollars each month can add up very quickly.
Citations
Digital Life Today
digitallife.today.com/_news/2011/04/04/6405791-time-warner-charges-man-164-million-for-cable-service?GT1=43001
Yahoo News
news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110325/ts_yblog_thelookout/ohio-man-gets-a-16-4-million-cable-bill
