Check your monthly billing statements for errors

A new cautionary tale about the importance of checking your monthly statements comes via a story about Dish Network's trouble with automatic debits.

First off, there's no way to know if what Clark is about to discuss was an isolated instance or if it is systemic throughout the Dish Network organization.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a Dish customer was experiencing problems with "mirror imaging." Mirror imaging is a fancy way of saying that an account gets dinged twice every month for the same amount instead of once.

One Chicago woman's monthly satellite bill was $106, but Dish Network would debit that amount twice on a monthly basis. The woman only figured this out after nearly a year and discovered that she had lost some $1,200 by that time. She tried repeatedly to get Dish Network customer no service to give her a refund with no success.

Of course, once a Chicago Tribune reporter got on the case, they magically complied and agreed to a refund. But the refund check they sent was in the amount of $2,100! It turns out her check was intended for a Texas customer who had also been double billed! The Chicago woman helped get the check to its intended recipient and she was later sent her own check in the correct amount.

There are so many layers to this story. First, Dish Network has horrible customer service and it's a shame because they used to have such an advantage over cable. Dish Network honcho Charlie Ergen is welcome to come on the show and explain what he plans to do to improve customer service.

Second, you must be sure to vet every bill you get each month for errors. If you do find an error, challenge it immediately with your bank or credit card company.

And most importantly, you should reconsider doing any automatic debits or automatic charges to a credit card that can be initiated by the company you're doing business with. It's fine, however, to set up your own automatic bill pay through your bank or credit union.