National City family paid $150 a month for years for canceled service

Many of us set up automatic payments for our bills so we don't miss a payment. But a National City family learned the hard way about the drawbacks of "set it and forget it."

Veron and Guillermina Bryan say they canceled their AT&T internet service in January 2022. But this past July they noticed they were still being charged $145.34 a month for the service. AT&T was taking the money straight out of their savings account – an account the Bryans didn't monitor every month.

The couple says they had paid a total of $4,360 – money they desperately needed.

"They raised the rent not too long ago, so this month we're going to have to pay more," Veron Bryan told NBC 7 Responds.

Guillermina Bryan told us she contacted her bank and AT&T dozens of times for about two months, but says she was getting nowhere.

"Me sentia impotente." Guillermina says she felt helpless so she called NBC 7 and Telemundo 20 Responds.

We reached out to AT&T and a few weeks later, the Bryans got a check for the $4,360 they had paid over in the two-and-a-half-year period.

"Oh, that was nice and we hugged each other," Guillermina said.

AT&T sent NBC 7 Responds a statement saying:

This account refund was delayed for a number of reasons, but the bottom line is that this was not an acceptable customer experience, and it did not meet our standards for customer service. We worked with Mrs. Bryan and have resolved her concerns.

"I feel so happy and proud of you guys," Guillermina told us. "I appreciate it and applaud you guys for helping people who need it."

The best way to ensure you don't end up in the same situation as the Bryans is to check all your financial accounts monthly. You may not get your money back if you don't catch unknown charges early enough.