Billed after you cancelled your internet: how to stop it and get the money back

If an old internet company keeps billing you after you cancelled, send a written dispute with your cancellation number and equipment-return tracking, and if it isn’t fixed by the next bill, use a card dispute or a complaint to the FCC. First, though, make sure the charge really is wrong. Some bills after cancelling are legitimate, and knowing which ones saves a fight you’d lose.

Is it a real final bill?

That last row has a common cause: the cancellation never counted. Viasat’s agreement says “Viasat does not accept notices of termination or suspension via e-mail or chat”, and written requests can take up to five business days. HughesNet’s agreement allows cancelling by phone or by written notice, and warns that not cancelling the way it requires can leave you liable for all fees. If you cancelled by chat or email, that may be why the bills kept coming.

HughesNet doesn’t publish whether the final month is prorated, so ask when you call.

Gather proof

Before you contact anyone, put these in one folder:

• The cancellation confirmation number, and the date, time and rep’s name from the call.
• Any written confirmation of the cancellation: an email, a letter or a message in your account.
• Equipment-return proof: photos of the parts, the drop-off receipt with its tracking number, and a screenshot of the “delivered” status.
• Every bill and statement since the cancel date, from the provider and from your bank or card.

It can go unnoticed for a long time. One post on Viasat’s own community forum is titled “I cancelled my service in 2019 but my automatic draft is still being taken out every month”. Check your statements for a few months after any cancellation.

Dispute in writing

Call if you like, but follow up in writing, through your account messages or a letter sent with tracking. A written dispute leaves a date and a record that a phone call doesn’t.

I cancelled my [service] on [date], confirmation number [number], with [rep’s name]. The equipment was returned on [date], tracking number [number], delivered on [date]. My [date] bill charges [amount] for [description], which is after my cancellation. Please remove this charge and refund [amount] to my original payment method. Please reply in writing within 30 days.

Ask for a refund to your card or bank account, not a credit. A credit on a closed account does you no good.

Keep a copy of everything you send, and note the date. If you get a phone call back, ask for the outcome in writing too.

Stopping AutoPay: when to do it and what it risks

Leaving AutoPay on after you’ve left a provider is how charges keep landing for months. Removing it too early has risks of its own.

• Remove it once the final bill is settled. Take the card or bank account off the old account if you can still sign in, or ask the provider to remove it.
• Expect the legitimate charges. HughesNet’s early termination fee, for example, goes to the card or bank account on file.
• Don’t simply stop paying what you owe. Refusing a legitimate final bill can lead to late fees and collections. Dispute the wrong part in writing and pay the rest.
• Ask your bank about blocking future payments to the old provider if charges continue after you’ve disputed them.

Card disputes: the timing that matters

If the provider doesn’t fix a wrong charge, your card company or bank is the next step, and timing matters.

• Credit card: under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act, you generally have 60 days from when the card company sent the statement showing the error to dispute it in writing. Send copies of your proof: the cancellation confirmation, your written dispute to the provider and the return tracking.
• Debit card or bank account: different rules and time limits apply. Call your bank as soon as you spot the charge and ask what it needs from you.

A card dispute is for charges that are actually wrong. If you dispute a legitimate final bill, the provider may send the balance to collections, so keep the dispute to the wrong part.

FCC and state complaints

If the provider still won’t fix it, take the same folder of proof to a regulator:

The FCC takes complaints about billing by phone and internet companies. State attorneys general handle consumer billing problems in general, and state utility commissions handle landline phone service in many states. Keep the complaint short and factual: dates, amounts, confirmation numbers and what the company said.

AT&T customers on r/ATT report bills still arriving after they cancelled (thread). A written record, with dates and confirmation numbers, is what gets a charge like that reversed.

Equipment charges are a separate fight

A charge for a “missing” modem or gateway is a common bill after a switch, and it follows its own rules. Each provider has a return deadline counted from the cancel date, per its own terms (checked Nov 3, 2026): HughesNet 45 days, Viasat 30 days (after a call within 7), T-Mobile 45 days, Verizon 30 days and AT&T Internet Air 21 days.

AT&T’s general cancellation-policy page adds a useful line: the non-return fee is refunded if the equipment comes back within six months of termination. Late is better than never with AT&T.

For the deadlines, the parts each provider wants and how to dispute a missing-part charge with your photos and tracking, see returning old internet equipment. The cancel guides for HughesNet and Viasat explain the final bill each one sends.

Equipment return rules

Checking method: each price, fee and rule here links to the provider’s or regulator’s own page, dated the day we read it. No internet provider pays for a place on this site; the only income is the Starlink referral explained on our money page. Our fact-checking · How we make money · Corrections