Forgot to pay my electric bill for 3 months straight

I moved to Austin back in February and set up autopay with my bank, but it glitched out and I never noticed till my power got shut off last Tuesday during a 100 degree heat wave. My apartment turned into a sauna, my fridge defrosted and ruined $80 worth of groceries, and I had to crash at my buddy's place for two nights while I waited for them to turn it back on. Has anyone else had autopay fail on them and totally miss the warnings?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren_thomas164h ago

Heard this exact story from my neighbor last month, @hugos67 is right about those sneaky spam folder warnings.

hugos671d ago

Three months is wild, but I actually had something similar happen where my autopay just stopped after my bank did a system update back in 2021. The thing nobody mentions is that most utility companies will send those late notices to an email you forgot you set up years ago, not your phone or mailbox. I'd bet if you check your spam folder or old emails from when you first moved in, those warnings were sitting there the whole time. Your mileage may vary, but I always set up text alerts now for bills over $50 just to catch this kind of glitch early.