A woman says she spotted a mysterious $72 monthly charge to her bank account that had gone unnoticed since September 2022, sparking discourse about autopay in a now-viral TikTok.
In a video posted on July 18, TikToker Amber (@amberk_wifemamateacher) says that she made an “easily preventable mistake” by not closely examining the charges to her bank account for nearly two years.
“I have all of our bills on autopay, so I don’t check our accounts as often as I should,” Amber explains.
She says it wasn’t until she was discussing her son’s PlayStation subscription with a friend that she decided to take a closer look into their recent charges. That’s when she says she noticed a monthly charge of $72 from PayPal.
“I remember seeing this charge coming out of our account before, but in my head, I just thought it was one of our bills,” she continues. “I didn’t think anything of it because I knew it was the same every month.”
She says the charge was from YouTube TV, a streaming subscription they canceled in Sept. 2022.
“That’s $1,500 total, y’all,” she says.
Amber says that she reached out to YouTube TV to find out why she was still being charged, only to hear that they have a record of her subscription being canceled and don’t know where the charge is coming from. At the end of the clip, she says that she had to reach out to a different department to investigate and to try and score a refund.
@amberk_wifemamateacher Why is adulting so hard? #YoutubeTv #finance #adulting #adultingfail #scam ♬ original sound – AmberK_ Wife | Mama | Teacher
Viewers warn against autopay
In the comments, viewers share their own experiences with autopay and explain why they don’t trust the convenient—but sometimes unreliable—billing service.
“I had that happen with Amazon Prime. Somehow I had 2 accounts and actually an employee found it. They refunded me like $2,000. I didn’t even know,” one user shares.
“My Sirius XM went from 5.99 to 24.99 a month! I knew it would be going up but never checked on it,” another writes.
“I am having the same issue with Audible. They show the canceled account from 2021, but it still comes out of our account every month. They don’t know how to fix it,” a third adds.
Others say that Amber’s story has inspired them to look more closely at their own accounts.
“You have me going through all my accounts now,” a commenter writes.
“All my bills are on autopay too and I never check my acct .. guess I should start!!” another says.
YouTube TV denies claim
In a follow-up video posted six days later, Amber says that YouTube TV denied her claim, stating that they couldn’t find an account that was charging her. However, she says she was charged again on July 19, days after filing her initial claim.
@amberk_wifemamateacher I just want my refund 😫 #scam #psa #foryou #mama #momsoftiktok #wife #paypal #youtubetv #google #adulting #adultingishard ♬ original sound – AmberK_ Wife | Mama | Teacher
According to Amber, YouTube TV is continuing its investigation and will update her via email.
In the meantime, viewers suggest that Amber contact PayPal since she was billed through their autopay service.
One viewer suggests, “You’re going to have to go through PayPal. I can assure you YouTube TV isn’t going to help.”
“Reach out to PayPal and show them the screenshot and they will fix it!” another says.
@amberk_wifemamateacher We are making progress!!! Lets pray they refund the other 19 months! #scam #psa #foryou #mama #momsoftiktok #wife #paypal #youtubetv #google #adulting #adultingishard ♬ original sound – AmberK_ Wife | Mama | Teacher
In a final update video posted on July 25, Amber shares the good news that she woke up to four of the 23 payments refunded to her account—and she’s optimistic that more will be on the way soon. She still has not heard back from YouTube.
The Daily Dot reached out to Amber, PayPal, and YouTube TV for further comment.
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