Six bucks a month doesn't sound like much, but it sure can add up over time.
As it turns out, I've overpaid hundreds by not looking closely enough at my satellite bill for the past several years, money that has now been credited back to my account.
If my receiver hadn't gone on the fritz last week, I likely would have continued to shell out more than I should.
My service provider shipped me a new DVR, and when I called to activate it, the customer service rep mentioned my account shows six active receivers.
I only have five.
She deactivated one, and my sons weren't too happy to learn it was the one connected to their TV.
Of course I called to reactivate their receiver, explaining that the previous representative inadvertently shut off the wrong box. I went box-to-box, reading off each receiver number, so the correct one would be deactivated, and it was.
I asked the technical support rep for some type of credit for the error and she said she couldn't because she had no way of knowing how long the receiver had been active without use.
A few minutes later, I decided it wouldn't hurt to try again -- this time with the billing department.
And my persistence paid off.
I explained what happened, and the customer service rep offered to investigate. For years, I only had one receiver and, when I moved to a new house in 2011, I added three boxes to the kids' rooms. Just last November, I added a box to my bedroom, bringing the total to five (the other is in the living room).
The customer service rep verified that I had been overcharged, though I was a little surprised just how long I had been paying for a receiver no longer in use.
She said it appears the technician failed to deactivate my old receiver when I switched to a DVR back in 2008.
She told me there would be a $400 credit on next month's bill; I would've been content with any offer, frankly, since I'm partially to blame for not catching the mistake sooner.
Certainly, I'm grateful the service provider gave me full credit. I guess it's one of those life lessons: examine all statements closely (and make sure the technician deactivates the old receiver). Those little charges can add up to big dollar amounts.
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Fortunately, the flaky box didn't prevent me from catching the entertaining NCAA Tournament games over the weekend. With my bracket busted pretty early in the tournament, I was able to pull for the best story, and of course the SEC.
I've got one Final Four team remaining: Florida, my national championship pick. Hopefully the Gators will handle Connecticut Saturday night.
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With two teams still standing, I guess the SEC isn't as bad as the pundits thought. As much as I dislike former Memphis coach John Calipari, I found myself rooting for his Kentucky Wildcats in hopes that SEC schools would make up half of the Final Four.
The way they are playing, both Florida and Kentucky have a good shot at playing each other in the national championship game and adding more hardware to the ever growing SEC trophy case.
I'm sure there will be some who say Florida and Kentucky are the only quality SEC teams (Tennessee also had a nice NCAA run). But they'd have trouble arguing another conference produces as many national title contenders in all the major sports, year in and year out.
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Hats off to the local movie theater for showing "God's Not Dead" and the churches who lobbied hard to get it here.
The parking lot was packed for the early showing on opening night, so my wife and I went to the late movie, which had a much lighter crowd.
The movie merits all the tremendous reviews it has received.
It's a terrific film.
Thanks again, Blytheville Cinema 3. If you got some out-of-the-blue text or social media alert reading "God's Not Dead," check out the movie to see why.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com