Your internet promo ended. Your bill did not tell you.

Most internet plans in the US are sold on a 12-month promotional price. When the year is up, the plan does not change, the speed does not change, and the bill quietly goes up by $15 to $40 a month. Providers are required to tell you, and they do, usually in a notice box below the charges or in a single line on page two.

How to spot it

Look for three things on the same bill:

• A notice that mentions a promotional rate, discount, or credit that ended or expired.
• The plan line now labeled standard rate or regular rate.
• A total that is higher than last month with no change in service.

Fiber 1 Gig internet, standard rate   $95.00

If last year's price is printed in the notice, the gap is your monthly overcharge. Multiply by 12 for the yearly figure. On our sample bill, $95 minus $70 is $25 a month, or $300 a year.

The ask

Call the number on the bill and say it plainly: your promotional rate ended, the same plan now costs more, and you would like a renewed promotion or a loyalty rate that brings it back. If the first agent cannot help, ask for the retention or loyalty team. Ask for the change in writing.

Two more things worth a question on the same call: whether a smaller plan listed on your bill covers your measured speed, and whether you can return a rented gateway and use your own.

What Billdial does

Billdial reads the notice, matches it to the plan line, flags the line as an overcharge, shows the arithmetic, and writes the script with your account's last four digits. It never promises the provider will agree. Many do, especially for customers who ask before they shop around.