LSC
Linda,
Though I have no doubt that you are very frustrated, I recommend starting a new topic in the Tech Support section for the service issues you have been experiencing and a new topic in the myAccount and Billing section for the billing issue you've had. The reps here are corporate based reps, unlike the phone reps. You'll get help here. The reps are on M-F from approximately 8AM to 5PM EST, so if you create those two new posts they won't be replied to by a rep until at least Monday. Normally I wouldn't recommend starting two different topics, but you have two very different issues going on, so you should probably do so.
Regarding your billing, when an invoice is created and payment is automatically charged it's for the current month. As an example, my last invoice was created on the 3/4, and the billing on that invoice is for the service period of 3/4 through 4/4, so when you pay you're paying for the current month, not the previous month. When you are on automatic billing the new invoice is charged the day it's created, which in my case was 3/4. If you are on manual payment you have however many days are stipulated to make the payment. I hope this info helps.
When you were put on automatic payment, might the current month, which you would have manually paid later, been what was automatically charged? I'd sign into the myAccount site and check your billing info to see if this is the case. If your balance is zero this is probably what happened. If this doesn't explain it, by all means, please create the new topic and a rep will help you. The myAccount site is here... http://my.hughesnet.com/myaccount
To start a new Tech Support topic... https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/forums/postpage/board-id/TechSupport
To start a new Billing topic... https://community.hughesnet.com/t5/forums/postpage/board-id/AccountandBilling