This is why I rarely ever sign up for auto withdrawal for any bills at all. I do have house insurance and car insurance come out automatically but that is all. I have been messed up way too many times myself with trying to let TV or Internet be taken out automatically. I am on fixed income and the family members who are working do not make much so we really cannot afford to have auto payments. We do have to be late in paying some times just to avoid being neg. at our banks.
But I have never heard of having to pay an extra $5 monthly to cancel an auto withdrawal, unless you mean that they charge that $5 because they send you a bill. If this is the case, there is a way of not having to pay that, just ask for paperless billing and you won't have to pay the $5. Some even still send you a bill without charging if you sign up for paperless billing, at least AT&T does with my phone bill, why I don't know. I don't mind getting the bill though as long as I don't have to pay that $5.
I have never let hughesnet take auto withdrawals from my account, so I really don't know if something like that might happen to me or not, but don't plan to let them do it anyway. I really have not looked that good at the bill to see if I am paying an extra $5 because I do get a bill each month from hughesnet, but if I am then so be it. I would rather pay that than go through all the problems with overdrawn bank account.
I too have always said that I would never recommend hughenet to anyone even knowing that where I live we really don't have any other choice. There are enough people who cannot really get good internet that they are not hurting for people. So I am not sure that even bothers them at all.