DirecTv threating to charge early cancellation fee when we fullfilled our contract for 12 month. Internet

We signed up for Directv a year ago, last month our bill raised $40, when I called the Directv they told me that our contract was up and we were back to regular price, I asked them how we could get our bill back to what we were paying they stated another contract and give us $15 per month off our bill for 6 months. I told them when our billing cycle came around we were cancelling. When I called Directv today to cancel they told me that we would be charged $240 for early cancellation fee and additional $10 per reciever fee for canceling early. I told the representative that we had a 12 month contract not 24, she argued with me and threated not to cancel if I didnt let her finish reading her monolog. We were on autopay, big mistake! I am afraid they are going to charge us this fee and we cant afford this. I would like someone to put a stop to these companies who feel they can just charge what they want to a persons c/c when there is a dispute. This is so unfair.