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4.5 3650 Reviews

Hughes Complaints Summary

134 Resolved
498 Unresolved
Our verdict: When using services from Hughes with a poor resolution rate, be vigilant. Understand the common pitfalls other customers have faced. Prepare thoroughly for any interactions with their customer service, and consider alternative solutions if your issues are not addressed satisfactorily.
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J
12:11 pm EST

Hughes false advertising / misrepresentation

Date: 2/28/08

Hughes Satellite has promised a level of service which they consistently can not meet. Continual efforts (c case #'s [protected] and [protected]) to get the services advertised that I pay for have been fruitless. Hughes Satellite advertises the following for the Pro service: With the HughesNet Pro plan, connect to the Internet with maximum download speeds of up to 1.0 Mbps, with typical speeds about 650 Kbps to 750 Kbps during peak times. Upload speeds, which are capable of reaching 200 Kbps, are typically 100 Kbps to 125 Kbps during peak hours.

The majority of time, even when not utilizing the service during peak times, my results have been far below that. Hughes has admitted to a problem that has been unresolved for almost two months. This problem is with their satellite operations. They have not notified customers that this service is impaired and have not offered any type of remuneration unless you are lucky enough to find the telephone number for customer relations in Germantown, Maryland.

The service department is made up predominantly of employees who reside in the country of India and are difficult to understand when attempting to troubleshoot a problem. After repeatedly going through the same troubleshooting procedure and finding nothing wrong on the consumer's end, the customer is switched to the next level of service. This results in a better chance of getting an English speaking representative.

After reviewing the case history(ies), the customer is told that Hughes is aware of the problem and are working on it but that they currently can do nothing about it. No effort is made to offer the customer downtime credit or even apologies for the sorry state of affairs. The customer is left with nowhere to go and a malfunctioning system which cost them $74.00 per month.

Contacting HughesNet customer relations in Germantown, MD and speaking with someone named Camile only confirmed that the problem existed and an offer to pick up the equipment and rebate the hardware costs. Camile indicated that I should be the one to request credit. My feeling is that Hughes should be making the offer without me having to ask. Unfortunately, that's not the only costs that one occurs with setting up HughesNet satellite system.

It may involve cutting down trees, digging ditches to bury the coaxial cable, having an unsightly satellite dish installed (and if it's further than 40 feet from the hook-up site, more unreasonable charges are piled on.

I just committed to extending the service for 24 months based on a "free" upgrade to a more functional modem. At that time, nothing was mentioned about the satellite problem.

This company has a long way to go to correct their many misrepresentations and withholding of information that a consumer should have access to.

I will also be filing a report with the FTC and the FCC along with a letter to my State agencies.

John Isensee

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Loren W Fowler
,
Feb 02, 2008 12:00 am EST

I ordered a satellite system thru Hughesnet Corp and ordered their current prom0 package of $0.00 up front, $100.00 rebate, $59.00 per mo. with equipment costs spread out over the two year period of the contract. Guess what? ByTelco evidently submits all paperwork back to HughesNet as "up front install" and they don't put anyone in for promos' The rebate you might ask? They turn them in to all these "PROCESS REBATES AT HOME AND EARN BIG PROFITS; that we all get in our spam mail.

OH, and yes, you guessed it: my bank also called to tell me that I had just been :wacked: for $500.00 plus another $100.00 overdraft charges! I made three emails to HughesNet, six phone calls and talked to every department in the company to no avail. Never mind that here we have another new customer that both we and BuyTelco just FRAUDULENTLY charged and screwed over and, hey lets make this right because the heat is starting to get turned up.
Recourse? I've filed a suit with the Federal Trade Commission, NYState Attorney Generals Office, The Better Business Bureau and a team of attorneys, Remember what we were all taught years ago, but sometimes don't really :get-it" There's strength in numbers because we are the little guys and THEY are the big guys. THEY have the money and lawyers and we don"t. Strength in numbers.

IF any of you out there has still got a set of "Balls" in their pants and wants to join me, let me know! And the next time you see that pretty lady on your TV asking you if you think you can't get high speed internet service--well--think again--get HUGHESNET and your problems will JUST BE STARTING.

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R R
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Aug 29, 2008 6:35 am EDT

I have the same problem ... poor Internet speeds, even after all "up-grades" ... modem (terminal adapter) antennae, service calls, ridiculous "speed tests over various sessions", ... etc. No offers of reduced monthly charge... Pro plan is nearly $70 per month. Horrible for just a little more than a dial up connection speed. I have zero other options as I reside out in the country. No cable, DSL, or ? Satallite connection is it.

I TOTALLY disagree with their claim the PRO plan, which advertises 1000/200, actually averages 600-700/100-150. For them to advertise 1000/200, the average speed needs to be 1000/200. Meaning sometimes speeds OVER 1000/200 MUST be obtained...!

Possibly a "Class Action" law suit is neccessary...

ComplaintsBoard
S
8:01 am EST

Hughes download limit!

I found out the hard way (running a very small business at home), that even with the professional plan, there is 425MB download limit per day on this service. THAT was never pointed out to me as part of "fair service usage". Once you hit that limit, your internet service "dies" for 24 hrs. There is no notice, no email, no warning, just degradation of service regardless. I phoned the support (scripted foreign nationals), and finally was transferred to Portland, OR, and then to a supervisor with the same script. They don't care, and there is nothing you can do about it. I have 5 months left on my contract... then goodbye HUGHESNET! I won't deal with a company that has no other options than to double your spending per month. I already bought everything, paid for installation and pay $60/month. This is ridiculous in a day/age when everything is "log on, on-line"... anyone with a solution, feel free to contact me. I don't have access to cable, or DSL where I live. Only way to reach HughesNet is really thru their corporate headquarters: Hughes Network Systems, LLC.

11717 Exploration Lane
Germantown, MD 20876 USA.

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Burran
Childersburg, US
Jun 29, 2012 12:10 pm EDT

Data limits were never discussed when I signed up. I reached mine in 8 days. They wanted me to 'upgrade' at double the money. I cancelled immediately and now they are billing me for equipment they refuse to pick up. The same installer came and uninstalled the equipment, but said he couldn't take it with him. I am filing in small claims for $1.00 in actaull and $4999.00 in punitive damages for fraud.

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Tony Steward
Tualatin, US
Apr 02, 2011 10:46 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Clinton, there is no upload threshold...why are you limiting yourself on the uploading?

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Tony Steward
Tualatin, US
Apr 02, 2011 10:36 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

"belonged to "Arthur" but got sent to my address and was in my name"

So was the account in your name? or was it in Arthurs name? How could it be both?

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Clinton Bradley
forrest city, US
Mar 29, 2010 5:27 pm EDT

You know my mother had hughesnet, and it was just a real big mess. I moved out to a rural area and had no choice but too get it for my business. I'm afraid now of always reaching the red. I can't send back video files i help in creating. Hell, pics are about 5MB and that takes so much of my daily percentage away. I don't even get to send my music files which i remaster for myself and my label CBG Entertainment, from which i have two albums out now. I am working on my third at the moment. but i can only send at night, and then i'm worried i'll go over my limit, so i only send for about four hours and then i have my pc cut off. Thanks, Clinton B. G.

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mortgun
Petersburg, US
Jan 22, 2010 6:33 am EST

I have HughesNet in the country where DSL or another high speed internet option is unavailable. When I bought the service I was told that I would get 800K downloads and 128k uploads. This is true if I use the internet between 1AM and 7Am. In the afternoon and evening my download speed is about 30k. Dial-up internet gives you this speed and it is much cheaper. Also web response is faster. You don't have to wait forever for the website to respond and begin loading. You also don't get all of the DNS error messages and the others that ocurr so frequently when you try to use Hughesnet at peak times.
It is obvious that HughesNet has over subscribed their satellites and they cannot handle the demand. They are only interested in making money and not serving their customers.

If you have an option, get any other internet service, and you will have less cost and/or problems.

It pisses me off to see Hughesnet commercials on TV telling how great and how fast their service is. THIS IS AN OUTRIGHT LIE!

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No More Mr Nice Guy
, US
Feb 26, 2009 7:18 pm EST

There is a major flaw with the Fair Access Policy and HughesNet's documentation of this policy.

The policy states:

"What do you recommend I do during the Download Period?
We recommend that you automatically schedule your system updates during the Download Period. We also suggest the use of a download manager software application to assist in the scheduling of large file downloads."

What the major flaw is that Windows System updates do not work this way. They download at any time and only install the updates at the configured time. This can easily be validated by examining the System Event viewer on any Microsoft system.

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Hfrank
Red River, US
Jan 16, 2009 10:17 am EST

HughesNet may be the worst company I've ever dealt with (more accurately, the worst company whose executive officers are not yet indicted). Every contact from installation (a local franchise that surcharged us for mileage, claimed the installation was atypical--which it most certainly was not-- and added an unauthorized and unneeded booster) to technical support (some chap in India who calls himself Kevin and whose apparent role is to persuade customers that the problem is in the original hardware, which requires a service call) to customer care (a voicemail menu that either puts you into an automated billing queue or transfers you to Kevin) has been a nightmare. Unfortunately, out here in the mountains of New Mexico we can't get cable access, and the only satellite competitors do not permit customers to shut off service for part of the year, which is what keeps HughesNet in business in an area where most customers are vacation homeowners.

It may also be relevant that the credit card we used exclusively for HughesNet business had fraudulant charges posted with businesses in the Baltimore area.

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indie343
,
Apr 01, 2008 6:44 pm EDT

Yea Hughes.net tried to get me to sign up in Georgia with a $100 sign up fee & a $100 a mo. service fee. I already have direct tv so i didn't want another dish, I recommend anyone in GA not to sign up with HughesNet. It's a trap! Get AT&T for $35 a mo. or Verison(I think they all are liars! The speed is no different on any of them, it's your computer!)

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Jaye
,
Feb 28, 2008 7:35 pm EST

Hughes.net came out to install our internet service, which was supposed to be 69.99/month, and the equipment was free.That was the deal.
Then I got a bill for $488.00 + for the equipment ! I called God only knows how many times to them, to billing,which
is in a foreign country. They told me numerous times it would be resolved.
Then came the next bill, same thing. Keep in mind this is at a residence still under construction, and we aren't even
connected to their service yet.
THIS COMPANY IS THE BIGGEST FRAUD EVER !
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM!

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Phillip Brand
,
Feb 22, 2008 10:45 am EST

I agree Hughesnet is a ripoff. Being a home user they said download speeds were around 500-700kb/sec, but in reality the actual transfer rate is around 100kb/sec, and can be as slow as 25kb/sec. When you go over your download limit they say your bandwidth is reduced, but you can still browse. My average browseing rate when over the limit is 0.8kb/sec. This "service" is also three time more expensive than dsl.

ComplaintsBoard
V
12:56 am EST
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes frustrated with the service

I was a Hughes customer starting in 2002. I had the usual frustrations, similar to those in other complaints on this site. I had let my contract expire so luckily I was a free agent when this fiasco happened. Even so, the hassle was unbelievable and remains ongoing. Seems to me that between us there may be grounds for a class action suit for pattern and practice of consumer fraud on the part of Hughes.

On October 14, 2007, I accepted an online offer from Hughes Network Systems for an upgrade to my satellite system. They were to ship me a new modem, model #HN7000S, and begin a new level of service upon installation of the modem. I asked them twice when I would be charged for the modem and for the new level of service. Each time I was told that I would be charged when the new modem was installed and working. I signed no contract, nor was I given any verbal conditions or written company policy with regard to my purchase, beyond the information about when I would be charged for the purchase. Hughes told me they would be shipping my modem via the US Postal Service to my home address. They gave me no further shipping details or tracking information.

After three weeks I had still not received the modem, so I called Hughes. They told me the modem had been shipped and that it had been delivered two weeks earlier. They told me that it had been shipped via FedEx and that they knew nothing more and could not help me find the modem. Multiple phone calls later I discovered that the modem had been shipped via FedEx Ground, not FedEx. FedEx Ground confirmed that the modem had been delivered, but to an address that was not mine, and that it had been signed for by someone I had never heard of. I searched for the address and eventually found the modem, which had been delivered to a local business. I finally got the modem on Nov. 1, 2007. Because I was scheduled for surgery on Nov. 7, I did not contact Hughes or attempt to connect the new modem until November 14, 2007. I subsequently discovered that Hughes had charged my credit card for the modem and the first month of the upgraded service on November 11, 2007, three days before I contacted them for help in installing the modem.

On November 14, 2007 I began connecting the modem. When I needed help I called Hughes Tech support at [protected]. I spoke with Mary in India who was courteous but totally unable to help me complete the installation. In fact when I had gone through the steps she asked me to and clicked on the Swap button on the Hughes website, the new modem failed to install. Mary was unable to help me further, other than to inform me that I could not go back to using my old modem and thus would have no internet service at all until a way was found to install the new modem. Mary told me I had to call the Hughes Advanced Tech Support Center (Tech Support) at [protected], and issued me a PIN number which would allow me to talk with someone there, since otherwise calls to that number are refused. I made the call. I spoke with Steven and with John who were also unable to help me with the installation. After at least an hour on the phone, John told me that it would be impossible to install the new modem and that they would have to send me a new one. He confirmed that in the meantime I would have no internet access. He said they would ship the new modem within 5-7 days. Words cannot describe my frustration by this point.

Later that day I called Tech Support again, hoping to get a more satisfactory level of assistance. I spoke with Astrid. Astrid told me that the previous Tech Support personnel had not been as helpful as they could have been. She gave me a dialup account number so that I could get online. She also assured me that the modem would be shipped the next day, and that I could call the shipping department in the morning to obtain shipping and tracking information. Unfortunately, the dialup number given me was useless. Numerous attempts failed to connect to the server. Yet another call to Tech Support got me more dialup numbers to try. They too were useless. When I called the shipping department the next morning, November 15, the woman I spoke to laughed. She said 'Honey, I don't know who you were talking to. It will be days before we have any information on that shipment.'

Again I called Tech Support, attempting to get a straight story about the replacement modem; when it would be shipped, who the carrier would be, and what the tracking information was. I spoke with several individuals. I was finally told that no one knew when the modem would be shipped; that no one knew how it would be shipped, and that it was impossible to connect me with anyone who could tell me any of this information, despite what Astrid had told me.

During the following 6 days I called Hughes repeatedly, both Tech Support and Shipping, trying to find out when and if the new modem had been shipped. I was shuffled around in circles between Tech Support and Shipping and given no useful information. I asked to speak with their Customer Relation Department and was told that they could not connect me, nor could they give me a phone number or email address so that I could contact them myself. My efforts to get this information were met with indifference and I was rudely dismissed. On November 23, 2007 I checked my credit card account and discovered that Hughes had charged my account on November 11, 2007 for the price of the new modem and for one month of a new service plan even though at the time of that charge I had neither installed the new modem nor gotten the service upgrade. I immediately called Hughes and told them to cancel my account due to my having no internet access, no new modem, their inability to help me, their incompetence, their total lack of cooperation in resolving the problems, and especially because they had violated their agreement, and charged me for the equipment and service upgrade before any attempt had been made to install them. Tech Support told me I had to speak to the Billing Dept about this.

I called the Hughes Billing Dept, asked them to cancel my account and to refund the charges to my account. They said they would cancel my account, but that I had to speak to a supervisor about a refund, and transferred me to Mike. Mike refused to credit my account for the November 11 charges. He told me that it was company policy that I had to try to install the second new modem, which I still had not received, and that they would only refund my money if that second modem could not be installed. Whether I cancelled my account or not, my money would not be refunded unless I followed their policy. He insisted that neither he nor I had any choice but to follow the Hughes policy and that there was nothing further he could do. I asked him to connect me with the Hughes Customer Relations Department. As had Tech Support, he said he could not and that neither could he give phone or email contact information for Customer Relations. He said he did not have the information and that my only recourse was to write them. I expressed extreme disbelief that he had no way to contact Customer Relations. After some time he admitted to me that he had the information but would lose his job if he gave it to me!

On November 24, 2007, the new replacement modem arrived. I shipped it back to Hughes, unopened. On November 26, 2007 I called Hughes to be sure that my account had been cancelled. It had not, despite earlier assurances. I again requested that they cancel my account and they did so.

On November 26, 2007, I called Bank of America with whom I have a Visa account. I explained the situation to them and asked them to put the charges ($204.05) into dispute. They did so. On December 13, 2007 I received a letter from Bank of America acknowledging the legitimacy of my complaint and notifying me that the disputed charge was removed from my account. They further told me that they considered the matter resolved and that only if t he merchant supplied information proving that the charge was valid would the account be rebilled. Hughes offered no such proof and no rebuttal to my complaint. On December 21, 2007, Hughes wrote to me requesting payment of the disputed amount. I called Bank of America. They told me that I should ignore the letter from Hughes. On February 7, 2008, a collection agency called my residence attempting to collect the disputed charges, so this is far from resolved.

I feel that Hughes has shown itself to be unethical and willing to make fraudulent charges at the expense of its customers. Any help would be much appreciated.

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Jim O'Crolic
,
Feb 28, 2008 10:45 am EST

This is typical and my heart goes out to you. The only thing worse would be if you had signed up for AT&T Sierra WiFi. You would want to check yourself in to the nearest mental hospital. It is a George Bush's fault because of lack of regulation. These companies do any thing they want because they know they can get away with it. This is reason 1001 why the rest of the world hates us. Capitalism rules and morals and ethics are a thing of the past, much less fear of the law.

ComplaintsBoard
T
7:23 pm EST

Hughes misrepresentation of service

HughesNet continues with its come-on, "Up to 2.5 Mbps" and "High Speed Internet" while in reality, the speeds for download and upload range around 0.5 Mbps for download, and not much more than 0.01 Mbps upload. I understand the upload difficulties, but they shouldn't be able to practice false advertising and get away with it.

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Dave Wheeler
,
Sep 25, 2008 10:19 am EDT

I am furious with hughesnet. For the last 4 days I have been working with Hughesnet technical service to diagnose my problem with slow speed. I have found that during normal hours my speeds are as slow as 60 kbps. I have now been told that the speeds advertised are not promised and that my service is slow because of high service volumes. I called back to Hughes pretending to be a prospective new customer and was told that speeds would be about 2 mbps. I was told that was the speed for the basic plan. I asked the salesman about speed during peak hours and was told that It would always be that fast. I then told him I was already a customer and that my speeds were about 50 to 60 for download. He quickly changed his tone and said that speeds were not guaranteed. I told him that he just had guaranteed them and that I thought Hughes net was guilty of false advertising. One service technician told me I should expect speeds of 500 to 750 kbps during off peak times and no less than 250 kbps during peak usage. This speed of 250 kbps would be fantastic if I could just get it. They also told me I might be able to get more speed if I upgraded to the next plan but when I questioned them they said again that speeds could not be guaranteed. Their fair access policy says they will reduce down to dial up if they exceed the limit in this policy but I have checked and have not exceeded the limit yet I am still being reduced to dialup speeds. I think they should be the target of a class action suit for false advertising. I also believe that they give new customers full bandwidth for the first few months so they will tell their friends and then start to reduce bandwith until they have you down to dialup. If I had just signed up for the service and only got 60 kbps

ComplaintsBoard
R
12:00 am EST

Hughes horrible internet provider & service!

I've posted two diatribes regarding the horrors of Hughes Net. I've also read many of the complaints and it seems that almost everybody is in total agreement. If anybody out there is or has been a Hughes Net/DirecWay customer and would be interested in participating in a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT against Hughes Net please email me. I'm just taking a POLL of people that have complained on this board to see if there would be any interest. I will not reply to your emails nor will I save them or forward them to anybody.

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Pam Jackson
, US
May 24, 2016 3:19 pm EDT

No help at all working with customers when not getting Hughs net internet will not help ..just keeps me stringing along 1 month and 7 to 10 call for help.. and wont let me out of my contract .. for service that i get 1/2 the time and are charging $500... yes i said $500. to get out of a service that doesnt work Rotten .. Rotten just another way of getting over so they can make $$$$

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Trina Keith
, US
May 11, 2016 7:12 pm EDT

I order internet service from your company and it never worked I received some of my money back but you're charging me for installation when I was told it would be no charge for the installation this was a very bad experience for me with a internet company I want my money back for the installation as well you told me the installation was free yet you charged me for it unbelievable my name is Antonio Mobley my phone number is [protected] I would like to speak to someone about this asap thank you

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BatCountry6
Exeter, US
Dec 19, 2014 4:07 am EST

Hughesnet is unfortunately not the best internet to go with :( i too was suckered into getting this isp. I went from an isp that allowed me to stream videos without worry of losing data, to constantly checking a gauge. and what's with the extra data after 2:00 am to 6:00 am? that is so inconvenient due to the fact that not everyone can be up at 2:00 am (although i'm sure there are folks who are) it seems unreasonable. Hughesnet is unreasonable. I can't play multiplayer online with Hughesnet. I have to watch how much data I use. Hughesnet is a lame cellphone contract wired to your roof. Please get with the times Hughesnet, you are a detriment in the guise of a convenience. A wolf in sheep's clothing. I'd at least like to cancel without having to pay $300-$500 range...sheesh. Highway robbery! -_-

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bennetta
, US
Jul 03, 2011 6:59 pm EDT

we pay alot for this service and cannot get on line as quick as dialup

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REX KIRKES
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Mar 07, 2008 6:09 pm EST

I mailed my payment in 11 days ago and they have shut my internet off except to their site.

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stephan sikstrom
,
Dec 03, 2007 12:00 am EST

The system sucks, outrageous pricing, fap sucks, rebate is a scam. Need a class action lawsuit!

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Karen L.
,
Jan 12, 2008 12:00 am EST

Hughes net is horrible! We mostly surf the web and occasionally when we need to download, the FAP is put on us for not 8-12 hours like they say, but at least 24. I checked our usage and we purposely shut our computer off and unplug the connection every night. It's funny that there will be usage when we are asleep. It can be 24 minutes or 30 minutes, but noone is at the computer because it's off and unplugged from the internet. Sounds like something fishy is going on.

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Bill Lowery
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Mar 08, 2008 6:22 pm EST

The latest rip with hughes is they email you offering you the the latest modem and when you don't response they shut you down and say you need to get the new dw7000 and will give it to you for free if you sign up for two more years. I don't want it and further more Lately I only get 4 or 5 days a week of good internet speed
the rest of the week I might as well have dial up. And lets not forget the poor english speaking folks from billing or tech support who blame the weather for everything. Good bye hughes, hello clear wire!

hughesnetsucks
hughesnetsucks
lineville, US
Aug 26, 2009 12:34 pm EDT

Yes, I would love to have a class action lawsuit, start with the UCC Uniform Commercial Code, Truth in advertising, and continue with how hughes net has abdicated their responsibility to their customers by only providing support where english is not a primary language.

hughes net is perhaps the worst service provider I have ever seen

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SuperVepr
Redneckville, US
Jul 28, 2009 11:19 am EDT

I love on the commercial when that red-headed [censored] says, "it's freed up alot of my time".

ComplaintsBoard
C
12:00 am EST

Hughes the most overblown advertisement in the history of ad-copy!

Hugesnet internet service has to be the most overblown advertisement in the history of ad-copy. Total mis-representation. High speed internet? Not on a clear day in hell. This service takes real time off of your lifecycle just waiting for a page to load.
You get a two year contract, a never explained "Fair Access Policy" at a high price for what on almost every occasion amounts to a 28k modem, and less.

Service is fair, even when you can get off hold. At the 81.00 per month, install plus equipment. One would expect to have "Highspeed Internet". False advertisement is what Hughesnet offers. I watched an ad on TV for Hugesnet the other night. All smoke and mirrors.

Anyone wishing to form a class action suit against these bandits of the internet, count me in.

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PamelaDC
, US
Jan 06, 2009 9:29 pm EST

Count me in for the class action if any one goes that route!

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Dan
,
Jul 24, 2008 3:57 pm EDT

Just got my HughesNet hooked up 7/23/08, I wished I did more checking It is slower than the dail up I had. Lucky I have 30 day trail I only lose about $200 for the installation. If you thinking about HughesNet you better do some checking first Wish I had.
Dan

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12:00 am EST

Hughes installer created damage!

We called for a new installation scheduled on 6/11/2007. The assigned installer's scheduler (his wife) called to see if we wanted it done early and scheduled it to be on 5/31/2007 because he had to be in Sonoita, AZ that morning for another install. My husband and the woman spoke only long enough for him to agree and to tell her to have the installer call me to make sure I could be there because he (my husband) couldn't. My husband told her we wanted it on the back of the house on the roof. She (the installer company) said that would be fine. The day of 5/31/07, the installer phoned me on my way to work and I explained I couldn't be there until 10am, which he said would be fine. When I got there, he had installed the dish on the side of my home where we plan on putting a porch and within head-walking distance. I was shocked because the dish was on the house and shocked because he was inside my home, which we hadn't even moved into yet. The builder had sent contractors over to work on the water faucets and the Hughesnet guy just invited his dirty shoes into my den to setup his computer! When I told him that wasn't where we wanted, he got huffy, said he didn't have time to fix it and would have to come back (had another install the other side of Tucson he was in a hurry for) and took it down, leaving black tar stuff on my home, big ugly holes, and tore the wood siding (it's a modular home). He was rude, unprofessional, and I tried to explain that I understood his position but that he didn't have the customer's requirements before he began the install, like he should have done. Since then, HughesNet gave me a priority number to call, which is only good with a PIN that they give out every two weeks. I'm subject to emailing a representative, who is nice, but you can tell has a caseload because she never remembers my story. They have offered to refund $320 to our credit card on file, but what we really want is for them to issue payment to the builder to have a contractor fix the siding properly. We dont' want to have to deal with doing it ourself! Oh, forgot to mention that when that guy left, I called HughesNet and told them we didn't want him to finish the install and they sent a better installer who put it it on a polemount in my backyard and we've been mostly happy, just not with knowing we have damage to our home that HughesNet ignores. Has never even sent an adjuster to look at it. They are too big, corporation wise, to take care of the customer, who is driven to being taken care of by contractors who will repeately make mistakes because HughesNet doesn't solve them and get rid of the bad contractor. As a computer technical professional manager, I would never hire someone like the guy that did our first install. He was in a hurry to get a job done so he could get home that day. Probably gets paid by the install and not reimbursed for mileage. Never should have started without the customer onsite and without discussing where it would be installed.

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12:00 am EST

Hughes scam and cheating!

The little lady on the commercial that arrogantly tells hughesnet users "your welcome" was the final straw. Given the abundance of useless channels on directv, the writer's strike's causation of painful re-runs, those damned HEAD-ON commercials, TV news that absolutely forgot the cardinal rule of journalism--OBJECTIVITY. Then sent me a 50 dollar monthly bill for their gracious allowance af letting me accept their signal in my home, and tells me, as afore mentioned , your welcome! You, my greedy corporate friends, have balls the size of Ecuador. Monday, I canceled directv. Today, apparently, I attempted to download too much info. and was rationed internet speed. Today, I canceled the little lady who tells me "your welcome". direct tv directway hughesnet the rest of the world, i am gonna tell you once, loud and clear, and you wont heed, for it is your nature! greed IS a deadly sin. When the dust clears, you explain to GOD why humanity was secondary to profit.

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lporter121
, US
Dec 14, 2017 11:01 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have contacted Hughes Net at least 12 or more times since September 2, 2017 about how slow my internet is. I keep getting the same run around. They want me to turn off all things that are connected to internet. I have done this twice and then run a speed test. It did not improve anything. It is very time consuming these things they have you do. I record time, date, server for speed test, download speed and upload speed. Almost every day between the hours 5pm to midnight the download speeds are 0.1 or lower. At midnight the speeds do increase. But some days they never get over 2.0mbps. I also have a hard time hearing and most of the time I can not understand what they are saying when I call. Also the computer that I do download speeds I on is hard wired into the modem.

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Jim Fletcher
, US
Dec 31, 2015 2:12 pm EST

I constantly "exceed" my limit, even when I have been online for a very short time. I have to keep restoring tokens for $5 per shot. Why can I have two satellite signal high def TVs running all day and never have an extra charge? I believe that Hughes Net is scamming me because there is presently no cable in our area. I would welcome the opportunity to participate in a lawsuit.

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adam
london, GB
Jan 12, 2008 12:00 am EST

First of all i think I should start of with say NEVER PURCHASE HUGHESNET! I have had Hughesnet for about two years now. The only reason I have not canceled it is because in my area it is the only service besides dial-up that is available. Sometimes I think dial-up would be better. First of all the biggest problem is the unreliability ,the internet will stop working or it will become very slow for weeks at a time. Second of all the customer service is extremely poor. They do nothing to help except say, "keep a record of the speeds over the next three days" and then when you call back they say to do something else for the next three days. Another customer service problem is that it is EXTREMELY hard to understand the reps, between strong accents and poor phone lines it is almost impossible to understand them. Next but certainly not last is the Fair Access Policy (FAP). The FAP limits the amount of download and uploading that can be done. For my plan which it the Pro Plan I can only download 375MB and on the Basic Plan you can only download 200MB. After The FAP is exceeded the download speeds will be reduced to around 56K(dial-up) and sometimes slower for 24 hours. The next problem is that i cannot play online games or use xbox live without there being a massive amount of delay(lag) which makes it impossible to play. But this could possibly be excused since satillite internet is know to have lots of lag. Now for my current issue that i am dealing with right now. About three weeks ago my download speed dropped of to about 2KB/s which made internet browsing almost impossible. So I called customer service and they goofed around and have yet to resolve any thing. So for the past three weeks i have had virtually no internet. But i have called at least five times over the last three weeks. one week ago i was escalated to the third level of tech support and they where supposed to contact me within two days. One week later still no call. So i call back( 0n hold as I type this) and they have told me that they will try to call in the next day. So the reason i am so mad now is because i am pay $89 dollars a month for 5KB/s.

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Mephilic
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Nov 19, 2008 7:38 pm EST

Hughesnet has been scamming me for over 5 months now During the day time i recieve speeds anywhere from below 1kbps to 20kbps usually being below 1kbps, it goes so slow i can't even use the internet, at this rate whats the point of having a fap if it isnt even possible to download 420megs in a day. But once the moment it hits 12 am it starts going up to like 180kbps speeds for download and it is like this everyday personally i think some illegal activity is going on here, and that the FCC should be looking into this.

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Kevin
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Aug 01, 2008 2:24 pm EDT

I am currently using Hughes net. It sucks big time. Almost as slow as dial up. Rationing internet is illegal, right? So, can't we sue them? Somebody should really look into this. I don't have extensive legal knowledge so if there's anybody out there who knows this stuff, could you help all of us Hughes net scamees?

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Danny
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Jul 22, 2008 7:31 pm EDT

THIS ###ING BLOWS! BIGGEST SCAM I HAVE EVER SEEN/HEARD OF. SEVERAL TIMES I HAVE CAME HOME AFTER SCHOOL, WHEN NO1 WAS HOME, AND I FOUND OUT "fair acess policy threshold exceeded" ###. I WANT 2 FIND OUT WHERE THE PRESIDENT OF THIS SCAM LIVES, GRAB A BASEBALL BAT, AND BEAT THE ###ING ### OUT OF HIM. 1st of all.. wtf is fair acess policy? its not like theres some kind of limit on how much internet there is floating around out there... its not like it runs out... SO GIVE ME MY ###ING INTERNET AND STOP STEALING MY ###ING MONEY! and 1st of all... GET SOME TECH SUPPORT OTHER THAN TOWEL HEADS IN INDIA! not 2 mention.. they come up with "american" names EVERY CALL. BUT the only positive thing about this web provider, and probabally the reason y this is "the best alternative" is because THEY ARE THE BEST 2 PRANK PHONE CALL. THEY HAVE GIVEN ME LAUGHTER AND INSAINITY AT THE SAME TIME! getting back 2 the whole hughes net=scam... THIS IS ### AND GO DIE!

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wonder19
johnson valley, US
Jul 17, 2008 2:19 pm EDT

I'm not sure if these numbers are valid anymore because Hughes rotates them on a weekly basis (why are they trying to hide?) These might still be the phone numbers for Hughesnet technical support in Florida (tier 3) where English is spoken. One is only referred here after dealing with India.
They will probably ask for a case number or for you to dial another access code. If you get a live person tell them you have no case number but demand help you can understand.
If the automated system asks for an access number they're here at the end of the numbers. These may no longer work but they're free calls and they used to work at least at one time. They could rotate back in next week too. Try both access numbers with both phone numbers.
[protected]
[protected]
access codes: 298715 and 298729
Hope they still work. Good Luck. This is no way to run a business.

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

Hughes too many to name!

We've been customers with Hughesnet (formerly Direcway) since January 2002 and have been paying $59.99 a month up until January 2008, which is when we upgraded to their $79.99 "Pro Plus" Program. The benefit we looked forward to was having a MUCH faster internet connection (that is if it isn't raining, snowing, foggy or the wind is blowing the wrong way). NO ONE mentioned their "Fair Use Policy" where we can ONLY download 425MG (which is NOTHING--Hughesnet is living in the dark ages!)or they will turn that on and it slows your internet access to DIAL UP speed. You then have to set your alarm clock to wake up at 3am to download any size file you want (and they give you until 6am to finish) even if you are in violation of the Fair Use Policy. Now I can understand if they want to limit downloading of large files, but there is NO reason why our basic internet access that we use to surf slows down to dial up speed for 24 HOURS before they turn it back to normal. That is NOT fair! What are we paying for!?!

Because we live in an isolated area that doesn't get cable or DSL, they have use held captive. We are moving and when we do, you can be sure that there is NOOO way we will use Hughesnet again!

The other problem with Hughesnet is that they outsource their Customer Service in the late afternoon's and throughout the night overseas! They are taking away American's jobs and paying the people in India (and other countries) a fraction of the cost it would be to pay an American. I've worked in the corporate World for many years and understand that outsourcing is a wonderful way to save money and add profit to the bottom line. What I don't understand is why they have to use people who can barely speak English, couldn't solve a problem for you if they had 10 people helping them and are flat out useless when you have a problem. If you happen to call during the day, then you'll get an American and I've never had problems with their knowledge or service, they are great.

People need to know what this company is doing (or should I say not doing) for their customers and it needs to change IMMEDIATELY!

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TJames
Waynesville, US
Aug 16, 2009 12:51 pm EDT

Every since that new modem HN7000S, I have had nothing but problems. My old model worked fine, the old direcway one. They told me I would receive no tech support, If I didn't have the new one. So in the mail came my modem. I was excited about all this new speed they kept talking about. I had nothing but problems. No internet service no e-mail, nothing. I had to buy 2 new cables I received 2 more modems. I had to pay to get a tech to look at it- 125.00...The tech person couldn't fix it. So now I have to jiggle a wire, everytime I want to get on the computer, that is slow as you know what. I can't download anything, I can't send any pictures to my smugmug account. I can't watch any videos. A 2 minute video takes 15 min. to see. By that time, I am so pissed off I can't stand it. Now I have to wait 2 yrs. or I will be charged 300$ to close my account. I can't wait to get rid of hughesnet, I hate it. Oh, and I love those people I talk to at tech support. Can't understand a word they say! I had to bump up a plan on my phone bill, because I went over on my minutes. Hughes. net sucks.

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Tdog4775
Gaines, US
May 22, 2009 5:11 pm EDT

Couldn't agree any more. So today I call and ask them for help setting up my new modem that we had to lock into another year thing for! First off i get someone who bearly knows a damn lick of english and he talks to me for 2 hours and get nothing done! by this point i'm getting pissed because there is no way it should take this long and he transfers me to some other person he tells me to do a bunch of other stuff and gets me no wear as well and he speaks even worse english than the person before. At the end he tells me we have to pay 125 dollars for them to come out and fix the dish but there is no problem with the dish it works fine on my old modem and if it needs to be fixed why and the hell would they charge us 125. It's there fault it doesn't work and I can't speak to someone who knows english. If they don't come out here and fix it i will have them shove this new modem up there ### and the 1 year agreement and cancel our subscription and if we have to take this to court so be it..

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karen rumminger
Bridger, US
May 18, 2009 11:05 pm EDT

I am in total agreement with this person who wrote this. We live in the country in Montana and were told Hughesnet was the only game in town. I called tonight to complain of the many hours that I cannot access my computer and was told (by someone in the PHILIPPINES) that I was being punished due to using more mega bites or whatever they call it... I just found out about the "FAIR USE POLICY' and asked them if they were serious? She said it was in my contract and I told her please send me a contract so I can read it, she said I can get it on the internet! I told her, "no I cannot get it on internet because I cannot access it at the moment that is why I was calling!"
Also, we pay $90.00 a month for this lousy internet service, cannot talk to anyone in the USA and can't understand what they are saying half the time. We tried to cancel them after we had the service a couple of months and they sent us a bill for over $800.00 for early termination! I reinstated the service just because I did not want that $800.00 looming over my head. They said it was in my contract, but I never signed a contract because if I had one to read, I would have never gone with Hughesnet... I have asked then several times for a contract to be sent to me, but they tell me to go to Hughesnet customer care online... Online, when I am being punished and cannot use any more time on the internet. They are a ripe off company, horrible service, lousy customer service and they overcharge for their so called internet service. My neighbor has dial up and pays $9.99 a month and has better internet service and access than we do. I will be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as soon as I can get the forms, but gee, can't right now, I am being punished for using over the amount allocated to us for downloads, which includes emails! They told me to use it between 5-6 pm... I told the person on the other end of the line, I am at work and do not get home until after 7pm and I cannot always use the internet because I cannot get ONLINE! THIS IS HIGHWAY ROBBERY AND NEEDS TO BE STOPPED!

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Mary
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Jul 27, 2008 8:11 pm EDT

I think it's absurd when a company doesn't provide a service and yet, won't refund your money for it. If your phone is out for 4 days, the phone company will give you credit for the 4 days. Someone needs to do something about this and the poor service. There are no fast downloads. I would have been better off sticking with my dial up servcie! I do plan on writing the FTC who regulates these companies...I hope others will follow suit.

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Sherry Houlette
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May 20, 2008 10:22 am EDT

I agree with you I have the big busssiness pkg and I cant get even close to the speed that they advertise I pay 188.00 per month for virtualy nothing

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

Hughes complete and utter incompetence

I just recently found out about the 200MB download limit. This is an outrage because it happened when I tried to download a paid for and licensed copy of Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, which is a 500MB file. I figured it out when the file download didn't work and I was only running at about 6 Kbps. Yes, I said 6, and it has been this way for 24 hours. I can conveniently, however, download whatever I want between the hours of 3-6AM Eastern time. I talked to 5 people, all of which could hardly explain anything to me due to lack of ability to speak fluent English, and I am now sitting here hoping that my download will actually work at the allowed times. Oh, by the way, good luck getting any type of manager or supervisor on the phone. Apparently nobody runs this company. I am looking for a way to get out of this contract for this pitiful and unreliable service. Any suggestions, feel free to email me at [protected]@bigfoot.spokane.edu

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Andrew
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Jan 21, 2008 2:40 pm EST

I posted the Jan 4, 2008 post and agree with you. Luckly my contract is up as I used the service starting from 2004. I am switching to Verizon wireless broadband [with an aftermarket external antenna] which has a 5GB monthly limit by no daily limit which will be much better for me. (Be careful with verizon because if you go over you may need to pay a termination fee... but at least you can get your full 5GB at high speed with out the slow speed fraud hughes net provides.)

I suggest you file a complaint at:
www.ftc.gov
and (thanks to Jim Smith's post on Jan 17th 2008) at: http://www.oag.state.md.us/Consumer/complaint.htm...

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

Hughes unfair bandwith limit penalty restricts beyond daily limits.

Hugesnet (formerly Direcway) implemented a 'Fair Access policy' (FAP) which does not allow for the daily download bandwidth paid for by the service plains. This is because there is a 24hour penalty after the threshold for a day is reached.

If at 11:59pm I go 1 byte over the 200MB in my contract they will limit speed to below dialup speed for 24 hours after (not the 1 minute for the rest of the day or until the usage is back on track). This makes the 2 day average of broadband access 201MB or 100.5MB/day, not the 200MB/day that I pay for.

This is NOT indicated on the page with the list of plains and allowed daily usage. You need to click to another page to read about the 24hour restricted usage.

Hughes net advertises:
"With HughesNet®, your super-fast, always-on, satellite Internet access is ready when you are—no dialing in, no waiting and no tied-up phone lines. You can download files in seconds, check email instantly and surf faster than you ever imagined." What they don't say is that you only have a fraction of an hour at their advertised download speeds a day. The 'always-on' is 'always-on' unless you want to use more than an hour a day of boradband such as video.

The FAP page then goes on to say you CANNOT do broadband applications without being unfair!?!

I just tried to read the fair access policy on the page with the descriptions of the residential plains an found I need to log in! That is, there is no way for a person who is not a subscriber to know about the 24 hour restriction AFTER they daily limit is reached even if it is at the end of the day. Below is a list from this document of what is NOT considered to be fair use:

from:
http://www.nationwidesatellite.com/HughesNet/service/HughesNet_fair_access_policy.asp

1. Full-length movie downloads
2. Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs such as Napster, Kazaa or LimeWire
3. Continuous downloading or viewing streaming media content such as audio or video programming
4. Hosting of server devices such as email, FTP or Web servers
5. Hosting computer applications such as Web camera feeds
6. Automated computer to computer connections used for archiving of local computer content
7. Extensive downloading of Usenet Newsgroups (NNTP)
8. Use of BitTorrent applications
9. Simultaneous file downloads
10. Downloading large files (i.e., file sizes that are close in size to the download threshold of your service plan)

Note that all of the services above are considered boradband. I don't believe Hughes net can advertise always on broadband, have a system that will work at advertised speed for under an hour and then indicate that the above broadband activities are not allowed. After all that, they violate the terms of their advertised plains by limiting service the day AFTER a violation occurs to not be boradband either.

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Update by Andrew
Jan 04, 2008 8:46 am EST

I placed this in the wrong category. Will re-post.

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Grizz
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May 24, 2008 11:06 pm EDT

File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. I did file one. If we all stand together and file a complaint just maybe it will help. Just call 1-877-ftc-help or www.ftc.gov

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Grizz
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May 24, 2008 11:05 pm EDT

File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. I file one. If we all stand together and file complaints just maybe it will help. Just call 1-877-ftc-help or www.ftc.gov

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Craig Bullim
,
Jan 19, 2008 10:47 pm EST

HughesNet is full of ### and has been since they started using VSATs in 1997
HughesNet is full of ### and has been since they started using VSATs in 1997

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Craig Bullim
,
Jan 19, 2008 10:45 pm EST

"fair" access policy is not fair. You are entitled to receive EXACTLY what you pay for.
"fair" access policy is not fair. You are entitled to receive EXACTLY what you pay for.
"fair" access policy is not fair. You are entitled to receive EXACTLY what you pay for.

File in small claims court. Bring PAPER proof: contracts, communications, transactions

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

Hughes terrible service and cust support!

I have had Directway then now Hughes.net. I am constantly getting FAP'ed even though no one was home for 4 days. I am on a wireless network, but out in the country. Unless cows have gotten laptops then no one is close enough. Calling them is a 3-4 ordeal. You have to deal with their "English" names although they are in India. They have no clue to how to troubleshoot. After a major problem on their end my 6000 just suddenly quit working. I suspect they disabled it so I would have to upgrade. Then after the 7000 was put in, now they tell me I have to be repointed to another sat. I found the signal meter on the modem and repointed the dish for a stronger signal. I suspect they have a transducer problem on the sat and are trying to force customers to another sat to take this problem bird out of service. And all this at the cust expense. It is funny how every time they have a problem I have to raise Holy H**l with them for two days and suddenly the service is working again. I have been working for over two weeks since the last problem they had. I have written corporate and they have refused to answer my letter. They hide the corporate E-mail for customer service from you and refuse to give you corporates phone number. If I had anything else available I would drop this ISP in a heartbeat. They simply do not want to deal with customers and customer complaints, but they do want our money for shoddy service.

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Aimee B
Rockville, US
Oct 28, 2010 8:56 am EDT

God I am sick of all of the xenophobia and thinly veiled racism of you people. Intead of calling them furriners, and not US citizens (as if those in the US are the only people that should have the privilege to work). Why don't you just come out and call them sand [censor]s. I know you want to, it's as obvious as the two brain cells in your head colliding.

The FAP "crap", that "came out of nowhere", has been there the whole time, how's about next time do a little research. It's all right there on the website.

Oh, and here's a shampoo recommendation for you.

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tommy george
Coldwater, US
Feb 23, 2010 8:26 pm EST

i agree with everything that is posted on this board. i have the same problems and have been a customer for as long as direway and hugesnet have been avaible. if i could go to another service i would in a heartbeat.

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Harry K.
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May 09, 2008 2:48 pm EDT

Been through nearly everything I've been reading about, the pidjin English of the customer service reps, the FAP crap, which appeared out of nowhere, the incredibly slow service even when FAP isn't in effect. I've upgraded to Pro Plus, got a static IP, and still it's slow -- 20 minutes to download a 5 MB song.

But it isn't always slow, just evenings and weekends, which tells me it's all at their end, and not me "sending too much data through the HN7000S" as their troubleshooting page and customer service reps like to say.

Can't wait for them to get a wireless tower built out here.

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Sue
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Apr 27, 2008 3:19 pm EDT

I am so dissatisfied with Hughes and frustrated that there is no other ISP I can use where I am located. I am paying a lot each month for nothing but aggravation. This speed is as slow as dial up, not at all worth the price, and I can't get one customer service rep who is a US citizen and cares about the frustration. No one ever told me I had to be concerned with how much I downloaded, and I swear I don't download what they are saying I download. It feels as though they cut me off sporadically, even when I am not around to download a thing! I am just about ready to stop service altogether, but have no idea who to go with. This is the worst service I have ever experienced as far as internet connection goes. HughesNet is interested in the money only and could care less about customer satisfaction. I hope others learn how disappointing their service is before they sign up. Their commercial is full of #$@%! I just called because of problems with my internet connection and was put on hold for over a half hour only to get hung up on. I can't stand having to call them because it is always a problem. I would never recommend this service to anyone - they take advantage of those unable to get service from anywhere else.

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

Hughes fap

Hughesnet FAP is outlandish and I feel probably illegal. How can you tell me you are going to sell me HIGH SPEED INTERNET then pull me under dialup speeds yet still charge me 60 dollars a month. These people think they can do what they want and nobody will do anything about it but pay them even more money to stay above the FAP. If anybody knows about a class action suit that is started already or are willing to start one with me feel free to send me an e-mail. I'm telling you each and every one of us is going to have to stand against this bs or we will have no option for highspeed internet depending on where we live at. The one option we have is unacceptable and the providers of it are criminals at least in my eyes. If everyone sues them at once and even if losing the suit vows on petitions to drop their service putting them out of buisness they will get rid of their FAP and do the responsible thing and provide more bandwidth.

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Joyce Cummings Davis
Amite, US
Feb 09, 2011 2:30 am EST

I purchased HughNet Internet service because of their television ads. I live in a rural area and only have access to dial-up service. The advertisement never told anyone that you would be limited to only a few megabytes per day and after that you have to purchase "TOKENS" in order to use this service. They did not tell me about this until after my little 200 Megabytes had been used up one week or less after purchasing their service. This is deceptive practice and should be stopped now. I intend to contact the President of the United States about this as well as my elected officials. They want everyone to have high speed internet service, but HughNet has turned it into a scam for their own profit. I am extremely upset and sent them an email without a reply from them. Ok. Its on >>>>>>

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Joyce Cummings Davis
Amite, US
Feb 09, 2011 2:31 am EST

I purchased HughNet Internet service because of their television ads. I live in a rural area and only have access to dial-up service. The advertisement never told anyone that you would be limited to only a few megabytes per day and after that you have to purchase "TOKENS" in order to use this service. They did not tell me about this until after my little 200 Megabytes had been used up one week or less after purchasing their service. This is deceptive practice and should be stopped now. I intend to contact the President of the United States about this as well as my elected officials. They want everyone to have high speed internet service, but HughNet has turned it into a scam for their own profit. I am extremely upset and sent them an email without a reply from them. Ok. Its on >>>>>>

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Joyce Cummings Davis
Amite, US
Feb 10, 2011 3:58 am EST

I did file a complaint with the FCC last night. I am waiting for a response. Don't worry, I am writing President Obama also. I figure he will download it to someone else, but I am not giving up. Thanks Molliewollie

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Bud Parker
, US
Sep 29, 2009 8:37 pm EDT

http://www.druginjurylawyerblog.com/2017/09/pbm_files_class_action_against.html

HugnesNet Class Action Lawsuit!

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Brookglen
Coalgate, US
Jul 03, 2009 9:39 am EDT

Check out what I posted it will help you or anyone else get out of your contract with hughesnet.

Hughesnet Internet Service — contract and slow internet speeds

ComplaintsBoard
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12:00 am EST

Hughes rip off!

I hate being scammed by smooth talkers. Hughesnet is so bad two tin cans and a string is a faster way to get info. My wife and i cannot even watch the damn commercials, with that carrot top saying "all you need is a clear view of the southern sky."What she should have said was " all you need to do is bend over and hold on tight" The fact that i now know that they have 5 levels of tech support, is the reason i burned up 3 cordless phone batterys, umteen hours of my time, and countless babbling with OOCHKMIN Al HOOCKALOUGGIE.

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Pilch Family
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Mar 02, 2008 10:31 pm EST

Yes, we are a CAPTIVE customer here. I am pretty sure as questionable at times our cell phone reception out here used to be, and how often our phone lines had too much static to hold a download of government documents, I sometimes wish we hadn't signed a contract with the only pirate in the business of internet. The Hughsnet folks.

I'm now looking into hooking up my cell phone to the computer as I am sure it's alot better and cheaper to maintain (cost $325 to repair the system this time). Yes, two years and five service calls I have HAD it with this pathetic excuse for a satellite company.

Now after three weeks of phone calls and shipment of parts, and finally a tech, I find the final JOKE! I apparently use the computer TOO MUCH and I am an "orange" after only one week of service! Yes, can't get the pages up for FIVE MINUTES at a time, if it goes through at all. Which means these folks clearly have TOO MANY CUSTOMERS on their satellite and rather than not take on more customers after last months fiasco with one of the satellites, they are making the situation worse and worse.

Orange means I guess my "service" is a sad illusion, and Hughes is claiming I'm 'greedy' for service in their explanation. No, no viruses, not downloading huge files, but I DO have a company who has techs that think if the internet is running for five minutes, and SHUTS DOWN before they fill out the paperwork, then they have done their job. The tech told ME I had to get another service call or wait til it came back on (it didn't, turned out the equipment installed was bad). The SAME tech told his office I needed a pole (so the satellite dish could sit lower so I would DEFINITELY not get service as I live in a remote area with trees). Yup, I refused to pay 200 more for what sounded like nonsense and came to be determined as nonsense. I was mislead to believe a pole would be taller than my house. But what do you expect from a tech that won't admit he didn't install the system to WORK.

Yes, I told the Hughs folks NOT to send the same brain dead tech who installed the nonworking system, and they did anyhow,... over and over again. Finally the system was...working! Yes, they had to send someone other than a guy who only knows how to install TV satellite systems! Guess two way was too much for a dish network installer to comprehend, but WHo CARES if the customer has no internet if the dish is sitting where its supposed to and he can fill out the paper fast enough to get out of the house before the signal DROPS again because it isn't done right.

Cable company says we're too remote. Basicly I'd say if you live in a remote region, save yourself a TON of aggravation, about a grand in repairs and set up fees in less than two years, not counting the 70 a month, and just get a cell phone with a cord hookup. Bet the service will be MUCH FASTER.

ANYONE KNOW WHO THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT IS? I am interesting in seeing if I can get more than ONE WAY COMMUNICATION ("...the system sucks... Tech: "Why no, it's just the weather." ) Maybe dates and excess fees (200 for a modem after six months of use) can be INTELLIGENTLY discussed in a court of law. Does anyone know the address to their legal department so my credit isn't screwed up by these con artists? I really need to either get them to credit me for the poor service and their chance to FIX the problem, or to be let out of the last onths of this contract I hold.

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adam
london, GB
Jan 12, 2008 7:57 pm EST

That was true and funny i have hughesnet too it s*cks.

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G
12:00 am EST

Hughes misrepresentation!

Here we are in a rural area without city services and no chance of having broadband cable with Warner like we had in Galveston and Houston. After reading what Hughes.net have to say about the quality of their services, we decided to go for it and we purchased the antenna and subscribe to it. It's been a year now since the installation and I would like to share my experience with anybody that, just like us, believe what those liars are saying in order to sell an absolute bad service.
I will not recommend dealing with this Company. What they offer you is one thing and what they provide is completely different and below par. Surfin the Internet is a major source of frustration. To get to read my mail will take three or four minutes. Signing in on Ebay or my Bank takes forever! I hope that somebody will read this warning . Please do your research and try to find an alternative and don't get mixed up with these people. They are selling bad services. No scruples.

This is the worse provider that I had in my life!

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WhitKincade
,
Apr 05, 2008 1:48 pm EDT

WHAT A BUNCH OF WHINERS. CINDIE HARMAN'S COMMENTS SHOW THE REAL IGNORANCE. TEN YEARS AGO NO ONE EVEN HAD HOME COMPUTERS UNLESS YOU WERE BILL GATES AND THE INTERNET WASN'T USED FOR PERSONAL BANKING AND EBAY DIDN'T EXIST. DON'T YOU CONTRY PEOPLE THINK IT IS PROGRESS JUST TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET? YOU WANT MORE? cINDIE HARMAN'S COMMENT IS PURE DUMB.

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B. Smith
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Mar 22, 2008 5:19 am EDT

Your service is good enough to post an asinine comment. "Let's Get R Done?" What kind of idiotic comment is that? What is your problem. All marketers "prey" on people who have to buy their product. Think about hospitals and all service providers in high demand. If that is your only way to get online you should have thought about that before you were too stupid to move somewhere with no other alternatives. Did you not check it out? Are you unable to move to a less remote place? The idiot in this situation is you, not hughes net. As far as being regulated, they are by a little body called the FCC. So before you post and show your enormous ignorance, do your homework. Because you are not only ill-informed, but the Get R Done slogan is passe and you sound like some fool who lives out in the country and has too much time on your hands. Move to the city or shut your mouth. I'm sure what ever you are doing on the internet is as worthless as your comment.

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Cindie Harman
,
Jan 20, 2008 9:24 am EST

Absolutly true!

Hughes Net preys on individuals that have to buy their product. They are a monopoly and need to be regulated... Lets Get R Done.

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S
12:00 am EST

Hughes incompetence!

Unbelievable incompetence in addressing the most basic ISP service. Extensive waiting, inefficient routing without ability to transfer. Expect to invest a couple of hours with the computer illiterate staff. Seriously laughable. If there is any other choice in the universe, make it.

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Dave
Willits, US
Feb 17, 2009 2:27 pm EST

I whole heartedly agree! We have had satellite since it's inception here, basically, because nothing else is available. Since Hughesnet took over, this satellite connection has been a nightmare, including the implementation of the FAir Access Policy. Without notice they instituted this, and suddenly, if you did not have Windows or other downloads scheduled for 12-3 AM, your were slowed down to below dial up speeds for violation of this policy. I am waiting my contract to switch over to a new high speed local service. DUMP HUGHESNET!

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Willia Davis
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Jun 05, 2008 6:48 pm EDT

This company is the greatest boon dongle I have ever experienced. Service (from Bob in Bombay) is WORSE than anything I have ever experienced. They give you case numbers, but require that each and every time you must repeat their idiotic “is the computer plugged in….good, now are there lights on your monitor” crap. I have an Enterprise system and I pay over $400 month. WHERE IS THE CLASS ACTION suit for this fraudulent incompetent lying cheating company?

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Richard Smith
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Mar 12, 2008 3:46 pm EDT

I agree fully although my problems are with billing and customer service. My satellite dish was hooked up on 3/8/08 by a contractor who did a good job, everything works.

It took me only two days afterwards however to wish I'd never heard of Hughes Net. To add insult to injury it'll cost me an additional $300 to end service before two years.

I really don't have any other choice in the universe for internet service and I'm still sorry I made the choice! Anyone that wants peace of mind don't get Hughes Net!

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12:00 am EST

Hughes slow internet

I got Hughesnet because it's the only thing available besides dialup. But now I am wondering if I should have just went with dial up anyway. It would have been a lot cheaper. I don't know how they get away with charging so much for crappy internet service. I keep hoping that DSL will be available soon here. I know I'll end up having to pay to get out of my contract, but it will be worth it. To anyone looking for high speed internet, don't look to Hughesnet, because you won't get it.

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CCaro
,
Nov 01, 2008 11:47 am EDT

I've been on HughesNet for 2 years now and my contract is finished. My problem is that I have no other recourse but to stay with them. I had my land line removed to eliminate the cost and thought satellite would be much faster.

I was wrong! HughesNet is so slow it's unbelievable. I thought it would help to upgrade so now I'm paying $10.00 per month more and there is not one ounce of noticeable difference. I wait up to 1-2 minutes for web pages to load (even with the upgrade!) and most of the time I get an error notice. We were told at the time of install that our dish was in one of the best places and rated very high on the scale for linking.

I'm paying $70.00/per month for this lousy service. I must be nuts! But it's too much trouble to get a phone and go back to dial-up which is probably faster!

I checked my download and upload speed at www.speedtest.net and the results were: download=419 kbps upload=380 kbps
No wonder I usually can't even watch a YouTube video without constant buffering.

I'm waiting for cable to open up here and I hope it's soon. I don't recommend HughesNet to anyone!

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T
12:00 am EST

Hughes fair access policy bs

A complete scam. If you have HughesNet, drop them. If you are considering HughesNet, dont ! The only way to fight them is to hit thier pocketbook. I cant hurt them much by myself, but if we as consumers stick together and cost them money, they will change policys. If you continue to let them scam you with thier lies and BS restrictions, they will be happy to do it.

I am not the type of person to just let someone rip me off and get away with it. By the first of the year, I should have all my ducks in a row and then its bye bye Hughes !

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j c
san jose, US
Mar 05, 2009 3:41 am EST

THIS COMPANY SHOULD BE ONE OF THOSE GOING OUT OF BUSINESS. THEY CAN ONLY SURVIVE BECAUSE THEY RIP PEOPLE OFF BY GETTING THEM STUCK IN BS CONTRACTS. WE'LL NOT ME! I CANCELLED MY SUBSCRIBTION. HAD TO PAY $400.00 TO DO SO BUT IT'S WORTH EVERY DIME. DIAL UP IS FASTER. AND THE FAP POLICIY IT TOTALLY BOGUS. FUNNY I HAD NO VIOLIATIONS IN MY FIRST 30 DAYS. PAID MY FIRST BILL AND ALL OF A SUDDEN FLAGGED FOR OVER USAGE EVERY DAY! AND YOU DONT EVEN WANT TO CALL CUSTOMER SERVICE. THEY BARELY SPEAK ENGLISH. THANKS HUGHES NET FOR SHOWING ME THAT CROOKS STILL EXIST. EVERYONE STAY AWAY AND THINK ABOUT JUST ENDING YOUR CONTRACT. THIS TYPE OF ACTION WILL HURT THEM. THE WAY I LOOK AT IT IS THEY GOT SOME OF MY MONEY BUT MISSED OUT ON AN ADDITIONAL 1600 THEY WOULD HAVE GOTTEN OVER THE NEXT 2 YEARS, PLUS ANY FUTURE BUSINESS, AND ALL THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS I TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THEM. THEY DONT WANT THIER DISH BACK THAT SAY HUGHES NET ON IT, MAYBE I SHOULD PAINT "SCAM" ON IT AND PUT IT BY THE ROAD FOR ALL TO SEE. STAY AWAY FROM HUGHES NET!

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Sooztx
, US
Jan 28, 2009 7:21 pm EST

They are absolutely Horrible! The speeds are abysmal! You are right; Dial-up would be faster! And, unfortunately I am stuck until my "sentence" runs out! Why, oh why, did I sign on the dotted line?

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Karen Smith
,
Apr 30, 2008 4:36 am EDT

I have been so mad from day one with Hughes.net. I had cable internet but when we moved we had to go to satellite internet and it has been so slow If I have been online for a long time they slow it down so you can't get online unless you are willing to wait hours for things to load. I thought I had unlimited access, I guess I do if I want to wait all day for things to load. I intend to go with another company as soon as my 15 months are up. Wish I had never heard of Hughes. net

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TG
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Feb 28, 2008 6:44 am EST

Hughes.net is absolutely bottom of the barrel in service and they are so over priced it is not funny! They are THIEVES and the service is abysmal at best! I would encourage EVERYONE that can switch, to tell hughes to take a hike. I would also tell anyone even remotely considering the worst company on the planet to run the other way! Even Consumer Reports in a few issues back gave them the worst ratings on ALL points, that is ALL of the criteria they failed miserably. Hughes is the ONLY company I have ever seen get solid black marks on every level! They ste4al your money, they give zero customer service and their internet speed is little more than glorified dial up for 5 times the price! They know they have rural customers over a barrel because other fast services do not service the area, but in some cases with hughes, you would be better off with a pigeon carrying your emails to a fro!

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M
12:00 am EST

Hughes I can't believe i'm paying so much for such horrible service!

I have now been on the phone for over 2 hours with several different people. All I want to do is get out of my horrible service with HughesNet! I have never been treated so poorly! Usually I'm a big pushover, so when I wasn't able to understand any of the technical support people, I felt like I shouldn't complain. Today I've finally complained, and have found out just how rude and unhelpful these people really are.
This internet system is slow, and often unavailable. It has cost me a fortune, and I would have to pay 500 bucks to get out of it. DSL is finally out my way, but unfortunately I'm stuck with these awful HughesNet people. I assume they make everything as difficult as possible on their customers so that we give up and feel like our only option is to continue with their service. I wish I could sue them for breach of contract to get out of it! Or participate in a class action suit of some sort. They bully decent people like me and take our hard earned money, and they should not get away with it.

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evie sawaquat
,
Mar 03, 2008 3:14 pm EST

I so agree! I am now writing to the chicago address as I was told on the phone, Before ordering installation, that the installation would be 298.00 and I would Never have to speak with india like i did with charter communications when the installer came out i paid him 274.00 by check and was told that was the entire installation fee well hughes charged my credit card 457.00 for installation and that was in january. I have been able to use my computer 10 times since jan. 2 2008 today is march3 and when i call hughesnet i am told "you had installation and "my supervisor will tell you same thing so there is no problem okay maam." It's terrible that my husband who is in a wheelchair and a homebound disabled veteran cannot even use the internet that we have been and continue to be grossly overcharged for as the system never works!and you are on hold for at least 30 minutes when you call them only to be told you don't have a problem, when obviously you do or you wouldn't be calling them and don't try to email on the rare occaisions you have internet access as you will just get an 800 error # and a message saying they are experiencing acceleration problems. Don't get hughes net you'll have better luck just driving to your local library even if it's a 50 mile drive believe me you will get there sooner than it will take you to get online at home!

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12:00 am EST
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

Hughes - fair act policy (fap)

I submitted a complaint earlier but not sure if it got posted. I have been with HughesNet back when it was called direcpc. Back then they just had download and no upload, had to use phonline to surf net. I live in a rural and this is why I chose HughesNet because phoneline net was to slow. HughesNet sucks so bad I tried to download and watch a movie online...

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Hughes Customer Reviews Overview

HughesNet is a satellite internet service provider that offers broadband connectivity to customers across the United States, particularly in rural and remote areas where traditional high-speed internet options are limited or unavailable. Their services include various internet plans with different data allowances to suit individual usage needs. HughesNet emphasizes its availability nationwide, leveraging satellite technology to provide internet access. Additionally, they offer built-in features such as data-saving modes to help manage bandwidth usage.

Hughes In-depth Review

In Summary: HughesNet offers satellite internet services primarily targeting rural and remote areas where traditional broadband is not available. While it provides widespread coverage and a variety of plans, customers should be aware of its speed limitations, data caps, and contract terms. The installation process is straightforward, but there may be initial costs involved. Performance can vary, especially during peak times, and customer service experiences are mixed. HughesNet includes features like built-in Wi-Fi and a Bonus Zone, but users must weigh these against the overall cost and value for money. The company also shows a commitment to sustainability and community involvement.

Company Overview: HughesNet is a long-standing provider of satellite internet services, known for connecting users in rural and remote areas. Their core offerings revolve around internet connectivity with a focus on areas underserved by traditional broadband.

Internet Service Options: HughesNet offers a range of plans that vary in price and data allowances, with speeds up to 25 Mbps. All plans come with data caps, and exceeding these limits can result in reduced speeds. Contract terms typically require a 24-month commitment.

Installation and Setup: Installation is generally handled by professional technicians and is often praised for its simplicity. Customers receive a satellite dish and modem, but there may be initial setup fees or equipment costs to consider.

Performance and Reliability: Users report that actual speeds can sometimes fall short of advertised speeds, particularly during peak hours. However, the network is known for its reliability in areas where other internet services are unavailable.

Customer Service: Customer service experiences with HughesNet are varied, with some users reporting quick and helpful responses, while others have faced challenges. Support is available through phone, email, and chat.

Coverage and Availability: HughesNet's primary advantage is its extensive geographic coverage, especially in rural and remote areas where other internet options are limited or nonexistent.

User Experience: Customer reviews are mixed, with some praising the service for its availability and others critiquing it for speed and data limitations. The user interface for account management is functional, and the mobile app offers additional convenience for managing services.

Additional Features and Services: HughesNet includes built-in Wi-Fi with its modems and offers a Bonus Zone, where customers can use additional data during off-peak hours. Other value-added services may be available depending on the plan.

Pricing and Value for Money: When compared to other satellite internet providers, HughesNet's pricing is competitive, but it may seem high compared to traditional broadband. The company occasionally offers promotions, but customers should be mindful of termination fees and refund policies.

Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility: HughesNet demonstrates a commitment to reducing its environmental impact and engages in various sustainability initiatives. The company also participates in community programs and strives for social responsibility.

Pros and Cons: HughesNet's key advantages include its availability in remote areas and the inclusion of features like the Bonus Zone. However, the disadvantages of speed limitations and data caps are significant. The service is best suited for users with limited internet options.

Final Verdict: HughesNet is a viable option for users in rural and remote locations who have limited access to other types of internet services. While it offers reliable coverage and some unique features, potential customers should carefully consider the speed and data limitations, as well as the overall cost, before committing. For light internet users and those without other options, HughesNet can be a suitable choice, but heavy streamers and those used to high-speed broadband may find it lacking.

How to file a complaint about Hughes?

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- Locate and click on the 'File a Complaint' button on the ComplaintsBoard.com website. You can find this button at the top right corner of the website.

3. Writing the title:
- Summarize the main issue with Hughes in the 'Complaint Title' section.

4. Detailing the experience:
- Provide detailed information about your experience with Hughes. Mention key areas of concern, any relevant transactions, steps taken to resolve the issue, the nature of the problem, and the personal impact.

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- Attach any additional supporting documents that can help validate your complaint. Avoid including sensitive personal data.

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- Use the 'Claimed Loss' field to state any financial losses and the 'Desired Outcome' field to specify the resolution you are seeking.

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- Review your complaint for clarity, accuracy, and completeness before submitting it.

8. Submission process:
- Click the 'Submit' button to submit your complaint.

9. Post-Submission Actions:
- Regularly check for any responses or updates related to your complaint on ComplaintsBoard.com.

Follow these steps to effectively file a complaint against Hughes on ComplaintsBoard.com.

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