Menu
CB Internet Providers Hughes 11717 Exploration Lane, Germantown, MD, 20876, US
Hughes company logo
Hughes
reviews & complaints
Hughes company logo

Hughes

11717 Exploration Lane, Germantown, MD, 20876, US
Learn how the rating is calculated
16 complaints
File a complaint Write a review
Phone number
Working hours
Mon
12:00 am - 12:00 am
Tue
12:00 am - 12:00 am
Wed
12:00 am - 12:00 am
Thu
12:00 am - 12:00 am
Fri
12:00 am - 12:00 am
Sat
12:00 am - 12:00 am
Sun
12:00 am - 12:00 am
ComplaintsBoard
P
5:16 pm EDT

Hughes - Complete package

First, I have been charged for all data I am already paying for. Direct TV, Verizon phone data, even though I was told it is only the time you spend on the computer, which is FALSE. This double dipping. I can't do that with my retirement and disability, why can they double charge me for a service they are not providing. I also specifically asked about this when I signed up for this service.

The service was so slow, the month that I kept it hooked up, we could not watch one movie because it would buffer continuously. While it was buffering, it was using data. I could watch it deplete on my phone app and I had my app turned to TV MODE.

Our data would be gone within the first week of being renewed.

I asked the company for a statement to show me how my data was being used so fast, a daily timeline, and was told they did not provide such a thing.

At night, we would turn off every device in the house, and still lose data by morning, how was this possible?

Worst customer service ever! I asked to speak with a supervisor during a call and was talked in circles by the representative. Every time I have called the representatives talk in circles and become so rude, I am certain they get training on this technique prior to answering the first call at HughesNet, as all phone calls go down this same path.

Today was the last straw, I have completed my contract of one year.

But was told I owe $320.00 for cancelling early, the representative said they don't do any contracts less than 2 years. This point in the call the representative was useless, rude, ignorant, nasty and typical of what I expected and there was no longer any use for the conversation to continue or for that matter to have any more contact or business with this company.

I decided that I will proceed at the lowest level first, with a formal complaint to hopefully rectify the situation. I believe that the law will be on my side, as this is NOT the first time Hughes Net has had these allegations brought against them.

I paid over $1668 for unused service, over the past year to a company that has done nothing but give me a headache and make me upset every time I have called them.

They completely MISREPRESENT the nature, characteristics and qualities of their goods and services, with false statements and fine print.

They are quick to refer you to their "contract page", when you cancel your service. IVAN #[protected]

PROCEDURAL UNCONSCIONABILITY: Downplaying significant contractual terms to the disadvantaged party

SUBSTANTIVE: excessively inflated price for the product

I feel that HughesNet has misrepresented themselves on numerous occasions. They knowingly operate using unscrupulous business practices solely for their own benefit and of no consideration for the customers.

Desired outcome: I want to be refunded from my first complaint call $1668.00 in August of 2022. For monthly charges of $139.02 per month until August of 2023. And todays charge of $320.00

Read full review of Hughes
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
C
2:59 pm EDT

Hughes - internet speed

On March 2nd this year I had Hughesnet installed. It has not and does not provide high-speed service. (Slow loading websites, dropped websites, will not support streaming of Netflix without numerous delays and start overs, etc.) I began calling about this issue on March 3rd or 4th, very soon after installed and have called 3 times prior to today. Each technical support person did all the same tests, made suggestions, and convinced me I could fix the issue on my end. I also learned that unlimited data is "hard data" and not what any laymen would assume is meant by the advertisement. I'm a marketing major and your ads are at best deliberately and ethically misleading; at worse false! I didn't know that until an installer came to th house today in response to my complaints, "to move the router." He did not move the router because it would not have solved the problem. He showed me his work order and it didn't describe accurately the issue. I learned quite a lot and came to the conclusion that I cannot get what I need where I live, in spite of your ads saying otherwise. Just as I wouldn't pay for broccoli if the store didn't have broccoli; neither will I pay for a service or quality of service you do not provide.

Each call I've made was to cancel service but with all the talking points I was given I began to feel like an idiot (also deliberate). So this morning I called for the forth time, prepared to avoid any more traps to maintain service, and cancel. The representative's circular arguments, lack of comprehension and repetition made my head spin. (By the way the hold time is outrageous and the music is awful). Today's experience alone resulted in 3 reps hanging up on me, 2 reps nicely camouflaged their angry but passive-aggressive comments, several hours of my time, 2 near refusals to get a supervisor, and no resolution.

What I want is what I pay for - the same thing you advertise; "fast" per legal standards speed and unlimited data. I hav neither and haven't ever in the month and a half I've had your service.

Today, I had the displeasure of speaking with Steve Hauser. The point of contention is this: as I stated earlier and as the law requires, I will not pay to get something you claim I'll get but do not. Hughesnet insisted "there's nothing we can do about the ETF". That is simply not true. It isn't you "can't" - its that you won't. Mr. Hauser also refused to get me to a supervisor but finally agreed and disconnected the call. He did call back unlike the others to hung up. Mr Hauser also argued with me about my having called the times prior, claiming there was no record. I have the case numbers but he was so busy yelling "you'll have case numbers" that he couldn't hear me. I finally raised my voice and asked him to stop interrupting me. He was upset because I wouldn't accept his "solutions" so he "couldn't waive the ETF". He did not offer me solutions because there aren't any- he works for a company that has horrible reviews and numerous complaints of very slow speeds.

Here's the bottom line. I'm cancelling Hughesnet - period. Here's the messy part - I'm NOT paying an early termination fee for 22.5 months! I believe that's fair because I called immediately and continued to document my calls and Hughesnet provided solutions - but the truth is - you don't have a solution that allows me to enjoy fast loading webpages and Netflix streaming? The installer told me as much. He said he gets calls about slow internet on Hughesnet all the time and that Hughesnet can "barely call it fast per regulations." Although I appreciate having my thoughts confirmed by him, I didn't need to be affirmed because I live here! I know how "fast" Hughesnet is not; regardless of all the lovely talking points from you staff and your advertising.

Several of my neighbors feel the same way and complain but go through the same BS I got. I feel so strongly about being taken advantage of by you that I'd rather get together with all the others who feel the same way and file a class action suit against Hughesnet than pay an ETF. I'd rather spend 40K on an attorney than allow you to charge me for 22 months of services after I've cancelled. Dun me! Sue me! I'm NOT paying that fee because it's wrong.

If you think I'm a nutcase alone in this, just put Hughesnet in any search engine...you'll find noth8ng but bad reviews, complaint blogs and Corporate contacts. I tried those and they don't work either. As I write this, I am waiting for a promised call "within the hour" from Mr. Hauser's supervisor. It's been more than an hour. We both know he/she isn't calling me.

In summary? Cancel my service and waive the ETF and we're good. You'll never hear from me again. Maybe you'll win in a courtroom but I'm willing to take that chance because of the principle of what you're doing to people. You have 3 days to break a contract for a house or a car in Indiana. I, in good faith, took every measure I could to protect my right to get what I pay for and you've denied me that. I look forward to your effective and ethical response.

Read full review of Hughes
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
C
7:30 pm EST

Hughes - this is so unbelievable

I purchased a service from them over a year ago. I was assured by the sales agent that the package we were getting "was more than enough for what you are going to be doing online" I clearly explained that we are amazon subscribers and download books regularly and my husband watches tv on his kindle. Again I was assured that the data package was "more than enough" liar! After 1 month, I cancelled the service. I paid my bill and thought I was done with these people! I forbid them from touching my bank account on a damn recorded line and they did it anyway! They then charged me for another month 3 days after I paid the bill and cancelled the service. Then they charged me the $400.00 3 days after that! I told them they were not permitted to touch my account ever. Who do they think they are that they can draw money from your account after you very very clearly told them you did not give permission for this. I even called the corp office and the woman there told me they would refund the $400.00 but it would take some time. I told her they had 24hours to return the money to my account. She documented in her system saying that I declined a refund... Are you kidding me. Why would I have wasted several hours on the phone to freaking decline the refund that I called them to get in the first place? I filed a complaint with the bank, and they contacted hughesnet and this bimbo sent over a "transcript" of her notes on my call and stated right in there that I declined the refund! Unbelievable! The 2nd monthly payment that they had drawn out prior to the $400.00 was determined to be fraud and they had to return the money to me. Low and behold one year later I get a collection letter from some company saying that hugesnet turned me in for the bill that they charged me for and was determined was fraud! So I get back on the phone with these stupid incompetent foreigners in some god for saken country who barley speak english and they tell me there is nothing they can do! Bull! I told them, they turned it into the collection agency, they better figure out how to get it out and they have until monday end of business because tuesday I am filing a complaint with the attorney generals office and calling a lawyer. I have had it with these crooks! I told them I didn't care if they had to have the president of the company get it out of collection and off my credit report but someone better figure out how to do it and do it now! Anyone interested in becoming part of a class action lawsuit against this company, please email me at [protected]@yahoo.com I am dead serious about this, someone has to do something and they just pissed off the wrong person!

Read full review of Hughes
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
R
2:20 am EDT

Hughes - fraud, terrible service, unethical behaviour

I inquired about their service over the phone because I had moved out into the middle of nowhere, like most people who inquire about their service. The sales tech told me on the phone that, while they do throttle connections after a certain data limit is exceeded, since I got the highest tier plan they offer, my speeds should never fall below 7 Mbps, even while being throttled. Being a cord cutter, I stressed multiple times that I do everything on the internet, from gaming, large file downloads, and pretty much watch Netflix for 15 hours a day between all the people in my household. The sales person confirmed many times that my connection would be fine for everything I do and that my speeds would never fall below 7 Mbps, even if I were throttled. I signed up with HughesNet. The first month went by fine, albeit laggy as heck (my ping would shoot up to around 2600 quite frequently). I used the internet like I normally do with no drawbacks. It was great. So, for the entire time I was able to cancel my account, their "trial period", my internet usage was not metered, monitored, or penalized for over-use. I was mislead into believing that my internet service was truly un-metered. I even checked on their website multiple times over the course of the first month and at no point did my internet usage decrease. All of this to mislead me about their fair access policy and how slow my speeds would actually be with my level of usage. Eight days into my billing cycle, subsequently also after the "trial period" has ended. I begin getting speeds of 80 Kbps. I immediately get on the phone with tech support to find out why I'm getting almost dial-up levels of speed. I am then informed about their Fair Access Policy and how, after exceeding my allotment of data (50 gigs) I was placed into this permanent shame-zone of absolutely unusable internet. So, now that my trial period was over, my usage was being monitored and heavily penalized. I informed the sales tech that I had their highest tier package and that I was informed by the sales team that I my speeds should never fall below 7 Mbps, even while being throttled. He then told me, word for word "I cannot speak for what the sales team told you, but your current connection speeds (100 Kbps) is the speed you are supposed to have while under the FAP (being throttled)." I was outright lied to by the sales team just so they could close the deal. Had the sales person told me the speeds I would actually receive I would never have bought HughesNet. I was furious.I immediately told the tech I wished to close my account because there was another ISP in my area (That is literally 5 times more expensive for half the speed, but no "FAP" or data limits). I was then, much to my surprise, notified that I would be liable for over $500 worth of fees for cancelling my contract. This was surprising news to me. At no point in this was I ever informed of a contract. At no point had I ever signed a contract. And yet, I am now informed that I had apparently agreed to it in some form and was bound by it. I was also informed that both the Fair Access Policy and the User Agreement are plainly available on their website, which I had absolutely no accesses to or knowledge of prior to having their service. I requested a copy of my contract, with MY signature on it, and a copy of the recordings with the sales tech to prove that at no time had I agreed to a contract and that I was also lead into this service under false pretenses. I was denied on both accounts.

Read full review of Hughes
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
R
7:52 am EST

Hughes - double charged

I called hughesnet to get service and paid 158. 98 for activation fee and the next day checking my account i found a dole charge, i called hughesnet and they sid they did not show it so i went to my bank and they faxed my bank statement to them. Called to hours later and they said it would take up to 7 days to get through the system. So i canceled the install they telled my bank we refunded that money. I had to write another letter and to explain the double charge and filed another dispute. Now when i call hughesnet they tell me we found the money but it will take 5 days to process it. This has been going on since the 7th of jan 2015. When i call them they say it will be another 5 days and they give me a new case number. They do not care that i live on a fixed income and need that money back. I guess they need the money to play gulf with obama. I filed a complaint with the better business but even they wont call me back. Do not ever use this company they are a bunch of thief's.

Read full review of Hughes and 1 comment
Hide full review
1 comment
Add a comment
H
H
Hughesed&Abused
Harrisburg, US
Feb 13, 2015 9:54 am EST

Despite my demands to be removed from solicitations, this company continues to harass me!

ComplaintsBoard
T
8:00 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes - terrible customer service after cancellation

I was referred to their service by DishNetwork. I had the internet installed on Friday January 20. I tried to use the internet the next day & was cut off due to over limit. I called and cancelled the service after spending about an hour on the phone asking for a supervisor. Was told they would send me a box to return equipment. February 15th I called them again because I had not received the box to return the equipment & was told they were back logged & I should receive it shortly. March 30th still no box, received a collection letter for $324.00 called billing [protected] spent 44 minutes on the phone & was told I would receive return boxes in 4-5 days. On April 2nd I started receiving calls from the collections department, 6 on my husbands phone and another 2 or 3 on mine. Told them they need to read notes before calling that I am waiting on boxes. That I have no problem sending their stuff back just send me their authorized return box. Two different people called today & I am tired of explaining. I called them back tonight spent 1 hr 27 minutes on the phone & was told because of my modem type they never will send a return box, that I should not have been told they would & that I needed to send the merchandise back on my dime & get a refund from them in about 6 weeks. This is wrong, I have filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney Generals office and my next step it to call their corporate office.

Read full review of Hughes
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
S
8:34 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes - improper debt collection

As a customer for Hughes Net satellite internet for over three years I was a happy customer until my house burned down and destroyed the equipment. I was of course no longer under the minimum contract requirements. I called up to cancel my service and the outsourced help desk folks talked me into suspending the account. Before I got the house rebuilt (it took nearly 11 months) Hughes Net reactivated the service. I argued that they should cancel the account and that I wasn't going to pay them when I could not use it as I had not yet repurchased the modem, etc. They told me they would discount from 100 to 80 dollars. I refused to pay even 80 dollars for no service when I was not under contract. I had my credit card company request nonpayment, and HughesNet refunded the money. Then they sent me to collectioin and had the collection agency hound me for two months before I gave in and paid them the 100 dollars. This comes at a price to them however as now I will spend time over the next two years complaining about their abuse of consumers. Was it really worth the 100 you stole from me Hughes Net?
I plan to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the new Consumer Protection Agency, etc. Any other suggestions would be welcomed.

Regards, Scott Larkin
[protected]@hotmail.com

Read full review of Hughes
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
D
7:26 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hughes - poor and no service

I have been told I am exceeding my down load limit, and spending 5.00 on restore tokens, and for example last Thursday I was on the computer 1 hour and had not down loaded anything at all, I called the help desk to be told my AVG was causing this which I knew better as I download any updates manually between 2 AM and 7 PM, and this has been happening very often.They schedule a service call and I was told the warranty has run out on my equipment, however I pay 9.99 a month to lease the equipment, that was installed on 8/3/2009 not even a year. My service has been very slow for months, and now I was told I would be charges 125.00 service call for equipment I lease. I have made it clear that I am enrolled in school and attended my class on line, on May 14.2010 their technician arrived at 12.PM and I could at least get on the internet even if a low speed, and after 5 hours at trying to fix this I was told the trees blocking was the problem, it needed to be on a pole and last a part needed replacing and also was told he replaced every part he could and I had no service at all when he finished, I was told the technician lived 2 hours away and could not come til Monday, and I told them my class started on Friday the 14th. I called back and told the site office I did not want this guy back at my house and I received a call stating someone else would be there on Monday, Monday morning I was informed as such that is not going to happen, again I called and was told it would be 3 to 5 day before it could be fixed and again I made it clear that I paid for this class and was already behind because of this issue. Why should I have to pay a service call on equipment in which I pay 9.99 a month to lease I cant figure this one out, I was told the issue would be escalated to resolve the issue with another company, and yesterday the same company called and left a message after I told them I do not want this tech who spent 5 hours accomplishing nothing at all with my service, and left all his cut ends in my yard along with paper towels he had ask me for in addition to leaving the siding loose from my house. It is apparent the fact that I am missing class due to not being provided the service I am paying for while being charged service call fees and not even having service to get on the internet, I have paid numerous fees for restore tokens and since this service started the exceeding download limits have become very frequent. They are not providing the service I am paying for.
Today is Weds May 19, 2010 and I still have no service from these people .

Read full review of Hughes and 1 comment
Hide full review
1 comment
Add a comment
W
W
wilbur352
Portland, US
Aug 17, 2010 10:47 am EDT

I have had a terrible time dealing with their customer service. I filed a complaint with the BBB and got this information from the BBB website. I called the number below tried to contact Ellen Martz, but she was not available. Then they connected me to another lady and she was very helpful and seem to understand my complaint. They are sending someone out to fix this issue, I will wait to see when I hear from to give them final judgement. I am still very upset that I spent 2 hrs on the phone last night to try and resolve the issue.

Name: Hughes Network Systems, LLC
Phone: [protected]
Address: 11717 Exploration Lane, Germantown, MD 20876
Google map Mapquest map Yahoo map
Business Category: Television-Cable, CATV & Satellite, Internet Marketing Services, Internet Services
eMail: bbbdc@hughes.net
Web Address: www.hughesnet.com
BBB file opened: January 01, 1998
Business started: January 1972
Primary Contact: Ms. Ellen Martz (Senior Director, Customer Service)
Complaint Contact: Ms Ecole Fair (Executive Customer Care)
Other Contacts: Mr Pradman Kaul (President & CEO)

ComplaintsBoard
B
3:59 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes - fair access policy

Hughes Net Internet Service Provider exists to legally “hook” customers in a two-year contract and force the client to upgrade their service. Hughes Net advertizes to a clientele that has no other possible ISP in their area except 56k dialup service. They promise, through false advertizing, to provide 1, 000k satellite service for the standard fee.

Once you are a committed customer who has signed on the dotted line and invested your up front fees, you find out quickly that you can not operate in the Real World on the internet because of ridiculously low bandwidth restrictions. As you do what normal people do on the internet, you quickly exceed HughesNet’s unrealistically low “Fair Access Policy” (FAP) that monitors you use of the internet, laying in wait for you to exceed the remarkably low utilization of 2MB total during any 24-hour period.

My personal bandwidth declined from mid-800 mbps to between 12 and 17 mbps. That, my friends is a B-I-G reduction. If you are unfamiliar with the FAP you will continue for days trying to figure out what is amiss. As you do this your 24-hour “Penalty Box” time is extended. I couldn’t regain my speed for nearly 4 days! Next you will call the “Help Desk.” The Indonesian employees will explain with remarkable composure how you have violated HughesNet FAP. However, they will not resolve your dilemma.

HughesNet has six payment plans. The one advertized is the Home Plan, 200MB, 1.0 Mbps/128 Kbps, at $59.99. That is the hook. The Switch is next; Upgrade your plan.

Next is Pro, 300MB, 1.2 Mbps/200 Kbps, $69.99. 50% more use which will not resolve your usage problem. Pro is still inadequate. Or, try #3, ProPlus, 426MB, 1.6 Mbps/250 Kbps, $79.99. Perhaps one of the remaining Plans: Elite, 500MB, 2.0 Mbps/300 Kbps, $119.99; ElitePlus, 500MB, 3.0 Mbps/300 Kbps, $189.99; ElitePremium, 500MB, 5.0 Mbps/300 Kbps, $349.99.

Try to find a human being that is not sitting at the Help(less) Desk in Indonesia to speak with. I wish you luck. Even the HughesNet Corporate HQ in Germantown, PA will transfer your call to the Help Desk.

If our Federal Trade Commission was worth a hoot in a whirl wind HughesNet would be called to task on this obvious “Bait & Switch.” Your best course of action is to extract all the anger out of your voice and written communications, contact your State Attorney General’s Office and file a complaint. Only after many, many complaints will they take action.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughesnet

Read full review of Hughes and 7 comments
Update by budparker
Sep 06, 2009 4:11 pm EDT

Here is information regarding a Class Action Lawsuit against HughesNet:

http://www.druginjurylawyerblog.com/2008/09/pbm_files_class_action_against.html

PBM Files Class Action Against HughesNet --- Satellite Broadband Company

The law-firm of Pogust, Braslow, & Millrood, LLC, recently filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a lawsuit against HughesNet, Inc., Hughes Communications, Inc., and Hughes Network Systems, LLC, for breach of contract and frauduluent business practices involving the marketing of the HughesNet® Satellite Broadband Network System.

Filed on behalf of HughesNet® subscribers and consumers, the Complaint alleges inter alia that the satellite broadband Company's nationwide advertisement of "Highspeed Internet by Satellite: Wherever Whenever" was materially false and misleading.

The class action lawsuit also alleges that HughesNet intentionally "oversold" its bandwidth, whereby thousands of HughesNet® subscribers and consumers were subjected to limited Internet broadband accessibility, speed, functionality, and connectivity.

Additionally, it is alleged that HughesNet actively marketed HughesNet® subscribers and consumers to upgrade their broadband plan under the representation that such would result in faster Internet broadband access. Despite this, HughesNet® subscribers and consumers experienced significant broadband delays, including extremely slow uploading/downloading speeds, unreliable connectivity, and the inability to access email. Furthermore, HughesNet® subscribers and consumers were often required to incur additional costs, fees, and early termination penalities, as a result of HugheNet's false advertising.

If you or someone you know is a HughesNet® subscriber and/or customer and have experienced similar Internet broadband related issues, please contact our law-firm for a free consultation.

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
7 comments
Add a comment
M
M
Medicpipa
Fernley, US
May 18, 2011 11:51 pm EDT

I wish I would have read this before I signed with this fraud that calls themselves a company! I signed with hughesnet and it has been a nightmare since. They said my install would only be $70. They then charged me $170. I chose the lowest plan due to my financial situation. They charged my account $78.00 not the 59.99 I discussed. I realize there are fees and taxes, however the "gentleman" assured me my bill would not be over $68. I was fed up and canceled this service within 30 days of my install. Forget that the 2nd time I used the service my computer obtained a virus which they deny having anything to do with their internet. Now one month later they have charged my account an additional $400.75 for early out fees. I specifically stated to them when I cancelled the account the could not withdraw anymore funds. They will not replace the funds or any bank, overdraft check fees I have encoured. I spoke to my bank and they can't help me either. This nightmare in the end is going to cost me over $1000. Avoid this horrible company. Oh by the way, don't try asking for anybody over the CSR floor manager. They state their is noone over them to speak to... then deny being the owner of the company, tell you they don't care about your problem and proceed to hang up on you. Time it took to have this pointless conversation... 49 mins!

S
S
Susanlee0
Hornbrook, US
Jan 03, 2011 2:38 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have had HughesNet since 2005 when it was DirectWay which worked perfectly. When HughesNet took over our service area we've had nothing but problems. We live in an area of California without any other carriers. I've currently paid daily 7.50 for the restore tokens. I've called, written and am so fed up. I'd also like to know why if they have limited bandwidth with few servers then why is it possible to pay the fee and receive restored service immediately. This service isn't even a wonderful email system as I can't open any Pictures family send me either. They advertise in my area to watch movies and U-tube. That can never happen in my house. They told me to use the Download manager and it never works. They said to get the Pro Plan I did and now I just get to pay more for it and the tokens. I'm mad beyond belief with no relief.

S
S
SCREWED BY HUGHSNET
Corpus Christi,, US
Nov 23, 2010 5:36 pm EST

Hughsnet is the worst internet provider I have ever used. It took me several days to find out about Hughsnet’s FAP. I then learned that I had to pay an additional $5.00 dollars if I exceeded their FAP limit of 250Mb. When I contacted Hughsnet’s representative, because I had not been on line at all one day and had gone over the FAP, I was told that I needed to disconnect the cable from the back of their modem or automatic updates would cause the FAP to be exceeded. In other words Hughsnet uses the customer limited internet connection to download their equipment upgrades causing the customer to exceed their FAP. This results in Hughsnet earning an additional $5.00 + everyday by this unethical practice. When the customer is required to pay form more time tokens to reestablish their internet connection. In addition when I contacted Hughsnet I was offered unlimited internet access for $9.00 a month and free installation. They stated that the only manner that they could provide the service is if I gave them a credit card number so that they could automatically collect their monthly charge for the lease. When I checked my account they had billed my credit card for over $400.00. I immediately contacted them and they said "Oh no you purchased the equipment. I said I did not that I had leased it. When I received my refund Hughsnet had charged over $200.00 for installation and my bill was now $80.00 a month. When I contacted them they said I had changed the service. When I was required to move from the rental house by no fault of my own I contacted Hughsnet and requested the service be disconnected. they continued to charge my account until I placed a stop payment on my card. They then turned my account over to a collection agency and stated that i had not answered their correspondence which I never received. When i contacted them again they stated I owed them an additional $450.00 for early termination of a contract which I never signed and had not been aware of prior to this time. This is a very bad company to do business with. I am sorry I ever contacted them. Beware this company will not provide the service they advertise and will apply additional charges without limit or any remorse.

K
K
Kristyrich77
Upper Marlboro, US
Apr 29, 2010 2:26 pm EDT

I agree with all that you've said however, this affects my business operations. Many times I've had to leave my business and drive home to use my "real" internet services which has operates at about 17MBs normally and to have to deal with Hughesnet which is at most times only running at 300kbps when they promised 1000kbps. At around 5 pm daily the speed drops to like 35-44 kbps, as slow as if I'd broken the sacred FAP rule. I spent two hours trying to pull information I had emailed to myself off the net for a meeting that I had at 1:30 yesterday and the connection was so slow I couldn't download my proposal and had to leave without it which made me look stupid! Hughesnet should be charged with criminal racketeering because this service is only a racket!

I can't believe the FCC hasn't done anything about this company. Department of Commerce should site them for interferring with my right to run a business because they knowingly oversold their capabilities to the detriment of my business and I'm sure many others.

A
A
ARLADY
Henderson, US
Dec 12, 2009 10:23 pm EST

Zone Alarm is not compatable with Windows Vista or Windows 7. I went over the FAP yesterday and had no idea what that is or why my internet connection was so slow or why I couldn't connect with the internet until I spent lots of time on the phone with people I had a real hard time understanding what they were saying . I've been with Hughes Net since 09/02/08 and have had several problems with slow connections but this was the first time I was completly without connection because of the FAP. I was under the impression that this is unlimited internet access until I found out the hard way it's not, how does one know when they are close to exceeding their 'limits'?
Disappointed in Arkansas

P
P
Pelon12018
Cedar Crest, US
Sep 16, 2009 10:53 pm EDT

In addition to failing to provide the described "high speed" service, HughesNet further advises users to download and operate ZoneAlarm internet security software. They allow that the software can be operated on up to 4 computers in your home, for one nominal fee, and is the best product available. The software is available for the minimal fee added to your bill. The software, when operational (and why wouldn't you operate it if you are on the internet) consumes copious additional band-with with regular frequent update checks and data set downloads, further slowing access speed and adding to your mounting daily FAP account bucket. Once that is hit you kiss connection goodbye. Dial up starts looking more reliable. I feel I've been "farmed", "raped", "used", and any number of other terms applicable to being robbed. I will obtain "wired" service that I know is fast, set up new email accounts, withdraw authorization to my bank to pay HughesNet, send them a message using the Hughes email address to STOP. Then Ill wait for them to call me. I don't have time to fight with them over any more money, or be miserable about this "service". Public satellite internet service doesn't exist. If it does, it isn't available from Hughes.

V
V
vicmic83
Constantine, US
Sep 06, 2009 5:04 pm EDT

You might add to the lawsuit Hughes net $5 dollar additional a month charge if you do not participate in AutoPay. I wrote a letter to Michigan Attorney General, inturn they wrote to Hughes net. I received a letter from Hughenet stating they will waive the monthly charge. However, I have to call Hughesnet every month to have the charge subtracted from my Bill, thier software cannot not be programed for that feature.

ComplaintsBoard
B
3:43 pm EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes - contract and slow internet speeds

I to like everyone else have been having problems with Hughesnet service for a very long time. I have been a customer since 2005 and I would do anything to get out of contract. I finished my first 24 month contract and I get a call from customer service telling my if I upgrade my modem my speeds will be faster and like a [censored] I do it but I also had to sign a new 24 month contract. Now keep in mind there is no other high speed internet services out here. My download speeds have been around 200Kbps and my upload speeds have been around 24Kbps. Hughesnets policy is to start trouble shooting after your speeds are under 800Kbps download and 100Kbps upload. Now that’s for the pro plus plan $79.99.

I tried calling basic Tech support many times over a few months time and after an hour or so they exulted my case to Advanced tech support level 4 every time. Then I have to wait up to 3 days to get a call from ATS (Advanced Tech Support). ATS always thinks they have fixed the problem and my speeds will be back to normal around 1200Kbps/down and 145Kbps/up for a few hours then they are back under 200Kbps.

Keeping mind Hughesnet states it offers high speed broadband internet service and According to the FCC, the term “broadband” now means 768Kbps, up from the previous definition of 200Kbps.

So after months of speeds under 768Kbps and over ½ of the time under 200Kbps I called Corporate office at [protected] and pressed 0 for the operator and asked for Executive Customer Care and I talked to a woman by the name of Rebecca and told her my problem with my very slow internet speeds and that I have had talk to Tech support many times and they can’t fix the problem for whatever reasons. I told her that I need to be let out of my contract or I needed a refund for the services that your company promised in the contract I signed and was not getting. She placed me on hold for about 4-5 mins she came back on the line and ask if I have taken the speed test on the hughesnet website and I said yes. I have about 3 pages of speed test done and over 95% of them our under 768Kbps. After she looked up my speed test on the website she told me that she would let me out of my contract. All you out there trying to get out of your hughesnet contracts Remember that the FCC defines Broadband as 768Kbps. You signed a contract for broadband internet service and if Hughesnet is not providing you with that service they are in breach of contract and have to let you out of your contract with no penalties or face a lawsuit But you must have proof that your speeds are under the 768Kbps and the only proof that they will accept is a speed test done on their site and you can take that speed test at http://consumer.performancetests.hughesnet.com/ you must perform this test 3 times in the morning, 3 times in the afternoon and 3 times in the evening and do this for 3 days or more. I personally had 7 days worth to show them. You must have already tried to resolve this issue with ATS.

Now like I said before there is no other high speed internet service around here that offer the speeds hughesnet offer well nothing over 1000Kbps. So what Hughesnet did for me is cancel my contract and came out and installed a new Dish and gave me a HN9000 modem for free. So now I have a new system at no cost to me and with no contract so I can cancel at anytime and yes the speeds are what they should be now. Now if we could just do something about customer service.

If you want out of your contract because of slow speeds then this is the way. It worked for me and it will work for you.

Read full review of Hughes
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
J
8:04 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hughes - poor service

None existent technical support, the people you talk to in India don't know what they are doing . FAP is Hughes excuse for overselling there
system. They hide behind 3 legal side pages of contract agreement,
that you must agree to or you don't get to use there slow, overpriced system. But if you live in the boonies there the only game in town.

Read full review of Hughes and 2 comments
Hide full review
2 comments
Add a comment
J
J
Jimrich
Temecula, US
Aug 29, 2009 4:36 pm EDT

Hughesnet is a scam. they oversell their product which reduces data rates to those under contract. They offer an upgrade modem to bring your rates back up to their original transfer rates and lock you into another term commitment or cancelation fee unknowingly. You are then forced to either upgarde to their most expensive technology and modem 9000 for another concentual rape or get screwed for canceling. When you try to speak to a supervisor, you will be mysteriosly cut off and may never reach anyone with half a brain.

Don't fall into the trap. Stay as far away as you can. That is my advise

N
N
No.1 Stunna
Piketon, US
May 14, 2009 1:39 pm EDT

Been with these people for 4years, always thought the slow speed were due to my network. Finally hooked the modem directly to the computer and realized the problem was that Hughes had oversold there service.

ComplaintsBoard
N
12:01 am EST
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes - not a quality internet option

HughesNet
Not a quality internet option.
Below is the detail for the parent company: Hughes Communications, Inc. (HCI) and for Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HNS) . After a large investment of my time on the phone with customer support and a larger monetary investment with what I consider to be an extremely over priced, poor quality internet option, I am sending letters of my dissatisfaction to the attention of the companies Executive Officers and Directors. It may be a waste of a couple dollars worth of postage to express my opinion, but it will satisfy me to know that I did not stand by idle and do nothing in the face of what many online have called questionable business practices. It may interest some of you to open the link on Hughes Communications, Inc. Investor Relations website titled "Code of Ethics".
I will keep my letters to the companies Executive Officers and Directors precise and respectful, while expressing my concerns about there products quality and functionality as compared to what they advertise. I welcome any feedback from those of you that have experienced HughesNet personally. It is of great frustration that a company targets those who have no other high speed internet option in the manner that they have. I hope this is of use to you in the wake of this company's lack of customer satisfaction surveys and the fact that they do not advertise any representation of the satisfaction of their current customer base to those would be new customers.

Hughes Corporate Headquarters
Hughes Network Systems, LLC
11717 Exploration Lane
Germantown, MD 20876 USA
Phone: [protected]
Fax: [protected]
Twx: [protected]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hughes Communications, Inc.
Executive Officers and Directors >>

Pradman P. Kaul – Chief Executive Officer and President of
Hughes Communications, Inc. (HCI)
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HNS)
Grant A. Barber – Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
T. Paul Gaske – Executive Vice President
Bahram Pourmand – Executive Vice President
Adrian Morris – Executive Vice President
Dean A. Manson – Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary
Thomas J. McElroy – Chief Accounting Officer
Deepak V. Dutt -- Vice President, Treasurer, and Investor Relations Officer
Cleo V. Belmonte – Assistant Secretary
Andrew D. Africk – Director
O. Gene Gabbard – Director
Jeffrey A. Leddy -- Director
Lawrence J. Ruisi – Director
Aaron J. Stone – Director
Michael D. Weiner – Director

Corporate websites:
http://www.hughes.com/HUGHES/Rooms/DisplayPages/LayoutInitial?pageid=HUGHES_IR&Container=com.webridge.entity.Entity[OID[092E4AF424667C42B1314DC142902941]]

http://www.hughes.com/HUGHES/Rooms/DisplayPages/LayoutInitial?pageid=PAGE00000101&Container=com.webridge.entity.Entity[OID[1CB43DD04D1F544C8E82CC423F2F8FD1]]

http://www.hughes.com/HUGHES/Rooms/DisplayPages/LayoutInitial?Container=com.webridge.entity.Entity%5BOID%5BF555B16B57D5B140924859D7AA656C96%5D%5D

Read full review of Hughes and 7 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
7 comments
Add a comment
J
J
JH2014
Fn, US
Jun 20, 2014 6:53 pm EDT

Hughes net is the worst provider service I have ever had! They are crooks and their customer service is rude and talks in circles. their call center has so much background noise you cant even hear them. Charge horribly high fees for bad service and wont cancel your contract if you move to a place they can not provide to! They are not upfront, do NOT sign a lease with these people. You will never get anywhere. We moved to an apartment that would not allow service, they wanted to charge hundreds of dollars because they could not provide, as well as make us go up on the roof to get the transponder from the old house. When asked if they could send a technician to do so, they said no it was our responsibility, no provider has ever, ever done that. I would understand if you had to pay for the service call. They are rude crooks. I hope their board gets flak from all the bad reps.

C
C
Cotopaxi
, US
Aug 08, 2013 8:32 am EDT

DO NOT order HughesNet Voice service. Two weeks after receiving the hardware (ATA), I am still receiving the following error when I try to register the device: "Your order for HughesNet Voice Service has not been processed. Try again in a few hours then contact ["Support" center] with Code HSC004". After waiting on a cell phone on top of the mountain for over an hour several times I was told the they had no idea what the code was, could not diagonse or solve the problem.
Still waiting for that elusive "call back" following phone, email and chat conferences. Will start the tedious process of trying to cancel the service today. Oh, while waiting for someone to answer from their Non-Support Center, I was repeatedly advised to contact them on line where there was never any waiting. I tried and was timed out at various stages hundreds of times between Friday and Sunday evening. Worst "Customer Service" I have experienced in 60 years of dealing with service providers.

W
W
Wallynmu
Carlton, US
Apr 16, 2012 9:23 pm EDT

4/17/2012
I have had Hughes Net since 2006. It worked fair to OK for about 4 years although not outstanding. Now at peak times it slows down dramatically. In the morning I have about 3500K download. As the day progresses it starts to slow down. By 7 PM it is down to as low as 26K download. Dial up speed is about 40 to 50 K. They have oversold the service. The satellite can not provide service to all the people using it. Customer service ignorant to understanding what is happening. They told me my system was defective. They sent out a service person here. The service person could find nothing wrong. The service is still terrible in the evening and weekends. Don't waste your money yet. They are suppose put up another satellite this fall. Don't hold your breath though. http://192.168.0.1/

H
H
HughesNet Sucks
Sioux City, US
Jul 29, 2011 8:29 pm EDT

HughesNet is quite simply garbage. I pay $74.00 a month and I cant even watch a video. Even simple webpages open slowly. No, I am not just some "disgruntled customer"-- "just the facts ma'am". The stated reason for its slowness is to "make it fair for everyone" so some people dont soak up a lot of bandwidth. This is plain bull. The reason it is so slow so to induce you to buy more bandwidth with what they call "tokens". This will be in addition to the monthly fee they already charge. I very well know this is nothing more than a scam, as I have also lived in the Philippines where extremely fast satellite internet internet is widely available. I had a company come out install my dish for free and payed $20 a month for lightning fast internet with the ability to hook 10 PCs up at one time. Watching Youtube videos was a joy and I never had problems of any kind with the service. In dirt poor Philippines from a Filipino company! But HughesNet, I suppose, just doesnt have that kind of fancy tech and are still trying to catch up with the dirt poor people of the Philippines. Or maybe they are just trying to get you to pay yet even more than $74.00 by purchasing their stupid tokens. Duh.

N
N
not really a complainer
Scottsdale, US
Jan 05, 2011 5:46 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

absolutely agree with all of the above and have this to share.
I've been a customer for over a year because I needed service and have NO option to get internet to my business. To get Cox or Qwest would cost me more than $45, 000.00 and as a small business...I couldn't afford the costs.
The service is poor quality... but what makes it even worse is the customer service. I am a very patient, kind person...but every time I call this company I want to punch someone! Every person you speak to is either in INDIA or PHILLIPINES. They can NOT make a decision or give you information if it's not on their script. They have NO idea who they work for, how to reach their supervisors or how to help. They have such thick accents, you can barely understand them and every comment from them is 'Okay?'...NO! it's not okay but your company is broken and doesn't care...

I just spent FIVE HOURS on the phone with 6 different people..and here's the amazing part...I was trying to UPGRADE my service. Yep...I wanted to GIVE THEM MORE MONEY every month and they couldn't figure out how to upgrade me. I was hoping an upgrade would speed up my connection...

Awful, awful, awful. Not one of these people could answer my questions about which package I should upgrade to...if you are thinking about using this company...get a carrier pigeon instead. Or learn smoke signals. You will have a more peaceful, pleasant experience.

W
W
WE POWERS
, US
Dec 04, 2010 8:09 pm EST

i live on an island off the gulf coast of fl.i switched from mediacom to hughes in hope that it was as quick as advertised, BUT IT IS SO SLOW THAT I CAN SHAVE BETWEEN INTERNET ENTRIES. KEP YOUR EXISTING SERVICE AND KEEP AWAY FROM HUGHES NET.

R
R
R Johnson
Darien, US
May 18, 2009 4:12 pm EDT

I signed up in August of 2008 for SEASONAL INTERNET SERVICE - the service (as this is a summer house) was seasonally disconnected on 12/15. I called today 5/18/2009 to get the service reconnected and was told that the billing for the interregnum of off-season internet service was not paid and I am to pay $835, then if I might, I can call and 'RENEGOTIATE" was the word the customer services operator used over and over to see what they might do to turn the service on. Never saw a bill, never an email, never a phone call - they have all of these contacts for me.

I am on my last cycle with these crooks - and will simply take them to small claims court. I would no sooner deal with these people than answer a "you have won the lottery" email from Nigeria.

Stay away. Johnson, Mt. Desert Island, Maine

ComplaintsBoard
V
7:33 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes - bad service

My husband got tranfered to Texas from Illinois. We are curretly with hughes Net Internet service. We Told them we couldn't have a satalite service where we are they don't like satalite dishes in the home accociation. Cable only. We asked hughes net to waive the shut off fee. And they told us if we shut off our service that they will put a $300.00 shut off fee on our charge card.

We have 11 months left on our contract. Iasked them if they could waive the fee wwe can not help it if our company has transfered us out of Illinois to Texas we had to go if we want to pay our bills. Basically they told us tuff.

Read full review of Hughes and 9 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
9 comments
Add a comment
G
G
Geraldene Word
,
Apr 30, 2007 12:00 am EDT

About 5 years ago we were in desperate need of an ISP and we could only get dial up. We called and talked to Direcway for about 6 months before finally purchasing the entire system for over $600. We had it installed and everything went fine, we got a second computer we moved and had the service moved cost another $200 for satellite positioning and such, but we had no problems. Added a third computer to the home network and had no problems. Then about a years ago Hughes.Net took over and OMG we had problems from the first week I got the email. We continued calling customer support for over 1 year now. They continued telling me it was my network setup. I continued to explain to them the only thing I did was watch as my service went from Direcway to HughesNet. I went and spent another $600 on another computer. Upgraded to the HNS7000 still problems. Replaced a second computer another $600. About one week ago I had my husband call because I was fed up. A technician finally came out and checked out our satellite. Positioning was off and he fixed that and fixed some settings. Still having problems I called the repair technician, he said they have SOFTWARE THAT REDUCES YOUR SPEED IF YOU DOWNLOAD TOO MUCH ON ONE SYSTEM. OMG I was furious, I connected to a Hughes.Net representative that affirmed this I was so furious. I pay for an unlimited accountant I am getting limited I am still furious. Letting everyone know. PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE PURCHASING HUGHES.NET!

E
E
Elizabeth Bradbury
,
Oct 25, 2008 3:36 pm EDT

We are not able to get DSL where we live and chose Hughes as our wireless provider. Our wireless connection is down on an average of 60% every day - NO service. The amount of time the service is down has increased with each passing month. We have talked with their customer service in India on three separate occasions, including supervisors and had a "tech guy" come to the house to replace part of the satellite - all to no avail. Our option now is a several hundred dollar "upgrade" with no guarantees for better service or a several hundred dollar bail out fee to get out of our contract. Hughes needs to be held responsible for false advertisement.

B
B
bakerhor
Hornbeak, US
May 26, 2010 3:23 pm EDT

I agree 100% with L Miller I also was not getting what I thought I should so I upgradded not just one level but two and I could not tell the least bit of differance.I can watch two things on utube and it says iv downloaded my lemit.And I also watch Tv adds, about 50 times faster than dial up, and think what a fool I was.lol I Bit like a hungery gater.lol

M
M
madasahornet
Lamar, US
Aug 17, 2009 11:52 am EDT

I am having the same problem. I have paid them their 75.00 per month for AWFUL service...yet, I have to move as there is NO WORK around here. They said they will charge my card 400.00. WHAT can I do?

L
L
L Miller
,
Nov 14, 2008 8:02 pm EST

Don't fall for it! You will not get better service by buying the more expensive plan or at least I didn't. I upgraded from Home plan to ProPlus and still don't get even what I should get with the Home Plan. Very Frustrated but I am in the country and the only option is dial up. This is NO better than dial up except it leaves my phone line free. I laugh, cry then get mad when I see the TV ad about how fast the service is. What A JOKE!

C
C
CARL B. LEGER
Amite, US
Nov 12, 2008 6:32 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I THOUGHT DIAL UP WAS SO SLOW, BUT YOUR SERVICE HAS BEEN WORSE.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, BUT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT
YOU WITHOUT ANY LUCK.
WE ARE PLANNING ON MOVING INTO AN AREA WITH CABLE SERVICE AND BELIEVE
ME I WILL CANCEL YOUR SERVICE.
CABLE IS MUCH CHEAPER AND IT IS SO MUCH FASTER.

J
J
Joanne Michanowicz
,
Sep 03, 2008 6:47 pm EDT

It is unbelievable. Over $80.00 per month and still limited.

R
R
R R
,
Aug 29, 2008 6:44 am EDT

HughesNet Internet advertised speeds are FALSE ADVERTISEMENT ...period! Their advertised 1000/200 for the PRO plan which costs close to $70 per month ... generally averages 500/100. I have invested in all the "upgrades" ... antennae, newer modem (terminal adapter), spent hours w/support. ran rediculous "speed tests each support session, have months of speed tests supporting my claim of slow speeds... BUT still poor service.

Maybe it's time for a "Class Action" law suit to bring their advertised speeds into reality. For adverised speeds of 1000/200, many times, speeds will have to EXCEED 1000/200 to AVERAGE 1000/200 when, according to their policy (and support answers) speeds will vary between 650-700/100-150 in a"normal"session..

M
M
Marsh Keintz
,
Aug 14, 2008 11:36 am EDT

I have been a customer for years now with 7000s, 1.5 meg speed, never exceeding the 425 FAP, For the past
2 weeks my speed at 11 am cst drops to 39-75 K (kilo) until 11 pm cst, then returns.
India tech support will not transfer me to higher support.
I can't be the only customer with this same problem.
This is fraud loosing my speed for a consistant 10 hours daily and paying $83 monthly.
i WILL cancel my debit card so they will be charging me $300 cancel fee, good bye
Hughes Net, to think they are running TV ads for new customers.
India Tech support said it's peak hours, but 75K and happens exactly the same hours.
Bull and good bye hughes, I will be posting this on all my Tech support forums.
more than 1 millon members will respect me.
marsh_0x is my log in, Google knows me well.

Marsh

ComplaintsBoard
B
4:49 pm EDT

Hughes - fair access policy

HughesNet Fair Access Policy is anything but fair. It is not defined, to the user, in any useful way, but may be triggered by the simple act of normal web searches. I can only guess that opening a new web page, before their slow system has opened the current one, is a violation, as that is all that I was doing, this time, when FAP activated. Updating software, viewing a news video, and many other normal everyday web activities activate FAP. Apparently HughesNet is an Email, (no attachments), service only.
Since more of us in rural America are going online, HugesNet’s solution to bandwidth is to reduce service to subscribers. The more subscribers that are made afraid of activating FAP or are essentially at Dialup speed due to activation of FAP, the more subscribers HughesNet can sign up.

Read full review of Hughes and 1 comment
Hide full review
1 comment
Add a comment
F
F
Frustrated in VT
,
Sep 20, 2008 3:17 pm EDT

I could not agree more. Hughes.net is taking extreme advantage of those who live in sparsely populated areas that cable and telephone providers do not want to go to the expense of providing service to.
For the $$ that they charge, for service that is already hindered by the slightest change in weather and has a built-in latency that cripples any secure transactions, they should be severely sanctioned by the Better Business Bureau or the Federal Trade Commission.

ComplaintsBoard
V
4:39 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hughes - scam advertising!

I am ALL OVER filing a class action suit against Hughes Net so if anyone is seriously interested in doing so and knows how to go about it, please let me know ASAP. I'm serious. Really serious. I won't go into every detail of our experience with this company but I'll just hit some 'high' notes. Total pun because seriously, this situation couldn't have gotten any lower.

We live about 5 miles outside of a city. Due to that, for whatever reason, we have NO options for internet besides dial up. My husband just got a new job which requires him to have a very fast internet connection. So, we finally decided to bite the bullet and look at getting satellite. We found our options to be Hughes Net and Wildblue. After some research, it appeared that Hughes Net was going to be the only way to go due to the fact that Wildblue's ONE tower already had the max on customers.

So, here we go with the nightmare. We had the service installed by some good ole boys from about an hours drive away. They came, put this enormous, Star Trek looking contraption on the side of our house, ran cables to our office, hooked everything up and told us it would probably be about 48 hours before the service would be up to speed and running fast.

We waited for that to happen and it never did. We started the customer service route after about a week of dealing with slower than dialup speeds and this was the beginning of the true nightmare.

We never spoke to ANYONE who spoke English, our hold times for even talking to someone was on average, at least 45 minutes, we were promised call backs by Tier 4 reps and never received them, we were told we had 30 days to cancel the service with no penalty and it turned out to be a lie (they're trying to nail us for $390 and some change), we would be on the phone for 3 hours with someone--taking up an entire evening away from family time---only to discover that the problem still wasn't fixed... the list goes on and on.

Finally, I got so furious that I was literally screaming at this woman---who by the way, probably didn't understand half of what I was saying, what with her broken English and all---and I DEMANDED to speak to a supervisor. To which, I was told that they basically didn't exist. When I pressed, and I do mean, PRESSED, the issue, she told me he was on the phone with someone and couldn't speak to me. WHAT?!

I emphatically told her to cancel our service and that she had better not be sending me any bill whatsoever because they would never see one cent from us. She told me they WOULD be sending a bill for the aforementioned amount and that it would be my responsibility to get the contraption off the side of the house or else they would charge us even more. She told me if I really wanted to, I could try to call back and speak to the technical support people and maybe they would send someone out to remove it. I told her they better just get someone out here to get this piece of ### off my house. I rarely curse at reps but I have HAD IT!

All in all, I have NEVER, EVER in my LIFE dealt with a company so unprofessional, mickey moused and ridiculous... in all my days, never.

And I have a bill for almost $400 from them. Which I won't be paying a penny of. My only question is where do I start on remedying the situation legally? Because I am JUST that kind of woman... I am ready to go on this. My husband lost work time---he had to go to hotel parking lots to do his work on his laptop so he could have the speed he needed---and we spent countless hours trying to fix this with this company and got absolutely no resolution. Just a big fat bill and some alien, teaser looking crap stuck to the side of our house.

Anybody ready to take some action? Please get back to me. I'm definitely ready...

Read full review of Hughes and 13 comments
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Hide full review
13 comments
Add a comment
B
B
BunnieFerro
Wellsville, US
Apr 16, 2010 8:07 pm EDT

As far as the phone call and insisting for almost an hour to speak to a supervisor AND telling them I would not pay them a dime ...I had the VERY same thing happen with me and Hughesnet! I called Hughesnet in Feb. to pay my bill current and end our service on March 1, 2010 because we would be moving and not keeping their internet. At the end of March I received a bill for another month of service. I called them and the nightmare began. First I was told by Jeff, in billing, that on Feb 22 when I talked to Ken...AND received a case number...that Ken did not make note to stop our service on April 1, 2010. On Feb 22, 2010 when I talked to Ken and paid the bill he told me that I had to pay the full month and would receive a refund from April 1 thru the end of the billing cycle. I told him I thought THAT was a bit ridiculous, but would do it anyway because I wanted the service stopped and would finally be rid of them and wanted to just do what it took to do so. I paid $158.78 on that day. Then on March 20, 2010 I received a bill for the next billing cycle and found out that my service was not stopped! I called and was given a reference number by Sam with technical support, then was transferred to Jeff in billing who and he began to argue with me when I told him that it was not my fault that Ken did not do his job and make note when I called to close my account and made the payment on Feb 22. I began to continuously ask for a supervisor and was told that he, himself (Jeff) was a supervisor, that there were no supervisors, that all of the supervisors were on the phone with others and could not talk to me, and finally...that there were no supervisors working at that time in billing that day. When I became irate and yelled that I was being taken advantage of and would not give them anymore money...I was put on hold for the 6th time and low and behold...a woman who said her name was Francis who could not speak much English either, got on the phone and said she was a supervisor and that she was briefed by Jeff and that they would stop my service as of that day and pro-rate what I owed them up till that date. There was nothing she could do, nothing no one could do, no other supervisors ...BLAH...BLAH...RIP OFF BLAH!
I would GLADLY testify and get on the ban-wagon to teach this company a lesson! I received a bill for the pro-rated amount of $26.74. Now, we lived way out in the boonies and to have the correct internet to be able to home school our kids and for our Missionary work we were at the mercy of Hughesnet... and NOW, they still have me because if I do not pay this $26.74 it will go on my credit report against me! WHAT CAN WE DO!?!?!?!OBVIOUSLY THIS IS HOW THEY RUN THEIR BUSINESS AND THEY ARE MAKING A FINANCIAL KILLING RIPPING US OFF!
I plan on sending a letter telling "someone"..."anyone" off when I sent the check for $26.74! Also, reporting them to the Better Business Bureau.
Please feel free to contact me.

V
V
vaughan1962
Bassett, US
Mar 23, 2010 9:08 pm EDT

hughes net, i believe there false advertizing about there speeds. They state you can download a intire album before you can download one song from dailup..what a joke we cant do it that fast. Also they set a limit of 200mg you can use before you lose speed..I have exceded this limit and dailup is zooming compared to the speed of hughes net. Also they have you in a fix, , , they say you have unlimited downloads at the hours of 2am- 7am, what a joke or haveing you cornered, who is willing to say up untill them hours to get what you want..See they have you in a fix. the 200mg limit they set you cant do nothing much untill you have used this up. 200mg is very small when it comes to downloads..Take a whole album, it would take 200mg to 500mg to download a intire album, and they know this. We had hughesnet about 2 weeks, and what i see is shocking, shure hate to see the bill..I see alot of bad comments about Hughesnet.do your research before jumping in to this investment please.

N
N
nick
Goochland, US
Dec 13, 2009 12:57 am EST

We have had to close "TWO" accounts (ad the advice of our bank) over Hughesnet! It began with unauthorized payments from our Visa...then we paid by a check...once they had our checking account information, they began making drafts from that. We now pay by money order.

A couple of months ago, the router went...of course they have no technicians available to fix it, so they had to mail us a new one (which took 2 weeks). They had the "nerve" to require us to pay return shipping for their faulty equipment!

It seems that there are many of us that want to do something about this...we just need to know how to go about it!

S
S
Snapdragon351
Ethelsville , US
Dec 10, 2009 9:00 pm EST

I agree 100%. I had them for 2 years due to the contract THAT I TRIED TO GET OUT OF 45 MINUTES after the installer left. FAP was a problem withing 45 minutes and has been for 2 years. Its good for email and very small amounts of browsing forget youtube and other media. Ive been trying to get a credit back for 45 plus days now that they owe me and agree that they owe me. Also their customer service is in the Philippines it took a total of 14 hours to get a friend of mine hooked up AFTER I GAVE THEM THE EQUIPMENT. 14 hours of phone time after an installer put it in. I wouldn't wish these people on my worst enemy.

pippa601
pippa601
Vale, US
Aug 24, 2009 11:20 pm EDT

I'm so totally with you on this one. WORST ISP EVER. Despite the fact that I can't understand what they are saying...I'd rather go back to Charter than deal with these buffoons. Too bad for me, NO ONE else offers internet out here in the boonies. Get info about a class action ASAP, I'll be all in it!

S
S
Sara
Sedro Woolley, US
Jun 14, 2009 1:55 pm EDT

Totally agree. My friend got hooked up to Hughes Net a week before me. She called and said it was great and that they had a really good special going on at the time. So i called and signed up. That was 35 days ago. First they say free installation - $125.00 you are going to end up paying because the satillite weighs over a 100lbs. and a pole mount is what they recomend (not to mention out here we get bad storms in the winter- 100 lbs on my roof isn't a good idea). So i had to pay $125.00 up front. Now keep in mind I bought our equipment-my friend leased hers. They billed me $460.00 up front- which is your charge of equipment and first month/last month service with an 18 month contract. There is a $150.00 mail in rebate that i have to fill out and mail in this week, if i cancel after 18 mon. Hughes net will buy the equipment back for $200.00 (so they say now). My friend called me frantick yest. she went to use her debit card and it was declined. Hughesnet overdrafted her account over $100.00. When she called she got someone from another country who couldn't speak english! They didn't tell her nor I that they would debt the account every month for billing-when we both called and said 'NO" send us an invoice every month-they say it will cost you $5.00 extra EVERY MONTH! For what?! Paper and postage they say. It's a JOKE! DON"T buy into it! I'm in a world of torture for 17 more months.
I 'm very interested in the class action suit-get me the info! PLEASE!

J
J
J Gilliland
Altoona, US
Jun 11, 2009 9:55 pm EDT

Hughes Net is a JOKE! We are in the same boat here. We have $400.00 invested in the equipment plus they want to charge us an additional $400.00 for breaking our contract. It was done thru the credit card company which they say they cannot help me with the automatic billing with Hughes Net without seeing our contract. What contract, I have nothing to show them because Hughes Net never gave me anything. We have had Hughes Net for 2 months and have had nothing but problems and I have been on the phone to their tech support off and on the entire time and gone thru the same steps we always go thru and NOTHING helps. Dial up internet would be high speed compared to this mess. I am interested in the class action suit and the addresses of anyone I can write letters of complaint to.

N
N
nick
Goochland, US
May 08, 2009 2:43 pm EDT

We (my wife and I) are most definitely ready to participate in and to support any class action law suit that can be taken against Hughesnet. In fact, I ended up here by performing a search regarding taking legal action against them.

It would take me forever to describe the experiences that I have had with them. In brief - False Advertising regarding speed and performance / False Advertising regarding installation fees / False information/promises regarding credits to re-imburse me for those installation fees / Being required to pay the shipping charges to return their faulty router after waitin over a week to be shipped a new one / Rude Customer Service / Straw that broke the camels back - unauthorized payments taken from my bank account after making a one-time payment over the phone - then refusal to reverse the payment.

I cannot in good faith, stand by and allow this company to take advantage of other people the way that they have us. If there is any possibility of participating in a class-action law suit...Please Advice!

A
A
ahole
Shitservice, US
Mar 01, 2009 10:44 pm EST

You Go Girl; Hughes.net sucks Their motto should be 50x slower than dialup.

R
R
Renee Callanan
,
Nov 25, 2008 12:23 pm EST

I have a similiar complaint. Highesnet is too expensive and was slow, they ripped me off for $300.00 for disconnecting. The ususal disconnect fee for other companies is $150.00. They also own Direct TV, another ripoff for the consumer. My advice is to stay away from Hughesnet and Direct TV and any other companies owned by Hughesnet.

ComplaintsBoard
M
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.

Read full review of Hughes and 4 comments
Hide full review
4 comments
Add a comment
A
A
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.

View 0 more photos
T
T
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.

H
H
Harry K.
,
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.

S
S
Sue
,
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.

Elevating the Voice of the Consumer

Empowering Real Complaints

At ComplaintsBoard, we understand the impact of genuine consumer grievances. Our platform is a dedicated space for authentic voices, where complaints, both positive and negative, are shared with honesty and transparency.

Dedicated to Validating Complaints

We are committed to ensuring the authenticity of every complaint. Our team uses rigorous verification methods to confirm that each complaint stems from a real customer experience, maintaining the integrity of our platform.

Encouraging Detailed Complaint Narratives

We value complaints accompanied by concrete evidence. Be it a photo, a detailed narrative, or additional documentation, such substantiation lends credibility to your complaint, aiding others in making informed decisions.

Balanced and Constructive Dialogue

ComplaintsBoard is more than a platform for airing grievances; it's a community where balanced dialogue is encouraged. We welcome complaints that not only point out issues but also recognize any positive interactions, promoting a fair and comprehensive perspective.

A Free and Impartial Platform for Complaints

Our unwavering commitment is to provide a free and unbiased platform for all complaints. Every complaint is given equal importance, ensuring your concerns are heard and respected, irrespective of their nature.