Good Morning Don,
I'm a customer here on the community like yourself, and quite frankly, out of all the questions/complaints I have seen pop up on this board over the last few weeks, some of which have been quite ridiculous, you question is probably one of the most reasonable ones I've seen and quite honestly, I have to agree with you as far as the way HughesNet has set up their billing and auto charging of services.
It's quite odd that they charge your credit/debit card on the same day that your bill is actually generated. Most companies don't do that.
Like you, and many people i'm sure, it would be nice to have a few days to review the bill for any possible errors and/or be able to choose our own automated payment schedule.
I actually just changed my DirecTV auto bill date via their website just a few days ago.
Unlike HughesNet, DirecTV allows you to choose your own auto bill pay date between the day your bill is first generated, right up until the day the bill is due, which is usually about 14 days.
They also give the customer a choice whether or not to enroll in auto pay. It's not mandatory like it is with HughesNet. If you choose not to enroll in auto pay, you can pay via their website using a major credit card/debit card or checking account.
I think HughesNet should really take some time to look into this and perhaps offer alternative payment methods and/or give the customer a choice in his or her own billing date each month.
As far as the 'paper' billing is concerned..I actually wasn't aware that HughesNet offered to mail out a bill in lieu of automatic billing, but I can only guess that the $5 charge is to cover the cost of printing/mailing. I know how ridiculous that may seem these days, but most all companies, including banks etc, are requesting and/or requiring that their customers transition over to 'paperless' billing as it is just more cost efficient.
