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Credit Cards no longer accepted as online, nor automatic, payment. NOW FIXED.

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GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

Credit Cards no longer accepted as online, nor automatic, payment. NOW FIXED.

Like last month, I go to make a manual online payment, like I have for the last twelve years, and over three years with the card I have, and again, it wouldn't go through.

 

 

So, again, I call to make the payment over the phone.  While waiting and listening to lovely, if not "driving someone to pull their hair out" elevator music, I decided to just go on automatic billing to save the five dollars per month and put an end to having to call up to make a payment.  Oops. NO CAN DO.  As it turns out, and this is more information than they had last month when I called, if you are using a prepaid Credit Card, like many of us who are on Social Security have, it can no longer be used to make online manual payments, nor can it be used for automatic payments. 

 

So, I guess those of us who receive our Social Security/Disability this way can no longer pay our Hughesnet bill online with a manual transaction, nor pay it automatically.  How peachy.  So much for saving $5 per month. 

 

Still, the customer service rep I spoke to took notes and is going to bring this up with her supervisor, as I guess this is starting to become an issue for other people, as well.  And, let's be honest here, it IS an issue.  Should I be penalized because my Credit Card is loaded with REAL money and not credit?  I say Credit Card only because it can be used as such (credit or debit).  Technically, it's not credit, but you know what I mean.  It's more or less a plastic checking account that I can't put money into, myself.

 

A payment is a payment is a payment.  It shouldn't matter.  It's absolutely no different than paying from one's checking account.  Plus, this particular card is ONLY used by Social Security, and it's the ONLY one they use, so everyone who receives Social Security or SSDI that doesn't have a checking account has this card, and no one who doesn't have SS or SSDI has it.  There is no other option for SS or SSDI.  A checking/savings account or this card.  That's it.  No more live checks (save for the first month or two after someone enrolls).  I have absolutely zero need for a checking account, which is why I closed it and went with this a few years ago.  It was never a problem, again, until last month.    

 

So, hopefully I will be able to resume my manual online payments in the future, or even save $5 per month if I can use it for automatic payments.  And that one irks me a bit.  I finally decide to bite the bullet, trust Hughesnet with my funds, and go on automatic billing, and I can't because I use a certain type of card.  No $5 savings for me.  I receive nearly thirty dollars per month off of my DirecTV bill through discounts I have gotten for being with them for so long, and have received some type of discount from them for more than half of the twelve years I have been with them.  I signed up with Hughesnet and DirecTV on the same day in late 2004.  I'm not asking for any "loyalty" discount with Hughesnet. I just wanted to get the $5 for finally trusting them enough to go on automatic billing.  Ugh.  Yeah, it takes a while for me to build trust when it comes to my money.  Such is life.    

       

Oh, and by the way, for the second month in a row, when I entered my phone number, I received the message, "Sorry, but it looks like multiple accounts may be assigned to this phone number."  This part would be completely comical, if it weren't a little unnerving.  Get off of my phone number, Deepa!  LOL. 

 

To add, I don't mind so much having to call every month to make a payment.  It's not like it's hard and I don't have ten or fifteen minutes once a month to listen to lovely elevator music.  It's just the principle of the whole thing.    

 

To add further, I don't know if prepaid CCs were EVER accepted for automatic payments.  I suspect, though, that they were, and that this changed when being able to use them for online manual payments changed.  I have no way of knowing for sure, though. 

 

Edit (7/1/2018):  I just went back through and separated the paragraphs. I don't know what happened, but for some reason the separations were deleted and it they got mashed together.  So, to make it easier for folks to read, I edited the separations back in.  

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

Another success.  I'm going to assume that this is completely fixed, so I'll "Solution" this thread.  

View solution in original post

37 REPLIES 37
themightykz
New Poster

I've paid with a debit card for about a decade. I hope this isn't about to become a problem. I'll find out next week when my bill is due.

My daughter has problems with her prepaid card from work as well. She's not a HughesNet customer but she's told me she has had problems paying certain bills with her work-paid card. So I suppose it isn't just HughesNet that has this issue.
BirdDog
Assistant Professor

Agree Reggie, forgot to add we get free debit cards also.

A checking account generally costs nothing for people 55+ years old or those on SS and other compensation. I'm probably very old school but feel safer with my money in a bank that is FDIC insured as I'll never have a hundred grand that needs covered anyway.

Not trying to convince Gabe at all, only giving the other side.

HughesNet should at least allow government backed debit/credit cards.
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

After having my bank change affiliation five times over four years I got tired of dealing with them and went this way.  It was never a problem until now. 

But, like anything else, blanket policies without any investigation may negatively affect those who don't deserve it. 

GW
Advanced Tutor

Prepaid cards are no longer accepted as they are easy to use as a way to avoid automatic or overdue payments, avoid termination or unreturned equipment fees, etc.. you see where this is going, I hope.
I see where this is going. At breakneck speed toward the dead end on Exercise In Futility Avenue. How stupid does Hughes think people are? All it takes is one phone call to ensure Hughes never collects another penny on any existing payment method.

And Hughes still makes the mistake of screwing with valuable long-term customers by prohibiting their preferred method of payment? Money is money.

Maybe the dumbest explanation I have ever heard far a major screwup.

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

What are you referring to?


@Jimwillrace wrote:

Maybe the dumbest explanation I have ever heard far a major screwup.


 

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@Jimwillrace wrote:

Maybe the dumbest explanation I have ever heard far a major screwup.

What explanation?  The following? 

 

"Prepaid cards are no longer accepted as they are easy to use as a way to avoid automatic or overdue payments, avoid termination or unreturned equipment fees, etc.. you see where this is going, I hope."  

 

If that's the explanation you are referring to as being the "dumbest", it is a valid explanation and has perfectly valid reasoning behind it.  Many companies with contracts don't allow prepaid cards for payments. 

 

As has been demonstrated, a blanket policy may not have been the way to go, but there is still a valid need for it.  It's hardly "dumb".   

Yes it is dumb, I can cancel any other type of card and have a new one issued in 3 days. You still have the same problem as you have with a prepaid card.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV


@Jimwillrace wrote:

Yes it is dumb, I can cancel any other type of card and have a new one issued in 3 days. You still have the same problem as you have with a prepaid card.


Cancelling your card doesn't cancel your account, nor the judgment that can be filed against it for non payment.  

 

Not allowing prepaid cards has a valid reason.  

Just ran into this myself a couple days ago. My prepaid card has been accepted for payment from day 1, over 6 or so years. No problems at all until I tried to change my prepaid card type and number. It was another prepaid card but with AMEX not VISA. I want this capability back for sure.

GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@Ricky

 

I still haven't tried to use my prepaid card for automatic payments, so I haven't run into any issue since they again allowed them for manual payments.  I REALLY hated those couple of months where I had to give my CC info over the phone.  Even if it's a known business I just don't trust people when I have to do that.  😞     

 

I got a new card a couple of months back and it worked without issue, but again, this is only with manual payments.  And, to by honest, though I'm a little nervous about having to input the information every time I make said payment, I think I'll still keep it this way instead of trying to set up automatic payments, which, from the sounds of it, might not work right now, anyway.  😛  

 

Hopefully Liz or Amanda will be able to look into the issue you're having with the new card.  

Well if we're voting here, I definitely support businesses accepting government backed cards for either monthly or automatic payments! That's a small courtesy our elderly and disabled deserve. And, as has been pointed out, it's no different than the debit card from which Hughesnet takes my monthly payment. That is "real" money too, as opposed to a credit card. I don't believe in using credit cards (I have one for dire emergencies only), so I use my debit card for everything. I still have to pay my rent via check because the owner hasn't gone to any kind of card system yet. That is almost the only check I write anymore.

And I can report that in a little over two years of service, I've never had a problem with my automatic deduction from Hughesnet. They always email me a few days in advance to remind me they're taking it out, and it always comes out on the same day of the month. It's never been incorrect.
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@debbie.jean.bro

 

I still contemplate switching to automatic payments every now and again, but I'm a little nervous about it.  

 

Years ago, I had an issue with a manual payment that was "double billed" (using a bank issued debit card, but as a credit card).  HughesNet didn't believe me, and I ended up in a three way call with HughesNet and my bank.  After my bank told them that, sure enough, they took the payment out twice, they still said, in so many words, "No, we did not.  We billed once.  We did not take your money a second time."  

 

In order to prevent a couple of checks from bouncing the bank covered the extra amount.  Finally, about three months later, I got an "apology" letter from HughesNet, stating that they had found that, in fact, they had double billed me, and that they would give a credit for the next bill, which they did.  I notified the bank and, the next month, they took their loaned money back.  

 

So, in the end, everything worked out, but since then I've been a little reluctant to set up automatic payments because of that whole episode.  It happened in, perhaps, 2008 or 2009.  I can't remember, for sure.  

Gabe, then I can certainly understand your reluctance! I now have every bill except my lot rent on auto pay. I realize I'm taking a risk and I monitor my bank account daily. So far, no glitches. It's just so convenient. But I am very low income, so any mistake like the one you mentioned, would potentially overdraft me, depending upon the time of month. Since I don't use credit cards and am very frugal, I don't have a ton of monthly bills, which helps. The one I tend to forget about is the garbage bill because they've gone to a system of only billing 3 times a year. Because of that, it's a fairly big bill, from my perspective, and I never remember what month it's coming until they email me about 2 days in advance. Other than that, it's car, insurance, electric, Hughesnet, Centurylink, and Amazon Prime, which I do monthly rather than annually.
GabeU
Distinguished Professor IV

@debbie.jean.bro

 

I just took advantage of the Amazon Prime free trial last month, and on the 19th of this month it will convert to a paid service.  If I don't cancel it beforehand, that is.  If I do decide to keep it, it will be the first of my bills of any type that will be automatically paid.  I've pondered changing to auto payments with DirecTV and taking advantage of the discount, but I've been hesitant for the same reasons mentioned in my previous post on here.  Still, I may do so.   My folks use auto payment for everything, and they've had no issues, or at least not that they've told me, which they almost assuredly would have had it happened.  

 

I'm still debating on whether to keep Prime.  I haven't paid for shipping on an Amazon order in years, and, to be honest, I can't remember the last time I did.  I always make sure that my orders are at least $35 so that I can get free 8-10 day ground shipping.  Granted, I won't be saving any money in the long run with Prime, but it will be nice to not only have 2 day shipping (though that's debatable), but also not be required to reach the $35 level for the free 8-10 day ground shipping. I say the 2 day shipping is debatable as the order I placed for the Raspberry Pi Zero W at 1:30AM on Tuesday morning may not be delivered until Monday.  I know there's a holiday in the mix and weekends don't count, but Monday?  It should be Friday.  It even shipped yesterday, just after noon, so there is absolutely no reason it shouldn't get here tomorrow.  And, at this point, it's only about 250 miles from here, so if it doesn't come tomorrow I will not be a happy camper, that's for sure.   

 

Amazon says tomorrow by 8:00PM.  UPS says Monday by "End of Day."  Time will tell.  If it's Monday, Amazon will be receiving a call from me. 

maratsade
Distinguished Professor IV

I've used Prime for several years and have been very satisfied with it. I've never had an issue with the yearly payment either. 


@GabeU

...  I just went back through and separated the paragraphs. I don't know what happened, but for some reason the separations were deleted and it they got mashed together. ...


That happens to me everytime I work off line, and then paste the text into a post.  Much of the my original white space dissappears.