Monthly Complimentary 500mb Data Token Feature Removed

[WeldonHunter]

Not sure of this is the right place to ask about this but as the title says I noticed tonight my 500mb complimentary data token feature is no longer available. I'm a Gen 3 legacy customer that originally signed up on a rural access plan that was available in my area about 10 or 11 years ago with a fixed price and data. It came with a 500mb free data token every month. A few years ago I was told I needed to upgrade to Gen 5 because the Spaceway (I think that's the name) Satellite was reaching it's end of service date and my plan was being eliminated. The rep I talked to to upgrade told me I would have to pay an additional $10 a month and that all my reserve data of 33gb would transfer over. It didn't and it took me a lot of calls to have it put back. Since then that disappeared again and was put back after many calls. Now this. I called and talked to two people. The first lady had no idea what I was talking about and kept referring to this lost reserve (Data Tokens) that happened earlier this year and just really seemed lost. This account was started by mom at the time and I'm listed as a primary on the account to handle problems because my mother is 82 years old and has no idea how to deal with any of this. I mention this because when I asked to speak with a supervisor she insisted I get my mother on the phone. Now keep in mind I'm just asking for information, I'm not asking to make any changes though I could and have for a decade. Plus we have two accounts at two different houses and I've made all the decisions for them since they were installed. I eventually said good evening out of frustration and called back.

The second guy I talked to was more helpful and basically said they've been slowly removing this feature from plans. I explained to him I was told as a reason to keep Hughesnet when I was forced to go to this plan that my plan and features would remain as they were. When I switched my reserve data was removed and I was told it doesn't transfer by one representative and that the person who told me that was wrong, then another rep told me they do in certain cases for legacy customers and restored the 33gb that had been wiped. Now another thing I was told would be retained from the old plan as part of this new plan has been removed and I'm basically being told "Oh well, tough luck". I never got past the level one support person and he tried to help but did not resolve this for me. My issue is I was told this was part of my plan even though I was forced to upgrade at a higher price and now this feature has been removed even though I was told it would not be. Plus I was never contacted about this change. Is there someone in Tech that can shed some light on this for me and if possible restore this feature?  

[maratsade]

I used to have the 500MB monthly free token feature as well and now it's gone -- they have done away with this feature. I doubt they will restore it for you, as it's gone for all of us who still had this legacy feature, and it would be unfair to  the rest of us if they restored it only for you. The reps here can probably restore the other tokens you had, though.  

[GabeU]

Unfortunately, things change over time. The free monthly token was standard on the legacy plans, but a courtesy on the later plans when someone upgraded to them. The free monthly token was never a standard part of the Gen4 or Gen5 plans. i.e. someone who signed up with HughesNet and got Gen4 or Gen5 from the start didn't get the free monthly token. Only those who had been upgraded from legacy plans did. 

[WeldonHunter]

My thing is I was told as a pretext to me staying with Hughesnet and upgrading to Gen 5 certain things would transfer over to the new account and this was one of them. I was on Gen 3 with an HN9000 modem I am a legacy customer. To maratsade The reps did restore my reserve data only after a lot of phone calls and time and after being told by one rep as they were trying to get me to stay with Hughesnet "Sure it transfers over to the new account" (an upgrade I had no choice to do) and when it didn't transfer being told by another rep "No we don't transfer reserve data (token bytes)" and me explaining this was token bytes I'd accrued over a 10 year period and were supposed to be valid as long as I was a subscriber they do not expire. I finally got someone who figured it out and restored the reserve data that was about 33gb. That was a few years ago but earlier this year it all mysteriously disappeared and was zero one day when it was 37gb the day before. That was resolved also after a lot of phone calls. This isn't about being fair or not to other subscribers. I was told certain features would remain on my account as part of me deciding to even remain a Hughesnet customer with accounts at two different locations and possibly setting up a third.  

[maratsade]

I understand how frustrating this is. I miss the free token too, as I'm sure everyone who used to get them does. The thing is, benefits stop and change, even if a customer was promised something would last forever. That promise is not even valid, as no one can promise forever.   

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The reserve tokens are meant to transfer, and when they don't, the reps here fix the glitch. There were issues when I got on Gen 5 too, and my reserve tokens disappeared. Others experienced the same issue. The reps on this site restored the tokens. Every so often there's a glitch and the tokens disappear, and the reps here restore them. 

Yes, this is about being fair to everyone who subscribes. Even if you were promised, things change and promises are not forever; they can't be. You do have the right to cancel your account if company policy changes are something you can't accept. But even if you change to other providers, know that there will be changes, as companies change policies all the time, and promises made will expire.

[WeldonHunter]

Maybe that is what you find acceptable but it's not the standard. I ran retail businesses for over 30 years, 14 of those years were my own business and when I made a promise to a customer I kept it. If you don't you're telling your customer your word doesn't mean anything and that they really don't matter. I dealt directly with my customers face to face so nothing could get lost in the shuffle. The thing about retail business is when you do a good job you retain your customers and when you don't they leave and in a lot of cases they tell all of their friends why they left which impacts the business. We used to have a saying in the business "If you do a good job and satisfy your customer you'll keep them coming back but if you piss them off they won't and you probably lose 10 potential customers when they tell everyone they know". I was an ASE Certified Master auto tech and we were already under massive scrutiny because the public thinks we're all crooks so I had to do good work and I did. Yes I could and may cancel my accounts but that doesn't mean whoever I go to will do the same thing. You keep saying this is about fairness to all subscribers but you said yourself this is not a feature that was offered to new Gen 4 and up customers so they aren't being deprived of something they originally had unless they were in the same position as me. They promised me this because I was a customer for 10 years and never missed a payment, they wanted to retain me and the two accounts we have.  

[maratsade]

I work with businesses and my experience is quite different from yours. 

[MarkJFine]

For years, Comcast used to provide Peacock Premium free, as part of their xFinity cable service.

Guess what? Starting tomorrow, it will cost an extra $2+/month.

Yeah, it's not fair, but life's not fair.

[GabeU]

@WeldonHunter 

If they can find something in your account notes from the upgrade that states you were supposed to get a free 500MB token for the duration of your Gen5 service, maybe they'll offer a $1.50 discount per month on your service, which is what a 500MB token would be worth at current data token prices. Or maybe every six months they'll give you 3GB worth of tokens. And that's a maybe. I can't speak for what, if anything, they'll offer. 

The irony is, you would have gotten that data token for all the time you did regardless of them agreeing to it, just as everyone who upgraded from a legacy plan did, including me.

Again, things change. Just like with the free email, which will likely be gone at some point in the not too distant future. ISPs are doing away with email, and HughesNet will almost assuredly follow suit. It's already started, in a way, as I don't believe new customers are even given email anymore at sign up. With all of the free and much better email services available, it's of no advantage for ISPs to continue offering it.

[maratsade]

The irony is, you would have gotten that data token for all the time you did regardless of them agreeing to it, just as everyone who upgraded from a legacy plan did, including me.

LOL. Good point.

Again, things change.

All the time (and more and more frequently) regardless of empty "promises."

[WeldonHunter]

I get what both of you are saying, things change, I'm 62 years old and I've seen a lot of it over the years. I doubt there's language in the contract stating that I would retain certain features. I really had no reason to think I would need that at the time. The thing is regardless of what's in the contract I was told by their reps certain aspects of the old plan would be rolled over to the new. If we as customers, not just with HughesNet, just continually accept things like this then I guess we get what they give us. I got my first computer in 2001 and signed up for Hotmail, quite a few accounts as a matter of fact but I still use about 5 of them regularly. I use one mainly and I had the others when I was an admin for Napster. I realized at the time they were free so I have no expectations and dread when they do away with it but I have backups. I have Gmail accounts, a HughesNet account and I have an admin account that I use for a website I administer which will be my ultimate fall back and is specific to that website's domain that is a paid email account. I have no expectations from any of the free accounts because they're free but when I'm paying for something I do and I expect the company I'm paying to stand behind what they tell me.   

[GabeU]

I get what you're saying, and I can understand the frustration. The rep made a promise, but unfortunately it's a promise that he/she would have no power to enforce, at least not for the duration. Discounts and the like are one thing, but things that go against the system itself is another. Again, hopefully there are notes and, if so, they can do something for you. 

Good thing with the email accounts. Unfortunately, some people only have an HN email account, though thankfully it's easy to set up one of the free ones. And I'm sure when HN decides to drop the hammer on their email they'll give subscribers plenty of time to migrate over.

I've never used HN's email for anything other than Community notifications. I still use my original MSN email that I set up in the late 90s, though I do have a Gmail account as well for backup. I had a Yahoo email set up years ago, but when they got rid of their chat rooms I dumped it.