Forum Discussion
Goodbye HughesNet Bad Last Impression
Was able to receive AT&T Fixed Wireless Internet, as part of the CAF funding for our rural area. It is fantastic- $60 a month for 170GB, and the ability to take on another 1TB in data if needed. Af...
Pretty sure the business model is there because the infrastructure costs warrant it. The fee structure is there to:
1. Ensure people think about what they're purchasing before buying.
2. Don't make rash decisions to discontinue.
This is true for terrestrial services as well, but I'm sure the installation and maintenance costs for satellite services vastly outweigh that of terrestrial.
You may not like it from a customer standpoint, but it makes a lot of sense from a business standpoint.
BTW: The above conditions do include expectations-setting. The corporate-level admins on this board go through great pains to rectify anything a salesman said that was problmatic.
It's just not standard business practice, so I find it interesting you defend it.
I've cancelled satellite radio and television, and I've always received a prorate for what was used, and credited for what was unused.
For a company to fail to credit a customer for what was not used, tells me that their financial situation is poor. This particular business practice isn't common; I don't see a great need to defend it.
Contracts, and penalties to break contracts protect the satellite company for these "rash decisions". There is no need to pile on at cancellation by forcing someone to pay for something they aren't receiving.
I haven't needed a corporate level admin to level set any expectations, as I wasn't promised anything by a salesman. Perhaps you are thinking of another post.
The community here is very supportive, but often overly defensive of satellite and Hughes Net in general. Call it like it is- given choice, people will flee in a heartbeat. Wired and satellite solutions for terrestial customers aren't growing and satellite services will likely serve mostly aircraft and extremely rural areas in the future. The moves on wireless are changing the game quickly.
You cancelled RECEIVE ONLY satellite radio and television, which neither requires transmitting equipment with limited precise alignments nor specialized equipment to handle time-sensitive ack/nack handshaking over a 75km 3-point datalink. Never mind the sunk costs of the satellite(s), real estate, and the non-recurring and recurring engineering required for several ground stations across the west coast that RECEIVE ONLY satellite and wireless doesn't require.
We're defensive because we hear it all the time: People that don't understand what they bought, but are adamant that it should be something it's not: A drop in replacement for television. By doing so, it not only affects the user, but it puts an extra load, slowing down everyone else sharing the same ground station. It gets old real quick.
Edit: Just went to Verizon Wireless:
"If your contract term results from your purchase of an advanced device, your early termination fee will be $350, which will decline by $10 per month upon completion of months 7–17, $20 per month upon completion of months 18–22, $60 upon completion of month 23 …" Sounds pretty standard to me.Edit 2: Comcast Xfinity:
"Comcast / Xfinity will charge you a fee to cancel your contract before its natural end. The fee is $10 per month remaining on the on the contract. So if you cancel with 11 months remaining..."
Danger wrote:It's just not standard business practice, so I find it interesting you defend it.
ViaSat/Exede doesn't refund unused additional data.
Verizon doesn't refund unused additional data.
AT&T doesn't refund unused add-on data.
Tracfone doesn't refund unused additional data. I only add this one as I have it, though it's quite different from the rest.
With capped or soft capped internet service, including the at home versions of the cell services, this actually is a standard business practice. They pretty much say the same thing regarding the extra data purchase, in that it has "no monetary value" and is, therefore, not refundable. I'm sure there are examples of companies that do refund them.
Danger wrote:
For a company to fail to credit a customer for what was not used, tells me that their financial situation is poor.HughesNet's financial situation isn't poor. This has been their policy for years (I checked my old legacy plan).
I don't really have an opinion on whether it can be considered "fair" or not. It just is what it is. I can say, though, that with the first time I saw this question asked, which was early last year, the answer given wasn't something unexpected, and I had never read about the value of tokens prior to this, with the exception of their purchase cost. I, personally, never expected any unused portion to be refunded, whether whole or partial.
