New Manual Payment Problem

[GabeU]

       I went online on the 1/03/2016 to make my payment for this month.  I have manually paid my bill since opening the account in November of 2004.  This time, though, when I clicked on the Hughesnet link (as opposed to the Hughesnet Gen4 link) in the Customer Care page, it took me to a totally different page than it always did.  Evidently the old page is kaput and you have to use the new one.  Okay, no biggie. 

       So I have to register with this new page, which is not unusual.  I did so, and everything went fine.  Under the billing section, the only option I could find was "pay now".  I clicked on it, figuring it would take me to a page where I could enter the payment info as I always had, but it did not.  Instead, it told me I had no payment type, so I had to input one.  I did so, then clicked pay now, and everything seemed to be fine.  The only problem was that it didn't give me any type of payment confirmation number, like it did for every single one of my payments for the last eleven years. 

       I then checked with my bank account, and sure enough, everything was fine and the payment went through (with the ubiquitous $1 charge they use to check the account, which drops off after ten days).  I then checked back on the Hughesnet page, where it said the payment was still owed.  What???!!!!  I then called Hughesnet and was told that the payment had indeed gone through, and it was just that the website needed to update.  I also was told that I was now set up for automatic billing.  Um...huh?  I hadn't clicked on anything that set me up for automatic billing, nor had I given permission for them to do so.  She started saying something that I couldn't understand, after which I just told her to remove me from automatic billing, as I had not signed up for it.  She did so.  After she said a bunch of other stuff I could barely make out, I simply asked her if my payment went through and if I was taken off automatic billing, and she answered yes to both.  She then gave me the reference number and that was the end of that.

       So now it appears that I cannot make a standard, manual payment online anymore like I have for the last eleven years, as if I do, my payment info will automatically be kept and I will automatically be signed  up for automatic billing (a lot of automatics I didn't ask for, nor want).  Not only that, but there is no longer an option to be able to go and look at the past payments I've made, nor do I get payment confirmation codes.  I simply want to make manual payments like I used to.  Is that so hard?  Thanks Hughesnet, you are doing a great job (sarcasm, if you can't tell).   

[Gwalk900]

Yes you can.
I'm on my tablet at the moment but in the AM I will post a screenshot of what likely occured (see Amanda, Liz ...... Katie) another subscriber left with a bad taste in their mouth in regards to Hughes that just is uneeded.
Take that slippery default thing out of there !

Is Hughes actuaully that hard up that they have to "play games" with subscribers ?
Dang it ! I play up front, when it comes to billing .... I feel like I am walking down the wrong side of the street ....
The Mods here really need to "poke" someone and get their attention in regards to that "auto" thing.
It just doesn't look right, it just doesn't feel right and just because you can do it doesn't make it right.
Frankly, it makes Hughes look like "Flight By Night.Dot Com" instead of a mainstream up front ISP.
Wadathink .......? Time to take the Bull By The Horn is this regard ?

Please, for your ...... customers ..... fix that thing !

[Gwalk900]

When making payments you have to look at each screen carefully to avoid pitfalls like this one:

[Amanda]

Hi GabeU and Gwalk

The HughesNet button on the Customer Care website does indeed redirect to the new Support Center, however a bit below that you can still choose "Make A Payment" or "Pay My Bill Without logging in" and uncheck the "future payments" option.


In all honestly, not having auto-pay is is more costly than not and part of the terms and conditions are that we have discretion to auto-bill the card used for initial payment. We're aware that there are other ways to go about this and it's bubbled up thanks to Gwalk's suggestions and more recent opinions about the auto-pay feature. We'll be discussing this and going over ideas to improve the billing and payments system.

Thank you,
Amanda

[GabeU]

Gwalk900, thanks for the reply.  Your screenshot is similar to what the page looked like that I went to for the last eleven years to make my payments.  Unfortunately, the page for the payment I just made was a completely new page that didn't resemble this at all.  There were ZERO options for anything.  I think I am going to try the "make a payment without signing in" option next time, but if I don't see that it is a secure connection with a security certificate to validate the connection, we will be at an impasse.  Of course, all of this would not be a problem if DSL, FIOS or cable were available in my area, as if they were, I would dump Hughesnet like a bad habit.  But, of course, they know we have no choice in choosing Hughesnet, so they take advantage of that.  With other options available, no one in their right mind would choose them.  Such is life.  Such are monopolies.   

[GabeU]

Yes, it's true that not having auto-pay is more costly than not, though I don't know why, as none of the other companies I have ever dealt with in my entire life actually penalized me five dollars for wanting to make my own payment.  And I can be on paper free billing with all of them without having to sign up for automatic payment.   But, again, Hughesnet knows that when people choose them it's because they really had no choice, so doing anything to the customer is basically okay.  After all, what is the customer's other option, dialup? 

Secondly, I will try that "Pay My Bill Without Logging In" option next time, although I shouldn't have to .   The other five things I pay monthly online allow me to actually sign into their sites, pay when I want to, and don't charge me five dollars for the privilege.  But, again...monopolies are wonderful.  Hopefully this option will work properly and will display that it's a secure connection.  If not, as I said above, we will be at an impasse. 

Most companies do things to improve their customer's experience.  Then we have Hughenet.  But again...monopolies.  Gotta love 'em. 

[Gwalk900]

GabeU,
I Too use the "make a payment without sign in" every month and then wait ..... 5 minutes and then sign in.
At that point. Can see my payment applied as a credit right away.
I never thought much of the Hughes "confermation" numbers of 123456 as a definitive method of proving my payment if needed.

[GabeU]

Actually, they started giving actual codes a couple of years back, but I know what you mean regarding the 123456. 

[lswrfw]

I am a new customer, not even one month old yet and so far I just discovered that I was enrolled into 3 software premium products that I did not sign up for and that I was enrolled in automatic billing to my debit card which I also did not sign up for (which I believe is illegal). The existence of an automatic enrollment in these programs was not relayed to me on the phone when I ordered and agreed to a 24 month contract. There's always a catch isn't there? Why does Hughesnet need to be deceitful for an extra buck? I had read some negative reviews and comments, but I am living in a remote area and Dish would not even install here so I took a chance with Hughesnet who boasted a high BBB rating. So far the internet service provided has been acceptable; however, now that I realize the company participates in deceitful practices, I will not recommend them to friends without warning them. Customer service did remove and credit my account for the monthly software charges and also removed me from the auto deduction from my card (for $5/mo fee!!), but I am dismayed at the dishonesty of this company and will be watching my bill monthly for any additional charges. Also, my online balance does not show that I paid up front on the installation day. It shows the full balance due even though customer service assures me that I have a zero balance. What's up with that? Do they need to fire their web team or what? Does customer service use a different data base than the web site uses? Please Hughesnet, get with the 21st century...

[appraiser]

my hughes net service is so slow and awful that I cannot even get online to pay my bill. It takes about 5 minutes to log onto my dashboard or my portal or whatever.
This is so awful that I am going to cancel my service and go back to dial up and drive to town for internet. And I have been a customer for years!

[BirdDog]

Why not start your own post and try to get some help here?

[Gwalk900]

appraiser,

As BirdDog suggested please start your own new topic.

I would however suggest that you check your FAP status as well has looking at any present system error codes by entering 192.168.0.1 into your browser:

(click on picture for larger image)

Are the icons marked as #1 & #2 both green ?

[GabeU]

Eek!  I was having a REALLY bad day.  Talk about blowing things out of proportion.  This is darn near embarrassing.