Reocurring One Time Fee????

[cuddlebug]

Can someone please explain to me how a one time fee is re occurring?  I see this on all my bills and again on todays bill (which just arrived in the mail WELL AFTER) I asked to have them emailed to me.  How can you bill each month for a one time fee and what is it for please?  I mean, this bill is over a hundred dollars just for this fee.  If it is a monthly fee, why does it say one time fee?  I am slightly confused here and just a touch irritated. 

[Liz]

Hi cuddlebug,

Thanks for posting, I can assist with understanding your bill.

Are you referring to the portion where it says "Recurring/One Time Charges:" ? That's referring to your service charges and applicable state and federal taxes, minus the property and lease tax.

I'm looking at your latest invoice and the break down includes charges for:

Invoice Charge HughesNet Voice Tax - Federal USF(Federal) 
HughesNet Voice Tax - E911(State) 
HughesNet Voice Tax - E911(County) 
Property Tax Surcharge 
Token - 1GB 
Home Voice with Commitment 
HughesNet Equipment Lease 
HughesNet Gen4 Prime 
Additional Property Taxes         
Lease Taxes 

Everything above, save for the Token charge, are re-occurring monthly charges. Unless you requested a site visit, your big ticket items on your bill will be the service charges, so in your case, that would be the internet and voice service charges.

Please let me know if you have additional questions.

Thanks,
Liz

[BirdDog]

Also, I think the taxes are flagged as one-time, recurring because they are subject to change at any time.

[cuddlebug]

Liz and sgoshe, so...can you please help me to understand some things on this bill? 

1. Why am I paying a voice tax?  What exactly is that?

2. Why am I paying a property tax surcharge?  Is this for having your dish on this property????

3. What is home voice with equipment?

4. The 1GB Token I think you are referring to, is the one I purchased and already paid for.  Why is it being charged for again?

5. If I am leasing your equipment, why would I be charged at the end even if the equipment is returned to you and be expected to dispose of your dish for you????  No, this isn't a car rental service, but for comparison sake, how long would they be in business if they rented a car and then charged you for it whether you returned it or not, plus expecting you to dispose of it (sell it or trash it, up to you) for them?  Why can't the dish be recycled by Hughes themselves instead of dumping the responsibility off onto the customer?

Not trying to be difficult, I really don't understand this way of billing and do wish you would explain so even I can understand.  Thanks Liz and sgoshe and anyone else who has input

[cuddlebug]

Sorry, more questions on the bill...

1. Why am I being charged for an invoice fee when I was led to believe I could simply view my invoice online?  I NEVER asked for a paper bill, don't want a paper bill, and would appreciate having this removed from my bill at once.

2. How is it, my normal bill is about 86.49, and this bill is 110.42 with the only changes I can see being made are a token charge that should not exist, and a paper bill charge that should not exist

3. I have not had time yet to discover where the other part of the 110.42 came from, but this is not right and I hope someone will correct this right away so this bill can be paid when my check arrives.

4. This is the clincher for me.  I had over 80.00 credit built up toward payment (Liz you yourself helped with that portion), and with all this charge for this and that which should not even be occurring, I still owe 20.42?????  Really????

Can you please correct these errors for me and thank you.  I will hold on paying this bill until the appropriate bill is listed. 

[Gwalk900]

Cuddlebug,

In reference to the $5.00 Invoice fee ...

Hughes either charges a Invoice Fee or you have to have a credit card/ bank info on file at which time they will "auto-bill".

The problem (as I see it) with auto billing is that they debit your account on the day the bill is generated, not on the bill due date.

Due to past "billing issues" I too have Invoice Billing so as to not have banking/credit card info on file but I pay my bill online as "one time payments".

( I seen in another of your posts you mentioned Ferris State and I seem to recall you stating at some point you were in Michigan.

Can you say roughly where ? I am in west Michigan, along the lakeshore roughly halfway between Ludington and Muskegon)

[cuddlebug]

Yep Gwalk900.  I am in upper Michigan just about to the tip of the center of the mitt, roughly 2.5 hrs from Traverse and 45 mins from Cheboygan.

I know about the invoice fee and all that.  Spoke at length with Liz on another post.  I made it clear that what I was asking for was an email bill, but they declined, so I decided to go with viewing my invoices to make payment.  This is how I did it last month.  If I'm not mistaken, I think you were on the conversation where I was told to log out of my account in order to view my invoice.  However, never did I ask for a paper bill, nor am I about to pay for this luxury.  Really?"  5.00 for a paper bill?  That's as bad as me thanking someone for taking a payment.

[Gwalk900]

Yes, I remember it now.

[cuddlebug]

Oh good Gwalk900, for a minute I thought I entered the twilight zone (after all, Halloween time is coming)....lol

[Liz]

Hi cuddlebug,

Some answers for your questions:

1. The Voice tax come with your HughesNet Voice service. The tax is dependent on your location. Personally, this is my first time seeing a tax from three levels: federal, state, county.

2. Property taxes and surcharges also depend on your location. I believe yes, this would be for the installed dish; everyone is charged this.

3. "Home Voice with Commitment" refers to the HughesNet Voice (telephone) service you added on in July. 

4. I see a 1 GB token was purchase 9/26, is that the one you're referring to? How did you pay for it? Normally, when you purchase tokens, either via the Status Meter or in the Support Center, it is charged to your your credit card (IF you are on autopay) and will appear on your invoice. Since you are on invoice billing, the charge is just noted on your invoice and is normally paid when you send in your check. 

5. I'm not sure what you mean by "why would I be charged at the end". As a lease subscriber, you're paying $9.99 to rent the HughesNet equipment from us and are able to get equipment upgrades for free. Purchase customers pay a large sum for the equipment upfront and would have to pay to upgrade their equipment. If a lease subscriber ends their service, and the equipment we need back is returned, then you aren't hit with the Unreturned Equipment Fees. Purchase subscribers don't have to worry about this. Yes, it's true that you may dispose/recycle the dish however you like; it's just our policy that this is the subscribers responsibility. I don't know why, I would assume that it's a responsibility we'd rather not bear. We'd like to think you'll be with us forever and never have to get rid of your dish! Haha.

6. cuddlebug, I already took care of your invoice when you first came to the community. I could not waive all your invoice fees, so you will continue to see it on you bills, but I gave you a credit to cover all your upcoming invoice fees until your moving month. 

7. Your normal bill is actually around $99 minus taxes. For the first three months of your internet and voice service, you had a promotional monthly discount of $20. October is your first month without the discounts.

8. The rest of the charges outside of the $99 are the taxes I listed above and the 1 GB token charge.

9. Last time I looked at your balance, you did have $90 of credit. This was the $45 credit I gave you for the upcoming invoice fees plus the $45 you paid us one time via our website when you thought my credit was the balance due. This $90 credit on your account absorbed most of your October bill. Again, since your three months of promotional discounts are up, that's why the bill has the additional $20.

Whew! I hope I covered everything. Let me know if you have additional concerns.

Thanks,
Liz

[cuddlebug]

I want you to know I don't feel sorry for you a bit Liz.  Did you get writers cramp doing this typing (or typers cramp} like I have?  Good....it is...after all...trick or treat time.  You just got your trick...now where's my treat???????????   Bwahahahahha   EXCEPT:  the part about the paper billing charge.  Please remove that since I did not ask for it.  I agreed and between you, and Gwalk and others, I learned how to view my invoice and do the one time payment thing.  I will not pay for that charge (no trick there).

[Liz]

About your invoice fee, I said in #6 that I already credited in advance your invoice fees through June of next year. That was the $45 credit. You will still see the invoice fee on your bills, but I have given you a lump credit in advance for this purpose. It's like taking the lump sum instead of the annuity option when winning the lottery.

-Liz

[cuddlebug]

Ooh!  Do I get to keep the candy????  (Drooling now).  Gotcha on the invoice fee.  Um...are you mad at me for the trick or treat?  Sorry, I just couldn't resist.  Thanks for being a sport.  What? No laughing cackle??????

[Liz]

LOL I was very caught off guard by that, we're good, but you have to deal with the M&Ms, Skittles, and Reese's Pieces all mixed up in the same bowl. Wahahaha

-Liz

[cuddlebug]

Oooohhhh....you are so bad Liz....yum, yum, yum, yum (putting normally very healthy diet on back burner for now)

[Liz]

All bets are off during the holiday season. Time to get fat and hibernate.

-Liz

[cuddlebug]

it is time for the Holiday pledge...ahem...I shall eat what I want, however much I want, and as frequently as I want and I shall not feel guilty.  Than....I shall do what my husband used to do.  After the meal, I shall find a wam blanket, turn on the t.v., grab my pillow, and dweeb.  (End of pledge).