Why charge for a full month of service when only 1 day is used?

[cobra302r]

I ordered service and paid an up front charge for the month of $49.98.  The service was installed and used for 1 day.  First the service did not work well for what we needed, second the representative that signed us up did not say that the 60 gigs of data was really only 10 gigs unless you wanted to stay up all night.  I canceled the service the very next day - after the representative on the phone tried and tried to get me to reconsider.  I received an email with a link to the final bill and there was an additional charge for $1.58 in addition to what had already been paid.  Basically no matter when you cancel the service (within the 30 day trial period) you still have to pay for the full month.  "It is in the contract that you signed"  Of course it is - and when the installer has you sign it they say oh you can read it if you want but nobody ever does.  It seems quite the racket to charge for service that is not received.  Poor business practice.  

[Amanda]

Hello cobra302r,

Welcome to our community and thank you for your post. We're sorry to hear the service did not work well for you and sorry to hear you decided to cancel. The use of forward billing is in the contract terms which everyone has the option to read before completing their installation. The fact that nobody every reads a contract is a growing problem in the world right now and results in a lot of confusion in the end, especially for the consumer which in turn leads to drawn out escalations. 

Keep in mind that if you cancel you know which timeframe you've cancelled in - immediate or end of billing cycle. If you've chosen to cancel your service at the end of the billing cycle, that keeps your account open and active until the last day of your forward-paid service. If you do an immediate cancellation, you will receive the forward-paid amount prorated back to you as a credit. So no, anytime you cancel (including the first 30 days), we will give you a credit prorated for the days after the service is shut off but had already been paid for. If there is no balance on the account when the account is closed, the credit will be provided to you as a refund to the payment method on file. 

I hope that clears up your concerns. Please let me know if we can assist in any other way.

Thank you
Amanda

[jamesshurley]

These sound like horror stories and I sure pray that I don't fall into any of these! I have never had to use satellite internet so I really have no idea what I am getting into. I just started out using Hughesnet,com this month, and already I am not liking the fact that I have to use my time sparingly? I mean 2am till 8 am , whats up with that? I would like to be able to use my internet when ever I wish,I mean I am paying for it aren't I ? Please get it together Hughesnet.com.  After all it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out does it? Sincerely , James H. Shurley