Why is my bill automatically taken out on the day the bill is generated? $5.00 for paper bill. Customer service is impossabile to talk to.

[don9]

Why is my bill automatically taken out on the day the bill is generated? $5.00 charge for paper bill. Customer service is impossabile to talk to on the phone.  On a fixed income and just want to see my bill before they raid my account for payment not after.

[HughesNetCorpor]

Good Morning Don,
I'm a customer here on the community like yourself, and quite frankly, out of all the questions/complaints I have seen pop up on this board over the last few weeks, some of which have been quite ridiculous, you question is probably one of the most reasonable ones I've seen and quite honestly, I have to agree with you as far as the way HughesNet has set up their billing and auto charging of services.

It's quite odd that they charge your credit/debit card on the same day that your bill is actually generated. Most companies don't do that.

Like you, and many people i'm sure, it would be nice to have a few days to review the bill for any possible errors and/or be able to choose our own automated payment schedule.
I actually just changed my DirecTV auto bill date via their website just a few days ago.
Unlike HughesNet, DirecTV allows you to choose your own auto bill pay date between the day your bill is first generated, right up until the day the bill is due, which is usually about 14 days.
They also give the customer a choice whether or not to enroll in auto pay. It's not mandatory like it is with HughesNet. If you choose not to enroll in auto pay, you can pay via their website using a major credit card/debit card or checking account.

I think HughesNet should really take some time to look into this and perhaps offer alternative payment methods and/or give the customer a choice in his or her own billing date each month.

As far as the 'paper' billing is concerned..I actually wasn't aware that HughesNet offered to mail out a bill in lieu of automatic billing, but I can only guess that the $5 charge is to cover the cost of printing/mailing. I know how ridiculous that may seem these days, but most all companies, including banks etc, are requesting and/or requiring that their customers transition over to 'paperless' billing as it is just more cost efficient. 

[GabeU]

I think the $5 is more of a push to get people to go on auto billing.  I've been paying the $5 charge per month since signing up in 2004, but that's only because I don't trust anyone to have control over what they can take out of my account.  I pay all of my bills manually.  With that said, Hughesnet is, and has been, the only one to ever charge me for a paper bill.  Although the other companies I deal with try to get me to go on auto billing, all of them offer paper free billing with the option to still pay my bill manually, which I take advantage of.  Hughesnet could do the same.  This is why I feel that the $5 is not really to cover the paper bill, but just to try to get people to go on auto billing.

With that said, regarding their auto billing, the amount is going to be the same every month (barring promotions and such), and is also due on the same day every month.  If people want a record of their bill they can print one.  But again, being that it's billed on the same day every month, and it's generally going to be the same amount every time, it shouldn't be a surprise.     

[GabeU]

don,

Barring the end of a promotion or a user requested add on, the bill will be the same every month, and charged on the same day every month.  If you sign into the dashboard and look at your bill, you should be able to print it if you want a record of it. 

[Chris11]

Hello Don,

The billing can be a bit confusing. Let me help clear this up for you. There are two different dates when it comes to our billing system. There is a Bill date and a Due date. Bill dates are mainly for invoice customers. To give customers time to receive then pay their bill once it comes in the mail, there is a time difference set. Which allows for leeway so that the system does not auto interrupt service. Everyone has both dates, however auto pay users are charged the same day as the bill date. If for whatever reason, the system is unable to retrieve payment, it will continue to attempt to retrieve the payment for 10 days(Due date). 

The process is a bit old school, and I personally agree that we can make some improvements in this aspect. You just have to remember, most systems in place are conducive to our user base. We appreciate the feedback, and will pass along your remarks to our respective departments. If you need anything else feel free to let us know.

Thank you,
Chris