Complaint Review: HughesNet

We obtained HughesNet internet service because it said that it provided faster internet speeds. Since my husband is in the business where he consistently works with computers I told the woman that we needed the best that they offered. She said that they had a Plus service for $99.99 per month. I purchased our equipment. That was also over $300. I had only experienced cable in the past. I was not told that they stop giving you high speed internet after only 20 meg of downloads. Now their downloads include browsing, going on facebook, checking your email, watching movies, and any other normal activity that is done on the computer. So, after one week of service our internet connection came to an almost standstill. I did a speeed check. It came up to a whooping .14 mpbs. A far cry from what I was paying for. We received no warning that our service was going to be interrupted. I mean I had given these people over $400 and for less than a week of service we were cut off.

I called the tech support, because I had no idea that they would do this. He was the one that informed me. I told him that this was a breach of contract. That before you could do anything like this the customer had to be fully informed of this type of business practice. You could not just arbitrarily assume that they knew that normal web browsing was considered "downloading." That is ludicrous. Not to mention that we are paying double what most DSL companies pay for not limiting the usage you have. Why would anyone with a smidge of intelligence sign up for such a service if they actually knew that they practiced this? 

I believe that this company should be investigated by the FCC for such practices. It cannot be legal to promise a service and then not tell the consumer what is included in those limitations. I wasn't worried about the "downloading" because we don't do a lot of what downloading is normaly considered. Streaming has never been considered downloading in my book. Opening gmail was never considered downloading. Checking my facebook messages was never considered downloading.

I plan on getting out of this bogus contract. A legally binding contract has to benefit both parties, and I do not believe that where one company takes your money for a service that it limits without full disclosure is legally binding.