I recently relocated to rural Ohio. Home of frequent power outages, no Nextel service, and …….DIAL-UP!!! Being a Road Runner subscriber for quite some time, I found myself having withdrawals. Panic attacks were frequent, waiting for pages to load. Even writing for Associated Content became a chore. I would write my article, only to hit the “Save & Next” button and have it disappear. Gone forever into the fiber optic web of confusion they call a phone line, here. Something had to be done.
Being on a limited income because of the move, I could not afford to pay out another $500 or so to get satellite service. I jumped at the chance when I heard that Earthlink was offering a no money down plan. This would mean an extra $20 a month on the bill, but I figured that I could make that up with the articles I write. Where do I sign up?
I am a little cautious about new things, though, so I decided to do a little research. First, I found that Hughes Net was one of the few satellite providers out there. Most of the companies who offer satellite service, use Hughes equipment. This is why you will hear it said, “up to” 700 KB or “up to” 1000 KB. There is actually no guarantee as to how fast your system will run. It depends on how much band width your provider has available and how many subscribers they have.
I didn’t care. I wanted something that would allow me to connect in seconds not half hour intervals. I called every service provider I could find. I was determined to find what I wanted. I called my sister and told her what I was doing. She said, “Do NOT go with Earthlink.” Why? “They tried to rip me off!” What?
It seems that she logged onto the same website that I had ran across. She got one of the courteous sales people in chat. They told her that she could sign up that day with no upfront costs and her system would be professionally installed within a week. She printed out the whole chat session, because she thought it was too good to be true. My sister wanted proof of what had transpired. For her sake, it was a good thing.
Steph gave them all her information. She answered all the questions. When they asked for her banking information, she asked why they needed it. They told her it was to confirm her order and who she was. Makes sense, ok. She provided the information. Two days later she was at the bank raising the dead. Earthlink had put a $1,100 debit on her account. It took three weeks to get it all cleared up. Four weeks later, the installer finally came to put up her satellite. By this time, she had totally forgot about him coming. To make a long story short, after some discussion about the dish not being able to go on the roof, she had to pay the installer $125 to do his job. Stephanie now has satellite internet service. And, yes, she has her money back. She is still receiving billing invoices in the amount of $525 every week. That is her experience.
My experience was completely different. I called and explained what I wanted and what I was going to use the service for. I do all my work from home. I was told about the special installation deal that Earthlink was offering. I told the sales rep what my sister had gone through. He told me that he had never heard of such a thing happening and assured me that it would not happen to me. I said ok. I still protected myself.
I gave all the information that was asked of me. Name, address, phone, etc. Then he asked for my banking information. I have a prepaid Visa that I use for paying my bills online. I only put on it what is needed for each bill as it is due. That is the card number and information I gave. I was told to hold for a minute while the information was verified. The sales rep came on the line and told me that my card had been refused because it was invalid. I argued and explained what the card was. I simply said, “I don’t see how it can be invalid. I just used it yesterday. I only keep enough money on it to pay what ever bill is due.” He asked me to hold so he could check it out. He came back on the line and told me everything was a go. I should hear from an installer withing 24 to 48 hours.
48 hours later, I had a woman call to tell me she would like to schedule my installation. I was surprised when she said an installer could be here in 3 days. I set up the appointment. The installer showed up at the set time. He took about an hour and a half to get it all up and running. We have a rather busy household. I was pleased that him being here did nothing to interrupt our routines. He even helped out by taking a kitten with him when he left. There was no charge for the installation.
To recap, my sister was very disappointed with how her account was handled. She did have out of pocket expenses. The stress was almost unbearable when they debited her account. She is still getting a bill for $420 more than the agreed monthly charge. I, on the other hand, had a wonderful experience. Everyone was very professional. My account was opened and set up in a matter of days. I had no out of pocket expenses. I just received my first billing invoice for the agreed price. My internet is working great. I am very happy.
I would recommend Hughes to anyone. Just be cautious. I would suggest that when considering satellite internet service, you ask many questions and guard yourself.
