Hughesnet Formerly Direcway And Direcpc ripoff claims "super fast" broadband service. they claim 900 kbs DL/200 kbs UPL. your lucky if you consistantly get 50% of that. Chicago Illinois

I am hoping that someone files a Class Action lawsuit against this horrible excuse for a company. My experience has been one of disappointment after disappointment.

How I got involved with them was when they were origionally Direcway, I saw the ad for "super fast highspeed" broadband for people who live out of the areas where DSL and Cable are provided. I thought, wow an answer to my prayers. I was so tired of DialUp.

So I called up and got my credit card ready. Thats when the salesperson told me the steep price because you have to buy the equipment as well, so its 59.99 per month plus an additional 40$ a month for the equipment. for a year and a half.

Well, I decided that for that price I would just stick with dialup. But after a few more months of dealing with my horribly slow dialup. I broke down and called again. The sales person raved about how happy I was going to be, I was asking questions about the reliability of it since its a relatively new technology. wow he blew some serious smoke up my behind.

So I put in the order. and a tech came out to install... he proceeded to tell me that he needed to install a "custom" pole assembly in my yard for 225$ because from my roof he couldnt get signal from the satellite. hmmm... interesting concept, better reception 5 feet off the ground then 20. Well, he is the expert, and I really wanted my "super fast as lightnening" broadband.

Well after he set it up, it was fast for about a click or two then it slowed down. thats when he gave me a song and dance about how the satellite and servers need a couple days to "calibrate" my system. Well... I waited.... and waited.... and waited... finally I called tech support... to India or somewhere... to a person who could barely understand what I was saying and kept asking me to repeat myself and I had to do the same just so we could try to understand each other... after a couple grueling hours... I finally gave up...

I took a break for a bit then called again, this time getting another tech from India which did at least speak clearly enough for me to understand. This tech walked me through the speed tests. My speeds fluctuated from a download speed of 400 to 75 kbs and uploads from 112 to 11 kbs and thats only when my internet speeded up enough to RECORD the tests, which was only about 30% of the time..... thats when the tech sprung the "acceptible threshold policy" on me, and explained that it was acceptible to run consistantly at 200 kbs download and 20 kbs upload.... I was shocked... How in the world could that possibly be considered "highspeed" when I purchased a package that was 700 kbs/150 kbs. FUrthermore, why was he telling me this, I had proven that I was unable to consitantly even get THOSE speeds.... he told me to shut off my modem and turn it back on, had me clear cache and reset defaults and some other stuff blah blah blah... steps that I became very familiar with over the next few months... the more it happened the more disappointed I became.

Everytime I called, I got the same instructions over and over again. no matter how many times I told them that that had already been done. Then on top of that. there was no were to complain, no way to contact anyone other then some flunky either in tech support or in billing... there was no real "customer service" dept... they do not even have an email address to deal with customer complaints... simply put... they really just dont care to hear about it. Their technicians can say and do anything they want and you have no real recourse set in place for you.
One tech suggested I upgrade to the Professional Service... for an extra 10 per month... and that should greatly improve my internet speeds... desperate for anything I upgraded....yeah... right... didnt happen...

One time I actually managed to escalate to an "advanced tech" here in the states... I explained to him that I am paying over 100 per month to get connected with slower speeds then my dialup had..... he told me that the satellite was being worked on today and thats why my speed was slow and my problem should improve once they were finished... I asked him if that was why my speed had been bad for the last few months??? he then said in a sarcastic tone "what do you expect me to do, put on an astronaut suit and go up and work on it for you myself?"
I knew at that point that I was barking up the wrong tree... I was disgusted...

I cant even tell you how many times I sat on hold for hours only to be disconnected when I was promised either a supervisor or an "advanced tech" because I would refuse to schedule a "call back" because they would rarely happen and they were totally random... I dont have time to sit around for the next 48 hours and wait for someone to call me then spew crap at me about thresholds and astronaut suits....

So, finally I had enough, I really had it... I was calling customer carewhich is actually just the billing dept. and I was going to speak to a supervisor and that was that.
....
that was like pulling teeth... It took me almost two hours to finally get a supervisor on the phone... she blew smoke up my behind as well... telling me just like all the rest of the people I had previously attempted to explain my situation to, that she understand and agrees and wow how bad I had it blah blah blah ... just a bunch of useless lip service.

I explained that "highspeed" was certainly not what I was getting and I wanted refunded for all the months I had been paying ... furthermore I wanted my speed fixed... I wanted to get what they were promising all over their ads on national television... and last but not least... I wanted someone to explain to me how they can live with themselves, collecting that exhorbitant amount of money on the claim of super high speed then blow off theyre customers when they justly complain about the rediculously wretched service...

I was told that my options were, to either cancel the service and pay the fee to end the contract early... or schedule a call with the advanced technical department... and furthermore... what I was experiencing was a technical issue, not a billing issue so I was calling the wrong department....

I have left alot out because frankly, I am just sick and tired... what I want to do is start researching what exactly is the technical standard for "high speed broadband" when other *reputable* companies advertise it... what kind of speeds are people actually getting from other service providers.... I think thats the starting point... because if they are not providing what the industry standard is. then they are liable for false advertising at the least... and perhaps maybe even fraud. And since they are a national company and this wouldnt be a state issue , perhaps it will even be a federal case... who knows, I am not a lawyer...

However, I think that collecting data is the first step to getting an attorney to take a look at this more closely and perhaps take and interest in our issues...

Its quite obvious to me that there is a case here. We just have to find the right approach, the right data, then the right attorney... if anyone is interested, please do some footwork with me and email it to me... and if anyone wants to organize a website that maybe we can set up to compile all this info... we can advertise for others who may have experienced this... I do know that with a class action lawsuit, a group of people have to all want to sue, it cant just be one person... so, we have to get some good data and organize a bit, then we can solicite attorneys.

I am serious about this. I want to sue them badly. I get so angry everytime I see they're blatant lie of an ad and think about all those people who are more timid and dont complain and just get stuck. or older people who may not understand why they're internet is slow and just accept the excuses the company gives... this companies intercommunication works against even the most diligent customer, making it impossible to get anywhere "real" with a serious complaint. Hughesnets behavior in my opinion is unproffesional and unacceptable.

I am sorry but there is no way that my dialup should be FASTER then my "high speed cutting edge technology broadband"
If they cant provide the service they should be forced to make reperations in the amounts they are charging people... not to mention a big fat fine... So lets do this...

Maryjo
Dover, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.

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