Hughesnet has many deceptive practices which you cannot escape. Buyer Beware! Internet

We moved into a new place in a remote area and our Internet options were limited. We called for Hughesnet Installation. I specifically told them I did not want any kind of contract, as we are itinerant, so we never know how long we are going to be in a particular location. I was only willing to sign up with them on a month to month basis. Nothing was mentioned about any kind of contract. When we received our order form, it only stated that we would receive three months service at a specific rate, and that if we continued with them beyond the three months, our service would go up $10. Our first surprise was when they automatically debited our card without our authorization. We called and were told that's standard procedure and we could do nothing about it. Our second surprise was when they billed us on the 4th month, and it had gone up $20 instead of $10. 

During the first three months, we did have a problem which we called Customer Service about our bonus bandwidth. This was to be used between the hours of 2 am and 8 am. When we used it, it just kept debiting from our regular bandwidth. When we called customer and tech support, we got a huge runaround, and it was never resolved.  During the first 3 months, we never exceeded our capped bandwidth. During the 4th month, even though we were using the service *less*, our bandwidth disappeared twice as fast, and mid-month we had no bandwidth left. 

We were able to get some free restore tokens, but we would run through 100 MB of bandwidth every 36 hours. So, today I called to cancel our service. My partner and I agreed we would go without service rather than put up with that. Of course customer retention pulled out all the stops. I understand that; I used to work for call centers, too. During that conversation, she told me that perhaps my modem was defective and needed to be changed. I told her I doubted that, that new modems didn't work perfectly fine for 3 months and then start draining bandwidth. When I insisted on cancelling, she started in telling me that I had only paid for 4 months out of a 24 month contract so there would be penalties. I argued with her that we had signed no contract. I asked her to show me something with my signature on it where I had signed up for a 24 month contract. She said there would be no such contract because I had initiated it by phone. I have had contracts with many other providers over the years, all initiated by phone, and if there was a contract, I received something either for electronic signature, or paperwork to be signed and sent back. Then she told me that I automatically initiated a contract when my equipment had been replaced. I told her my equipment had never been replaced. She kept saying, "I'm sorry you feel that way, Ma'am." Sorry I *feel* like I never had my equipment replaced or initiated any contract? I asked to speak to her supervisor, and the same rigamarole was repeated, and I was told that as soon as I cancelled I would be charged. 

I was also told when I cancelled service today that I would be responsible for uninstalling and returning the equipment or I would be charged for that. I told them they could send back the guy who installed it for us to pick it up. Nothing was resolved on that score, either.