I have had the Sunday ticket since it came out. Before 2002 i just used direct TV for that, after 2002 i decided to switch after the cable companies kept moving up the price. When the NFL network came out there was no going back to cable as some don't get that channel. For me whenever i call i always say cancel service at the prompt, and it asks you if you want to change or cancel and say cancel again. This gets you to the customer retention dept. When i talk to them i don't even put on a show. I call about every 3 months and ask what offers they have available and they give it to me. No threats or anything you just have to deal with the right dept. I called about the ticket and i got 40 bucks off of the full ticket being a total of 260, showtime free for a year, stars free for 6 months and 10 bucks a month off of my service. I made no threats just asked what offers are available. They are really nice in that department and i have had no problems.
A few months ago i tried to call and get my kids rooms updated to HD receivers for the SWIM so they could watch the recorded shows. The regular customer service told me that i could buy one and get one free, i also wanted the cinema adapter for on-demand that you need once going to SWIM. Altogether it was going to be 25 for the cinema part, 100 for one HD receiver, and 50 for the visit for install for a total of 175. I called right back and talked to the retention dept, and it was all was free. So bottom line talk to them for everything. She did tell me that doing equipment upgrades like that for free are typically only done every 24 months, maybe as little as a year depending on your account history and length of service and how often you ask for them, but that is when dealing with the retention dept not regular service they have much more stringent restrictions put on them(so don't use them).