San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 20, 2012 Posted July 20, 2012 I've been too busy with more important things to make a timely call on this but I did finally call DirecTV this morning. I've never been a super hardcore haggler but I admit to getting better and more determined about it as I get older. You come to the realization that you only make so much money during your lifetime so that being the case, you have to make a conscious effort to maximize your value at every turn and not piss stuff away like I frequently did when I was young. In other words to you young whippersnappers: learn to drive a hard bargain. It'll benefit you and the people you do business with are EXPECTING IT ANYWAYS. Okay. So I called and after the heavily slanted message about the Viacom agreement, the automated prompt said "tell me the reason for your call today" I said "Retention." I did not get Retention. Tip: The moment the person starts speaking with you tell them that you want to speak with retention… unless you like wasting your time by using your sales pitch twice. Once I got to Retention I explained that I was a longtime loyal customer and was annoyed that there was no announcement of the Viacom dispute. I told them that we missed some of our favorite programs (BIG LIE). I did the usual complaint about new customers getting NFL Sunday Ticket and mentioned to them that I paid $179 last year for the NFL Sunday Ticket Max and that I thought it was ridiculous to have to waste everyone's time by calling each year to haggle. Long story short, I got the Sunday Ticket Max for $147 with no additional taxes or fees, and we got a $10 credit for the next two months ($20 total) for the Viacom dispute. Then she (Crystal) noticed that we had older equipment (a 2008 year, HR21 in the bedroom) and said that she could upgrade our equipment for free. She said it wouldn't be brand new but it would be better than what we have and would probably be a refurbished HR24 which I hear are pretty good. So for my 20 minute phone call I got a $152 dollar discount, a $20 credit, and a newer HD DVR. Some of you will do better and some worse but I'm satisfied with what I got.
plenzmd1 Posted July 20, 2012 Posted July 20, 2012 I have two HR24-500s and they work great. I've been with DTV for a long time, and I've never had a box go out on me (knock on wood). The new HR34 is phenomenal -- five tuners and PIP. Here's a really good forum if you want to keep up with what's happening with their equipment: DBSTalk HAHA..lord we are getting old. I remember being on this forum with you talking about how to get the OTA antennas, with plenty of talk about which antenna to buy to boot, to work with the HR 10's!!!! Had no idea these rigs were coming out..5 tuners sound crazy..I have three HD DVRs now..never record six things at once LOL
Snorom Posted July 20, 2012 Posted July 20, 2012 DirecTV is not to blame for this issue. this was all Viacom trying to hold DirecTV hostage and force them to pay for more channels from Viacom that none of us want. If they would of caved DirecTV would be forced ot raise rates and we pay more for some crappy Viacom channels I personally support DirecTV's hard balling Viacom.. In fact I sent some nasty grams to Viacom for what they tried to do.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 20, 2012 Posted July 20, 2012 DirecTV is not to blame for this issue. I personally support DirecTV's hard balling Viacom.. In fact I sent some nasty grams to Viacom for what they tried to do. With an attitude like that you'll never get the discount on your NFL Sunday Ticket.
Lv-Bills Posted July 20, 2012 Posted July 20, 2012 With an attitude like that you'll never get the discount on your NFL Sunday Ticket.
dollars 2 donuts Posted July 21, 2012 Posted July 21, 2012 Dang it...I think the dispute got settled. Received it in an email.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 21, 2012 Posted July 21, 2012 Dang it...I think the dispute got settled. Received it in an email. Yeah that's why I didn't get quite as good a deal as others may have. But it was still worth getting the annual ritual done and over with.
HurlyBurly51 Posted July 21, 2012 Posted July 21, 2012 HAHA..lord we are getting old. I remember being on this forum with you talking about how to get the OTA antennas, with plenty of talk about which antenna to buy to boot, to work with the HR 10's!!!! Had no idea these rigs were coming out..5 tuners sound crazy..I have three HD DVRs now..never record six things at once LOL I actually have the AM21 paired with my HR34 for my OTA on that same old antenna from the HR10
first_and_ten Posted July 21, 2012 Posted July 21, 2012 Yeah that's why I didn't get quite as good a deal as others may have. But it was still worth getting the annual ritual done and over with. I called anyway, asked why do new customers get the Sunday ticket for free and when does my contract expire. He said because I was a loyal custumer who paid on time always...I would be eligible for some discounts. I got the Sunday ticket for free for 2012 and a $30 discount on my bill for 12 months. Overall a $560 savings for the year. Not bad for a 15 minute call. Thanks cmjoyce113 for starting this thread.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 21, 2012 Posted July 21, 2012 I called anyway, asked why do new customers get the Sunday ticket for free and when does my contract expire. He said because I was a loyal custumer who paid on time always...I would be eligible for some discounts. I got the Sunday ticket for free for 2012 and a $30 discount on my bill for 12 months. Overall a $560 savings for the year. Not bad for a 15 minute call. Thanks cmjoyce113 for starting this thread.
zow2 Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 Update ---- I called in this morning because we are 1 week into not having channels. I just asked for customer retention. When the lady answered I said look I am not trying to threaten to cancel, I am not in the mood to play that game this morning. I would like the on demand set up on 2 of my TV's and I don't want to pay for it. She said ok, gave me 2 of them ($120 value). I also said can you discount the College Football pack and I wanted to sign up for HBO. For College Football it works out to me paying $9.99 the 4th month. She credited me $29.99 for 3 months and $20 the 4th month. As for HBO she gave me a few different cost options and then just told me she would give me all of the movie channels and sports package free for 2 months and it would shut off after 2 months so I don't get billed. Moral of the story: it might be worth a second call with the 2nd call just being honest, nice and asking for more. Just thought I'd help. I called about getting a break for ESPN Gameplan college football. The lady in retention i spoke with was nice but said in her long career at Directv, she has never seen a discount given for Gameplan. After a few minutes of back and forth i could tell she wasn't BS'ing me. Without asking she gave me a $60 credit ($10 per month x 6) as an "HD credit". So in the end this will offset about 50% of the Gameplan price. I already got my deal for Sunday Ticket so this call was worth $60. I was fine with it.
eball Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 HAHA..lord we are getting old. I remember being on this forum with you talking about how to get the OTA antennas, with plenty of talk about which antenna to buy to boot, to work with the HR 10's!!!! Had no idea these rigs were coming out..5 tuners sound crazy..I have three HD DVRs now..never record six things at once LOL Ain't that the truth. I agree the 5 tuners sounds crazy, but it's fantastic. Couple of things recording simultaneously, while you're also using doubleplay to flip between two other shows...it's gold.
nucci Posted July 27, 2012 Posted July 27, 2012 Made my annual call. Didn't even have to say much. Asked if there were any specials and mentioned I may have to cancel HOB/Showtime to pay for Sunday Ticket. Got 1/2 off Sunday Ticket Max $10/month off movie channels for 6 months Free HD for 1 year $20/month off programming for 1 year. I love DirecTV!!
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