Felonious Monk Posted July 24, 2015 Posted July 24, 2015 Called today as well. With a move coming up and my contract up as well, I got: $50 off bill for 12 months $5 off bill for 6 months ST Max for one time pymt of $68 Free Genie upgrade 4 months of Showtime or some other crap I won't watch Satisfied customer here. Their stock went down 69 cents today. They must have panicked.
plenzmd1 Posted July 25, 2015 Posted July 25, 2015 I'm currently paying $94, without the ST, a month for Directv. My phone bill is approximately $50 a month and my internet service costs $77 a month. I can get a bundle with Verizon Fios that covers my phone bill, internet service and TV service for $80, locked in for two years. So instead of paying $207 a month for the combined service I will be paying $80 if I switch to Verizon. Yes I will be giving up the ST but on a yearly basis instead of paying $2484 for the combined service I will instead be paying $960.I have been with Directv for over a decade. I don't feel that I am being unreasonable. So then you are in essence paying $1500 for the ST....now that is a chit ton! you know I never have looked into what that would I could get elsewhere if I dropped DTV and went to a bundle. I assume you have this at the ready when speaking with retention next time.
Nervous Guy Posted July 25, 2015 Posted July 25, 2015 So then you are in essence paying $1500 for the ST....now that is a chit ton! you know I never have looked into what that would I could get elsewhere if I dropped DTV and went to a bundle. I assume you have this at the ready when speaking with retention next time. especially since they just merged with ATT and will be offering a bunch of bundles "soon".
HurlyBurly51 Posted July 25, 2015 Posted July 25, 2015 I'm currently paying $94, without the ST, a month for Directv. My phone bill is approximately $50 a month and my internet service costs $77 a month. I can get a bundle with Verizon Fios that covers my phone bill, internet service and TV service for $80, locked in for two years. So instead of paying $207 a month for the combined service I will be paying $80 if I switch to Verizon. Yes I will be giving up the ST but on a yearly basis instead of paying $2484 for the combined service I will instead be paying $960. I have been with Directv for over a decade. I don't feel that I am being unreasonable. Go with the monthly savings with the Verizon bundle and just subscribe to the digital Sunday Ticket. Sure you pay full fare for the the ticket, but that's a one time pittance compared to your overall cost savings and not really giving up anything.
26CornerBlitz Posted July 25, 2015 Posted July 25, 2015 especially since they just merged with ATT and will be offering a bunch of bundles "soon". Let's hope DirecTV's great customer service doesn't change with AT&T's acquisition.
JohnC Posted July 25, 2015 Posted July 25, 2015 So then you are in essence paying $1500 for the ST....now that is a chit ton! you know I never have looked into what that would I could get elsewhere if I dropped DTV and went to a bundle. I assume you have this at the ready when speaking with retention next time. I did have the figures when I spoke to the retention person. The retention person was offering me $6 discount per payment for ST. There really wasn't much exchange because it was apparent that the rep wasn't going to be moved. I will try again and see if I can get a discount deal. All I was asking for was to get the the ST for free or some discounts that would defray the cost of it. I'll try again.
Mike in Horseheads Posted August 2, 2015 Posted August 2, 2015 I did my annual ritual in August this afternoon. From the sounds of things I didn't do as well as others but got $420 a year off in credits to pay the $239 and 4 months Showtime for free. They also fixed a technical problem I was having. I'm happy, wouldn't have left anyway I love their service and customer support.
Nervous Guy Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 My experience this morning, called to see what kind of discounts I have, since I was laid off in March I had to reduce my programming level to the lowest (no ESPN!), I'm fine with that and they had given me 30 bucks a month for 12 months plus 3 months free all premiums...those 3 months are up in September...I spoke to one of their ACE reps (retention) initially got not much...they could give me MAX for like 240...and nothing else, that is if I renewed my contact as well. I was pretty disappointed, the agent was really dead pan, "nope nothing else"...I hemmed and hawed, said I'd have to call them back, etc...she said "well we want you to be happy, you aren't thinking about leaving are you?"...it was as if she wanted me to say those words, "I am considering switching to cable"...so I did, told her I could get cable and internet for 99 bucks a month....her demeanor completely changed! "well sir, we don't want you to leave, so I can give you MAX free and upgrade your mini geni's to wireless mini's!" She was all of a sudden cheerful and animated. I know that renews my contract for two years, I was never going to leave anyway...so now I got MAX for free and some new equipment for free! Never happened before! The best I could ever do was 1/2 price. WOO HOOO!!!
Gordio Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 My experience this morning, called to see what kind of discounts I have, since I was laid off in March I had to reduce my programming level to the lowest (no ESPN!), I'm fine with that and they had given me 30 bucks a month for 12 months plus 3 months free all premiums...those 3 months are up in September...I spoke to one of their ACE reps (retention) initially got not much...they could give me MAX for like 240...and nothing else, that is if I renewed my contact as well. I was pretty disappointed, the agent was really dead pan, "nope nothing else"...I hemmed and hawed, said I'd have to call them back, etc...she said "well we want you to be happy, you aren't thinking about leaving are you?"...it was as if she wanted me to say those words, "I am considering switching to cable"...so I did, told her I could get cable and internet for 99 bucks a month....her demeanor completely changed! "well sir, we don't want you to leave, so I can give you MAX free and upgrade your mini geni's to wireless mini's!" She was all of a sudden cheerful and animated. I know that renews my contract for two years, I was never going to leave anyway...so now I got MAX for free and some new equipment for free! Never happened before! The best I could ever do was 1/2 price. WOO HOOO!!! Well done Sir, well done.
BuffalOhio Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 I called back in late June when I was driving from Cleveland to the Motherland for my niece's graduation at Niagara-Wheatfield. I talked to some very nice people while complaining about my bill being so high when I have been a customer for every year since June of 2001 through 3 moves. I don't know all the pricing details, but on that particular call they gave me a whole bunch of credits and discounts off my bill and also signed me up for a new Genie and 2 remote receivers and painless installation. The Genie is awesome - it's nice to have only one DVR in the house (more energy efficient for sure) and their technician installed a brand new dish and gave me 4 remotes (basement DVR has two different TV's connected) and set everything up perfectly. It's nice to have one playlist and be able to record up to 5 shows at once and watch that same list in any room. On top of that, my monthly bill went down about $30.00 and they told me they could only give me $6.00 off ST at that time, but more discounts looked to be available in July and to call back then. In July I called and got $9.00 off my ST payment. Reading through these posts that seems like the most I could hope for. Call them, be nice to them and they will nearly bend over backwards for you. Like others have said - I'm not leaving them anytime soon. I just wish they'd apply ALL those credits that we build up as soon as they are there so our bills would just be lower. My payments during ST/CI months are still painful. It's nice to finally have hope for BOTH teams again, however! LET'S GO BUFF-A-LO!!!!
JimmyNoodles Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 I called DTV a couple of weeks ago and they had no discounts for ST. They quoted me me price of $250. The lady told me to call back at the 1st of the month when they might have new "specials", which I did. Again I was told that there were no discounts. I told the gentleman (nicely) that I needed to cancel my service immediately. I owed them 11 months on contract, so I would have to pay $220. I said fine. They sent my confirmation of cancelation email but never actually turned the service off. The next afternoon I got a call from them asking what the problems was. I told them about ST and the woman immediately gave me ST Max for free, and I wasn't even asking for the Max package. She then asked if they could help in any other way and I told them I'd like to keep the bill as low as possible. She gave me $10 off my bill, lowering the payment to $43 (pre tax) a month. She also gave me HBO, Max, and Showtime free for 3 months. Last night I'm flipping through channels and it looks like I'm also on some upgraded package because I've got a bunch of other new channels that I didn't have since I first started the service. The lady told me this was a one year contract, so not sure if this is an additional year or just the year I already owed them. Anyway, couldn't be happier!!
Jukester Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 Called today as well. With a move coming up and my contract up as well, I got: $50 off bill for 12 months $5 off bill for 6 months ST Max for one time pymt of $68 Free Genie upgrade 4 months of Showtime or some other crap I won't watch Satisfied customer here. It took 2 calls but I pretty much got the same deal. Note, I came off contract mid-July and all of my discounts had expired. Call 1 – front line rep offered me total of $20/mo off for 1 year, nothing for ST. Asked for retention and they offered me $55/mo off for 1 year, nothing showing available in my account for ST. When I said I had to think about it without ST, he said he would check with a manager. They were slammed so he said he’d call me back after manager was available. Never got a call back. Time: 35 mins Call 2 – asked for retention and the lady was super nice. She saw my call from 2 days before and asked what else I was looking for. When I mentioned ST, she checked and offered it free immediately, on top of the already documented $55 off. This was based on 1 yr commitment. I asked if she could upgrade me to Max and she knocked off $34 from the upgrade, so I'm getting the $354 max package for a total price of $68 like BillnutinHouston. I also did an equipment upgrade but that was separate from the above and required a 2 yr commitment. Time: about 1 hour because the final verification people didn’t show all the deals and they had to transfer me back and forth a couple times Package savings: $55 x 12 = $660 ST Max savings: $252 + $34 = $286 Total savings: $946 My annual thanks to all that contributed to this thread for their advice and tips.
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 I called back in late June when I was driving from Cleveland to the Motherland for my niece's graduation at Niagara-Wheatfield. I talked to some very nice people while complaining about my bill being so high when I have been a customer for every year since June of 2001 through 3 moves. I don't know all the pricing details, but on that particular call they gave me a whole bunch of credits and discounts off my bill and also signed me up for a new Genie and 2 remote receivers and painless installation. The Genie is awesome - it's nice to have only one DVR in the house (more energy efficient for sure) and their technician installed a brand new dish and gave me 4 remotes (basement DVR has two different TV's connected) and set everything up perfectly. It's nice to have one playlist and be able to record up to 5 shows at once and watch that same list in any room. On top of that, my monthly bill went down about $30.00 and they told me they could only give me $6.00 off ST at that time, but more discounts looked to be available in July and to call back then. In July I called and got $9.00 off my ST payment. Reading through these posts that seems like the most I could hope for. Call them, be nice to them and they will nearly bend over backwards for you. Like others have said - I'm not leaving them anytime soon. I just wish they'd apply ALL those credits that we build up as soon as they are there so our bills would just be lower. My payments during ST/CI months are still painful. It's nice to finally have hope for BOTH teams again, however! LET'S GO BUFF-A-LO!!!! If you have multiple DVRs still see one playlist it's just managing the recordings that's a pain. I have a genie but still two other legacy DVRs
TheLynchTrain Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) Digital Sunday Ticket (sundayticket.tv) just opened up their prices this year - its 199 again for a laptop, 259 for TV connected through a console, or 359 for everything and red zone and fantasy zone. I got the laptop deal (which I just hdmi to my tv) last year for the same price and I'm doing it again. I really didn't experience any of the connection issues I've heard others talk about, but then again I've got pretty fast internet. EDIT: Looks like you can split payments in 4 months for no additional charge for those that like to do that business Edited August 4, 2015 by TheLynchTrain
TheFunPolice Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 So can you order the digital package this year without having them deem you worthy of giving them your money? I live in an apartment building that does not allow dishes, but the building wasn't on the secret special list of addresses that could subscribe to the digital package via Xbox/laptop, etc. so instead of them getting my money they got nothing.
beggar13 Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 I made a call today and took care of this. Unfortunately, I just don't live in a big enough town where there's a good place to catch a game. I just don't want to deal with crappy streams either. The only thing is, I only really need it for FIVE games this season... I'm going to three games in person The London game will be streamed Two games are prime time The Houston game will play locally The nine other games will be split between my driving to watch them in Austin with my son, and him driving home to watch them. Anyway, here's what they ended up giving me: Four payments of $41.99 for the Max package (Red Zone and streaming included) $13 off my bill for 12 months $5 off my bill for 6 months $7 off HBO for 6 months Not too bad. I've been a customer for 12 years, so that helps. They really need to offer games individually for people like me who only need to watch a handful of games.
TheLynchTrain Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 So can you order the digital package this year without having them deem you worthy of giving them your money? I live in an apartment building that does not allow dishes, but the building wasn't on the secret special list of addresses that could subscribe to the digital package via Xbox/laptop, etc. so instead of them getting my money they got nothing. I think they've done the xbox/playstation things a few years back but last year was the first year they allowed laptop/mobile access as well for $199, provided you passed through their "eligibility" requirements. The website says they've expanded the number of locations available. Definitely check it out, its worth the money.
FLbills Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 I called and asked for customer retention and spoke to them. They told me that since I paid last year they could do it for free this year. I negotiated my bill last year and had it at a very reduced rate. Good on directv for keeping their customers happy.
ExWNYer Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) Made the customer retention call today with the following credits: $30 credit for 12 months Customer Loyalty with 12 month agreement $10 credit for 12 months HD DVR Service $10 credit for 12 months Premier Discount $10 credit for 6 months Sports Pak $7 credit for 6 months HBO $7 credit for 6 months Showtime $7 credit for 6 months CineMax $5 credit for 6 months Value Discount I am already getting Sunday Ticket Max on auto renewal for 4 payments of $40.99 so I settled for that given all of the other discounts they added to my account. They are also replacing an older HD DVR and a non-functioning AM-21 OTA Tuner at no cost with an appointment tomorrow morning. DirecTV comes through again for me. Just made my annual call...this was the toughest one yet and I've been with them since 1998. In the end though, I'm happy. Started off going straight to customer retention (didn't realize I had gotten there initially). The woman I talked with was very nice but could only offer me a $3 credit for 12 months off of a "regional sports fee" plus an additional $5 credit for 6 months off of my Sports Pak. I then asked her if she could connect me to customer retention and she said that they were the retention dept. I asked if someone there could help me with the price of Sunday Ticket and she said that her supervisor could. She put me on hold for a minute then came back (I never talked with the supe) and said that they could only offer me $9 off of each of my four ST payments. I said that I appreciated it but that wouldn't help my bill much and maybe I should just set up a cancellation date for a couple of weeks out. She said, "you want to set up a date to cancel?" I said, "I think I'd better. My wife is looking at a deal from Xfinity...triple play with a $250 Visa Prepaid card." Note: That deal was the truth but the part about my wife looking at it wasn't. I always use her as the 'bad cop' to my 'good cop'. The rep then said that she was sorry that she couldn't do more, wished me "a blessed day", and said she would transfer me to someone who could schedule my cancellation date. After a minute I was transferred to a chipper guy who asked how I was doing & "what exactly was going on today?" I laid out the above scenario for him & he then offered to take a look at what he could do for me. He included the two discounts the other rep had added, then tacked on some additional discounts to get the bill lowered a little. He then said that they could get me the ST added & keep my monthly bill about the same. I asked if that was the ST Max & he said that it was just the standard ST but he could apply a one time discount to cover the ST Max. Long story short (too late, I know), this is what I got: $3 credit for 12 months off of a "regional sports fee". $5 credit for 6 months off of my Sports Pak. $5 credit for 6 months off of my base package. $5 additional credit for 12 months off of my base package. $10 additional credit for 12 months off of my base package. $10 Advanced Receiver -DVR credit for 12 months. $102 one time credit for Sunday Ticket Max Free Sunday Ticket (standard) Oh, yeah...he also threw in 4 months free of Showtime without me even asking. Good luck to everybody else planning to make a call. Edited August 4, 2015 by ExWNYer
Captain Caveman Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) Looks like my address is not eligible for the online only package. Tried my folks' address as well. This is BS. Edited August 4, 2015 by Captain Caveman
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