I originally signed up with Directv 3 years ago. It was the standard two year contract with lots of discounts, mostly in the first year. I had been paying full price (except free HD for life) for a while now. I read through past success stories on this forum of getting great discounts, formulated my plan, and took my stab at it today. I figured I would share my success story. If anyone out there hasn't called for discounts -- do it!!
I got:
- $45/mo off for 12 months
- $15/mo off for months 13-15
- NFL Sunday Ticket plus Redzone (not NFL ST Max) free for 2013
- All premium movie channels and sports pack free for 2 months
They gave me the bill credits just for asking -- no strings attached. Then she said if I signed a 1 year contract (and lets me honest, with those discounts, I'm not going anywhere for a year), she would give me NFL ST for free. I said I would do it for NFL ST Max, because I used Redzone and iPad. She said the offer contained Redzone, but she couldn't give me Max, it was not possible. I said if they tossed in HBO free for 3 months I would do it. She countered with all premium channels and sports pack for 2 months and I took it.
If you take the $45 for 12 months and not having to pay for NFL ST Max, it amounts to an $840+tax savings over 12 months! Needless to say, I'm pretty darn happy.
In case anyone else is looking to try this, what did I say? Basically... I said "cancel" at the prompt. Then I said "close account" when it asked if I wanted to modify package or close account. When I got to (presumably) retentions, I said something along the lines of, "My bill has gotten really high. I've been shopping around with different providers. I'm looking to save money. Before I do anything, I wanted to check if I am eligible for any discounts or promotions." She asked a couple questions, including if I was happy with my current hardware (I said I was -- HR24 and H24). Before she offered anything specific, I continued, "I've seen that Dish Network is offering something like $30/mo off, and new Directv customers are being offered something like $35/mo off plus free NFL ST. Am I eligible for something similar?" That was about it. Then she said she was glad I called today because I was eligible for multiple promotions and proceeded to tell me. The only other things I said (trying for NFL ST Max and HBO), I already mentioned above. I don't know how much of it was related to what I said, but this worked for me.
So there ya go.
In case anyone has actually read all the way to the end, I am curious about one thing. I get the feeling that part of my success should be attributed to the fact that I hadn't had any big discounts in a while. What should be my plan be in the future? What have other people had success with? After the discounts lapse, should I pay full price for a couple months, then call back? Call back as soon as the price goes up? Maybe aim my call for August next year for NFL ST?
I got:
- $45/mo off for 12 months
- $15/mo off for months 13-15
- NFL Sunday Ticket plus Redzone (not NFL ST Max) free for 2013
- All premium movie channels and sports pack free for 2 months
They gave me the bill credits just for asking -- no strings attached. Then she said if I signed a 1 year contract (and lets me honest, with those discounts, I'm not going anywhere for a year), she would give me NFL ST for free. I said I would do it for NFL ST Max, because I used Redzone and iPad. She said the offer contained Redzone, but she couldn't give me Max, it was not possible. I said if they tossed in HBO free for 3 months I would do it. She countered with all premium channels and sports pack for 2 months and I took it.
If you take the $45 for 12 months and not having to pay for NFL ST Max, it amounts to an $840+tax savings over 12 months! Needless to say, I'm pretty darn happy.
In case anyone else is looking to try this, what did I say? Basically... I said "cancel" at the prompt. Then I said "close account" when it asked if I wanted to modify package or close account. When I got to (presumably) retentions, I said something along the lines of, "My bill has gotten really high. I've been shopping around with different providers. I'm looking to save money. Before I do anything, I wanted to check if I am eligible for any discounts or promotions." She asked a couple questions, including if I was happy with my current hardware (I said I was -- HR24 and H24). Before she offered anything specific, I continued, "I've seen that Dish Network is offering something like $30/mo off, and new Directv customers are being offered something like $35/mo off plus free NFL ST. Am I eligible for something similar?" That was about it. Then she said she was glad I called today because I was eligible for multiple promotions and proceeded to tell me. The only other things I said (trying for NFL ST Max and HBO), I already mentioned above. I don't know how much of it was related to what I said, but this worked for me.
So there ya go.
In case anyone has actually read all the way to the end, I am curious about one thing. I get the feeling that part of my success should be attributed to the fact that I hadn't had any big discounts in a while. What should be my plan be in the future? What have other people had success with? After the discounts lapse, should I pay full price for a couple months, then call back? Call back as soon as the price goes up? Maybe aim my call for August next year for NFL ST?
