I agree with most, call them tell them things are tight, and that you could easily switch to Dish or TWC, and they will likely send you to retentions dept.
I believe reg CSR's dont usually have the knowledge or power to offer great deals.
When I called in back in August about the Ticket, they transfered me to someone specific and got me 60 off plus The To Go free, and now I recently called in and they told me to wait till march and they will give me a good deal on a HD DVR, so all in all, im happy with DirecTV, they have great CS and they do seem to care. Plus Ive been having hard times too, nd they have worked with me, by giving me extensions on 2-3 different times.