CenturyLink billing me for Directv

[upsss]

Any disadvantages/problems letting CenturyLink bill me for my Directv service.

I signed directly with Directv a 2 year contract with direct billing. CenturyLink say now if I "let them" bill me for my Directv they will discount my DSL service by $5 a month. BTW, I got a much better deal signing directly with Directv than signing through CenturyLink.

 

[Mr Tony]

you will be fine

I did this for almost 3 years until I moved into a MDU setup (they cant do that now)

Basically Directv bills Centurylink who bills you and gives you a discount. I got $5 off D* and $10 off my DSL.
You call Directv for everything EXCEPT billing.
Yes you can still get credits
Yes you can view your account online

 

[upsss]

Thanks Iceberg, can you pay your bill with a credit card or you have to pay from your checking account?

 

[NGeorge]

I have a friend I set this up for... his Verizon cell/D*/CenturyLink VDSL accounts all merged into CenturyLink... $10 off DSL, 5 off each D* and Verizon... not a bad deal, does work with a credit card, and since he has the 3 services they qualify for "triple play pricing" even though he just has dry DSL and no home phone... all his D* and Verizon discounts transferred no problem, and the CL discount comes off the top. D*/Verizon handles all pricing and discounts--except for bill paying which goes through Century.

If CL had their VDSL/fiber (20 meg service) here I'd consider it for sure -- but it tops out at 1.5 megs at my current place, and tops out at 5 megs even in the best places here, so Comcast via Earthlink is still the best option for D* subscribers who want to save a few bucks (no "no TV" $13 fee) and don't have decent DSL options.

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks Iceberg, can you pay your bill with a credit card or you have to pay from your checking account?

either or
I sent a check last month to CL but usually just pay it online with either a cc or my bank account (same thing actually. the cc is just a check/debit card)

 

[Richfunb]

One thing to consider, Century Link is rolling out their own television service, PRISM, in many markets.
http://www.centurylink.com/prismtv/
They just began service in Colorado Springs and already sell the service in Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and Missouri. It may just be a matter of time before they drop DirecTV or at least eliminate the discounts.

 

[Blueridge66]

I ran into a couple of issues that caused me to "unbundle" rather than fuss with CL. For the first 6 months everything was fine bundling my Extra Choice Classic package. Then without notice I saw the discount went away. Calls to CL pointed the finger toward DTV. Calls to DTV pointed the finger toward CL. CL told me the Classic package wasn't eligible for bundling. Finally got to a CSR that said CL had made a mistake and I got credit on the next bill for last month but no discount for the present month..... so another round of calling yielded the word from CL that the last month's ordeal was a mistake on the part of the CSR and the Classic package did not qualify... so life was too short and I unbundled. When I did the process was almost instant BUT I had to go back thru the process of setting up electronic billing with DTV. Another issue was if you want info on past DTV bills CL only has data from the time you start bundling. DTV will not or would not providing any past billing information if you are bundled with CL. Finally if I wanted to see the actual DTV part of the CL bill I had to log onto my CL account. When DTV sends the electronic notice of next month's bill the actual amount is included in the notice. Any case for me it just wasn't worth it since I got no discount for bundling. For 6 months it worked fine.

 

[Blueridge66]

(deleted)

 

[Mr Tony]

I was on Choice Xtra Classic for almost a year and got billed properly

Directv does all the D* credits.....all Centurylink does is add the bundling discount.
Since I moved into a MDU I can't bundle anymore. When I look at my account on 2/19 it shows "Billing" and then an amount that was billed to Centurylink. My CL bill matches the amount but then adds the $5 credit

 

[skysurfer]

One thing to consider, Century Link is rolling out their own television service, PRISM, in many markets.
http://www.centurylink.com/prismtv/

looks interesting. I'll have to see if it's in my market in 20 months. I wonder how I'll tell if the service has made it to my market since the markets aren't listed on the Prism page other than thinking the CL ads won't mention DIRECTV or CL will spend a lot of money on ads touting the new PRISM service.

 

[upsss]

looks interesting. I'll have to see if it's in my market in 20 months. I wonder how I'll tell if the service has made it to my market since the markets aren't listed on the Prism page other than thinking the CL ads won't mention DIRECTV or CL will spend a lot of money on ads touting the new PRISM service.

Just pretend you are a new customer that wants to sign up. It will tell you if the Prism service is available in your area.

 

[Richfunb]

When you access the PRISM website, click on "Channel Lineup." It will show the locations where PRISM is currently available and the corresponding channels available.