Discount Success Story

Status
Please reply by conversation.

StealthMonkey

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jul 20, 2010
84
2
Austin, TX
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?
 
Thanks for sharing your story. I'll be calling in the next few days to see what they're willing to do for me. I've been with DirecTV for just over 2 years. My local AT&T Wireless store manager has been trying to convince me to switch to U-Verse for quite some time, offering $500+ in Visa Gift Cards and to pay my early termination fees back when I was still under contract. I've heard quite a bit of bad about U-Verse, but switching from DirecTV/TimeWarner Phone/Internet to one company is attractive. I am pretty happy with DirecTV except for the escalated prices since my initial 12-month deals expired. I have an HR34/700 and am happy with it for the most part, but I hate the H25 I have in my bedroom. Is there any other receiver that I can replace the H25 with that will give me enhanced guide capabilities (2 weeks of programming instead of 1, better series controls for the Genie DVR, etc.)? Are the Genie clients an improvement over the H25? What are the pros/cons?
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.

Slimline Dish conversion

Dish Network customer with questions about switching

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)