Referral denied at purchase....help.

[Bosephus]

I took the plunge and made the switch from E* to D* last night. I phoned in my order to see what kind of deals I could get and also take advantage of a refer a friend offer from a current D* subscriber who helped me make the switch.

The rep was very nice and I got a great deal. After all of the credit checks were run I told him I was referred to D* by one of their current customers. This referral gets my friend a monthly discount for a few months as well as giving me a discount. The rep told me he could not process my request because he had already passed the "referral screen" on his computer. He talked to his supervisor and was told only I could receive a discount if I referred someone else because it was too late. He said the only way I could now get my friend the discount was to cancel this order and start over. I didn't want to spend another 45 mins on the phone doing an entire new order and possibly make things more complicated.

Besides calling customer service back and pleading my case to ultimately be rejected (my guess anyway), is there an email address or another number I can use so that the refer a friend discount applies? I'm not so much worried about my own bill and getting something for free. I just want to make sure my friend gets the proper credit for steering me towards D*. Any suggestions?

 

[CRendall]

I signed up my mother-in-law and said I was referring her so we would both get the credit. I mentioned this upfront when I first called and the person said she couldn't do it right then for some reason and that I had to call back the next day. I called the next day and they said no problem and that it would be applied to both our accounts. The credit never showed up and when I contacted DirecTV again about it they said I had to call a special 800 number to get the credit and it was now too late. I was not very happy and I told DirecTV I would no longer refer anyone to there service and they need to improve the customer service.

If DirecTV is not going to honor the referral credits they need to stop advertising this.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am interested in hearing about this. A few people have commented to me that this has also happened to them in the past few weeks.

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Bosephus]

I mentioned this upfront when I first called and the person said she couldn't do it right then for some reason and that I had to call back the next day. I called the next day and they said no problem and that it would be applied to both our accounts. The credit never showed up and when I contacted DirecTV again about it they said I had to call a special 800 number to get the credit and it was now too late. .

Interesting. I'll let you know what I find out. I work in customer service and there is always a way to adjust things on a bill despite what a rep might tell you. Whether it be "past the screen" to do that or "too late" There is always a way.

 

[jdspencer]

I take it that there is no "Back" button on the CSR's screens.

I think an email to Ellen Filiapak is in order.

 

[ChrisK114]

I am interested in hearing about this. A few people have commented to me that this has also happened to them in the past few weeks.

Has this happened to anyone else?

I referred a friend and they forgot to tell them when they called in the order. They called right back and the CSR told them it was too late.

 

[dslate69]

Anyone recommending D* should be telling them to use the AAA discount if they are a real friend. AAA = -$10 for 24 months instead of just 5 plus a free 2nd HD receiver or only $99 for the 2nd HD-DVR. Even if they have to sign up for AAA it more than pays for itself and eclipses the referral deal.
I know the referrer doesn't get a cut, so if you really don't like the person keep doing what your doing. :up

 

[jcrandall]

Anyone recommending D* should be telling them to use the AAA discount if they are a real friend. AAA = -$10 for 24 months instead of just 5 plus a free 2nd HD receiver or only $99 for the 2nd HD-DVR. Even if they have to sign up for AAA it more than pays for itself and eclipses the referral deal.
I know the referrer doesn't get a cut, so if you really don't like the person keep doing what your doing. :up

Actually, AAA customers often can get the referral and AAA discounts, if you ask nicely when calling the AAA signup number.

 

[dslate69]

Actually, AAA customers often can get the referral and AAA discounts, if you ask nicely when calling the AAA signup number.

You would know better than I but in all the threads I have seen many have tried and I haven't seen one claim success on their bill.

 

[Zynergi]

If you do not mention it from the get go you wont get it, they have to process the order different, the only way if you havnt completed it, is to cancel it and start over.

 

[johnml]

I have had it happen to me too. directv told my friend they couldnt apply the credit, because it was too late. Well, I called back and ranted about this to the CSR about how it wasnt right ect... They agreed and applied the credit to my bill and even threw in three months of Starz and Showtime. In all my experiance with Directv, They always in the end make things right.

 

[dslate69]

I stand corrected.

 

[Bosephus]

Update- Go Directv!

So I decided to email customer service and got a bogus response basically stating that I didn't call the special referral line or web address and was told too bad. So I emailed Ellen Filiapak this morning and by 3pm this afternoon a rep from the customer advocacy dept. called me. I explained the situation again and the rep asked for my friend's account number and said he would take care of it. He said it wouldn't show up on either of our bills for probably 2 months but the credits will apply now. So we shall see in a couple months...


Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

 

[Jimbo]

So I decided to email customer service and got a bogus response basically stating that I didn't call the special referral line or web address and was told too bad. So I emailed Ellen Filiapak this morning and by 3pm this afternoon a rep from the customer advocacy dept. called me. I explained the situation again and the rep asked for my friend's account number and said he would take care of it. He said it wouldn't show up on either of our bills for probably 2 months but the credits will apply now. So we shall see in a couple months...


Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

As is stated in the link, you need to call this specific phone number.
1-800-507-4045

https://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/wizard/referralProgram.jsp

I referred a friend as well several years back and was unable to get the deal as he was not aware of a particular number he had to call, I was unaware of it at the time as well.

Jimbo

 

[CFilkins]

It sounds like they like to cause all sorts of issues with the referral program. I called via the AAA signup number, and asked about the AAA discount and the friend referral, and was given the green light, even quoted what my monthly bill would be. Followed up a couple of days after the install and was told that I could not get the referral...after many emails and a heated phone call, I was transferred to retention (after explaining that it was bait and switch to quote me one price, install it, and then tell me it's a higher price), and they made things right. But it should have NEVER had to go that far.

 

[Coaster fiend]

Repeat story/new thread

My neighbors used my account number for the refer a friend. It all went well for them, but for me it was a different story. It appears that applying the discount is a "programming" change and as such I lost the grandfathered DVR service in my Premiere package. What a nightmare. Essentially, the discount disappeared in the new DVR service charge for 5 months and then the bill goes up. I don't like anyone enough to go through that again.