You CAN get NFL Redzone without Sunday Ticket

Status
Please reply by conversation.
With the AMC debacle going on with Dish I am strongly looking at jumping to Direct, but the one thing holding me back is the lack of RZ unless you buy the Sunday Ticket which I don't want.

I read through this thread and it looks like maybe I could sweet talk them into giving me RZ if I jump ship, but I was confused by the comments stating that RZ on Direct isn't the same as RZ on Dish. How are they different? On Dish they fly around the league and show live games where scoring is about to happen and also show replays of scoring plays from other games they couldn't flip to in time. The channel goes on the air right at game time and goes off when the last afternoon game is over. Scott Hanson is the host. What does Direct's RZ have/do?

Andrew siciliano is the host, almost same except they let you know what channel you can find the games on
 
Ive been lurking this forum for awhile now, during the offseason, wondering if what ya'll were saying about getting RedZone for free was true for all of us or just for people who have had Direct for years & years. Well, today I took the plunge and made a phonecall.

Ive only been a customer of DTV for 11 months, and when I signed-on last year they gave me the entire Sunday Ticket for free...RedZone included. I quickly cancelled that in March so that it didnt auto-renew for the $300 or whatever it costs. But I loved having the ST...and loved the RedZone.

The first time I called, I went through the front line CSR and first asked if they had any current promos going on, as my bill is about to go up by about $40 a month when my 12-month discounts end. She began to look up my account info, and while she did that I also mentioned that a neighbor down the street had the RedZone channel last year but didnt have ST, and if there was any way I could get the same thing. Well, she offered me nothing...almost to the point of being rude, she told me she had "never heard of that", then proceeded to tell me the only way to lower my bill was to start taking away channels and lowering my package (which I dont want to do). So I politely said thank you and hung up.

I came back on here and saw how everyone was talking about "Retention Department". So, I figured Id go all-in and called back. This time, in the auto-menus I said "Cancel Service" to the first 2 prompts, and quickly I was taken to a much friendlier rep who started the conversation with "Whats Going On?"....like I was talking with my buds at the bar. This time, I led-off with the RZ and if there was some way I could get it seperately. I explained how much I enjoyed having the ST last year, but that it simply didnt make sense for me to pay $300 for just one channel. He looked through my account and tried to find a RZ offer...he HAD heard of it....but he couldnt find it. And here, I began to think "ok, I just havent been a customer long enough". But then, he says that RZ is bundled with ST-MAX this year, which I guess has some sort of a phone app and stuff too, and he couldnt find the offer. But what he COULD give me was the standard ST for free, provided I extend my contract by another year (in essence, Im into them for 2 years again, but I have no intention of leaving so its all good).

So, in the end, I didnt get RZ, but Im getting all the ST games, the mix channel, and the Fantasy App for free this season. And all I had to do was extend my contract to 2014, as opposed to 2013. Which makes no difference to me, as Ill probably be a DTV customer for life anyhow.

The key is, you HAVE to be polite. And you ABSOLUTELY have to get to the Retentions Dept. I told the guy how much I loved my service and really didnt have any intention of leaving at all, but that I wanted to get noticed. He flat-out told me next year, do the same thing in the menu system because he has multiple offers at his disposal at any given moment. And he might be able to get me the RZ or even the ST-MAX because Ill have been with them longer by then, as well.

So, no RZ, but Ive got the ST for free. Thanks for this thread, guys. And I hope my story helps anyone else who might be wondering if this works or not. Politeness, and the right department, make all the difference. Im a happy camper! :)
 
yman173 said:
Ive been lurking this forum for awhile now, during the offseason, wondering if what ya'll were saying about getting RedZone for free was true for all of us or just for people who have had Direct for years & years. Well, today I took the plunge and made a phonecall.

Ive only been a customer of DTV for 11 months, and when I signed-on last year they gave me the entire Sunday Ticket for free...RedZone included. I quickly cancelled that in March so that it didnt auto-renew for the $300 or whatever it costs. But I loved having the ST...and loved the RedZone.

The first time I called, I went through the front line CSR and first asked if they had any current promos going on, as my bill is about to go up by about $40 a month when my 12-month discounts end. She began to look up my account info, and while she did that I also mentioned that a neighbor down the street had the RedZone channel last year but didnt have ST, and if there was any way I could get the same thing. Well, she offered me nothing...almost to the point of being rude, she told me she had "never heard of that", then proceeded to tell me the only way to lower my bill was to start taking away channels and lowering my package (which I dont want to do). So I politely said thank you and hung up.

I came back on here and saw how everyone was talking about "Retention Department". So, I figured Id go all-in and called back. This time, in the auto-menus I said "Cancel Service" to the first 2 prompts, and quickly I was taken to a much friendlier rep who started the conversation with "Whats Going On?"....like I was talking with my buds at the bar. This time, I led-off with the RZ and if there was some way I could get it seperately. I explained how much I enjoyed having the ST last year, but that it simply didnt make sense for me to pay $300 for just one channel. He looked through my account and tried to find a RZ offer...he HAD heard of it....but he couldnt find it. And here, I began to think "ok, I just havent been a customer long enough". But then, he says that RZ is bundled with ST-MAX this year, which I guess has some sort of a phone app and stuff too, and he couldnt find the offer. But what he COULD give me was the standard ST for free, provided I extend my contract by another year (in essence, Im into them for 2 years again, but I have no intention of leaving so its all good).

So, in the end, I didnt get RZ, but Im getting all the ST games, the mix channel, and the Fantasy App for free this season. And all I had to do was extend my contract to 2014, as opposed to 2013. Which makes no difference to me, as Ill probably be a DTV customer for life anyhow.

The key is, you HAVE to be polite. And you ABSOLUTELY have to get to the Retentions Dept. I told the guy how much I loved my service and really didnt have any intention of leaving at all, but that I wanted to get noticed. He flat-out told me next year, do the same thing in the menu system because he has multiple offers at his disposal at any given moment. And he might be able to get me the RZ or even the ST-MAX because Ill have been with them longer by then, as well.

So, no RZ, but Ive got the ST for free. Thanks for this thread, guys. And I hope my story helps anyone else who might be wondering if this works or not. Politeness, and the right department, make all the difference. Im a happy camper! :)

I should say so. ST is fantastic. I might give them a call to see what they might be willing to do for me. I don't mind paying some reasonable fees of course if it is in HD. Seeing the Packers games each week would be a major win for me.
Congrats!

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys
 
I called up this evening about the ST. I asked the first rep I spoke with if there were any discounts on ST. They said, yes absolutely, they can give me the standard ST for $199. I said, umm that's the regular price and they went on how that's 40% cheaper than last year and is a big savings. I asked if I could cancel that from my account and they transferred me to a "ST specialist." I asked this guy what he could do for me and first thing he offered was 6 payments of $29.99. I kind of sighed and then asked if that's all. He put me on hold for a couple of minutes and came back and said that he could give me the standard package for $24.99 or $149. I hesitated again he said that he could upgrade me to the MAX package for the same price. I took it. I probably could have bargained more but $24.99/mon is not bad for the whole package, considering regular price is $299.
 
Must be a coastal thing. Both my son and I were disapointed when we switched fro Dish to Direct last year. We both prefer Scott Hansen.

Of the two I preferred the version with Scott Hansen as well.
 
Is it the same RedZone as Dish's Redzone? Last year I was watching DTV's Redzone in a bar and it was not the same feed as the one from NFL Network.
The RZ on D* is not the same as the one on Dish. The one on Dish is from the NFL Network.
The one on D* is produced by "Sporting News Radio" which has been rebranded "yahoo sports radio".
 
I just called to cancel the Sunday ticket. The rep. asked why, I told her the only channel I really loved was the red-zone. She asked if I would keep it for $179 with free red-zone, I told her is was just too much for one channel, how is free, she said?, SOLD!

Very happy I switched from dish, great customer service, and great product!!
 
Last edited:
Doesnt seem like theyre giving out the RedZone as freely this season because of the new "Sunday Ticket MAX" level theyve got. But, if you call retention, you can easily get ST standard for free. You dont get RZ or the PC abilities, but you still get all the games and the Mix channel. And all that for free? No brainer...at least for me.

I preferred the Scott Hanson version of RZ anyway back when I had cable. The Direct one just isnt as good IMHO. Certainly not worth an extra $100 a month or whatever they want for the MAX.
 
I just called and said cancel at the first two prompts. Told the rep I was calling to make sure that Sunday ticket wasn't set to autorenew on my account, that it was just getting too expensive. While he was checking I asked if I could possibly get RedZone at a lower rate since that's all I really wanted. He checked it out and 2 seconds later he said he added RedZone for free for me!
 
I have been a D* subscriber since 2005. I have never once paid my bill late although I do not have autopay. I called and asked for free Red Zone and was denied. It seems like I am always reading on this site about people getting freebies but all I ever get from them is squat. Last year as a reward for being a long time customer they did give me three free pay per view movies but that's it. I think the year before that they gave me Sports Pack for three months. Whoopee.
 
I have been a D* subscriber since 2005. I have never once paid my bill late although I do not have autopay. I called and asked for free Red Zone and was denied. It seems like I am always reading on this site about people getting freebies but all I ever get from them is squat. Last year as a reward for being a long time customer they did give me three free pay per view movies but that's it. I think the year before that they gave me Sports Pack for three months. Whoopee.

Are you talking to the Retentions Dept? That will make a difference. This year, I wasn't routed to Retentions (using the "cancel" word at the auto-menu) as I have been in the past so that might be something to consider. When I called last week, I had to ask the CSR if I was talking to a Retentions agent. She said "no" so I asked to be routed to Retentions.
 
Are you talking to the Retentions Dept? That will make a difference. This year, I wasn't routed to Retentions (using the "cancel" word at the auto-menu) as I have been in the past so that might be something to consider. When I called last week, I had to ask the CSR if I was talking to a Retentions agent. She said "no" so I asked to be routed to Retentions.

last time i called and said cancel i ended up with the "advanced programing division" or something like that. i asked for retentions and he did not want to transfer me, i had to tell him 3 times before he finally (reluctantly) transferred me.
 
So I just did the "cancel... cancel..." bit. Made sure I wasn't auto-renewing for anything from last year, and gave the CSR a story about having a young kid, diapers, trying to convince wife, etc... Got the MAX package for 4x$36. Not bad. I took it.
 
It couldn't hurt to sign up for auto-pay either. Give a little, get a little.
So paying on time and never late for over seven years is not good enough for them? You would think that by now they would realize that I will make my payments on time and don't need to sign up for autopay. I don't use it because I always want to know exactly how much is in my account at all times. I think this whole thing is bull****."
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.