frenzal rhomb Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Im not much of a haggler and I ve seen people here get impressive deals. But yesterday, i got my sunday ticket auto renewal for ticket max at 49.99 x 6 pays. Called directv and told them just want the straight ticket and they gave me ticket max for 34.99 x 6 pays. I was literally off the phone in three minutes and saved ninety bucks - just an FYI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennykravitz2004 Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 http://forums.thehuddle.com/index.php?/topic/377382-nfl-sunday-ticket/page__hl__directv I would wager if you call them back and try to cancel the Ticket, you'd get a better deal. What drives me mad about DTV is their inconsistencies in dealing with us, their customers (and I am very loyal subscriber going on 12 or 13 years now). Their CSRs are very nice as well, IMHO, and I think they get limited by what they can/cannot do for us on credits and truly helping us. Their phone system seems to answer more promptly when you use the phrase "customer retention". Read the other link here and you'll see others got a much sweeter deal. My "deal" was accidental - I was signed up for 6 easy payments of $32.99, until the package was billed in 1 easier payment of $32.99. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenzal rhomb Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 http://forums.thehud...ge__hl__directv I would wager if you call them back and try to cancel the Ticket, you'd get a better deal. What drives me mad about DTV is their inconsistencies in dealing with us, their customers (and I am very loyal subscriber going on 12 or 13 years now). Their CSRs are very nice as well, IMHO, and I think they get limited by what they can/cannot do for us on credits and truly helping us. Their phone system seems to answer more promptly when you use the phrase "customer retention". Read the other link here and you'll see others got a much sweeter deal. My "deal" was accidental - I was signed up for 6 easy payments of $32.99, until the package was billed in 1 easier payment of $32.99. Good luck! Thanks and thats why I s=mentioned Im not much of a haggler and dont want to call up and threaten to cancel. Im satisfied with saving the 90 bucks and Im ok with paying 209.00 for 17 weeks of sunday ticket with the red zone channel abnd the compressed games. just thought I'd post how easy it is for those relunctant to get on the phone and threaten to cancel I did that once with the baseball package (which I didnt mind losing anyway) and when I called up to cancel - they offered me no deal and just said - ok done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogs2020 Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Just called and had my sunday ticket reduced from 49.99/mth to 29.99/mth, for 6 mths. Took about 5 minutes. I am happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrab Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 What is maddening is that these companies (Cable and satellite) always have sweetheart deals for new customers, while existing customers see nothing but rising prices. If you call and complain enough, haggle, threaten to cancel you may get a better deal than what you currently have, but still probably not as nice as new customers. And often parts of the deal include them offering ou things for free (movie channels, etc) that you really don't want/need anyway. Where is the loyalty to the customer of 5-10 years or more? Cell phone providers seem to be just as bad. Its all about market share and getting that monthly fee from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampnuts Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I've been a Directv customer for 14 years and I've had the Sunday ticket for 10. I've got the ticket given to me for free 3 out of the past 4 years. ( including this year ). I don't threaten to cancel and I never get abrasive with them. I just point out that I'm a loyal customer and the only reason that I choose to stay with Directv is the Sunday Ticket. They have always agreed that it is cheaper to provide me my football free and make $$ for the remainder of my package. Works well for me. When you call the customer service number you will get the automated service. Follow the prompts and say "cancel service" when asked why you are calling. This will move you directly to the customer retention department. Make sure you call during business hours to be 100% sure you get a real retention rep. Be overly polite and grateful to them and explain simply why you are calling. Don't threaten or make accusations against the company. If you don't get what you want, then thank them for their time and call back the next day for a different operator. You will end up with what you want! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Agent Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I got no where. Will try again tomorrow. I don't even want the Sunday Ticket. I just want RedZone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croe Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 What is maddening is that these companies (Cable and satellite) always have sweetheart deals for new customers, while existing customers see nothing but rising prices. If you call and complain enough, haggle, threaten to cancel you may get a better deal than what you currently have, but still probably not as nice as new customers. And often parts of the deal include them offering ou things for free (movie channels, etc) that you really don't want/need anyway. Where is the loyalty to the customer of 5-10 years or more? Cell phone providers seem to be just as bad. Its all about market share and getting that monthly fee from you. True, buddy just got direct TV and got sunday ticket for free as a sign up bonus. But I've been a Directv customer for 14 years and I've had the Sunday ticket for 10. I've got the ticket given to me for free 3 out of the past 4 years. ( including this year ). I don't threaten to cancel and I never get abrasive with them. I just point out that I'm a loyal customer and the only reason that I choose to stay with Directv is the Sunday Ticket. They have always agreed that it is cheaper to provide me my football free and make $$ for the remainder of my package. Works well for me. When you call the customer service number you will get the automated service. Follow the prompts and say "cancel service" when asked why you are calling. This will move you directly to the customer retention department. Make sure you call during business hours to be 100% sure you get a real retention rep. Be overly polite and grateful to them and explain simply why you are calling. Don't threaten or make accusations against the company. If you don't get what you want, then thank them for their time and call back the next day for a different operator. You will end up with what you want! This is awesome, I use the same strategy with a lot of my service providers and they have always been very good to me. But free Sundy ticket 3 out of every four years is a sick deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byron2112 Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I got the Max Ticket for free + 6 months of Showtime/Starz... I was already getting $15 off my bill for 24 months from last season... I did have to agree to stick it out for 12 months. Couldn't have been a more pleasant experience. The gal I worked with did most of the talking and was totally cool. Just told her I wanted to cancel service because there's never much on that interests me and the monthly payment is a drag because of it(which is true)... That's all it took to get them to reach into their bag of goodies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorttynaz Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 (edited) So this past February we upgraded our receivers and that renewed our 2 year commitment. Problem?? No.. I just called up and just told the automated system I wanted to cancel my service. It transferred me straight to the retention department. I told this lady that we pay for Netflix and Hulu (we don't have Hulu), and all we watch on our TV is baseball right now. I told her I can buy the baseball package for $40 via MLB.com. She told me it's going to cost me $340 to cancel my service. I told her in the long run I'm still saving money as we're just giving them money for something we don't use and I'll probably go ahead and pay it anyway. Hoping she wouldn't call my bluff - she didn't. She gave me $20/month credit for the next 12 months and offered me the NFL ticket for half price - so I could pay $100 for the base ticket, or $150 for the premium MAX ticket. I told her all I want is the Redzone channel as that's all I've watched these past 3 years anyway. She said they have a special promotion where they're offering a "season-long trial" for just the RedZone channel as you can get it at a fraction of the price via their competitors without having to pay for the ticket. I told her that's reasonable and to sign me up. So, while I didn't get the NFL Ticket for free, I did get the RedZone channel (just channel 703) and a $20/month credit to my bill for the next 12 months. Worth a shot if someone else is locked into a contract and still wants to get a deal. They'll hook you up.. EDIT: In looking at this, I see that the base package (the $200 package) doesn't include the RedZone channel. You can only get that if you pay for the "MAX" package (the $300 package). I'm starting to wonder if she misunderstood what she was reading and told me it's offered to the base package subscribers and not just for anyone. I guess I'll just have to wait till the start of the season - if I don't have it - I'll call back and tell them I was promised something that I'm not getting. Edited August 17, 2012 by Shorttynaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostonsoxandy Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 It seems like the only way to have leverage is if you have had the service (as in Sunday Ticket) before. I have had DTV for maybe 10 years or so but have never committed to the Ticket. Anybody have any tips for this position? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Agent Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Persistence pays off. Just got the ST for free! But no RedZone channel because they didn't give me the "Max" package. But I'll take it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I got it free last year when I called to cancel DTV all together. I still cancelled DTV, but wait until after the season. I honestly don't think it's worth the cost. The only thing I ever watched was Red Zone channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abishagenaden Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I've already paid for 2 installments of the Sunday ticket, are those refundable if I call in and cancel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennykravitz2004 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I've already paid for 2 installments of the Sunday ticket, are those refundable if I call in and cancel? It'll never be truly refundable - they've got your money already and they ain't givin' it back. In lieu of giving you your money back, they'll load you up with credits to offset the amount. Not sure how to get them to giving you credits though. Last year, I got half off after informing them I have Rams season tix and won't use ST for half the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phazool Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 (edited) I've been a Directv customer for 14 years and I've had the Sunday ticket for 10. I've got the ticket given to me for free 3 out of the past 4 years. ( including this year ). I don't threaten to cancel and I never get abrasive with them. I just point out that I'm a loyal customer and the only reason that I choose to stay with Directv is the Sunday Ticket. They have always agreed that it is cheaper to provide me my football free and make $$ for the remainder of my package. Works well for me. When you call the customer service number you will get the automated service. Follow the prompts and say "cancel service" when asked why you are calling. This will move you directly to the customer retention department. Make sure you call during business hours to be 100% sure you get a real retention rep. Be overly polite and grateful to them and explain simply why you are calling. Don't threaten or make accusations against the company. If you don't get what you want, then thank them for their time and call back the next day for a different operator. You will end up with what you want! Well said and exactly how everyone should handle this. It worked for me and I have had the Sunday Ticket for 10 years. (free last year) I received the full $300 value Sunday Ticket with all the mobile and internet bells and whistles for $149. Edited August 19, 2012 by Phazool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennykravitz2004 Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Something which may impact this... http://money.msn.com...d0-b76b4b719a57 DirecTV loses subscribers for 1st time The company has turned its focus to improving its customer base and has tightened its customer credit standards. By Kim Peterson Aug 2, 2012 6:16PM DirecTV (DTV +0.27% ) has always made a huge push to grow subscribers, which helped it bump up its numbers every quarter. But the company is changing its strategy: It's trying to improve the quality of its subscribers instead of focusing on new subscribers at any cost. It wants customers with better credit who pay more for add-ons like video on demand. So the company has shifted its focus, and as a result it lost subscribers for the first time. The satellite TV provider said it lost 52,000 subscribers for the quarter ended June 30 to end at 19.9 million. That was more than the 36,000 loss analysts were expecting. In fact, if it wasn't for Latin America, DirecTV's losses would have been worse. The company added 645,000 new subscribers in the region, higher than the 549,000 analysts were expecting. The subscriber losses didn't stem from DirecTV's spat with Viacom (VIA +1.66% ), which happened after the June quarter ended. The dispute between the two companies knocked 17 channels off of DirecTV's airwaves for about 10 days in July. In the June quarter, DirecTV said it tightened its credit standards for customers. It grew its monthly revenue per subscriber to $94.40 from $90.58 a year earlier. DirecTV's main rival also lost subscribers, but not to the same extent. Dish Network (DISH +2.55% ) lost 10,000 subscribers in the same period, Reuters reports, beating analyst expectations. Time Warner Cable (TWC +0.27% ) said this week it lost 169,000 video subscribers in the same quarter. Shares of DirecTV fell 2.6% Thursday to close at $48.80. The stock is about where it was a year ago, having recovered from a drop to below $41 last October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Well I just renegotiated for this year. I had to go to the mat pretty hard on threatening to cancel and didn't get the best deal until they started confirming my address for shipping the return boxes to. Then I get put on hold for 5 mins and they guy came back with the offer I accepted. My problem was I needed an additional HD box since we just replaced the TV in the bedroom and I still wanted to keep the extra box for my garage tv and squeeze Sunday Ticket into the mix but it worked out ok. The Good: - Free HD DVR box. - Free upgrade of 2 current SD boxes. - Free regular Sunday Ticket Package - $20/month credit for 2 years. (one HD and one DVR service credit). - $99 to add ST MAX (wouldn't budge on this one and I almost went ahead and cancelled til I realized my wife would kill me) The Bad: - 2 year contract (non negotiable supposedly on new boxes) - $6/mo fee for new box - I now have 5... So, over the 1st 12 months I will save $69 and get a new HD DVR box and Sunday Ticket Max. Good enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I received the full $300 value Sunday Ticket with all the mobile and internet bells and whistles for $149. Same here. I wasn't able to score everything free like some of you guys, but feel fine about the value of the above negotiation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abishagenaden Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) So I just got off the phone with them, took an entire 3 minutes. Being a relatively new customer without much clout, my plan was to ask to cancel my Sunday ticket (non-max) and see what they would be able to do. Here's what happened -- mentioned "cancel service" at the voice prompt told the operator I wanted to cancel my Sunday ticket she asked why "do you not like football..?" told her i had it free last year and had redzone which was awesome but without it this year i wasn't interested without missing a beat she said she could add it on for me for free if i kept my sunday ticket payments asked her if i would also be able to access games on my phone (another feature of the max ticket) she confirmed that i would be able to she took a few moments to update my account and that was it On hindsight I wonder if I haggled a little more if I'd have been able to get more, perhaps a $ credit off each month of whatever, but I'm satisfied I at least got the Sunday ticket Max upgrade for free. Thanks for starting this thread, frenzal. If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have thought to even try. Edited August 21, 2012 by abishagenaden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albino Rhino Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Just resigned. Told the lady that my wife would like us to have lower payments and wants to look at Dish(true). Without missing a beat she offered 20 dollar monthly credit for one year, whole home credit for 3 months, sunday ticket and redzone for free. Just have to keep with them for another year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorttynaz Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 (edited) If you're locked in a contract, if you're not locked into a contract - or if you've already called and haggled for something, you still need to read this.. NOTE: I didn't call in and act like a jerk - I wasn't mean, and I spoke to them how I would want to be spoken to. They're pretty understanding and sympathetic. With that, here's my story.. So last week (earlier in this post) as a customer of DirecTV for 7 years, I called them to (I'll be 100% honest) see what I can get for free. After telling them I pay too much for TV, and as I have Hulu and Netflix services (which I don't) I told them I want to cancel my service. I was informed I have to pay $340 to break my remaining 17 months of my contract. I called their bluff and asked who I have to talk to in order to do this. I was told the person I was talking to is that person - so I told her I'm ready to cancel. As I expected, she didn't call my bluff and ultimately I got $20/month off my bill and JUST the Redzone channel for free - so they say. I was all for that, and was satisfied so I took their offer. Anyway - TODAY on my way home from work I had a wild hair up my arse, and I decided to call them back (almost a week after they hooked me up the first time) and again see if I could press them for a better deal. I did the same thing, called in, told the automated system I wanted to cancel and it transferred me again to the retention department. I told them I called in last week and while they helped me lower my bill, I think I'm still going to cancel. The lady today asked why I wanted to cancel after they helped me lower my bill last week. I told her after a few days of thinking about it, with having Hulu and Netflix (again, which I don't have) even with the lower payment I can't justify paying this much for TV as everything we watch is online via Hulu/Netflix. AGAIN, without calling my bluff she tells me, "Well, unfortunately you're getting $20/month credit towards your Choice package - and there's nothing more I can do there." She then asks me, "What if I give you $10/month credit for 12 months off your HD package - essentially getting that for free." I told her that's helpful, but it's still more than I really need to pay. She's making small talk looking over some things, and then she asks me, "Ok - this is the best I can do for you. Now that you're getting $30/month off your bill for the next 12 months, I'll turn on the HBO tier for you at no cost for 12 months. You can probably cancel your Netflix account with that and save yourself $12 or $14 month or whatever you're paying them. And as you're one of our loyal customers I'll activate the NFL MAX Ticket for you again - as a complimentary thank you for your loyalty to DirecTV. I have to bill your account $199.95, as that's an upgrade to the original Redzone package, but I'm going to give you an instant credit of $199.95 in order to do this. Is that ok??" ME: "Yup!" So all in all, I went from being locked in a 17 month contract with no freebies to a week later having: 1 year of FREE HBO, 1 year of $30/month bill credits, and most importantly 1 full season of the NFL Ticket MAX at no charge Maybe I was wrong for calling to get free stuff - but you don't get it if you don't ask. On top of that, I was nice and polite - and they hooked me up! Call 'em back - if you don't feel you got what you wanted, they'll hook you up! The PROOF is in the picture! http://www.flickr.co.../in/photostream Edited August 24, 2012 by Shorttynaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grits and Shins Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Quite a few years ago I made the switch from cable to Direct TV specifically so I could get the ticket. Then between not being home on Sundays AND the exorbitant price of the package not only did I decide to cancel the ticket I dropped Direct TV altogether for a better product (Verizon FIOS). The Cowboys are never blacked out and I'll just live with whatever game happens to be on ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shorttynaz Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Quite a few years ago I made the switch from cable to Direct TV specifically so I could get the ticket. Then between not being home on Sundays AND the exorbitant price of the package not only did I decide to cancel the ticket I dropped Direct TV altogether for a better product (Verizon FIOS). The Cowboys are never blacked out and I'll just live with whatever game happens to be on ... The Ticket is the exact same reason we switched from cable to DirecTV years ago. Problem for me is I live in Phoenix and I'm a die hard Colts fan (originally from IN), I'm not going to get to see anything other than the highlights on SportsCenter. I was satisfied with not having it this year, but as D-Day was fast approaching I kept thinking how I'm not gonna get to watch Luck develop as a QB. It got to me and I asked the wifey. She said NO WAY are we paying for that anymore. I told her it's only $200 this year. She still said no.. When I pulled her into the office and showed her the bill a few minutes ago (pic is linked in my above post) she was NOT a happy camper. She's in the other room, and she's still grumbling that "Once again, another year where you're going to be completely worthless on Sundays". Me being the smartarse that I am, "Babe, when you get a chance - while you're still in preseason mode - can you practice getting me a beer?" She brings in a cold one, I crack it open and what do you know. She shook it up all the way from the kitchen to my office in the back of the house.. LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grits and Shins Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 The Ticket is the exact same reason we switched from cable to DirecTV years ago. Problem for me is I live in Phoenix and I'm a die hard Colts fan (originally from IN), I'm not going to get to see anything other than the highlights on SportsCenter. I was satisfied with not having it this year, but as D-Day was fast approaching I kept thinking how I'm not gonna get to watch Luck develop as a QB. It got to me and I asked the wifey. She said NO WAY are we paying for that anymore. I told her it's only $200 this year. She still said no.. When I pulled her into the office and showed her the bill a few minutes ago (pic is linked in my above post) she was NOT a happy camper. She's in the other room, and she's still grumbling that "Once again, another year where you're going to be completely worthless on Sundays". Me being the smartarse that I am, "Babe, when you get a chance - while you're still in preseason mode - can you practice getting me a beer?" She brings in a cold one, I crack it open and what do you know. She shook it up all the way from the kitchen to my office in the back of the house.. LOL Priceless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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