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It's time to renew my DirecTV

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It's time to renew my DirecTV

Old 01-06-12, 11:30 AM
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It's time to renew my DirecTV

This seems to be the place to discuss HDTV so I posted it here.

I've had DirecTV for 2 years now and it's time to renew. What's the best way to get the most out of renewing for another two years?

I have:
One HD DVR box
One HD non/DVR box
One standard box in the kitchen

I want to have them come out and set me up with "whole home" DVR where you can watch content from one DVR on any TV in the house. This wasn't available two years ago. I'm going to push them to upgrade me and install all that for free.

I also want to bring my bill down. For the first 12 months I paid only around $60/month because of all the premiums and discounts built in, now I pay $100/month. What's the best way to get things back to the introductory price for a while?
Old 01-06-12, 11:48 AM
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Re: It's time to renew my DirecTV

It sounds to me like you are saying your 2 year contract is up & now that it is, you want a better deal. I don't think you'll be able to simply call them up & say "I want to renew now that my contract is up". You certainly won't be able to get the current cost of your bill all the way back down to what it was in your 1st year but there are ways to lower it. Are you currently paying a $10 HD Access fee? If so, you might be able to get that waived for a year or 2 if you're willing to sign up for autopay. Not sure if you'll be able to talk them into getting whole home set up for free or not but here's what I recommend:
Give them a call & tell them that you're interested in whole home but are also looking for ways to save some $$$. If the CSR can't do anything for you, call back and say "cancel service". This will send you to retention and I find them to always be 10x more helpful than CSR's. Simply tell retention that you want to keep your service but are looking at ways to save some money & are interested in whole home. In the 4 years I've had Directv, I've gotten the HD Access waived for 24 months and am saving another $5 for the next 24 months. They've also given me their version of the NFL Red Zone channel for free the last 2 years.

Good Luck! Let us know how it went.
Old 01-06-12, 12:33 PM
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Re: It's time to renew my DirecTV

Ok well I can give some insight as I worked for the company that handles DirectV service calls, before leaving them going back to my old job in Sept.
With the setup you have you HAVE to get an additional HD box if you want whole home, that feature doesn't work on std boxes, some reps will order the WHDVR for you without it but a installer won't put it in as it won't work right, then you will have a installer there or leaving and telling you to call back to fix the order I seen it a hundred times.
With your contract up you can get a HD box free, and/or a discount on the Whole home, retention has additional discounts but with the WH the cost of equip for that they are limited what they can do, if you take any upgrade you are required to have another 24 month contract that's not waived at all, some may not mention it to get the "upgrade". If you can find a working HD box second hand off craigslist a local paper or flea market get it, all you have to do is get a new access card from DTV and that it no new contract commitment, but remember get it from DTV or add on whole home and you do have to do another 24month contract.
That's why I left it was more of a sales job than what I was ld to be and "upgrades" are your sales you have to get 11 a day and im not a sales guy. I was hired on as tech support and they didn't tell me this until our last two days of a month of training, so I had to give it a shot, I stayed a year barely keeping the job the last 5 months. This time of year is worst as eveyones calling to downgrade because of holiday bills so you might find someone needing sales bad an can cut you a deal. Try calling today and if you don't get the deal you want call back Monday, it's start of a new week and rep credits start all over, we were able to give credit on equip up to $200 a week.
Old 01-06-12, 04:35 PM
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Re: It's time to renew my DirecTV

My 2 year contract is up towards the end of this year. When the contract is over I'm planning to call DIRECTV and ask to renew as a new customer for 2 years and get all of the discounts. I was going to make my case that Comcast would like my business if they didn't want it. IF I couldn't get what I wanted I would cancel.

I was telling this scenario to a QWEST rep a few weeks ago and asked if I could sign up through them as a new customer and "bundle". He stated that they are supposed to check with DIRECTV to see if you "qualify as a new customer" but that they never do and sign up people up anyway.
Old 01-06-12, 06:55 PM
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Re: It's time to renew my DirecTV

Originally Posted by leacha
My 2 year contract is up towards the end of this year. When the contract is over I'm planning to call DIRECTV and ask to renew as a new customer for 2 years and get all of the discounts. I was going to make my case that Comcast would like my business if they didn't want it. IF I couldn't get what I wanted I would cancel.
Two years ago I tried this "strong arm" method with Dish Network. I had an even better arguement. I had been a Dish Network subsriber for 3 years with standard (non-HD, no DVR, nothing) service on one TV. I bought a house, moved, and told them "I'm ready to go all in." "I want Dish in 3 rooms, I want HD, I want a DVR, and I want you to give me the new customer price for it all." They said no way. I said "I'm doing the right thing here." "I could have cancelled, moved, and had my wife sign up as the new customer." "Let's make a deal here." BTW, this was in Feb 2010, the depths of the recession. They said no way. I decided any company that dumb didn't deserve my business, that's how I ended up with DTV.

Anyway, that method doesn't work.

What is QWEST?

Last edited by Mabuse; 01-09-12 at 06:43 PM.
Old 01-06-12, 11:16 PM
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Re: It's time to renew my DirecTV

Qwest actually became Century Link a few months ago. I bundle my Directv thru them.

http://www.centurylink.com/home/?pid=p_113431526
Old 01-09-12, 12:30 PM
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Re: It's time to renew my DirecTV

When my *DTV contract was almost up I called them to re-up for another 2 years and they told me I didn't need to sign another contract. SO I was free to keep the service at nocharge of penalty if I should leave. Listen...dont call them and act like you are doing them a favor by staying with them. They have the best customer service for a reason...they listen. This past summer after getting the MLB package and some other big purchases (non direct tv related), my family was looking to cut costs. SO I called them and said "I am looking to cut my service," and they said let me see what I can do to keep you at the teir you are at. I have all the movie and sport channels that come with the top package. She came back and said I can give you xxx amout of credits for six months, and some for the year taking your bill down to xxx for six months , and xxx for twelve months. So they basically gave me the MLB package for free and an extra $20 a month off my bill, with all the credits. SO my bill was actually $20 lower than normal after all the discounts. Everytime I have called them with a problem, and their haven't been many I get some sort of discount on my bill because I have been with them for a while. If you have only been with them for two years they will still treat you like you have been with them for six. I have never been so happy with a product in my life. Remeber to not act like you are doing them a favor by staying. Tell them how much you enjoy their product and you want to stay but you or your wife are thinking of going back to cable. They will probably offer you some discounts. good luck!
Old 01-09-12, 12:38 PM
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Re: It's time to renew my DirecTV

Call the 800# and after entering your telephone # say Cancel when the system asks. Then say it again when it asks.

You should be sent to the Retention department.

Be firm that you want your account cancelled if you cannot get a discount and they will normally give you discounts to retain you as a customer. It may be in terms of getting premium movie channels or other special programming you subscribe to now at a discount, but you will normally get some good discounts.

They should offer you the Whole Home DVR install for free since you have the HD DVR already. The service is an additional $3 per month and you wont get that for free, but the free install should happen.

You can always use the current promo prices on ads by Comcast/Cable or Dish as reason you want a lower price.
Old 01-09-12, 03:17 PM
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Re: It's time to renew my DirecTV

Yeah, you don't have to renew your contract. All it means is you commit for two years, or pay a termination fee. After that two years is up, you can walk away without being penalized. The last time I had a service issue, the rep was setting up to ship a new unit to me and asked me if I was interested in Whole Home, and I am under a current contract until May, so I think they are trying to push that concept. I didn't go for it (not all our TVs are HD yet), but he emailed some info and said they'd be happy to work with me if I wanted to set it up. I agree with what's said here, for the most part, they will work with you and you will probably get what you want. And asking to cancel at the automated prompts will get you directly to the person with the most ability to cut you deals without having to work your way through different people. I have had some rough patches where I have fallen behind and the bill is just getting tough to keep up with. I actually did think I was going to have to truly cancel at one point, but the rep gave me enough promos to keep it affordable for me.

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