Can you negotiate with DirecTV? (2 Viewers)

[yellowdog]

So, to follow up, I tried a third time to get a deal on the 24th only to once again get the same BS about no deals being available until the 48 hour window passed.  It's now been more than a week and I've heard nothing.  I have begun experimenting with Kodi and, right now, have no need for dealing with DTV.  Come September once football gets into full swing, my tune may change, but as of now, it's freeing not being beholden to a TV provider.

Thanks to all in this thread who have helped over the years and good luck to those still fighting the good fight!

I was told the same thing, until I called the 210- number.

 

[Aunt Jemima]

I've been a customer for long time, haven't paid for the ticket in like 15 years. Here is what I did this year, called and said I just want red zone. They say we don't offer I say ok xfinity does for 9.95 per month, I'll cancel, transfer me to retention. I explain to them just want redzone, fantasy football, etc etc. 2 minutes later 1 year contract $60 in credit for 12 months, $10 off my showtime and hbo for a year, maybe not the best deal in this thread but took 15 minutes, I did not cancel, conversations were all friendly. Sunday ticket max more than free again, I'll take it and call back 8/2/18 again

 

[Man In The Box]

 Trying out PlayStation vue free trial for five days. Pretty good so far. Hooked up two fire TVs, runs like a top. Probably going to call DirecTV tonight to tell them to pound sand finally. ?

 

[avoiding injuries]

Just cancelled. Wait and see...saved the 210- number in case they don't call. 

During their efforts to keep me, the dude had my bill down to $40 a month. I was quite impressed but still passed. Ha

 

[JShare87]

What is the 210 number?

 

[avoiding injuries]

(210) 332-6968

 

[beercat]

That happened to us but once we got new reports everything worked fine.  I may have a genie though, not sure.  May be a silly question but have you reset your box recently?  Red button in one of the doors on the box?  That fixed a couple features that werent working for us (The team recording feature started working again)

Just got around to trying this. Seems to be working better than just cycling power (not sure the difference).

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Got the gift card in the mail today. 

 

[Wildcat]

Scheduled to cancel tomorrow.  Still no call to give me an offers to keep me as a customer.  The annoying thing is they charged me my first month's payment on my Sunday Ticket because I did not call to cancel.  I called them up and asked why they did that since I was canceling service.  They said the ST charge went through before my cancellation request (but both went through on this billing cycle).  I asked if they could credit that amount back to my CC.  They said it doesn't work that way.  I now have to wait a month for the cancellation to process and then they will mail be a Visa gift card for the credit.  Dumb.

 Service disconnected yesterday. I called and got a win back offer for $65 a month plus free SundayTicket plus free HBO and Showtime for three months.  I had to sign a one year agreement but the price should only go up five dollars for the programming next year because it's a 24 month promotion

 

[yellowdog]

 Service disconnected yesterday. I called and got a win back offer for $65 a month plus free SundayTicket plus free HBO and Showtime for three months.  I had to sign a one year agreement but the price should only go up five dollars for the programming next year because it's a 24 month promotion

That's the same deal I got. Wait a few days and call the AT&T reward center and claim a $200 gift card. Even if they didn't offer it. Worked for me. 877-258-1427

 

[Wildcat]

That's the same deal I got. Wait a few days and call the AT&T reward center and claim a $200 gift card. Even if they didn't offer it. Worked for me. 877-258-1427

Will try.  Thanks 

 

[roarlions]

Service disconnected on Wed., planning to call today or tomorrow. Have seen a couple of different phone numbers posted, 1 866 number and 1 210 number. Is 1 better to call than the other?

 

[Wildcat]

Service disconnected on Wed., planning to call today or tomorrow. Have seen a couple of different phone numbers posted, 1 866 number and 1 210 number. Is 1 better to call than the other?

I just called the main number, 1 (800) 531-5000, and asked the first person I spoke to if there are any offers to keep me as a customer. They transferred me to the retention department in the first person I spoke to you there was able to give me what I wanted.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

got some random call from Minnesota. i didn't answer it, but assume it was them.  i set up my cancellation yesterday, for tonight.

i got another call from MN when i was at work and missed it.  cancel went into effect about 36 hours ago.  i'll probably call later today or tomorrow.  here is my goal.

newest router(they wanted $100), genie and 2 mini genies

around 50/mo for extra choice or whatever it's called.

st max

$200 gift card

 

[Mr.Pack]

i got another call from MN when i was at work and missed it.  cancel went into effect about 36 hours ago.  i'll probably call later today or tomorrow.  here is my goal.

newest router(they wanted $100), genie and 2 mini genies

around 50/mo for extra choice or whatever it's called.

st max

$200 gift card

Don't think that's going to happen. that's really low and I don't see them dropping that far

 

[avoiding injuries]

Just cancelled. Wait and see...saved the 210- number in case they don't call. 

During their efforts to keep me, the dude had my bill down to $40 a month. I was quite impressed but still passed. Ha

They're starting to call. Haven't been able to answer the first two. Need to compile a list of everything I want to get before renewing. 

Free Sunday Ticket Max

$200 Visa Giftcard

$50 off bill

Free movie channels for 3 months

-Anything else?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

missed another call today.  this time from tennessee  not missing it yet.   

 

[avoiding injuries]

They're starting to call. Haven't been able to answer the first two. Need to compile a list of everything I want to get before renewing. 

Free Sunday Ticket Max

$200 Visa Giftcard

$50 off bill

Free movie channels for 3 months

-Anything else?

I got another call from San Antonio. They gave me all the above no questions asked. Might have been my easiest year yet. 

 

[SteelCurtain]

calling today to cancel.  I'll pull the RedZone idea out, because I don't care about HBO/Showtime but if need be, I'm happy to cancel in order to get ST and lower monthly charge.  I'll report back.

 

[dancingbones]

Service cut off early AM yesterday, made the call that same evening - about 7pm.  I called the regular DirecTV number & simply said I had cancelled my service that day & had heard about some winback deals & wanted to see what they had available for me & if it was a good enough deal I was open to coming back.  They transferred me to a different department & away we went. (Something to note - my DVR would not let me watch anything while we were disconnected - that seems like a new development).

Summary - about a 30 minute call & got the same/similar deal as others are reporting.  I said at the beginning that I was interested in Choice or Extra package, ST max, & movie channels. They offered all of the following - I had to ask for the gift card.

-$39 off Choice package/mo (12 mos), $10 off for auto-pay = $49 off/month

-Free ST max 2017

-HBO,SHO,Cinemax free 3 mos

-$100 gift card (I mentioned the $200 card, but was told only $100 available for me)

So, my bill will be about $58/mo + tax (1 TV only, DVR,HD) - which is what I was looking for.

Had to call later in the evening because TV still wasn't working, and see that trying to log in online now it won't let me in.  I imagine there will be a few loose ends to tie up & a followup call or 2, but pretty simple.

Edit: I had about 2 weeks left on my discounts from last year, but wanted to get it handled earlier this year due to upcoming vacations & not interrupting GOT.

Well that all fell apart.  After several HOURS on the phone with multiple people, they confirmed that they are not honoring what they offered me.

Whoever reactivated my account did not do it correctly, so they say they have no access to those offers any longer (it was reactivated on a month by month basis apparently).  Have now cancelled & will wait awhile before seeing if I can actually get the same deal offered again.  Very frustrated.  This may turn out to be an actual cancellation after all!

Note: if you are actually disconnecting service, unplug the cable from your DVR before disconnect otherwise you will not be able to access that content.

Also, I think if you are cancelling it is good to give yourself a few days without service (48 hours was the magic number I was told).

 

[simsarge]

I've been a customer for long time, haven't paid for the ticket in like 15 years. Here is what I did this year, called and said I just want red zone. They say we don't offer I say ok xfinity does for 9.95 per month, I'll cancel, transfer me to retention. I explain to them just want redzone, fantasy football, etc etc. 2 minutes later 1 year contract $60 in credit for 12 months, $10 off my showtime and hbo for a year, maybe not the best deal in this thread but took 15 minutes, I did not cancel, conversations were all friendly. Sunday ticket max more than free again, I'll take it and call back 8/2/18 again

Did you get ST too?

 

[CabinFever]

So I called and cancelled and had service turned off last Sunday. No calls so called the number and they said there is no offers for money off, gift card, Sunday ticket, NOTHING. Guy said he can give me free equipment upgrades but that's it. I've been with this damn company for 17 years. Guy said he can't understand why no offers are available for my account. Totally sucks ?

 

[skol asylum]

Well that all fell apart.  After several HOURS on the phone with multiple people, they confirmed that they are not honoring what they offered me.

Whoever reactivated my account did not do it correctly, so they say they have no access to those offers any longer (it was reactivated on a month by month basis apparently).  Have now cancelled & will wait awhile before seeing if I can actually get the same deal offered again.  Very frustrated.  This may turn out to be an actual cancellation after all!

Note: if you are actually disconnecting service, unplug the cable from your DVR before disconnect otherwise you will not be able to access that content.

Also, I think if you are cancelling it is good to give yourself a few days without service (48 hours was the magic number I was told).

Wait, you can actually access your DVR content once service is disconnected? That would be a big help if you have to be disconnected a couple days.

 

[Wooderson]

Wait, you can actually access your DVR content once service is disconnected? That would be a big help if you have to be disconnected a couple days.

In the past I've never had a problem getting access to my DVR when I disconnected. But for the first time this year when I was without service for a few hours it would NOT let me have access. 

 

[Tiger Fan]

I had asked earlier but didn't get an answer.  My HD and wireless genie boxes are 3 years old.  Anyone know the shelf life of these?  I'm about to do the whole cancel thing and want to see if I have any room to play in the hardware realm.

 

[Johnny Rock]

So I called and cancelled and had service turned off last Sunday. No calls so called the number and they said there is no offers for money off, gift card, Sunday ticket, NOTHING. Guy said he can give me free equipment upgrades but that's it. I've been with this damn company for 17 years. Guy said he can't understand why no offers are available for my account. Totally sucks ?

That's not good.

 

[Wingnut]

So I called and cancelled and had service turned off last Sunday. No calls so called the number and they said there is no offers for money off, gift card, Sunday ticket, NOTHING. Guy said he can give me free equipment upgrades but that's it. I've been with this damn company for 17 years. Guy said he can't understand why no offers are available for my account. Totally sucks ?

Call back and get a different rep...or call another number. My first call they told me the same thing. 2nd call I got a deal.

 

[need2know]

Try until you get what you want

 

[DevilDog919]

Cancelled last Friday. Been a week of getting calls daily, but every rep says the same thing. Still no offers other than $5 off a month. One rep said it was because I cancelled before my other offers ran off the account. Now trying firestick out and may just not go back to DTV at all. 

 

[NateDawg]

Cancelled last Friday. Been a week of getting calls daily, but every rep says the same thing. Still no offers other than $5 off a month. One rep said it was because I cancelled before my other offers ran off the account. Now trying firestick out and may just not go back to DTV at all. 

Called Tuesday to set cancelation for Wednesday morning. Received a call Thursday afternoon from a number I've gotten a call from in the past that is a retention number. Lady who called started checking and said she couldn't offer Sunday Ticket free because I had it last year. Said she would check again after I had been disconnected for 48 hours and if Sunday Ticket became available would call me back on Friday.

Hadn't received a call Friday afternoon so called the 210 number from earlier in the thread. Rep there said she couldn't offer any discounts because I was still in month 12 of my previous discounts. Those go through the August 18th billing period. I asked if they were really willing to lose a 6 year customer over 2 weeks, and she said it was all she could do.

YouTube TV is now available in my area, so I can get all my locals and ESPN that way. I can do Sling Blue during the season to get NFL Network and RedZone, but don't know how much I will miss the Ticket. If I can't get Ticket free or cheap with a much lower monthly bill, I'm probably going to have to go the streaming route.

Will probably call again Monday as I read somewhere that representatives credits reset on Monday.

 

[CabinFever]

Try until you get what you want

I've called 5 or more times same story with different reps 

 

[Rodeojones]

Interesting how people are being treated differently.

I've been with DTV for about 3 years.  Contract is up on the 11th and called yesterday and set up canceling for Wed the 9th.   Received a call from a local number and it was the save group and I used speech that others have about bill too high and Xfinity offers the RZ Channel for $9.95 month.  Rep lowered my bill by $48.00 and gave me free NFL STMax (12 mos contract.)  I know I could have pushed for more if I had my service disconnected and called the Win Back Group but I am very happy with this and had little hassle doing so.

12 months from now I will do the same, rinse and repeat.

 

[DevilDog919]

Called Tuesday to set cancelation for Wednesday morning. Received a call Thursday afternoon from a number I've gotten a call from in the past that is a retention number. Lady who called started checking and said she couldn't offer Sunday Ticket free because I had it last year. Said she would check again after I had been disconnected for 48 hours and if Sunday Ticket became available would call me back on Friday.

Hadn't received a call Friday afternoon so called the 210 number from earlier in the thread. Rep there said she couldn't offer any discounts because I was still in month 12 of my previous discounts. Those go through the August 18th billing period. I asked if they were really willing to lose a 6 year customer over 2 weeks, and she said it was all she could do.

YouTube TV is now available in my area, so I can get all my locals and ESPN that way. I can do Sling Blue during the season to get NFL Network and RedZone, but don't know how much I will miss the Ticket. If I can't get Ticket free or cheap with a much lower monthly bill, I'm probably going to have to go the streaming route.

Will probably call again Monday as I read somewhere that representatives credits reset on Monday.

Sounds like we've got the same problem. Post in here if/when you get a deal. I've been talking to them daily, but nobody offers anything. 

 

[greyhorse]

Ive been a customer for several years.  Cancelled my auto-renew on Sunday Ticket a couple weeks ago but didn't cancel service.  Got an unsolicited email today saying "we want to give you Sunday ticket at no cost just because.". I read the fine print and don't see anything about having to lock into a new contract.  I just had to click the link in the email.  

I've been a customer for 15 years.  I saw that first ST renewal payment showed up on bill, so I went online and removed it several days ago.  I didn't get any email saying I would be offered ST for free.  So I called today, said "cancel service", got immediately sent to Retention department. I went through the annual spiel - "I don't like paying $300 for ST, I don't have time really much to watch anyway, the total Directv package is way too expensive, etc."  I still have one last $50 credit a month from last year's negotiation.  Very nice guy, very talkative, but the bottom line is that because I still have the one month credit, he could only offer me $10 a month.  I let him talk and tell me all sorts of stories, blah blah blah, and kept circling back to cost and lack of time, acting very disinterested about staying with Directv.  This literally went on for ONE HOUR.  But still no better deal than $10.  Some retention department, huh?  I set a cancellation date for 7 days from now, saying I would explore other options.

He suggested that once my service is disconnected, that I should call back and ask for the Win Back department.  Will the calls from this department start coming before the actual cancellation date, or do I have to call myself after my service is actually disconnected?  First time I've ever had to actually cancel or set-up cancellation to get some kind of offer.

 

[Wingnut]

I've been a customer for 15 years.  I saw that first ST renewal payment showed up on bill, so I went online and removed it several days ago. 

Im curious how you did this since the only way to remove ST is to call.

 

[greyhorse]

Im curious how you did this since the only way to remove ST is to call.

It was very easy to do online.  I think I clicked on the "My Programming" tab, and next to Sunday Ticket, there is a very small box with an "x".  Click on that, and it's gone.  Just like if you want to add any movie channels, etc., you click on the "Activate" box.  It instantly removed Sunday ticket.  As the first installment was already billed, there is a message saying that it would be credited after the next billing cycle.

When I called retention today, the first thing the guy did was to take off that first installment charge, so now I'm even and don't have to pay and then get my money back the next month.  Which is good because I'm either going to go through with cancellation as I have set-up to do, or I intend to get ST completely free when I hopefully get a call from the Win Back / Recall department.

It seems like some get better offers from Retention while others need to go through the hassle of cancelling.  I think for me, it was because I still had last year's discounts.  I was super nice to the guy, in fact he told me I was one of the nicer customers he's talked to and that in the retention department, they see all sorts of rude and demanding sorts.  He complimented me that I wasn't pushy but apologized that the computer still wasn't giving him other options for me.

I'm a little concerned because it seems like some people have cancelled, had service turned off, and got absolutely nothing even when they initiated the call.  Does this happen often?  Do you just keep trying until you get the $50 x 12, free ST Max, and $200 gift card?  Do you call and have the attitude that "I don't really care if I have Directv again, win me back and I might consider?"  Or do you just say you got a call saying your were offered all of that?

 

[greyhorse]

Called Tuesday to set cancelation for Wednesday morning. Received a call Thursday afternoon from a number I've gotten a call from in the past that is a retention number. Lady who called started checking and said she couldn't offer Sunday Ticket free because I had it last year. Said she would check again after I had been disconnected for 48 hours and if Sunday Ticket became available would call me back on Friday.

Hadn't received a call Friday afternoon so called the 210 number from earlier in the thread. Rep there said she couldn't offer any discounts because I was still in month 12 of my previous discounts. Those go through the August 18th billing period. I asked if they were really willing to lose a 6 year customer over 2 weeks, and she said it was all she could do.

YouTube TV is now available in my area, so I can get all my locals and ESPN that way. I can do Sling Blue during the season to get NFL Network and RedZone, but don't know how much I will miss the Ticket. If I can't get Ticket free or cheap with a much lower monthly bill, I'm probably going to have to go the streaming route.

Will probably call again Monday as I read somewhere that representatives credits reset on Monday.

So it sounds like I am in a similar situation.  My month 12 is this billing cycle, which goes through September 1st for me.  So even though you cancelled, and had service disconnected, they still say you are in month 12?  Why wouldn't they just allow you to forfeit that 12th month of discounts?  You have already cancelled and now have no agreement with them!

 

[Wooderson]

I've mentioned it before. How many years you have been a customer does not matter. The money is all the same to DTV. 

They have no loyalty to me and I have non for them. I'm cool with that. It's just business. 

 

[avoiding injuries]

I've mentioned it before. How many years you have been a customer does not matter. The money is all the same to DTV. 

They have no loyalty to me and I have non for them. I'm cool with that. It's just business. 

I've had dtv for 10 years, but since I cancel to get the deals they have me showing as a 1 year customer each time. Makes no difference. 

 

[houston]

So I called and cancelled and had service turned off last Sunday. No calls so called the number and they said there is no offers for money off, gift card, Sunday ticket, NOTHING. Guy said he can give me free equipment upgrades but that's it. I've been with this damn company for 17 years. Guy said he can't understand why no offers are available for my account. Totally sucks ?

Sounds similar to what I faced last year. 

For those of you knocking it out of park, a few questions:

Were you still under contract?

Did you still have any active credits on your account?

Did you set a cancel date?

Did you actually wait for the cancel to happen before you cashed in?

 

[Tiger Fan]

Just called to disconnect and they actually offered me the following prior to cancelling:

Free ST Max for this year

6 months of Cinemax

$47 in discounts

I didn't take it b/c I wanted the gift card and the 3 months of HBO...but I hadn't seen any of that posted in here before.

 

[avoiding injuries]

Sounds similar to what I faced last year. 

For those of you knocking it out of park, a few questions:

Were you still under contract?

Did you still have any active credits on your account?

Did you set a cancel date?

Did you actually wait for the cancel to happen before you cashed in?

Cancelled last Wednesday, under contract until Friday. Set cancellation for Friday. They started calling on Thursday and I answered the 3rd call Thursday evening. They offered everything on that call, but I needed to wait until Friday for one of the discounts since I still had one active. I let the service end at 12:01am Friday and it was back on in the morning with the new movie channels. 

I think that answered the questions...

 

[Wingnut]

Sounds similar to what I faced last year. 

For those of you knocking it out of park, a few questions:

Were you still under contract?

Did you still have any active credits on your account?

Did you set a cancel date?

Did you actually wait for the cancel to happen before you cashed in?

My contract ended the day before disconnect was scheduled  (I agreed to a 12 month contract last year)

The last credit was expiring that same day

After service was shut off I called about 12 hours later and they said I wasn't eligible for any discounts and wouldn't be for 6 months.

I called a diff number  (I posted it a few pages back) and ended up getting choice for $70ish, ST Max, HBO/Cinemax for 3 months and a $200 gift card.

I had to ask about the GC and I was.told I qualified for a $100 one...then a day or so later I called back just to go over what I agreed to and was told it was a $200 GC. It's still not showing up when I try to look it up but I was told it may take up to 30 days to go through. We will see.

 

[waterworld]

My contract ended the day before disconnect was scheduled  (I agreed to a 12 month contract last year)

The last credit was expiring that same day

After service was shut off I called about 12 hours later and they said I wasn't eligible for any discounts and wouldn't be for 6 months.

I called a diff number  (I posted it a few pages back) and ended up getting choice for $70ish, ST Max, HBO/Cinemax for 3 months and a $200 gift card.

I had to ask about the GC and I was.told I qualified for a $100 one...then a day or so later I called back just to go over what I agreed to and was told it was a $200 GC. It's still not showing up when I try to look it up but I was told it may take up to 30 days to go through. We will see.

About what page was that second number?

 

[Mr.Pack]

I disconnected at Midnight last night. Called yesterday morning and set disconnect for Midnight after only getting an offer of $15 off even though I was off contract.

They told me I qualified for Win-Back offers and told me to call 866-284-2816.

I called and talked to a cool guy, we shot the breeze for about 10 mins then got down to business. Offered me $77.29/mo for Choice Xtra, Ticket Max and HBO, SHowtime and Cinemax for 3 mos. Said unfortunately and he wasn't sure why, but I didn't qualify for the $200 GC. It was where I wanted to be so I said, ok, lets write it up. Put me on hold, comes back and says "Wow, I can save you even more money. More discounts just popped up and I can now give you the same package for $52.57/mo AND you get the $200 GC!" ...........Giddddddddy up!...........

All told >$900 in discounts for the one year deal!

30 mins well spent!

 CALL THIS NUMBER  210-332-6968 !!!!

 

[SteelCurtain]

Just cancelled. 

Last July, I ordered up and it was clearly a one year plan.  The woman today told me as I was cancelling it was a 2 year.  So now I'm battling with them on that as well.

Regardless.  I cancelled.  They didn't fight.  Offered me $25 off per month if I have an AT&T phone and $17 off per payment for ST.  I said no and cancelled as of tonight.

Its exhausting and each time I get closer and closer to not going back. 

 

[DA RAIDERS]

still haven't called.  i think my wife is getting annoyed at no dtv...

 

[skol asylum]

I knew I was getting close to the last day of my bill cycle but didn't realize it was tomorrow already. I guess I'll call in the morning and set the cancellation for tomorrow night. I hope I get an offer right away.

 

[Nugget]

Sunday Ticket charges started showing up this cycle.  I told them I don't like football and I blame them for the concussion cover ups to sell more TV packages.  They only offered me one discount on the NFL package before they removed the charges.  They also said they would remove the auto renewal.

 

[skol asylum]

Disconnect call done. Awkward and clumsy. Tried to offer me a few dollars off my movie channels. Or just drop alot of them to save money. First said eligible for free new equipment. I said depended on pricing offer. Claimed I was already getting a deal on my DVR service compared to others. Said I just want to disconnect. Then told me I still have another month left on my contract. Claimed my billing cycle and credits don't line up with my contract. Tried to get me to stay one more month. Told them to cancel and I'll pay the $20 if need be. Gave me the disconnect spiel about returning equipment etc and then did say before ending the call that ATT would be calling to try get me back. 

I hope this supposed one month left on my contract nonsense doesn't make me ineligible for all the great deals.