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Just got off the phone with DirecTV customer retention and was told RZC standalone is NOT available... For your agent to say there is no charge for it makes me believe she was referring to the fact the RZC channel is included in the cost of the Sunday Ticket this year and not a Superfan add on. That has happened with another poster already.Either way... my offer for the Sunday Ticket:5 months at $63.99 ($319.95)$20 off for 12 months$79.95 total for the Sunday Ticket. I'll take it. 
You can't.
Thank you. I can live without it. NFL replay will get used more this year.
Called and followed this plan. First he offered me $10 per month b/c I guess I'm getting it for $299 already as a long-time sub. I scoffed and said the wife lost her mind b/c I'm not even home for half the games anyway. He without hesitation threw out th $20 and said I could have "To Go" for when I'm at the Eagles games. 
I paused, but was ready to accept and then he also offered me ungraded HD DVRs for the two receivers that aren't currently (we have two HD and two standard receivers currently in the house). 
Great deal. I called last week with all intent to drop. They cut the price to 25 a month vs the 50. I accepted. On the go would have been nice. But not to die for. Used it last year.Wife called in, I gave her some notes from this thread and here's the deal she got:$63.99/month x 5 months for Sunday Ticket = $319.95$9.99/month x 5 months for On-the-go = $49.95Discounts:$80 one-time credit$20/month off bill x 6 months$49.95 instant credit for On-the-goTotal cost: $119.99 for Sunday Ticket, including On-the-goOne Happy Husband
Call back and say you thought about it and it's still too high. You really can't afford to pay the on the go feature, and they will comp it. If not, hang up, try again.Great deal. I called last week with all intent to drop. They cut the price to 25 a month vs the 50. I accepted. On the go would have been nice. But not to die for. Used it last year.Wife called in, I gave her some notes from this thread and here's the deal she got:$63.99/month x 5 months for Sunday Ticket = $319.95$9.99/month x 5 months for On-the-go = $49.95Discounts:$80 one-time credit$20/month off bill x 6 months$49.95 instant credit for On-the-goTotal cost: $119.99 for Sunday Ticket, including On-the-goOne Happy Husband
I just got something similar as an existing customer who's moving: 5 months of Premium plus the Ticket for $59.99/month. At the end of the 5 months, I change my package back to what I want. I also got a free HD receiver (in addition to the receivers I take with me), and free Whole House DVR set up (24 month commitment for this). She also threw in free on-demand set up though I don't know if I'll use it. I went through the "moving" process at DTV, not customer retention or new customer sign-up.
I called tonight and the first rep claimed they would give me $100 off if I signed up before the 12th. Would not budge on any other discounts...Hung up, got another retention rep: Got the Ticket for 5 mo X 33.95 = 169.95/yr + $20 off/mo for next 6 mo = $50 football...they also threw in Starz and Showtime for 3 mos. I'm happy...Point is, if you don't like your first rep, hang up and try again.
I thought was part of the Superfan package last year, i.e. it cost extra. And now that HD is the expected standard, the extra charge is just for the "to go" stuff.The real change IMO is that you can get the to go package without being a Direct TV customer. I posted this in a thread earlier. Can't believe nobody seemed to care. It's ridiculously expensive to buy it just to watch games via live streaming, but I thought it was big news nevertheless.
A. It's only available if you can't get DTV otherwise (you can't just "want" it)B. It costs $350
completely agree.This is the annoying part of the whole thing. I have to make a phone call (or multiple) to see what I can weasel out of them
It sucks, but I understand why they make it a pain. What % of their Ticket customers do you think just accept the charges without haggling? 90%? More? I'm sure it's not less. Plus they charge bars a fortune for the Ticket (friend who owns a bar told me about 10 years ago it cost a couple grand). So "giving back" $100-200 to a small % of their customers - if the customers are willing to go through the hassle - isn't a big deal to them.
For everyone that calls and threatens/bluffs to leave there are many that don't make the phone call that just pay the full $319.I'm willing to bet that the number of people that pay the full price FAR out number the few that get the price down to $149.
Can't disagree, but there are probably people who just don't bother to buy it at $300, but might at $199 or so? Either way, it is a silly process and they do have to hire people to field the calls. Making my call today, I will update.Oh, one other item, people are talking about the "to go" package and it was said it was ridiculously expensive. Keep in mind that if you are a subscriber to Direct TV and you only use it for the NFL package (like I do) you are also paying "x" amount a month for the basic monthly charge on top of the NFL package. Avoiding that can save a couple hundred bucks.
Called the 800 number and asked for customer retention.Just stated the wife is giving me stuff about the high bill... and I need to cancel. Got $20 for 6 months and NFL to go for free. After explaining that I pay $60 a month for choice and I don't need a monthly plan as I have cable he offered to make the $20 discount good for 12 months. I stated that I usually shut down my Direct tv for 6 months so could he give me that as a credit instead and he agreed...Oh, I also got a $10 credit for the HD credit.So, I got a $120 credit, I get $20 a month credit for 6 months and the $10 credit for HD ongoing and free NFL to go. That works for me.
Well I'll hand it to DTV............they can be VERY vague and ambiguous. I've been on the phone with customer service (and e-mailed DTV) about NFL Redzone, and each time they told me that NFL Redzone could ONLY be attained by subscribing to the Sunday Ticket. Well my call to them 10 minutes ago, was to inquire what to do with my DTV dish/receivers, because I was likely canceling service to go to Dish Network. The gal I was speaking to obviously wanted to know why I wanted to switch, and I told them 100% to get the Redzone Channel (and that Sunday Ticket had priced itself out of our household). Figuring she'd shoot me a discount on the Sunday Ticket, she just about floored me when she said she could give me NFL Redzone as a stand alone channel, and for FREE!! She verified this while I was on the line, and I thanked her and hung up. Checked my account on the website.........and sure enough, the Redzone is there (zero charge). I'll miss the Sunday Ticket..........but can live with Redzone and zero cost. Obviously, you get different answers on this........depending on who you talk to.
You're the man. I'm in the same boat. (No bluffing) My wife put the foot down on the Sunday ticket this year and said the Sunday Ticket had fallen out of her price range. I did the exact same thing: At the automated prompt said "cancel service". Got a nice operator. Explained the situation: Have always gotten the Sunday ticket, out of my price range, going to move to dish, wanted the red zone channel. She immediately said she could add it "no problem", but first offered me $100 off the ST. When I told her that wouldn't fly with the wife, she added the red zone and confirmed it was free.Threads like this are the reason I love the shark pool.
I now officially hate you................
I want to thank you and G-Money for turning me on to this sweet deal. 13 year subscriber and Sunday Ticket patron who canceled this summer. Went through this exact scenario and she came back with a "we can give you that for free". I think she was impressed with my length of service.
Going to call NOW. I will verify all of this online while I still have the rep on the line. Thanks for posting this both of you.
Red zone is 703. The operator noted that I'd get both the standard and HD versions.Also, if I look at my programming online, Sunday ticket is *not* selected under sports. However if I click the "other" tab, it lists an item titled "NFL Sunday Ticket" with a price of $0.0. I am guessing that's how they ring it up since they don't formally offer Red Zone standalone.
Cool, I wasn't sure if it was that one or the NFLN one that I just got for free. 703 works.
But you have to live in Canada, eh?
703 is the NFL Sunday Ticket version of the RedZone channel. DirecTV has told me repeatedly that they DO NOT carry the standalone NFL Network version and that you can only get the RedZone channel with the NFL Sunday Ticket.Not saying what you guys are saying isn't true... but since 703 isn't the NFL Network version, I'm afraid someone is in for a bad surprise here.
No worries. I think I understand things, though I could be wrong.It's confusing: there are two versions of the red zone channel. DirecTV carries only the "Sunday Ticket" version and cable/dish carries only the NFL network version. I've seen claims that one is superior to the other but I think they're about the same. (can't say personally as I've never seen the NFL network version.)One bug distinction is how you can order each. You cam only order the NFL network version ala carte for something like $8 to $10 a month. DirecTV will not let you order it ala carte. You can only get it as part of the Sunday ticket package.So that was the big revelation here: Even though directv doesn't sell the red zone channel (the st version) ala carte, they have the ability to give it to you. Theyre willing to do this if you say you're switching to dish or cable specifically for red zone. It makes sense that the price is zero, considering they don't sell the channel ala carte. They can't charge you because they haven't established a price. I sort of understand directvs point but wonder if they'll continue this going forward. As I understand the contact, directv pays the NFL stupid money for ST. however this gives them the ability to package and sell things as they wish. I think they're more than able to give customers the red zone channel if they want (well the ST version, they'd have to negotiate rights for the NFL version). But in their shoes this doesn't sound like a great gamble. Theyre trying to recoup the madoney they paid the NFL. offering RZ for $40 a season likely loses money if only a small percentage of ST subscribers go this route instead.The beauty of the free market is they likely won't have much choice. As much as they hate the idea of someone paying $40 for red zone instead of $320 for Sunday ticket, the fact is that if customers threaten to take a walk to dish or cable they'll have to play ball.My guess here is that their original position was that they wouldn't give red zone to anyone but after enough customers saud "switch me to dish/cable" they softened their stance.
Excellent post...............you nailed it. I had called/exchanged e-mails with DTV a half dozen times, and they told me EVERY time that I could NOT get Red Zone as a stand alone (and not the NFL Network version, as DTV does not offer that channel in any of their programming packages). Even when I called to cancel the Sunday Ticket (prox 2 months ago), they didn't even try and give me a "special deal" to try and keep my business (as a ST subscriber). In fact, this is what I find so amusing about DTV...........they don't seem to have a firm set of guidelines that each individual representative follows. Some reps don't offer you squat, while others offer you the moon. Just don't get it. In this instance, this was the first time I threatened to switch satellite providers. The lady I was dealing with didn't even stutter. Immediately hooked me up with Red Zone as a stand alone (again, DTV only has Sunday Ticket Red Zone). The DTV website is also very detailed................here is the cut/pasted info straight from "Account Overview" / "Recent Activity"09/09/2010 XXXXXXXX6019 Red Zone Channel 2010 - Charge $0.00 $0.0009/09/2010 XXXXXXXX6019 HD Access - Charge $8.67 $0.0009/09/2010 XXXXXXXX6019 CHOICE XTRA - Charge $55.46 $0.00I know some of you are still skeptical (as I was)............but they CAN offer Red Zone as a stand alone. Just have to pull the right chain, with the right rep.
NEW CUSTOMERS can also be referred by a friend/relative and both the new and existing customer save $100 each. Pretty good deal for first time customers and I'm sure everybody knows someone with DirecTV. I'm new, signed up for the free Premiere package and after 6 months I can downgrade it to one of the choice packages. Plus I'm receiving the $10/month credit for 10 months because I used the name of an existing customer as my reference.
