Has anyone had any luck subscribing as a new customer to D* recently and getting a better deal than what is offered on their website? I am with Brighthouse now, but with the upcoming HD additions to D* I am seriously thinking about switching. My only issue is having to pay over $200 in up front equipment costs.

I am also considering switching, but not sure if I want to drop the $199 up front for the HD-DVR. I guess thats my mindset coming from cable, not wanting to pay that much up front.

I've received my fourth letter from D* to come back. :D Still happy with Comcast, and with no long term commitment!

I posted this at another forum to address the directv upgrade policy and can apply to your situation.

The entire upgrade process at directv is a manipulative sales process where directv's staff is trained to get as much money from the deal as they can or that the customer will tolerate before threatening to leave.

The impression I get (it should be obvious to everyone by now is) from reading about the subject at all the forums are

directv's side
-get as much money as you can from the customer for the upgrade transaction
-play the game
-stall to make the customer anxious...put them on hold, make believe you need to talk to a supervisor, tell them this is the best you can do, etc.
-offer discounts one at a time but do not give them everything all at once
-the customer will eventually back down and pay.

so the key is to be patient, polite and friendly yet forceful, and play the game along with them.

know upfront that it is going to be a long phone call and that directv will try to get as much money from you as they can (as any business is entitled to make a profit) before you get disgusted enough to want to stop services or not sign up.

call customer service between 8am-6 pm. you will tend to get a more experienced csr then.

this we all know by now

-there is a 2 year committment on premium equipment
-the dish portion of the upgrade is typically free
-you can easily waive the $19.95 installation fee
-you are entitled to 1 free upgrade every 6 months
-they easily deal on the h20's. you can get these free up to a certain quantity like 3-4.
-they will easily give you a $100 discount off the hr20

next level of discount negotiation
-negotiate for more discounts on more equipment
-if the csr is unable (they have limitations on what they can do so they say) ask for a supervisor
-if the supervisor will not budge ask for customer retention.
-once you get on the phone with customer retention tell them calmly but forcefully that you are not here to leave but you want to take advantage of every (not some) but every other frigg'in deal they give to all the other customers that call them.

Give them the impression that you are totally aware of what all those deals actually are and that you want all of them...not some....and you do not want to play games. all this while being calm, talking about the weather, family...whatever.

not in a complaing tone. Once they hear that coming from your mouth the transaction tends to move along more smoothly :cool:.

The next level of negotiation if you are not satisfied with the equipment discounts is to negotiate programming discounts off your bill and choose from the following.

-waive the $99 superfan fee
-free hd package for a year
-free showtime/hbo for 6 months
-free locals for a year
-free sports pack
whatever.

Simply put...money is money and it does not "grow on trees". I am not a whiner, cheap, etc. If you can save some bucks on your upgrade order or new customer installation/transaction that is money in your pocket.

I am just so sick and tired of reading that there are so many options out there in the directv marketplace. Once you feel you did a good job on your upgrade, someone else gets something better.

good luck with your negotiations, be patient, do not allow directv to manipulate you... and do not give in.

negotiations/manipulations...what a bunch of CRAP that you even have to be placed in that position!!!

good luck

I'm not sure how that would apply since you mention that is for upgrading and not for new service. I'm not sure we have as much negotiating power as we would if we were current subscribers.

The same process applies to a new order as it does an upgrade since you are still actually negotiating for purchase/lease of equipment and services.


you both are interested in the same stuff...

dish
tuners
installation
programming

only difference...you are called a new customer. the length of service is just part of the game and manipulation process.

Don't think I've ever seen a new customer post online that they were able to get a better deal out of them. They take a hit for every customer they sign on and it's in their best interest to keep you around to recover their costs and make a profit from you, that is why they tend to be more flexible on existing customers when it comes to upgrade.

Don't think I've ever seen a new customer post online that they were able to get a better deal out of them. They take a hit for every customer they sign on and it's in their best interest to keep you around to recover their costs and make a profit from you, that is why they tend to be more flexible on existing customers when it comes to upgrade.

That isn't what I wanted to hear. :( I'll be calling once the new HD channels air and there is confirmation that they look just as good as the MPEG-4 locals, so I will find out then.

flash

-there is a 2 year committment on premium equipment
-the dish portion of the upgrade is typically free
-you can easily waive the $19.95 installation fee
-you are entitled to 1 free upgrade every 6 months which easily carries over to a new customer.
-they easily deal on the h20's. you can get these free up to a certain quantity like 3-4. 1 free h20 is a definate
-they will easily give you a $100 discount off the hr20

next level of discount negotiation
-negotiate for more discounts on more equipment
-if the csr is unable (they have limitations on what they can do so they say) ask for a supervisor
-if the supervisor will not budge ask for customer retention.
-once you get on the phone with customer retention tell them calmly but forcefully that you are not here to leave but you want to take advantage of every (not some) but every other frigg'in deal they give to all the other customers that call them.


call customer retention and play the game.

-once you get on the phone with customer retention tell them calmly but forcefully that you are not shopping around but you want to take advantage of every (not some) but every other frigg'in deal they give to all the other customers that call them.

follow my advise above...anything is possible...trust me.

the key is to be patient, polite and friendly yet forceful, and play the game along with them.

know upfront that it is going to be a long phone call and that directv will try to get as much money from you as they can (as any business is entitled to make a profit) before you get disgusted enough to want to stop services or not sign up.

call customer service between 8am-6 pm. you will tend to get a more experienced csr that better knows how to manipulate the system.

but on the programming end, don't be a dink and sign up for the cheapest package and expect to be accommodated on the equipment end.

if you think the end user program is hokey...just imagine what the dealer side is like.

I should call customer retention even though I am not even a customer yet?

yes call retention...you will first need to contact customer service and ask to be transferred,

customer retention also handles issues with new customers

if the csr asks why, tell them you need to discuss something with them and thats it... no gorey details.

Okay cool, I'll try this in a couple weeks when some of the new stations come online and I will post my results.

I read this topic and passed the info to my wife who is a terrific negotiator.

She talked to customer retention and got a great deal.

free HD DVR box, 12 months dvr and hd charges waived, 3 months free hbo, and 10 dollars off every month for 12 months on the bill. they will come install it for 20 dollars.

bdutton - New or existing customer?

Yea really I'm interested in this too. I just referred a good friend of mine who currently has cable and who was really interested in becoming a D* customer but was shocked and balked when he was told the HD PVR would cost him $199. Additionally he felt the CSR was really deceptive in how much programming actually cost. Needless to say his initial effort to become a customer went very poorly.

I was shot down, hard. Called, asked for retention. Waited on hold for a bit. Got some guy that gave me the entire spiel and basically said the absolute best deal he could give me was $199 for the HD box, and that was the absolute best offer he could give me! I mentioned how I have heard from many people both online and at my office who were able to get better deals as new customers and he stated that if they did it wasn't directly through DirecTV but some other outfit. When I said that the upfront cost of $199 is going to make me reconsider he simply thanked me for my time and asked if there was anything else he could help me with. Lame.

It is such bullshit that everyone gets such wildly different results depending on who you speak to.

I tried this a few weeks ago. I had an appointment scheduled but started having second thoughts about paying the $200 up front. I called three times to try to negoitiate something, but no one would budge. I eventually cancelled my install appointment after I couldnt get any better deal than was on the website.

Thanks for sharing. Sad news for my friend it would seem.

I guess its always been this way really. IIRC my first box and dish back in the 90's was hundreds of dollars. Just think if you wanted to start as an HD PVR subscriber when the HD Tivo was over $1000.

I am also considering switching, but not sure if I want to drop the $199 up front for the HD-DVR. I guess thats my mindset coming from cable, not wanting to pay that much up front.

Just to add, there is no monthly fee for leasing for your primary receiver so if you are paying monthly for renting a cable DVR, divide that into the $199 and you'll know when you break even. If you have 2 or more receivers, the mirror fee Directv charges for additional receivers has become the lease fee so regardless if you owned or leased, any additional receivers are $4.99 a month.

Wow, on my second call I was actually hung up on after a couple of minutes. She wasn't willing to budge, and then I mentioned I wanted to get the Center Ice package and if she would be willing to wave the monthly fee. Next thing I know... *click*.


So I called back... I must be a glutton for punishment. This time the sales rep basically said that he has never heard of a new customer getting a free HD DVR and his supervisor said that it simply wasn't possible to do that in their system. He then offered to transfer me to customer service to talk to them. The customer service lady said the same thing they said. I don't get how some new customers are claiming they are getting a free HD DVR, it seems impossible.

Unfortunately I have to add more negative news to this thread. Followed the pattern to be extremely polite and forceful but got zero ... zero of everything so far.
Spent 40 minutes yesterday on the phone with CSR (very nice lady seems like ) but the only positive information i got so far was about some deals that may come any day now and there are about 70 new HD channels launching next week. She did not want to say about deal details and what not. Anyway will try again in a few..... Good luck to all

Let me know how it goes fowstranger.

I forgot to mention the last 2 times I called they easily gave up $10 off for each month for 10 months. I might actually bite on the deal if I can get them to give me that plus something like free HD service for a year.

I spent over 2 hours on the phone and worked really hard to get a better deal. I spoke with a CSR then a Supervisor and finally their Supervisor. I wound up with 2 H20's and 1 HR20 for $199.00. This included install of the 5 lnb which was done improperly and a 5 minute phone call later got Showtime for free for a year. All because of the problems they gave me. I would not say I am happy with the package but really got tired of discussing the finer points of what a loyal customer should be able to receive. I am sure others have and will get better deals but as previously stated be ready for a long phone call and the ability to stay calm, anger will get you hung up on. I am afraid that this scenario will play out again when the contractor comes back to realign the dish. I am patient and will discuss future concessions with D* at that time. If any one has suggestions I am willing to listen.
my 2 cents