SoCal Cardfan

Oh, I've seen the ads:

Wanted: Sat TV installers, no experience needed, must have truck.

Shane H

Wow! Just got Superfan for free and didnt even have to threaten them.

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“They said the road comes through Seattle. We came through here and took care of business.” Anquan Boldin

Cbus cardsfan

How did you do that? It seems like the last thing they'll give for free anymore is Superfan. I called last night because my reception was off,AGAIN, and have to have a guy come and reset the dish, AGAIN. For all my troubles i asked for Superfan for free. This is the second time i've done it.The first time they gave me 10 bucks of my bill for a year and free HD for 6 months which is a greater value than SF. This time they gave me 6 more months of free HD and HBO free for 6 months. I don't get it. Why not just give the SF once and be done with it? It's cheaper for them.

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RonF

You have to make them think it's their idea, therein, lies the game. Good luck.

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"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

-- Albert Einstein

john h

Where were you when I needed you? As one who leases 2 HDVR, 1 HD, and one regular receiver and subsribes to football, baseball and many others they have a good idea I am not going anywhere. They did send me a card that said I was some sort of special customer and actually I do get straight through when I call them for what ever that is worth.

I was on the phone with them the other day and they told me about 5 HD channels I could have for 6 months for free and then if I wanted to keep them it would cost $10 a month. They are pretty good channels (theee are movie channels) especailly when they are free for 6 months. These are different from the HD channels you subscribe to.

SeattleCard

You gotta haggle with them, and it also depends on which CSR you get.

Worst case scenario (if you are trying to get superfan for free) - threaten to cancel ST.

IF they don't budge, ask for retention.

Alot of it will depend on how long you have been a customer.

I called them this year and it wasn't too hard to haggle to get superfan for free. I've been a subscriber for about 4 years.

gusmahler

Rumors were flying that even retention specialists wouldn't budge. If you threatened to cancel, they'd just say OK. That's why I never bothered calling this year. If they're getting better at actually giving in, maybe I should call before the season starts.

BTW, last season, they gave me Superfan for free without me even asking. I didn't have Superfan the season before because I didn't have HD.

SeattleCard

From what I've read on AVSForum, that isn't fully accurate. Many folks were getting it free, including myself. It's not too late for you to call them and give it a shot...

Shane H

I just called and reiterated several times how pissed I was that I buy Sunday Ticket and pay for the HD receiver and all the DH programming but they dont include the game sin HD. Took about 10 minutes of him giving bogus reason why they do it that I kept refuting. Then out of the blue he says "you know what Mr. Heather your right. For being such a long valued customer I will just go ahead and give it to you this one time." I was in shock Then said cool thank you! You have to speak with retention though.

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“They said the road comes through Seattle. We came through here and took care of business.” Anquan Boldin

SteelDog

Here is the thing. DTV has gotten smart to people just asking for the retention department out of the gate. If you do that they already know what your trying to do. They might just say "OK". However, if you don't ask for Retention and just say you would like to cancel, they will follow normal process. If your a good customer they still have to transfer you to the retention department to process your cancellation request. They have instructed their regular CSR's to try to avoid auto-transfers to the Retention department and get you to take an offers the regular CSR's are authorized to make. I have read in some instances the regular CSR's have inferred they are retention when you call.

However, if you stand firm and continue to say "no thank" I want to cancel NFL Sunday Ticket, you will get to the retention department. Unless you are a horrible customer, they are required to transfer you to the Retention Department to finalized the cancellation. The Retention Reps are the ones that can offer the best deals. They are authorized to offer you lots more then a regular CSR. This year though I didn't even have to deal with a regular CSR. When I went through the automated phone system and selected "cancel service" it sent me directly to "Retention". That is a first. Every single year before this I had to deal with a regular CSR first. Not sure why some people go directly to Retention and others don't.

However, I did like I always do every single year and got the same results. Free SuperFan, free receivers and some other temporary free programming. No difference at all from the previous years. Just called to cancel NFL Sunday ticket like I do every year.

The problem is often people think they are talking to the Retention department and they are not.

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__________________
Favorite Serenity (Firefly) Quotes:
__________________________________________________ ___________
Mal - "Do you want to run this ship?"
Jayne - "Yes!"
Mal - [caught off guard] "Well.........you can't"
__________________________________________________ ___________
Zoe - "Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?
Book - "Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps."
__________________________________________________ ___________
Wash - "This landing is gonna get pretty interesting."
Mal - "Define interesting."
Wash - [deadpan] "Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die!?"
Jayne - "We're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode!"
__________________________________________________ ___________
Kaylee - "Goin' on a year now I ain't had nothin' twixt my nethers that weren't run on batteries!"
Mal - "Oh, God! I can't *know* that!"
Jayne - "I could stand to hear a little more.
__________________________________________________ ___________
Jayne - "SHINEY! Let's be bad guys."

CtCardinals78

Me too! Thanks Fiasco, I just told them I was a loyal customer and was disappointed to see that new customers were getting a better deal than I was! Sweet! I got Sunday ticket for a cheap price and Superfan for free!!!!!

And yes DirectTV has the worst installers. When we moved into the house in '05 it took him 10 hours (litteraly) to hook it up and it was still F'ed up.

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"The problem I have with Arizona, and I love them, is I don't trust them."---Terry Bradshaw 11/02/2008

Zeno

This isn't a football question about DirecTV but...

I can't watch FSAZ when the D-Backs are on...what gives? I get that stupid "721 Channel Not Purchased" message. Its only when the games are on otherwise I get whats on(I tried the Twins game too and got the same message but FSSW came in with no problems, it was showing Sports Bloopers). Anyone else have that problem? I know I purchased the Sports Package and I don't want this problem when I try to watch ASU Football this fall.

Shane H

That would generally mean the game is blacked out in your area. IE not a sellout maybe?

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“They said the road comes through Seattle. We came through here and took care of business.” Anquan Boldin

MigratingOsprey

not a sellout issue - the NFL is the only league that does that

what you have is a "buy our premium package issue"

since the games are "out of market" for your location the only way you can get them is if you buy the respective sports package (such as MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass, NHL Centre Ice, etc)

That's the only way you can receive those games

As for collegiate games, it's been my experience that as long as the game isn't also being shown on one of the specialty packages - although one of my coworkers was assured this would not be an issue

here is a link to the ESPN Gameplan Schedule

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global...ssetId=1800007

here is the DTV disclaimer on their sports pack

"Blackout restrictions apply. In accordance with blackout rules, customers who subscribe to SPORTS PACK will not receive sports programming outside their market on these channels. Out of market games are sold separately via professional and collegiate sports subscription packages. Click here to determine which teams are available in your area."

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"Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
Samuel Clemens

Zeno

I finally talked to someone from DirecTV and they pretty much said what MigratingOsprey said, since I don't have the MLB Extra Innings package purchased the games are blacked out to me, it gives that 721 code sometimes other times it will just say blacked out. That kind of sucks but I'm paying for enough as it is I'm not buying the baseball package as well.