Any tips on getting a deal on a Direct TV HD DVR receiver upgrade?

[IDoDis]

We want to upgrade our Direct TV account so that we get programming in high definition (For $10 extra per month). I understand we'll have to upgrade our receiver which is around $200.00. Has anyone gotten any deals from Direct TV on a high def upgrade? We are already Direct TV customers and all of the deals I have found have been for new customers, not existing ones. I was hoping someone had a good strategy to maybe get Direct TV to give us the upgraded receiver at a good discount or for free (maybe with a longer contract?).

 

[SHAYMARAYSMOM]

We got ours free. Just ask and if they say no do what I did I told them I would go else where.

 

[caa1277]

After about the 10th time I called I was able to get a rep who said they would give me the HD receiver for $120 (including shipping), I had to pay for it up front, and they would give me a $10 credit per month for 12 months which basically makes it free.

All the previous reps said that I would have to pay the $120 and no other deals. SO it pays to be persistant.

Another note--I was told that the longer you are a customer with them the more deals they can do for you. SO I would call and ask. And keep calling until you get a really good deal.

 

[strasfamily]

We were a customer for about 10 years with automatic payments. I called to ask about upgrading to an HD DVR because our non-HD DVR had just died. They do not have any free HD DVR's upgrades - we talked to about 5 different customer service reps. I guess each rep has a limit they can do to retain a customer. They told us we would get our best deal if we cancelled and signed up as new under my spouse's name. We did cancel, but I don't think I am going back to DirectTV. Looks like Dish has a great deal with free HD DVR.

 

[SHAYMARAYSMOM]

I just found for a coupon for a free up grade so the offer is out there. As I said in my other post if you tell them you will go to cable or dish they will do it any way. Every time they put an offer out for free channels of any thing I call and ask them what do I get. We have been with them about 15 years so I think if you offer something for new people then you should give somthing to us as a loyal customer. I always get something from them. DH laughs.

 

[IDoDis]

I just found for a coupon for a free up grade so the offer is out there. As I said in my other post if you tell them you will go to cable or dish they will do it any way. Every time they put an offer out for free channels of any thing I call and ask them what do I get. We have been with them about 15 years so I think if you offer something for new people then you should give somthing to us as a loyal customer. I always get something from them. DH laughs.

Thanks for the replies! I had a newspaper insert for a free HD DVR upgrade but the fine print said new customers only. How do you get an upgrade if you don't have a DVR to begin with?

I will be persistent with Direct TV and see what I can do.

 

[SHAYMARAYSMOM]

Just tell them you will go else where. They will cave. We also know someonr that works for the company that wrote the custmer care hand book and it says to always make the custmor happy. They will not lose money that way. If they give it to you then you are more likley to tell family and friends to sign up with them

 

[IDoDis]

Ok, I've called two times tonight and had to wait 15-20 min for a rep to pick up the line after being on hold. I said all of the things everyone suggested and am getting nowhere. Both reps said that the price on the HD DVR just dropped by $100 and is now $199 (I already knew that was the price). The best they could do was split up the amount into my next three billing cycles so I wouldn't have to pay it all at once. I told them that someone else got a $10 a month discount for 12 months to off-set the expense. They said there was no such deal they could offer. I said I would regretfully have to sign up with DISH where I could get it for free if they couldn't do something competetive to keep me as a customer and both said, "Sorry ma'am, but that's all we can do." We've been customers for 9 years and always pay on time (automatic billing).

Do they keep a record of the phone calls? If I keep calling and my account says I've called X amount of times, are they going to get irritated? Should I just keep trying? I don't know what else I could say to get them to give me a deal? We can't really switch to DISH beause we still have one year left on our two year agreement when we added the DVR last year. Maybe they know that so are calling my bluff?

 

[strasfamily]

You are doing the exact same thing we tried. $199 was the lowest they would go for an HD DVR as well. It didn't matter when we told them we were going to cancel.

I wonder if markets are different across the country? I have never seen a coupon for a free HD DVR here where I live. Free HD receiver yes, but not the HD DVR.

 

[lorax123]

Hi ya. I've been looking for a good deal to switch over to Direct TV for their HD package and HD DVRs. Last week I got a quote of $99 for a HD DVR, I didn't think that was too bad. they were $199 a few months back. Plus a $10 a month credit for 1 year on the monthly bill ($69.99 a month 1st year).

Did someone say they saw a free HD DVR flyer? If that's for Direct TV let me know where to find it! I know Dish is offering that promotion to new customers... But already have them and their HD package is more expensive (nearly $90 a month!) and is not as extensive as Direct.

I think the problem you have right now, is that Direct has you for another year. From what I've read, they do check to see how long it's been since you've signed-up, recieved a deal on new equipment and if you pay your bill on time. Since you have just gotten a deal in the past year, they may not be interested in giving you anything else. You may have to wait for a DVR price drop or the contract to end. With the contract you are stuck. You can get out of it, but you'll have to pay.

 

[BeccaGrace]

I just went through this but ended up with a free upgrade
I called and said that my dh was at the store buying an HD tv (he was) and they were offering him a deal with a local competitor (they weren't but I had the add and quoted their current deal of free hd/dvr for new customers). I told them that I was a long time customer and did not want to switch but dh was not going to go along with $299 installation and was there anything they could do for me. I got transferred about 5 times (and disconnected once) and the first few people told me there was no way I'd get it for free but maybe someone could offer a discount. The last woman was very nice--looked up our record (we have one step up from basic service and subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket and have been customers for about 3 years with no special deals). She told me that if I agreed to a 2 year contract and would subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket again next season that they would install for free We are scheduled for installation this Thursday!!!

Good luck--it is possible. My suggestion is to be very friendly and tell them you don't want to switch but your dh wants to because of better deals elsewhere.

 

[IDoDis]

The rep did say that installation was free. I think everyone gets that deal out here. I guess we'll just have to bite the bullet and pay the regular price. There weren't as many high def channels a year ago when we bought our 50" plasma,as there are now, so it didn't seem like it was worth it to pay the extra $10 a month for high defintion. Now in hindsite, that was a bad choice because we are spending more having to buy another DVR than we would have been paying the $10 month for high defintion.

DH is chomping at the bit to get the high defintion by Super Bowl Sunday (Cheese-heads unite! Go Packers!). We heard there can be a wait for install this time of year.

 

[lorax123]

I'm actually waiting for football season to end. We've been in the market for a new TV since Oct and an upgrade to HD programming, but it seems like TV deals have gone downhill since X-mas shopping season. X-mas and Superbowl season seem to be big TV and TV service selling times.

 

[strasfamily]

Maybe its because I'm jealous that I didn't get offered a free upgrade...

For those of you that were, I just want to make sure we are talking about the same thing. The OP wants an HD DVR, not just the HD receiver for free. I too have been offered the HD receiver for free but not the HD DVR. Since I record all of my TV and watch it on my time, that is what is important to me.

Anyway, just want to confirm that it is the HD DVR that you guys have been getting for free and not just the receiver. Even when you sign up for DirectTv at Costco you don't get the HD DVR for free...

(oops - I just reread the OP's post, and I guess they didn't mention DVR. Nevermind)

 

[caa1277]

Like I said, I called DirecTV at least once a day for about 2 weeks straight before I was finally offered an HD receiver for $99 + $20 shipping= $120. I had to pay upfront and they said they would give me a $10 credit for the next 12 months which basically makes it free. I didn't even try for an HD DVR. We had only been customers for 3 months when we offered this deal. Keep calling and annoying them! They will finally give you something to leave them alone!

 

[abeyst]

How much is your cancellation fee to break the last year of your contract? If it's cheaper than buying the HD DVR and HD programming each month, I'd cancel the contract and put it under the other spouse's name.

 

[lorax123]

Maybe its because I'm jealous that I didn't get offered a free upgrade...

For those of you that were, I just want to make sure we are talking about the same thing. The OP wants an HD DVR, not just the HD receiver for free. I too have been offered the HD receiver for free but not the HD DVR. Since I record all of my TV and watch it on my time, that is what is important to me.

Anyway, just want to confirm that it is the HD DVR that you guys have been getting for free and not just the receiver. Even when you sign up for DirectTv at Costco you don't get the HD DVR for free...

(oops - I just reread the OP's post, and I guess they didn't mention DVR. Nevermind)

No, they didn't mention a HD DVR in their post, but they used it on the subject line of the post.

I'm jealous too, I'd be a lot more willing to switch for a free HD DVR. $99 isn't bad. But free is the best!!!

I just have issue that the HD DVR only acts like a reciever for one TV. Dish Networks DVR's act like a reciever for 2 TVs and that's awesome!!! Record 2 shows at once and watch 2 different recorded programs at the same time, while recording, on 2 different TVs. That's the only reason I find it hard to jump.

 

[strasfamily]

That is cool about being able to watch recorded programs from 2 different TV's. I think I will have to check into that! I guess our new Sams Club offers a deal with Dish.

One question, are you able to search for TV programs just by name, and not having to know what day it is on? That is the one thing that drives me crazy about our cable company's DVR - you have to know what day the show is on. DirectTV wasn't like that, but we had the older Tivo model.

 

[lorax123]

That is cool about being able to watch recorded programs from 2 different TV's. I think I will have to check into that! I guess our new Sams Club offers a deal with Dish.

One question, are you able to search for TV programs just by name, and not having to know what day it is on? That is the one thing that drives me crazy about our cable company's DVR - you have to know what day the show is on. DirectTV wasn't like that, but we had the older Tivo model.

Yes, you can do a search. Of course you have to type in the name with the remote or on screen. That's no fun! But it works well. Best of all, it keeps a history of your searches (you can delete), so every few weeks you can do a search by title or info for something you are looking for.

I keep Disney and Universal, theme park, Orlando in the search, so it's easy to do those searches.

Or you can just find the show and tell it to record new episodes, all episodes, once, etc.

Right now with the ability to record 2 shows, some nights, that's not even enough. I can't stand to watch live programing and junk commercials.

Dish has been fine for me. No problems, no outages. But Direct is cheaper and has a great HD line-up. Dish's HD is a little more expensive but it's line-up is much better than Comcast cable.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Ok, I've called two times tonight and had to wait 15-20 min for a rep to pick up the line after being on hold. I said all of the things everyone suggested and am getting nowhere. Both reps said that the price on the HD DVR just dropped by $100 and is now $199 (I already knew that was the price). The best they could do was split up the amount into my next three billing cycles so I wouldn't have to pay it all at once. I told them that someone else got a $10 a month discount for 12 months to off-set the expense. They said there was no such deal they could offer. I said I would regretfully have to sign up with DISH where I could get it for free if they couldn't do something competetive to keep me as a customer and both said, "Sorry ma'am, but that's all we can do." We've been customers for 9 years and always pay on time (automatic billing).

Do they keep a record of the phone calls? If I keep calling and my account says I've called X amount of times, are they going to get irritated? Should I just keep trying? I don't know what else I could say to get them to give me a deal? We can't really switch to DISH beause we still have one year left on our two year agreement when we added the DVR last year. Maybe they know that so are calling my bluff?

I've had directv off and on since 95, mostly on. The secret is to getting to the right pool of phone people.

You do this by choosing "cancel my account" at the first phone menu prompt.

You then get sent to the people who are really good at keeping you from cancelling and have the authority to deal.

Most of the first line phone operators are little more than potatoes with a headphone strapped to them; no authority, fewer brains. Don't ever waste your time dealing with them.

Go directly to the "retentions" department by choosing "cancel your account", and then you say, "I want to cancel my account because I want to go HD and think I'm going to switch to Comcast (or whatever your local cable operator is)because they're offering me X deal" and they say, aw, heck, how about you stay with us, we'll give you this HD receiver for free.

You do need to call the competitor first and have written down in front of you exactly what the competitor is offering you so you can deal from a position of strength. If you're vague on what Comcast's going to give you you won't be able to negotiate effectively with DirecTv.

Just remember to go directly to the "cancel my account" people, don't deal with anybody else...