Directv raising rates AGAIN!

[DawnM]

UGH!

Our bill will be over $100 with taxes without any discounts. Our contract is up in April and I am seriously considering canceling.

We have HD Total Choice Plus with DVR- 3 TVs.

Dawn

 

[momof1princess]

have you called them to negotiate a discount? i would call them and tell them i just can't pay their ever-increasing rates, and if they don't have any discounts or promotions i can use, i'll be canceling my service when my contract is up. each time i call, they give me a discount.

 

[shoney]

My bill is over a hundred a month....3 tv's...no hd and free dvr (we bought the lifetime membership many years ago!) I don't know what package we have...all the regular cable channels and HBO. I called once and they wouldn't lower anything, but offered me a free HD box, satellite and hd service for a year. I didn't take the offer.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Can they raise the rate on you before April? Did you get some kind of notice? I'm asking because I am about to sign another contract with them. I'll want to do so ASAP if it means they can't raise the rates, but won't do it at all if they're raising rates.

We've had them for years and love the service, but am frustrated that long term customers get very few deals. All new customers right now get free HD for life along with other things. I had to call and talk to 4 people to get 1 free HD box and they will waive the $10/mo HD fee for 12 mo.'s if I sign a 2 year contract.

Decisions, decisions....

 

[msmayor]

Can they raise the rate on you before April? Did you get some kind of notice? I'm asking because I am about to sign another contract with them. I'll want to do so ASAP if it means they can't raise the rates, but won't do it at all if they're raising rates.

We've had them for years and love the service, but am frustrated that long term customers get very few deals. All new customers right now get free HD for life along with other things. I had to call and talk to 4 people to get 1 free HD box and they will waive the $10/mo HD fee for 12 mo.'s if I sign a 2 year contract.

Decisions, decisions....

Except they have to subscribe to Whole Home DVR to get that.

I pay under $90/month total, including taxes, for four TV's (two with HD) and the Choice Xtra package. As far as I'm concerned DVR is a waste now that you can catch so many missed episodes on the web. I'm pretty happy with what we pay and the service we get. Just the other day one of the remote controls we had went bad and when I called to replace, they waived the $15 fee. Matter of fact, they've waived a lot of fees whenever I've contacted them about changing equipment and stuff. Seems to work out ok for me.

 

[DianeV]

If it makes you feel any better, U-verse is raising theirs too

 

[donnajon]

We switched to Dish from Directv in August because their rates were too high. We tried to negtotiate with them and they wouldn't listen. So after we cancelled, they started calling us all the time offering discounts. After about the 4th call in as many weeks, I finally told them to quit calling, I signed a contract with Dish and can't cancel anyway. I told them we tried to do this before we cancelled and no one would listen. I was also fed up with them because they tried to sneak the NFL package on my rates. I rarely opened by bill because it was always the same and I had it drafted from my checking account each month. For some reason, I did open it one month and it had a note on there that they were going to charge me $50 for the NFL package unless I called them to tell them I didn't want it. That was my final straw with them. I've been very pleased with Dish and they are significantly cheaper.

 

[DawnM]

I actually do have a discount right now and it will continue. I believe I have free HD for life too as I called to negotiate that one and haven't had any increases in 2 years on that. I also got some other $15/month discount that will expire at some point, not sure when.

Dawn

have you called them to negotiate a discount? i would call them and tell them i just can't pay their ever-increasing rates, and if they don't have any discounts or promotions i can use, i'll be canceling my service when my contract is up. each time i call, they give me a discount.

 

[Melrosgirl]

UGH!

Our bill will be over $100 with taxes without any discounts. Our contract is up in April and I am seriously considering canceling.

We have HD Total Choice Plus with DVR- 3 TVs.

Dawn

Do you have DVR on al 3 tv's? Get rid of DVR on two of the TV's to lower your rates.

 

[DawnM]

Well, yes and no. If you have a one year teaser rate, they won't change that (it says in the fine print anyway), but if you sign on, they CAN raise rates at any time.

They have raised them twice in the past two years.

And can I ask why you need to sign another 2 year contract? Can't you just go month to month after two years?

Dawn

Can they raise the rate on you before April? Did you get some kind of notice? I'm asking because I am about to sign another contract with them. I'll want to do so ASAP if it means they can't raise the rates, but won't do it at all if they're raising rates.

We've had them for years and love the service, but am frustrated that long term customers get very few deals. All new customers right now get free HD for life along with other things. I had to call and talk to 4 people to get 1 free HD box and they will waive the $10/mo HD fee for 12 mo.'s if I sign a 2 year contract.

Decisions, decisions....

 

[donnajon]

Dish also has free HD for life. We got 3 months of free premium channels and they said just call whenever to cancel. We did and when we called to ask if they had any other specials for free, they guy said, "Sure. We'll give you Starz movie package for free for 3 months. Just call and cancel that when you don't want it anymore."

 

[DawnM]

That will not lower it at all. You pay $6/month fo DVR service whether you have one DVR or three. Then you pay per box or DVR....SAME COST whether it is a regular box or a DVR.

Dawn

Do you have DVR on al 3 tv's? Get rid of DVR on two of the TV's to lower your rates.

 

[bicker]

And can I ask why you need to sign another 2 year contract? Can't you just go month to month after two years?

Generally, service providers require a service term commitment in return for discounted rates.

 

[tink2dw]

I have had Directv since 2000 and NEVER had a contract with them!! and I have 1 Tivo, and 2 DVR boxes and I have rented a DVR. And moved 3 times, still no contract. Of course, the only programing I have is the local channals and Total Choice.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

And can I ask why you need to sign another 2 year contract? Can't you just go month to month after two years?

Dawn

If I don't want to sign a 2 yr. contract, they will charge me $199 for the new box I need and won't waive the $10 / mo. HD charge. So, if I sign, I save $319.00. I would like to change providers, but DH really likes DirecTV.

Does anyone use the DirecTV Cinema service? Seems like it would be as good as Netflix (or better) and for free. If it is really free....

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Except they have to subscribe to Whole Home DVR to get that.

I pay under $90/month total, including taxes, for four TV's (two with HD) and the Choice Xtra package. As far as I'm concerned DVR is a waste now that you can catch so many missed episodes on the web. I'm pretty happy with what we pay and the service we get. Just the other day one of the remote controls we had went bad and when I called to replace, they waived the $15 fee. Matter of fact, they've waived a lot of fees whenever I've contacted them about changing equipment and stuff. Seems to work out ok for me.

The best thing since sliced bread!

 

[DawnM]

How does it work?

If I already have 3 DVRs what do I need to get to have one that works all over?

Dawn

The best thing since sliced bread!

 

[Duchie]

The best thing since sliced bread!

I called them last week to ask about the whole-home service. Before we could even discuss it, we discovered we had been paying for a 3rd receiver since we upgraded almost 4 years ago. We only have 2 TVs!! Apparently the install guy never returned the card or whatever it is he's supposed to return, so instead of replacing a receiver they thought we added one. And on my bill, I thought we had to pay for both of our receivers. The rep was quick to apply a refund, though.

I never did get a truly straight answer on the Whole Home Service, though. I called several times, and each time was told something different. Plus one of the reps we spoke to sounded very bored, and when I asked what was included in the Whole Home upgrade fee, her response was, "Yeah, they don't really tell us that information." It just didn't fill me with a lot of confidence.

In the end we decided to switch to U-Verse. We really needed to upgrade our internet and phone service, and they were offering a pretty sweet in-store incentive on the TV package which we can cancel after a year, so we're going to give it a try. Our neighbors have it and LOVE it, so let's hope our experience is as positive.

Had it not been for the great incentive, I think we would have stayed with DirecTV, although I have to admit their customer service has really gone downhill over the last couple of years.

 

[DisneyScraps]

Funny I have Dish Network and I feel the same way about them. My rates keep going up. My contract is up in April and I was thinking of going to Direct TV I don't think you can win with either of them.

The final straw with me and Dish was we recently moved. They charges us $100 even though no one told us about that when we scheduled the move. They told me that some people get it for free but since I pay my bill late every month I had to pay $100.00. I fought and fought over this with them. I do pay my bill late every month. The due date doesn't work well for me they won't change it and I pay bills once a month. It's never paid so late I get a free so I never saw it as a big deal.

Lisa

 

[Golf4food]

Our current 2 year contract ends in April this year. I plan to cancel our DirecTV service, watch Netflix and DVDs and Blurays for a few days, and wait for DTV to call us and offer a discount to come back, then accept. Did that a time or two with Sirius radio - we'd cancel and they'd call to give us 3 months for $20 total, then we'd cancel again. Finally just cancelled them entirely...

DTV did this to my parents last year - refused any discount so they cancelled and moved to DISH and the next day DTV was calling with discounts that they refused to give the day before. Idiots. It is cheaper to keep an existing customer than it is to market to a new one. Do a better job at keeping who you have and you wouldn't need so many stupid initial offer discounts - just give us all a fair price for everyone for the whole term and we'll use your service if it is the best option regardless of any initial discount.