Dish TV wants to raise my rates on programming since the promotional package is over. I threatened to cancel and got an extension. In the meantime Direct TV has been begging me back. It will cost me money to switch.. I am wondering what the best deal is I can negotiate with Direct TV? I am going to try to get them to pay the balance of my contract with dish for switching back, as well as getting premium channels. I can not get a streaming device as I am in the boonies with limited internet. Does anyone know anything direct tv has offered that is super? I know someone who got free premium channels for a year.
The best thing to do is call them and talk to a live person in sales, rather than checking out the 'bundles and offers' online. Be very careful of any offers that have a time limit, and then the price goes up -- say after six months or a year. Always ask if the promotion expires -- they usually do. I have DirecTV and I'm happy with their service. A few years ago, we experienced some fierce wind storms where I live. It knocked the satellite dish out of whack just a tiny bit, but it was enough to interfere with my service if there was a slight breeze. I called in and they sent someone out for free (not the usual case), and he installed a new dish and secured it a little better so it wouldn't happen again. The customer service retention department gave me a deduction off my bill of $25 for one year just for my aggravation. I thought that was really cool.
Be careful, because DirecTV is now owned by AT&T. It seems there are problems with all of the providers, and it's a matter of selecting the one you can put up with these days. I saw a note on the bottom of my screen the other day about Dish Network subscribers losing the local CBS affiliate, which seems to happen periodically. I think all of the companies are getting too big for their britches, and are trying to milk customers for as much of their hard earned money as possible, while providing the lowest level of service, and usually horrendous customer service.
I agree, however I haven't noticed any changes since the merger. I recently had to call DirecTV customer service and the person was friendly and knowledgeable. I'm taking a wait and see attitude, but I won't use Dish TV, and there aren't any other options available to me, so I'll stick with DirecTV and hope for the best.
@tlspiegel Why won't you use Dish Network, have you had an issue with them in the past? I've never used Dish. I've had service with DirecTV before, but I've never been the account holder, so am not really familiar with how they work. A friend had them for years, with a top of the line package, and they just refused to upgrade his receiver, and wanted to charge him some outrageous amount for one, so he cancelled his service with them and never looked back. He's happy with Charter now, and it sounds as if they are actually better than what I've got, but they're not available in my area. Here we're stuck with AT&T or Comcast/Xfinity, and neither is ideal.
I am happy with DirecTV, that's why I won't switch to Dish Network. They've been ideal for me and I've been with them for over ten years. I've never had a problem... the one time I called into customer service the person was friendly and knowledgeable. So, that's why I'm not using Dish Network. I never have and never will. They have a less than stellar reputation where I live... from people I know who used them. They switched to DirecTV and are very happy now.
Well that's definitely a reason to stick with them. My friend was also extremely happy with them, until he had that one issue, and neither of them would budge. I've seen really cheap deals offered by Dish Network, but then it seems there are always a bunch of add ons. AT&T is the same here, they're nickel and diming me to death with fees, and I'm looking around at Rokus, just in case I have to cut them off.