How to get an additional $240 off as a new DirecTV customer, AAA member or not

[jacmyoung]

How to get an additional $240 off as a new DirecTV customer

Over the past few days I have gone through a great deal of pain placing a new D* order, if anyone is curious can check out this thread:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv...-i-got-best-hd-deal-new-directv-customer.html

I have since received many PMs, rather responding to each one of you I thought I’d just post a summary here. If you found the information helpful and in need of someone to refer you, feel free to PM me, while I am not activated yet, I will be able to provide my buddy’s established account to qualify you for the referral benefit, and my buddy will buy me lunch. If you indeed carry through with this feel free to confirm with me so I can keep track of my free lunch count, but no pressure there.

Call 1-800-242-9114, select “1” for new account,
Tell the rep you want to place a new order and get the AAA deal, $10/mo. off for 24 months, you will give two pieces of information, the first 6 digits of your AAA membership #, which depict the region the AAA office is located, and second the county of residence, no personal AAA information is given to D*.
Confirm that you will still get the standard $10/mo. off for 12 months new sub deal,
Tell the rep you have a referral for an additional $50 off, and the other person gets a $50 off also,
Tell the rep you want the free Showtime for one year promo too,
And if you like to you can add autopay, and you MAY get a $50 visa card if you do so,
Confirm that you will still get all the regular freebies such as 3 months free all movie packages if you get Choice Extra package or above, a $100 instant rebate if you order advanced hardware such as a DVR, an HD receiver or an HDDVR, for example your first HDDVR will cost you $99 ($199-$100) plus tax, only one such instant rebate per account,
Confirm that they will waive shipping and handling fee.

They will do a credit check with your SSN, if you don’t care for that they can check using your name and address too. You may need a major credit card if the hardware you order requires some upfront charges. They will need the DirecTV account # from the person who refers you to qualify for the referral discounts for both of you.

Do not ask to add any other special promo deals such as the 2007 Q4 deal described in the link above, some of those special deals if added will invalidate the AAA deal, since the AAA deal is by far the best one you do not want to risk losing it.

Setup an install date and off you go.

Keep in mind there is no guarantee implied here from me for anything above. I decided to do this because I had talked to no less than 10 D* reps so far, many of them had no clue themselves, but I was finally able to confirm many things said above, either by finding someone at D* who really knew, or had some of them dig up the rules in writing and read to me, so now I can save many of you some trouble and aggravation.

 

[jacmyoung]

The $50 visa card by signing autopay was always a maybe because the DirecTV website says it is an online offer only, but someone sent me the fine print from DirecTV:

$50 VISA GIFT CARD OFFER: Offer available to new residential customers who sign up for and maintain Auto Bill Pay (with a valid credit card) for at least sixty (60) days. Within 30 days of fulfilling Auto Bill Pay requirement DIRECTV will ship one (1) $50 Visa® Gift Card to the name and address used to activate DIRECTV account. Qualifying customers should receive the gift card in approximately six to eight weeks after completion of commitment. One gift card per customer for the life of the program. DIRECTV is not responsible for late, lost, illegible, mutilated, incomplete, misdirected or postage due mail. Offer expires 2/26/08.

So let's keep it here in case there is dispute, the fine print above does not mention online only. If I read it right, you can get the card as late as 4 months after activation, but you should be able to cancel autopay after 60 days still get the card.

 

[jacmyoung]

One more from the AAA website:

DIRECTV

• Save $10.00 per month!
• Receive a $10.00 credit on your DIRECTV bill, for 24 months when you subscribe as a new customer to DIRECTV.
• Also, receive a free HD receiver, or DVR upgrade, and free installation with a new DIRECTV subscription.
• Above offer is in addition to the nationally advertised offer, available at the time of subscription.
• Offer is available only by calling the AAA exclusive DIRECTV toll-free number: 1-800-242-9114. Valid AAA membership number needed when calling.
• After purchase, a $10.00 “AAA Member discount” credit will appear on your monthly DIRECTV bill for 24 months.

Again to clarify the AAA membership information needed by D*, one is the first 6 digits on the card, which is an AAA region code, and also the name of the county of residence.

I am adding all these just in case I will have dispute with D* later, you never know I have heard enough horror stories.

 

[jacmyoung]

A member also informed me if one pays with American Express card, there may be another $50 coming from AE in 6 to 8 weeks. I checked my AE statement it was indeed in the insert. I missed it entirely.

This AE deal has its own restrictions, two of which seem that you will have to call a special 800# and pay the shipping and handling. But if you have an AE card handy, might as well use it, you might be pleasantly surprised in a few weeks.

 

[jacmyoung]

I have received quite a few inquires from new forum members. So put this one out as it is a common question, how to get AAA benefit if not yet a member.

I personally am a big fan of AAA membership, you do not have to buy their insurance, just the road side assistance and discounts more than pay for itself, not to mention all the free maps

Why not sign on as a new member, you will get a temporary card with a number the same as on a formal card, or the number will be emailed to you if you sign up online. Use it to get the DirecTV deals as described.

Wait to make sure the discount will apply to your bills then decide if you still want to keep the membership or not, if you cancel likely the fee will be fully refunded.

But as I said this $55 can get you so many discount you will really like it. I have just recently made a habit of asking for AAA discount at every major purchase event, after being an AAA member for so many years. I am still shocked I did not do so sooner.

 

[jdspencer]

I get mildly annoyed when DirecTV offers these incentives to "NEW" customers. I understand the reasoning, but geewiz, throw a bone to the long time customers already.!

 

[jacmyoung]

I get mildly annoyed when DirecTV offers these incentives to "NEW" customers. I understand the reasoning, but geewiz, throw a bone to the long time customers already.!

They do, just there is no consistency and often you need to know who to speak to and how.

 

[jacmyoung]

Another thing is there seem still conflicting info from the DirecTV sales rep on whether the 2007 Q4 deal can be combined with the AAA deal, effectively bringing your monthly down by $30 for the first year. The 2007 Q4 deal is a regional offer, so not all states can enjoy that.

And if you look at the AAA restrictions, the AAA deal can only be combined with any NATIONAL offer at the time of ordering, so I would still play safe. But if the sales continue to tell you yes you can get both, then maybe if you don't mind the risk just go for it, add the 2007 Q4 code in too.

As an AAA member if things don't check out and you lose the AAA deal, I figure you can always bring all the paper and bills to the local AAA office, after all they made the promise to us so even if they can not straighten out the DirecTV deal, maybe they would offer free membership renewal or credit on your next insurance premium bill just to keep you happy Just a thought.