is threatening to cancel service the only way to get retention discount....tried calling CS service yesterday and asked if there was anything they could do to help reduce our bill considering what D* was offering....and was told that I could change my package to one that was cheaper (No Discount was offered)....considering that with D* I can upgrade my package and save about $25 per month I figured they would have done a little better...don't really want to leave Dish....any advice....by the way not under commitment and been with Dish for around 5 yrs....thanks
Retention Discount?
- Thread starter jmoss78
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I can see what we would be able to offer. If you could please send me a PM with your account information.
As with the many other threads already out there on this, if you are not seeking a new customer deal, then I would say yes, Dish probably can and should offer something to stay. What that something is depends on your packages and if you pay on time, etc.... Since you contacted a DIRT member (good move) you should get the best they will do...
I had a similar situation when I was with cable a year or two ago. I paid my bill on-time every month for like 5 years and they offered me nothing when I called them, just asked what day I wanted to disconnect. I said tomorrow, and disconnected. Then a few weeks later I signed up for Dish.
Not saying that cable had to offer me a discount or that Dish has to offer you a discount, but it is totally reasonable for you to ask for one, and it's totally reasonable for you to walk if you don't get it. You know that Dish, Directv, cable, and fios, all those guys, do whatever they think is right for their financial bottom line. Well, if they can do that, there's no reason we can't do what's right for our financial bottom lines also. I mean, they'd probably say that not offering you a discount is just business, and really if you choose to walk, that's just business, too.
I didn't leave cable because I hated the cable company (Though I had some issues with Internet service later that left me with less than warm feelings about them), their tv service was alright, I just couldn't afford it and needed a better deal. If I leave Dish one day, it won't necessarily be because I hate Dish, it'd be because I can get a better deal or more of the channels I want elsewhere. Just business.
I mean, let's face it, for a lot of us, a lower bill can make a big quality of life difference for us. We may need that money to buy healthier food, or gas to drive to work or see friends and relatives, or even just to pay more vital bills like the rent. There's no shame in taking a better offer. These companies don't have any loyalty to us, and I doubt we're breaking their hearts when we leave. And we can always come back in a few years if it makes more financial sense (or channel availability sense) for us to do it then with new customer promos and such.
If companies want to avoid people jumping around, they might want to consider offering loyalty discounts rather than, or in addition to, new customer promos. Like for every year you stick around, your monthly bill goes down by a few bucks. Would give people an incentive to say put and lower churn rates.
I agree with HanoverPretzel, the churn rate has to cost them some money. The reason I left cable was the Dish would save me $28 a month for similar service, when my 2 year contract is up I will again compare prices and go with the best deal.
Maybe it's cheaper for them to invest time & money into acquiring new subs rather than retain existing longstanding/loyal customers.
It would appear that way, wouldn't it?
I think that their thinking is that it would take too big of a discount/incentive to keep the current customer compared to what they will do for a new one.
But I would think that not having to pony up the equipment would offset much of that. The speculation and postings I've read all seem to think that at the end of 2 years, the new customer isn't even profitable for them yet. Personally I think that is hogwash. The figures I've seen bandied about for the cost of the receivers seem higher than I would think they should be. But that installation cost is certainly a factor too.
I think that at the end of 2 years, if you would sign up for another 2 years, they could offer maybe 6 months of the pricing a new customer gets and come out ahead. And that would look pretty attractive to most of those looking at switching, imo.
Why should Dish/Direct worry about losing customers? Most customers will switch providers as their contracts end and then return when their new contract ends.
If you are going to Direct the best deal is usually AAA discount; which gets you $10 off a month for 20 months on top of the national advertised deals.
DIRECTV | AAA Western & Central New York
When I left all Dish could do was $10/ month for a year, not even close to our savings. Now my brother in law has Direct and every channel, when he called them they cut his bill in half to $85/month with every channel and 2 DVRs. Now that's an offer!
i cant stand retention discounts, not sure why, i just do. if i ran dish (or any company for that matter ) i would never consider them, not ever, because my focus would be to provide a superior product that my customers would never want to leave. with dish their product is not the programming. you can get that any where. their product is the delivery and service to the user of the programming. and over the years customer service, tech support, silly gargon like "primary receiver fee of $9.00 is included in the programming" or $5.00 for phoning in a pay per view and a long list of other things that confirms they think im stupid is what currantly sours active customers into leaving
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