Signing up: Discounts= AAA, D* Referal, ???

[dslate69]

Sorry if I overlooked a recent thread covering this (went back a few pages, but didn't see one).
I am leaving DISH (TOP 250 + Gold HD) and making the DirecTv leap.

I am a AAA member and have a friends referal #. What is the best deal I can get now and is there anything else that I should ask for?
Currently I have a 622 from DISH so I thought I would ask for an AM21 (for free) for PBS and the other OTA channels that aren't offered over the Sat. Dunno if I will have any luck but it seems some have.
Am I guaranteed a HR23 and SWM install if I ask for it?
Here's what I figured so far...
1 Free HD DVR (HR23)
- $10 for 24 months for AAA Member
- $50 for Referal ( or has this changed to a percentage or something else?)
- $23.00 for Online redemption (do I get this with AAA?) I have to call the # for AAA wich is not "Online" ???

- ???? for Autopay (or a Visa gift card; this may be old info)

Right now heres my monthly...
5.98 = dvr service
20.00 = gold hd
5.99 = protection plan
59.99 = top 250
= $91.96

With Directv...
72.99 = CHOICE XTRA plus HD DVR
4.99 = hd extra pack
4.99 = lease
= $82.97

Looks to me even without the Extra HD Directv is cheaper for me anyway.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

 

[jcrandall]

The best deal will be calling through the AAA number if you're a AAA member. They'll also take the referral info and setup the best current promo.

The promo right now is kinda like a rebate, you fill out a form and it starts taking the $23 off your second/third bill for however long it is supposed to go (IIRC).

 

[Rey]

dslate,

i also made the jump almost a year ago. you'll be happy you did. the AAA deal will be setup by directv once you activate the account on the day of your installation. that deal is $10 off a month for 2 years plus the $23 off a month you'll get from directv for 1 year. i currently pay $60 tax included a month with the same setup you're looking at except i also have a HD receiver. i don't know about getting a HR23 but i'm pretty sure you'll get a HR22 and you will also get the SWM lnb setup. calling them and confirming wouldn't hurt.

 

[rad]

dslate69, AFAKI, unless you're in a location that gets a lot of cold weather new installs get a SWMLNB. They use two manufactures for the SWMLNB and turns out one of them doesn't work very well in very cold weather. As for the HR23 the CSR's can't promise anything, the best thing you can do is ask DirecTV for the phone number of the installation company doing the work and call the directly and see if you can get them to supply what you want, and even then no promises. I saw in another thread that one installer had been given a bunch of refurb HR20's to use for new installs.

 

[dslate69]

Thanks for the replies.

I called and scheduled for a install on monday. I couldn't use a referal in addition to the AAA. But since AAA was for 24 months and the referal was only for 5, it was a no brainer. I did get the free HD DVR and with AAA got a second for $99 instead of the $199 (he said both should be hr23, but was also in salesman mode). I couldn't get a free AM21 but D* has my CW in HD and that is the only OTA channel I currently record anyway.
Direct will be $88.96 with extra HD pack & protection plan compared to DISH at $91.96 when all savings expire. And I will gain a second HD DVR so I will now have HD on my previously SD fed tv upstairs.

 

[CFilkins]

Thanks for the replies.

I called and scheduled for a install on monday. I couldn't use a referal in addition to the AAA. But since AAA was for 24 months and the referal was only for 5, it was a no brainer. I did get the free HD DVR and with AAA got a second for $99 instead of the $199 (he said both should be hr23, but was also in salesman mode). I couldn't get a free AM21 but D* has my CW in HD and that is the only OTA channel I currently record anyway.
Direct will be $88.96 with extra HD pack & protection plan compared to DISH at $91.96 when all savings expire. And I will gain a second HD DVR so I will now have HD on my previously SD fed tv upstairs.

I'd call back about getting the referral as well. I called a week ago this past Saturday, and had a 5 LNB SWM installed with 2 HR22's and was able to get AAA discount, new customer promo, and the referral credit, all without a problem. I paid $100 plus handling/tax up front (for the second HR22).

Chris

 

[jacmyoung]

And a free AM21 too. As long as you have not installed the service, can always cancel and re-order, or simply tell them if they do not give you the referral or the AM21 you will cancel.

 

[dslate69]

And a free AM21 too. As long as you have not installed the service, can always cancel and re-order, or simply tell them if they do not give you the referral or the AM21 you will cancel.

I guess, but the install date of monday was pretty quick and don't want to put up with DISH any longer than I have to. I do plan on calling and making sure I get the hr23's I wont let them install if they show up with 20s or 21s. Don't really know if the 23 is faster than the 22 or not but will do some reading.

 

[a_hockeynut]

I'd call back about getting the referral as well. I called a week ago this past Saturday, and had a 5 LNB SWM installed with 2 HR22's and was able to get AAA discount, new customer promo, and the referral credit, all without a problem. I paid $100 plus handling/tax up front (for the second HR22).

Chris

I am curious how you were able to get them to give you the referral. I tried to get a similar deal, except I got the WorkingAdvantage discount which is $10 for 12 months instead of the AAA $10 for 24 months. I was told when I signed up with WorkingAdvantage (through DirecSAT) that at the time I was activating the system to give DirecTV the referral info, which I did.

About a week later got a rejection letter stating I could only get the referral if I signed up through the referral 800 number. Of course I called and complained, got no place with the CSR, asked for a supervisor, and was offered a $5 for 6 month discount (which of course I took figuring it was the best I could do). Should I have just kept trying different CSR's?

 

[CFilkins]

About a week later got a rejection letter stating I could only get the referral if I signed up through the referral 800 number. Of course I called and complained, got no place with the CSR, asked for a supervisor, and was offered a $5 for 6 month discount (which of course I took figuring it was the best I could do). Should I have just kept trying different CSR's?

I called the AAA number, and asked about using the current customer promos, the AAA discount, and a referral, and was told that would be fine. After qualifying my AAA membership and running the credit check, they took the referral information, and told me what my monthly bill would be with all of the credits applied.

Chris

 

[CFilkins]

So, I retract my earlier statements. I emailed customer service to ask about the referral credit, and was told that I did not qualify as I did not place it through the special offer/number, and was already getting the AAA referral discount. This made me exceptionally aggrivated, as I explicitly asked about this when I placed the order, and was told that I could use both referrals and everything was all set. I explained this to the nice young lady in customer service, who was apologetic but said there was nothing she could do. So I transferred to the cancellation department, because I consider this fraud (bait and switch) and as such, should be able to cancel my nice new service with no early termination fees. The nice young man in the retention department was willing to help, so I'm going to stick with DirecTV.

I'm just still pretty heated, especially hearing how this is happening to other people. You'd think that the order entry screen would prevent this, or if it was caught further down order processing, they'd notify people. That would be the proper thing to do. But I'm sure they find that they can screw people and it's too inconvenient for people to change.

Sorry for my rant, but I thought I'd share.