Nfl sunday ticket; Who's signing up?

[Fezmid]

They also normally give me something on the anniversary of me signing up for DTV 6 or 7 years ago. This year they gave me the package for the NCAA basketball tourney, which seeing how I don't watch basketball, it didn't matter, but last year they gave me the Showtime package free for a year and that was great.

I got $50 ($10 off for 5 months) last year, but this year all I got was a free PPV movie.. I think I'm getting screwed! That's it, I'm leaving DirecTV! Seriously though, I never knew that the gifts were so random. I've been a customer for 11 years.

 

Money saving solution - Cancel your home phone service and buy a MAGIC JACK! I was a skeptic but used it without issues for 2 months now....

We did that last year - working out well.

 

http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/index.php?showtopic=94606

[boyst]

I do not know if it was mentioned, but I have Sirius. The stiletto I can put in any vehicle or stereo, as well as carry it portably. I get every game broadcast as if it were local! I know every Bills commercial and cannot wait to get arrested so I can call Celino and Barnes!

[Fezmid]

I know every Bills commercial and cannot wait to get arrested so I can call Celino and Barnes!

 

 

I was tempted to try taking audio from Sirius and merge it with the the video of the game when I was doing DVDs. I thought it'd be fun to have two language tracks on the disk. Never got around to it though.

[SDS]

Oh come on. It's not a price cut. I haven't paid for Superfan since they started trying to force it on everyone to get games in HD. The fact they even did that was a complete joke in the first place. I mean, why does no other sports package have an additional package to get games in HD? Because it's a ripoff to overcharge people and take advantage of the NFL's popularity. It's as simple as that. Nobody cares about Superfan.

 

So, for me, Superfan has been thrown in every year. Same for most people I know with one phone call. Then, in addition, last year most of got huge discounts by calling and getting an additional $120 off of the $270. The fact that you have to call every year to bargain is enough to now make people hate DTV.

 

This is a perfect example why everyone should ignore everything Fezmid types about this subject or any other opinion he has on electronics. I'm pretty sure he has NEVER, EVER paid a dime for "Superfan". Every year he posts the same thing about calling customer retention. He always gets it for free. The guy keeps his house at 62 degrees in the Wisconsin winter and he wants to tells us "it's a price CUT". That is freakin' hysterical. If it wasn't his pet company he would be livid. I also bet he conveniently forgot to mention that anyone who DOESN'T have an HDTV is also paying more no matter how you spin the numbers. It is amazing the hoops he'll jump through to prop DTV up, but he can't seem to muster up the most obvious of compliments when it comes to other companies.

 

It also interesting that he keeps forgetting about FIOS having whole house DVR. So, just make note that when you ask for advice - what you get is spin and half-truths.

[Just Jack]

Know what Time Warner has that DirecTV doesn't? A "Start Over" feature. Miss the beginning of a show, or tune in during the middle? Simply "Start Over". No need to have the show already recording.

[Fezmid]

This is a perfect example why everyone should ignore everything Fezmid types about this subject or any other opinion he has on electronics. I'm pretty sure he has NEVER, EVER paid a dime for "Superfan". Every year he posts the same thing about calling customer retention. He always gets it for free. The guy keeps his house at 62 degrees in the Wisconsin winter and he wants to tells us "it's a price CUT". That is freakin' hysterical. If it wasn't his pet company he would be livid. I also bet he conveniently forgot to mention that anyone who DOESN'T have an HDTV is also paying more no matter how you spin the numbers. It is amazing the hoops he'll jump through to prop DTV up, but he can't seem to muster up the most obvious of compliments when it comes to other companies.

 

It also interesting that he keeps forgetting about FIOS having whole house DVR. So, just make note that when you ask for advice - what you get is spin and half-truths.

 

Say what you will, but it's a price cut for the many people who didn't know that they could call and get it for free - including many people on this board (read the thread). Like I said:

 

"Again, lots of people were paying full price last year (believe it or not, not everyone reads the internet!). So they actually ARE cutting the price for a LOT of people this year."

 

And what does the temperature of my house have to do with anything....?

 

I've said on multiple occasions that I'd love if FIOS where in my area - but it's not available in most places in the country. If it were available to me, I'd look at both options.

 

I also "muster up" plenty of compliments for other companies - just not your favorite company, Apple. For example, Amazon rocks:

http://fezmid.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/thi...azon-com-rocks/

 

So why don't you just run along and stay out of the DirecTV threads since you don't actually subscribe and know nothing about the topic. Just like you said to me about the Apple thread. (I can't for the life of me figure out why you get so pissed off about this stuff )

 

PS: My wife has an iPod Touch now too - so am I allowed to comment on Apple products since I support one at home now???

[Fezmid]

Know what Time Warner has that DirecTV doesn't? A "Start Over" feature. Miss the beginning of a show, or tune in during the middle? Simply "Start Over". No need to have the show already recording.

 

Interesting concept, but it says it only works on "Start Over" enabled channels and specific shows. Have you found that it covers most of the generally popular stuff? Or haven't you had a need to use it? (I wouldn't personally, since I DVR everything, but lots of people don't do that).

 

Based on Wikipedia, it's apparently very popular:

"Within six months Start Over has become one of the most popular advanced services launched by Time Warner Cable. Seventy percent of those able to use Start Over are doing so about seven times each month and more than two-thirds use Start Over three times per week. At this time, Start Over still does not give customers the capability to fast forward which preserves the commercials."

 

It sounds like it only covers shows that are VOD -- so I would assume that covers all of the popular network shows at the very least.

[Chilly]

Know what Time Warner has that DirecTV doesn't? A "Start Over" feature. Miss the beginning of a show, or tune in during the middle? Simply "Start Over". No need to have the show already recording.

 

The one time I used that (way back when I had the devil's cable company), it crashed my box. Oh yeah, that doesn't let you skip commercials too, even if you were DVRing the show.

[MikeSpeed]

I just wanted to comment on my experience with DTV. A few months ago I called them up to cancel my service. I've had DTV for 12 years. I've had the NFL ticket for the entire time. I had already started subcribing to a new package (u-verse I'll get to that in a minute). When I called to cancel the girl on the phone offered me everything she could think of to get me to not to cancel. Usually I'm very passive when talking to these people, but this time I got real upset. I asked her where has DTV been the last 12 years? Why haven't you offered me these deals before and I might not be cancelling now. She kept dealing and finally I told her to shut the @#$% up and cancel me already.

 

Now u-verse. I had it for a month then canceled it. Absolutly hated it. When I signed up for it they quoted me a price that was going to be cheaper than DTV. My first bill (and my last bill) was $100 more than what they quoted saying that they had service charges. Service charges? 2 guys were suppose to show up to do the installation. One guy called 2 hours late and said he was sitting at Zaxby's eating lunch. So I had to crawled under my house to run all the cables while the other guy hooked them up.

 

The picture quality was OK, but the signal kept freezing up. I called the service guy who installed the system but he would never responded to the messages I left on his voice mail.

 

Bottom line: Crapy service, less than stellar signal, and too pricy for what you get. If you don't have it, don't get it. If you do have it, my prayers are with you.

 

P.S. Thanks for letting me vent!

[Fezmid]

I asked her where has DTV been the last 12 years? Why haven't you offered me these deals before and I might not be cancelling now.

To be fair, aren't most (all?) companies like that? I heard the same story when a coworker switched from Comcast to DirecTV -- Comcast made all sorts of offers to keep him, and he was pissed and said the same things to them that you said to DTV.

 

I think the thing to take out of the story is that if you're not happy with what you're paying, ask your provider (whomever it may be) for a discount/concession. It's cheaper for them to give you a discount than it is to lose the customer, whether it be cable, sat, cell phone, etc.

 

Sorry to hear that U-Verse sucked.

[NyQuil]

Not I. Have my seasons, moving back to Rochester in August and the Roc gets all Giant games. I am set every Sunday.

[MikeSpeed]

Sorry to hear that U-Verse sucked.

So was I.

Currently I have nothing but an antenna and a laptop hooked up to my TV. The quality is not as good but I still get to watch all the shows I would normally watch just a day later using Hulu and others. I'm banking on the internet and technology to get so good that paying for TV will no longer be an issue. I also plan on building a dedicated PVR for my TV.

[NoName]

Think outside the box people. There are more ways to watch our Bills without paying DAVE (DirectTv).

[dollars 2 donuts]

For what it's worth, this info might help people. The auto-renewal price is $299 this year, and that includes HD. No more superfan this year. Last year it was like $270 plus another $99 for HD.

 

 

Are you serious, HB51?

 

 

Hell, then I'm not complaining.

 

I'm in for a 9th straight year.

[HurlyBurly51]

Know what Time Warner has that DirecTV doesn't? A "Start Over" feature. Miss the beginning of a show, or tune in during the middle? Simply "Start Over". No need to have the show already recording.

 

DirecTV DVR's have dual live buffers of 90 minutes each, which if used wisely can serve the start over function, and a whole lot more. And it works on ALL channels, and without locking the system up.

[Just Jack]

Interesting concept, but it says it only works on "Start Over" enabled channels and specific shows. Have you found that it covers most of the generally popular stuff? Or haven't you had a need to use it? (I wouldn't personally, since I DVR everything, but lots of people don't do that).

I'd say for me, it seems to cover pretty much every show I regularly watch. Just the other night a show I thought was starting at 10pm, actually started at 9pm. So when I switched over a 9:10, I just had to hit the Select button to start over, rather than miss the first 10 minutes (i didn't have it set to record the show)

 

The one time I used that (way back when I had the devil's cable company), it crashed my box. Oh yeah, that doesn't let you skip commercials too, even if you were DVRing the show.

It's always worked fine for me. Yes, you can't use the FF to skip the commercials. Recording the show, and using Start Over are two different processes. If you're already DVRing it, just got to your recorded list and you can watch it there from the beginning even while it's recording, and use the FF button.

 

DirecTV DVR's have dual live buffers of 90 minutes each, which if used wisely can serve the start over function, and a whole lot more. And it works on ALL channels, and without locking the system up.

But you need to be on the channel when the show starts. This option works even when you are tuning in up to about a minute before the show ends.

[plenzmd1]

Know what Time Warner has that DirecTV doesn't? A "Start Over" feature. Miss the beginning of a show, or tune in during the middle? Simply "Start Over". No need to have the show already recording.

 

Well, maybe it was mentioned in here somewhere..but just saw on my TV that i can get 3D telecasts now on DTV..(course would need a 3d TV for that) but match that Time Warner

 

Course I am in for the Ticket, have been every year since 94 or 95, or whenever the hell it was first offered.

[Formerly BF_in_Indiana]

I have had it since 1995. I already paid for it again this year. I love FOOTBALL. Sure it sucks paying three hundred bucks to watch the Bills embarrass themselves every week but it's great for fantasy and it gives me an excuse to lounge around every Sunday. Although I'm not sure my wife is a big fan of Sundays in the fall. I tend to be in a bad mood most Sundays by 4 pm.

[billsfreak]

Watching football, and especially the Bills on sunday afternoons has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have had the Superfan package for the past few seasons (the Sunday Ticket for almost a decade now), and it did kind of annoy me that directv.com wouldn't let me cancel that new Sunday Ticket To Go online, I had to spend about 45 minutes on hold on the phone to do it. It had me as an automatic renew for the To Go garbage because I had Superfan last year, not sure how it can be a renew when it is a new package. I finally got that cancelled, so with early renewal price, I am paying about $100 less than last season. I have thought on many occasions of cancelling it, because the Bills have sucked so bad lately, but not sure what I would do with my sundays.

[BuffFromBuffalo]

I have a suggestion to those who are going to sign up. I am not a subscriber because my golf on Sunday would not make the puchase cost effective for me, being in the Mountain Time zone. Call DirecTV and tell them you had NFL Sunday Ticket last year, but with the price increase you are going to switch to cable. Watch what happens.

[billsfreak]

I have a suggestion to those who are going to sign up. I am not a subscriber because my golf on Sunday would not make the puchase cost effective for me, being in the Mountain Time zone. Call DirecTV and tell them you had NFL Sunday Ticket last year, but with the price increase you are going to switch to cable. Watch what happens.

I tried that yesterday with the Sunday Ticket when I called to cancel that To Go crap. They told me I was paying about $100 less than last year and still getting HD, and I had until about the middle of July to cancel the Sunday Ticket alltogther. I tried to bait them into giving me a break but it didn't work yesterday.

[oarosemena]

Over Here in Ecuador its around 90 bucks, so i´m getting lol

[shoretalk]

I am not a happy camper ... I do not have HD, don't want HD, nor do I want to pay extra for HD.

 

What DirectTV has done is mandate HD plus mandate the options from previous years like RED ZONE, SHORT CUTS, and GAME MIX.

 

So, I am sitting here thinking ... is it more to my advantage to go back to watching the games in bars where I would be the only Bills' fan amongst a sea of Eagles' green and of course the volume would never be turned up for me to hear the game.

 

A moment of real frustration ....

[Fezmid]

and of course the volume would never be turned up for me to hear the game.

Have you heard the announcers we usually get for Bills games? That's a bonus, not a negative.

 

Just curious, why do you have no interest in HD...?

[muggins]

It could be worse, you could be paying $100 extra for a service that is standard with almost every other channel! (like HD subscribers did last year)

 

Get an HDTV and you'll wonder why you didn't 5 years ago.

[Fan in San Diego]

I am not a happy camper ... I do not have HD, don't want HD, nor do I want to pay extra for HD.

 

What DirectTV has done is mandate HD plus mandate the options from previous years like RED ZONE, SHORT CUTS, and GAME MIX.

 

So, I am sitting here thinking ... is it more to my advantage to go back to watching the games in bars where I would be the only Bills' fan amongst a sea of Eagles' green and of course the volume would never be turned up for me to hear the game.

 

A moment of real frustration ....

 

Sheesh dude, it's called progress. Do you still ride your horse to work?

[Clippers of Nfl]

I have had it since 1995. I already paid for it again this year. I love FOOTBALL. Sure it sucks paying three hundred bucks to watch the Bills embarrass themselves every week but it's great for fantasy and it gives me an excuse to lounge around every Sunday. Although I'm not sure my wife is a big fan of Sundays in the fall. I tend to be in a bad mood most Sundays by 4 pm.

im with you. this is my favorite sport. as my favorite sport, i have to basically deal with it. till i cant afford it, i'll keep renewing.

 

my wife feels sorry for me....

[Clippers of Nfl]

I am not a happy camper ... I do not have HD, don't want HD, nor do I want to pay extra for HD.

 

What DirectTV has done is mandate HD plus mandate the options from previous years like RED ZONE, SHORT CUTS, and GAME MIX.

 

So, I am sitting here thinking ... is it more to my advantage to go back to watching the games in bars where I would be the only Bills' fan amongst a sea of Eagles' green and of course the volume would never be turned up for me to hear the game.

 

A moment of real frustration ....

come to my house hommie, YOU WOULD GO TO BEST BUY right after leaving my house.

 

ps. i'm not really bragging. i just love hd and feel that if stone age dude came to my house, he would change his mind.

[Clippers of Nfl]

I am not a happy camper ... I do not have HD, don't want HD, nor do I want to pay extra for HD.

 

What DirectTV has done is mandate HD plus mandate the options from previous years like RED ZONE, SHORT CUTS, and GAME MIX.

 

So, I am sitting here thinking ... is it more to my advantage to go back to watching the games in bars where I would be the only Bills' fan amongst a sea of Eagles' green and of course the volume would never be turned up for me to hear the game.

 

A moment of real frustration ....

oh yeah forgot.

 

YOU ARE NOT A HAPPY CAMPER BECAUSE YOU DONT HAVE A BIG @ HD TV WITH HD SERVICE!

[DCBongo]

I got Direct TV solely for the Bill back in 98 and I'll deal with the price since I watch the games with my father and that alone is worth it. But what I don't get is why don't they let you buy 1 team? The price would be less and I'd bet they'd triple subscribers. Does anyone know why they do not, other then DTV and NFL being greedy soul-sucking SOB's?

[Fezmid]

I got Direct TV solely for the Bill back in 98 and I'll deal with the price since I watch the games with my father and that alone is worth it. But what I don't get is why don't they let you buy 1 team? The price would be less and I'd bet they'd triple subscribers. Does anyone know why they do not, other then DTV and NFL being greedy soul-sucking SOB's?

They let you buy individual weeks -- but it's like $30/week or something, which makes it not worth it.

 

No other sports subscription lets you buy only a team either.

 

As for why they don't allow it - it would add complexity, which adds cost, and would probably make it not very affordable overall. Just a guess though.

[Fezmid]

I just received an updated Comcast pricing chart for the Twin Cities. Some of the more standard charges:

 

Remote Control: $0.14/mo

Receiver (Basic Cable only): $0.95/mo

Receiver (Excluding HD): $2.50/mo

HD Receiver (Basic Service Only): $8/mo

 

There's no mention of DVR fees or "non basic service" HD receivers...

 

A funny one:

Connect VCR: $15 I think they need to update that as not many people have VCRs anymore...

 

Also interesting -- if you want to upgrade or downgrade your internet service, it costs $5. Really??

[Mike in Horseheads]

I wish i was as fortunate as many here fighting with DTV. I was a 12 year customer who tried to get a free upgrade to a HDDVR before the Winter Olympics. I got absolutely no where even though I was getting bombarded with mailing from DTV about all the benefits of being a new customer and all the freebies I never got. I carried this fight on all the way from February until last week and got no where and snotty responses. At one point I said I'll just quit then and resign up and literally was told "go ahead and try it, your in our database."

...So last week I get a flyer from DISH that said they now offered local channels in my area (DTV doesn't) plus a free DVR, plus free HD for life. Soooo I bit on it. When i called DTV to cancel then and only then did they offer me the world. Well that was a little too late as I already had DISH and really don't want to buy it out to get out of my two year commitment. So even though I had no problem with the prices even for ST they lost a 12 year customer who paid on time because they treated me like crap and mocked my threats. Obviously I didn't get to the right person.

[Fezmid]

Obviously I didn't get to the right person.

When you call support (of any company), your first request should be, "Please transfer me to customer retention." Sometimes you have to be forceful about it, but almost every company has that sort of a department. They're the ones who can offer you stuff and it's their job to make the customer happy.

 

Many years ago, DirecTV accidentally blacked out the first period of the Wild vs Ducks conference finals game because they were told it was on locally (and the NHL blackout rules wouldn't allow it be shown on a different channel). They figured it out after the first, but I still called the next day. I asked for a $50 credit for missing the first period, but the front line support woman said that she couldn't do anything and that it wasn't that big a deal anyway. I asked her to transfer me to customer retention and at first she said, "No, they won't do anything for you anyway." I insisted, she reluctantly transferred me, and I made the same request to the new person -- "Yeah, that's no problem at all! Is there anything else we can do for you?"

 

So remember, whether you're talking to DTV, Dish, Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, etc, etc, always always always ask for the customer retention department instead of talking to the front line folks.

[Mike in Horseheads]

When you call support (of any company), your first request should be, "Please transfer me to customer retention." Sometimes you have to be forceful about it, but almost every company has that sort of a department. They're the ones who can offer you stuff and it's their job to make the customer happy.

 

Many years ago, DirecTV accidentally blacked out the first period of the Wild vs Ducks conference finals game because they were told it was on locally (and the NHL blackout rules wouldn't allow it be shown on a different channel). They figured it out after the first, but I still called the next day. I asked for a $50 credit for missing the first period, but the front line support woman said that she couldn't do anything and that it wasn't that big a deal anyway. I asked her to transfer me to customer retention and at first she said, "No, they won't do anything for you anyway." I insisted, she reluctantly transferred me, and I made the same request to the new person -- "Yeah, that's no problem at all! Is there anything else we can do for you?"

 

So remember, whether you're talking to DTV, Dish, Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, etc, etc, always always always ask for the customer retention department instead of talking to the front line folks.

 

The sad part is I didn't want to leave I wanted a cheap upgrade. Oh well. I did ask to talk to supervisors and they didn't do anything either. I got the feeling that they just handed the phone to the loser next to them and called it good.

[Fezmid]

The sad part is I didn't want to leave I wanted a cheap upgrade. Oh well. I did ask to talk to supervisors and they didn't do anything either. I got the feeling that they just handed the phone to the loser next to them and called it good.

Which is the magic words are "customer retention," and not "supervisor." CR is usually a completely different department in companies, whereas the supervisor generally has the same outlook as the first level folks.

[Captain Caveman]

I saw game rewind mentioned a couple of times, I had this last year and it was a complete waste of money. The games aren't available until midnight (Sunday night) which means I couldn't watch until Monday. And since it was just about impossible to not know how poorly the Bills played before Monday, I watched only a couple of games using this service.

[Formerly BF_in_Indiana]

If you do the math it is still much cheaper than an average trip to a loacl pub every Sunday to watch the games. And you don't have to deal with the noise from other games and people that distract from your viewing of the Bills. So instead of going to Bdubs every week I'll just fry up my own wings and sauce them myself.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

and every year we do the same thing. threaten to leave and get 6 months of DriecTV for free.

 

as mentioned the magic word is

 

NOT supervisor. Its' customer retention department.

[Clippers of Nfl]

I saw game rewind mentioned a couple of times, I had this last year and it was a complete waste of money. The games aren't available until midnight (Sunday night) which means I couldn't watch until Monday. And since it was just about impossible to not know how poorly the Bills played before Monday, I watched only a couple of games using this service.

i would watch at midnight. my only problem is i dont know how to connect my pc to my tv. so i wouldnt really enjoy it to the fullest on my laptop screen....