Lane says he re-upped with DirecTV with the understanding that he’d receive $10 off his bill for the next year. After appearing on his first bill, the discount vanished, never to be seen again. Now he’s wondering whether or not it’s worth grilling customer service until he can get his discount reinstated.

He writes:

I’ve been a DirecTV customer for many many years and recently I’ve been scrutinizing my DirecTV bill and felt that my rate was just too high for the entertainment value it provides. I have the Total Choice package from DirecTV and have a regular monthly bill of $62.95. I spent some time talking with their customer support reps (who are as always incredibly unhelpful) and was only able to get any kind of easement by escalating to their cancellations (customer retention) group.

For staying a faithful DirecTV customer I was promised a twelve month $10 discount on my bill. The retention specialist was specific about the term and the amount even instructing me “This will immediately take effect on your current invoice for this month”. Sure enough, good to her word my November bill was now $52.95 instead of $62.95, which I dutifully paid (and I’ve always paid on time for what it’s worth). Forward to December and now my bill is once again $62.95. Calls to their Customer Support representatives are, as I could have predicted, completely unhelpful. The representative told me this is the amount I owe and the amount I WILL pay. They were sure to instruct me that if I paid $52.95 I would carry a $10 balance foward from month to month in perpetuity (they REALLY want their $10 back it seems). I do not believe they ever give their first tier of support any power at all to make customers happy but this is just my opinion.

At this point I am really frustrated that DirecTV wants to take back the discount they
promised me to remain a customer and refuse to honor our agreement. Naturally I’m
thinking of switching to Dish TV just because I would immediately receive a new customer
rate but it would mean all of the physical return of the receiver boxes, etc. To be honest I’m thinking even if I could get the discount back it’s not worth all of this stress.

Lane says he’s tried an Executive Email Carpet Bomb, but hasn’t been able to find an address that works.

If you’ve succeeded in negotiating with DirecTV’s billing department, share your tips ithe comments.

UPDATE: Lane says DirecTV has reinstated his discount.

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