Loyal Customers get screwed by AT&T DirecTv new customer pricing????????

New customers get a SHORT term rate. It is the intro special, the "welcome basket" if you will. It is not something that is sustainable. So in the big picture, they are not getting a better rate than long-term Clients because they got something similar when they started.

As mentioned several times before, they did a huge financial review and determined that they had an issue with some customers getting too much in discounts for for too long. Their operating costs don't just keep going down (in fact they go up as network owners push for higher and higher rates each time carriage negotiations come up) so they cannot discount someone indefinitely. And $30 off a month is on the high end.

If you don't like the principal, than go elsewhere. Just be aware that wherever you go, discounts are not guaranteed or obligated. Just because you can throw money around the the "peeps" in the business you own doesn't mean a national company which deals with hundreds of networks can do the same.

I too have been a customer for many years and have been experiencing the same frustration!! We had six months of $55 off but that is gone and the bill skyrocketed. I also have ATT and used to get a discount for bundling them together but do t see that anymore either. I’m about ready to be done with both of them as my combined bills are almost $600 now. With everything as expensive as it is now we just can’t keep doing it. 

@bnlowe22 

Wow, even for 6 months $55 off was a really nice discount. I certainly wouldn't expect anything of that level again.

AT&T ended up selling their remaining ownership in DirecTV. Though the transaction still is to complete later this year, that might have affected that bundling discount (though not impossible it wasn't lifetime while qualified but something like 12 or 24 months when it started).

Review your services. Look over what your go-to channels are. See if a lower costing package includes them. Make sure you aren't subscribed to any optional services you aren't using. If after all that it is still too high for your budget, than absolutely make the decision to be done. Pay TV is a luxury entertainment service so if you need to allocate the money elsewhere than do so.

Certainly when you discuss any changes with them to ask about any discounts. Just be prepared that there might not be any, or if there are they are not going to be as big as it was before.

You are correct!! This is the same exact experience I had when I called them about a better deal… as a loyal customer of more than 30 years!!! They had nothing to offer me/us but new customers get a lower price. Informing them thst we are seniors on a fixed income and that my husband had been unable to work for 2 years  because of illness did not matter to them. Switched to Dish.  Was happy with tgrm until 2 year contract expired.. and rates went up… so switched to directv… contract has now expired and my bill is $50 every month!!!! Will be switching back to Dish unless there are other options… I know I could not get TCM on Dish unless I paid more and i lost TWC when I returned to direct even tho it had been part if my package before going to dish.

@Ladyrain7 

Everyone is a new customer at one point and got some sort of intro offer. They don't permanently get a better deal than new customers. They are just where you were at years ago.

Informing them you are senior citizen on low income of course does nothing. They are not a utility (heating/water) or some other need of life. They are just entertainment. So no category discounts like those haven't been offered.

Your entire bill is $50 a month? Then I take it you are on their lowest option the Family package. If such pricing is not affordable than it is up to you to make changes for your budget, not expect a entertainment company to do it for you.

Perhaps time to plug in a regular antenna if pay TV is outside your range. This is a realistic perspective if even $50 a month is well outside your means.

As a note, DirecTV was recently attempting to acquire Dish. I wouldn't be surprised within the next year they attempt again.

Juniper

Either you misread my post or there might be a typo in mine. 
Firstly there is no Directv package of $50… if there was I’d have nothing to be unhappy about. 
Its gone up by $50+ since my 2 year new customer contract has expired the beginning of this month.

I really do not like ping-ponging between

Directv & Dish every 2 years. I like and enjoy stability. This is simply wrong.  

@Juniper

Either you misread my post or there might be a typo in mine. 
Firstly there is no Directv package of $50… if there was I’d have nothing to be unhappy about. 
Its gone up by $50+ since my 2 year new customer contract has expired the beginning of this month.

I really do not like ping-ponging between

Directv & Dish every 2 years. I like and enjoy stability. This is simply wrong.  

And btw my primary purpose in having a TV package is not so much for entertainment but more for what is going on in the country, politically, locally and weather related. I do enjoy TCM channel and Sundance… but ahabing a bill that goes from $99/mo + the additional fee for the receiver=$109.. to almost $160 is a bit much. 

contract has now expired and my bill is $50 every month!!!!

So there is a typo in your post then.

Firstly there is no Directv package of $50… if there was I’d have nothing to be unhappy about.

DirecTV (satellite) has one special non-advertised package. The Family package is $29.99 (before TV fees, receiver services, and taxes). Some people use it to save money for a while, or the uncommon case where DirecTV is used mainly for the local channels that they cannot get a good signal by traditional antenna.