DIRECTV Loss of Viacom Channels $100 Statement Credit + discount NFL package - YMMV

UPDATE:
Thanks to your patience and support, DIRECTV today entered into a new long-term agreement with Viacom to immediately return all the channels you had previously enjoyed. Plus, as a result of our new deal, you will soon enjoy the freedom to see all your favorite Viacom shows on your computer, tablet or cell phone through our DIRECTV Everywhere platform. Although Viacom had regrettably tried to deny you access to drive a more expensive deal, our focus was always about giving you the absolute best experience at the most reasonable cost.

More details on the agreement can be found on DirectvPromise.com. It includes long-term rights to provide Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, Spike, CMT, TV Land and several others so Viacom cannot try to deny you access anytime again soon. Your patience during this unfortunate Viacom blackout has helped to serve notice to every media company that you and our other customers will not be bullied. Hopefully, thanks to your support and others', we can together make these blackouts a thing of the past.

Thank you again for your patience and support. We know you have a choice among providers and we appreciate you choosing us.




18 Viacom Channels that have been affected:

Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET, VH1, CMT, Logo, Spike, TV Land, MTV2, VH1 Classic, Palladia, Nick Jr., NickToons, TeenNick, Nickelodeon West, Tr3s, Centric, MTV India, Nickelodeon HD, Comedy Central HD, MTV HD, BET HD, VH1 HD, CMT HD and Spike HD.

WHY is this happening?
Viacom is running a massive shakedown and is requiring an additional ~30% increase in fees (or about 1 billion dollars) from DirecTv ... the corporations didn't reach agreement by the cut off time.

DirecTV has a site dedicated to this: http://www.directvpromise.com/ [directvpromise.com]
Viacom has their website as well, listing the number to call in this thread. - http://whendirectvdrops.com/

Negotiations for those that don't like negotiations:
I don't like trying to get free stuff. All I did was, when they offered me something, I would say "Thank you but is there anything more that you could do?" I started out at $5 for 3 months then got to 6 month $20 credit, Movie channels for 3 months, and Red Zone channel for free. I made small talk between offers and kept asking the question. Every time her response back was "because you are such a valued customer..." You can tell when they're kinda getting tired of it.

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List of Offers received
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Personally, I was offered $10 off for 10 months&additional $13 off for 3 months.
I have 12 months of contract left.
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I received $10 off for 6 Months and $5 additional off until the issue is resolved. Best my dad could do was 10 off/3 months
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Not as good as others have received, but was offered one time credit of $40, asked how long the outage would be, and she raised it to an $80 one time credit. So not too bad.
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I've only been a DirecTV customer for 2-3 months and am currently paying a steeply discounted rate, but after asking about cancellation fees, I was offered $15 off my next three months of service and 6 months free of Showtime & Starz
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Have 2 months left on contract. Offered $20 off per month for a year with free NFL Sunday Ticket. Also got a follow up email from retention dept asking me to call, hinting at more stuff. Planning on calling today.
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$30 off per month for 12 months ($360 total)
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I have a year and a half left in my contract and was able to get $30 off per month for three months and a free month of Showtime

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I got $10 off for 3 months and $20 for a year totaling $270 off.
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I got 6 months of Showtime free. I urged the lady more and got $5 off for 24 months ($120).
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I got $20 off for a year plus $10 off for 3 months (the 3 months was specifically for viacom) plus 6 months of Starz and Showtime. You have to get to retentions and you have to be prepared to leave.
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I got $28 off for a year. My first question was "Am I still under contract?"... got sent to "another dept" straight away. Asked about discounts and mentioned U-verse TV bundle deals (I have U-verse Internet already).
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7/17/12 - Called customer service first and got $10 off for 2 months. Transferred me to retention to get the offers on Sunday Ticket. Was able to get Sunday Ticket (basic) for free. Total credits = $220 - Not bad! Still have 12 months on my contract. KEY = Be super nice, but persistent with the retention folks.
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7/17/12 - Called customer service, offered $5 off for 3 months. Transferred to retentions, got HMC for $99 installed, $5 off for 3 months, $10 off for 12 months, Starz and Showtime free for 6 months, Sunday Ticket Basic for free for 2012. Still had 14 months left on contract.
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7/17/12 - $58 off for 3 months, $45 off for the following 3 months. Tried retentions once, was offered $30 for 6 months. I called retentions again, and was offered this.
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7/18/12 - No contract. $30 off for 12 months, Free Sunday Ticket. $150 onetime credit, just because. Setting up the whole home DVR on Friday, as well. Tried retentions once and was offered diddly the first time, btw. This 2nd guy could not be nicer. The first woman was a jerk. For 24 month contract I could add the HR-34 at no cost, btw.



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