# Free NFL Sunday Ticket without even asking?!



## starcms (Feb 7, 2008)

I've been a customer since 1999. I'm used to calling in once every year to get some discounts on my bill. 

Last month, my $15/month off for 12 months expired so I called in. First person gave me showtime free for 4 months, but said they couldn't do anything else. 

Called the next day. Got an instantaneous $120 credit, $5 off for 12 months, and HD Extra Pack free for 6 months. I was satisfied. 

I went to check my bill last night and what do I see? A couple days ago NFL Sunday Ticket Max HD was added onto my bill for a charge of $0.00. I called in just to make sure it would actually be free and they said it was for being a longtime and loyal customer. 

I'm blown away!

Showtime 4 months ($60) + HD xtra pack 6 months ($30) + $120 credit + $60 credit ($5 off for 12 months) and $350 for Sunday Ticket Maxx. That's $620 off, including the Sunday Ticket I didn't even ask for!

Simply amazing, DirecTV!!! That's why I've stuck with them since 1999. Never a single issue. 



P.S. And I'm loving this new DSWM-13 LNB I got on eBay for $25; was able to get rid of the 4 wires from the dish and the SWM-16 multi switch. So much cleaner.


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## vikefan (Jan 20, 2008)

hopefully it stays that way. Mine always shows $0 this time of year then it will change come august.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

Feels like an auto-renew to me.


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## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

Did you have Sunday Ticket Max last year?

As the others have indicated: at this time of the year, a $0.00 charge appears on the bills of everyone who had Sunday Ticket last year, as a reminder that it's going to auto-renew and they're going to start charging for it a couple months from now.

So you _may_ have gotten lucky, or you _may_ have gotten a clueless CSR when you called in to ask about the $0.00 charge. Keep a careful eye on your next couple of bills.


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

Shades228 said:


> Feels like an auto-renew to me.


Yep. That's exactly what it is.


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## starcms (Feb 7, 2008)

Well I got a chat transcript of a CSR saying I wouldn't be charged. 

How does auto renew work? Are you able to cancel and get refunded after it charges?

I had got Sunday Ticket Maxx last year for free since we had never had it free before and all new subs do.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

Keep that chat transcript.

Several months before the season starts, you'll start seeing notices on your bill that NFL ST starts and you're set to auto-renew and what it will cost you. 

You have until the first game to cancel.


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## starcms (Feb 7, 2008)

OK, here's a question. For those of you who had Sunday Ticket last year, when you go under Programming on My Account on DirecTV.com, does it show the 2015 NFL Sunday Ticket Maxx purchased with a price of $0.00?


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

starcms said:


> OK, here's a question. For those of you who had Sunday Ticket last year, when you go under Programming on My Account on DirecTV.com, does it show the 2015 NFL Sunday Ticket Maxx purchased with a price of $0.00?


It all depends on when someone's billing period ends. Some people will see it now. Others will see it later this month. Every year, there is a thread just like this one, where a second year Sunday Ticket subscriber thinks that they are getting another year for free because auto-renew reminder shows up on their account.


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## kb301 (Mar 6, 2014)

starcms said:


> OK, here's a question. For those of you who had Sunday Ticket last year, when you go under Programming on My Account on DirecTV.com, does it show the 2015 NFL Sunday Ticket Maxx purchased with a price of $0.00?


I had it last year and this is what's currently under programming on My Account.
My Sports Channels:
DIRECTV is your home for the most sports on TV. To satisfy all your sports cravings, add sports packages below by clicking "Activate Now."







*NFL SUNDAY TICKET MAX 2015 *
Get every game every Sunday in HD on your TV and the Game Mix Channel, plus:
-Every 2015 NFL SUNDAY TICKET game on your computer, tablet, and phone
-RED ZONE CHANNEL®
-DIRECTV FANTASY ZONE
-Player Tracker
-Short Cuts
-NFL SUNDAY TICKET On Demand
*$0.00*







*MLB EXTRA INNINGS 2015 *
Enjoy up to 80 out-of-market games a week, including up to 40 in HD. Plus, you also get Game Mix, giving you eight games on a single screen.
*$32.99 *


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

Around this time NFL will start to show a $0 charge to indicate that it's active on the account. Unless it was added for free some time after February it's an auto renew notice from last year. Depending on your bill cycle date it will show up once or twice and then the first charge of the season will show up on the bill that is due prior to the start of the season. If you have join billing you may not see it until after the season starts due to differences in billing dates.

If I had to bet you got a newer agent who hasn't dealt with an auto renew yet and just agreed with you because they saw the price. If you had been given it for free on one of the other calls I'm betting the agent would have made a big deal about how you are so valued and blah blah blah.


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## starcms (Feb 7, 2008)

I'm hoping when I contacted DirecTV a few days ago they were correct. They put me on hold for 5 minutes to speak with a supervisor then came back and said I was qualified to receive it for free. 

On the bill for those on auto-renew, does it show it as $0 or is there also a message printed under it with the actual price?


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

starcms said:
 

> On the bill for those on auto-renew, does it show it as $0 or is there also a message printed under it with the actual price?


Kb301 posted what his bill says back in post #10.


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

trh said:


> Kb301 posted what his bill says back in post #10.


That wasn't his bill. That was a snapshot of his "My Programming" page from DirecTV's website. I didn't have Max last year, so the same page shows a price for me with an "Activate Now" button. However, Sunday Ticket show up for me very similar to how it shows up for kb301.

I get billed on June 3rd. My June bill doesn't mention Sunday Ticket (my 2014 June bill didn't mention it either). I expect that, like in previous years, my July bill will show Sunday Ticket at $0.


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## AngryManMLS (Jan 30, 2014)

According to the rep I just spoke to I have NFL Sunday Ticket itself for free this upcoming season. She took a few minutes to double check my account details and said it's showing up as free on their end with no upcoming/pending charges like it would if you had to pay for it. Totally awesome if this holds up but if not then they have been pretty good about giving me it for free with me agreeing to stay with them for another year which given DTV has the best quality for MLS Direct Kick I don't plan on leaving.


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## Wyannuzzi (Feb 11, 2012)

My June 14th Bill has the following in main part of bill:

Seasonal Sports Subscriptions
2. NFL SUNDAY TICKET MAX 2015 0.00 
See Renewal details included Season starts on 09/13
3. NFL SUNDAY TICKET MAX 2015 0.00 
See Renewal details included Season starts on 09/13

Bottom of bill has the following

IMPORTANT RENEWAL NOTICE: 
You are all set to enjoy another exciting season of NFL SUNDAY TICKET MAX only available on DIRECTV. We will be renewing you at 6 monthly payments of $58.99 each. Look for the first charge to appear on an upcoming bill. If you wish to cancel to avoid payment, you must do so before the season starts. Refunds not available after the season starts on Sunday, Sept. 13th.​
In fairness, I did not get max for free last year...got it for 1/2 price $180.00, but also got a $100.00 Visa gift card to offset the $180.00. So $80.00 total for Max.


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

Putting the $0.00 "charge" for the auto-renewal does nothing but mislead and create confusion. You would think by now they would have a better way to let a customer know, "hey this is on auto-renewal and you are going to get charged soon".


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

raott said:


> Putting the $0.00 "charge" for the auto-renewal does nothing but mislead and create confusion. You would think by now they would have a better way to let a customer know, "hey this is on auto-renewal and you are going to get charged soon".


Is there....


Wyannuzzi said:


> IMPORTANT RENEWAL NOTICE:
> You are all set to enjoy another exciting season of NFL SUNDAY TICKET MAX only available on DIRECTV. We will be renewing you at 6 monthly payments of $58.99 each. Look for the first charge to appear on an upcoming bill. If you wish to cancel to avoid payment, you must do so before the season starts. Refunds not available after the season starts on Sunday, Sept. 13th.


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## Blitz68 (Apr 19, 2006)

I got the same thing.

I called up to ask a question and the lady offered me NFL Sunday Ticket Max for free.

Now I have had NFL Sunday ticket since 1995, but never have had it offered for free before.


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## AngryManMLS (Jan 30, 2014)

I talked to another rep on Saturday. He told me that in fact I don't have Sunday Ticket for free this year despite the fact that I turned auto renewal off on my account. He told me that he's taken it off so I wouldn't get charged. This whole situation is a confusing mess to me right now. I did get four free months of Showtime but still DirecTV needs to get their act together when it comes to things like this.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

AngryManMLS said:


> I talked to another rep on Saturday. He told me that in fact I don't have Sunday Ticket for free this year despite the fact that I turned auto renewal off on my account. He told me that he's taken it off so I wouldn't get charged. This whole situation is a confusing mess to me right now. I did get four free months of Showtime but still DirecTV needs to get their act together when it comes to things like this.


You have no way to turn off auto renewal yourself and the window to do it through a CSR is pretty limited actually.


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## JACKIEGAGA (Dec 11, 2006)

Can you cancel anytime before the seasons starts? I was thinking of getting rid of it this year.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

JACKIEGAGA said:


> Can you cancel anytime before the seasons starts? I was thinking of getting rid of it this year.


Read post # 18


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

JACKIEGAGA said:


> Can you cancel anytime before the seasons starts? I was thinking of getting rid of it this year.


Yes you can cancel it guaranteed prior to the season start. There is generally a 1-2 week grace period as well for those with joint billing as the bills may not be seen prior to the start of the season. The difference in my post is that if they say that they added the non auto renew line item it will be ignored at this point so make sure they actually remove it.


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

Blitz68 said:


> I got the same thing.
> 
> I called up to ask a question and the lady offered me NFL Sunday Ticket Max for free.
> 
> Now I have had NFL Sunday ticket since 1995, but never have had it offered for free before.


Keep an eye on your account and see what/when you get charged. Sunday Ticket and Sunday Ticket Max are two separate subscriptions, with Max being an add-on package. It may very well be that you are getting charged full price for Sunday Ticket, and getting the Max add-on for free. Unless you care about the features provided by the Max add-on (personally, I don't), you'd be better off not having Max and asking for a discount on the standard Sunday Ticket package.


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## AngryManMLS (Jan 30, 2014)

Shades228 said:


> You have no way to turn off auto renewal yourself and the window to do it through a CSR is pretty limited actually.


Yet according to every DTV phone rep I've talked to "auto renewal" on my account is off which according to them includes Sunday Ticket. Of course I should have learned a long time ago not to fully trust DTV phone rep since... well... yeah.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

AngryManMLS said:


> Yet according to every DTV phone rep I've talked to "auto renewal" on my account is off which according to them includes Sunday Ticket. Of course I should have learned a long time ago not to fully trust DTV phone rep since... well... yeah.


There is no such thing as a global auto renew. There was definitely some confusion somewhere.


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## AngryManMLS (Jan 30, 2014)

Shades228 said:


> There is no such thing as a global auto renew. There was definitely some confusion somewhere.


Except their own reps pretty much told me "yes auto renewal for Sunday Ticket is off." Therefore it's their fault for misleading me on that. In the end all is taken care of but man... their reps really need to be trained better.


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