My 2021 DirecTV Retention Call Was Actually Done Via Twitter and Here’s How It Went

Regular readers who follow my DirecTV posts know that I’ve been able to keep my DirecTV bill relatively reasonable (in the $50 – $75 per month range) for the past five years.

The annual retention call tactics have been roughly the same each year.

• Call and ask about bill-lowering retention offers
• Request a disconnect date if no decent offers are available
• Wait for follow-up calls with offers to stay
• Disconnect and then call back for offers to stay

Some years have been easier than others, with decent retention offers being given at the first step…or right after requesting a disconnect.

Others have required a waiting game, with one going to a full disconnect with a reconnection a few days later at a decent per month price.

But, all have resulted in a more reasonable monthly bill.

DirecTV’s Social Media Team

It was last year – 2020 – that I learned some DirecTV subscribers were having success lowering their monthly bills by using social media, specifically Facebook, and its Messenger feature, to inquire about money-saving deals, rather than going the telephone route.

And then earlier this summer I read a few reports of DTV subscribers using Twitter with some success, as well.

The benefit of using social media is you can, potentially, bypass lengthy hold times and long, sometimes frustrating, conversations.

Which is the reason I decided to give Twitter a try for my 2021 retention contact (can’t really refer to it as a call…at least initially, as you’ll see).

My 2021 DirecTV Twitter Contact

Obviously, you’ll need a Twitter account to make the contact…just like you’ll need a Facebook account to go the Facebook route.

Once logged in to your Twitter account, you’ll search for @DIRECTVhelp, the DirecTV Help option, via the upper right Search Twitter bar.

Once selected, you’ll be taken to the DirecTV Help Twitter page where you can send your initial message. Look for the envelope icon at the top of the page, click it and begin your chat/conversation.

You likely will have an automated message greet you asking how they can help.

I responded by typing that I had some credits drop off my DirecTV account and I wanted to see if there were any discounts to keep me as a DirecTV subscriber.

That message was followed by an initial DirecTV Virtual Assistant message asking me to verify my account by clicking a provided link and logging in to my DirecTV account.

Once the account is verified, you’ll be put into a queue for a DirecTV representative.

Mine took a few minutes to respond – so not too bad – and ask how he could help.

Due to issues related to last year’s retention call, I hadn’t had online access to my DirecTV account. Luckily I hadn’t needed it…up till now.

After providing my account number, he was able to access my account and said he’d check options that might be available.

That took about four minutes, at which time he asked if I had time for a live interaction (phone call) to share details on the options he found.

I said yes, and he called me about two minutes later on the telephone number associated with my DirecTV account.

This is where the process mirrored, somewhat, previous retention calls I’ve had with DirecTV.

He asked about viewing habits…to see if a downgraded package would work.

I said no to downgrading.

He then offered a price of $95 per month for the Entertainment package, the package that I’ve had the past few years.

I said no, I really needed to get the monthly price lower.

He did some more looking and came back with a $40 per month discount, making my all-in (tax and fees included) monthly bill $73.49.

Which was right in the range ($70-$75) that I was looking for.

Last year – 2020 retention call – my negotiated monthly price all-in was $76.45. My goal was to nudge that down a bit, if possible, and this offer did just that.

I asked if there were any free movie packages available (in the past I’ve gotten 3 free months of HBO, Showtime, etc.) on my account. There were, but not what I wanted…something about an adult channels package and the Movies Extra Pack. So I passed on those.

I briefly considered asking about a gift card – in past years I’ve gotten $100 gift cards as part of my retention deals – but getting last year’s gift card was a major fiasco, so I decided not to bother with it this year.

And, since I already had free NFL Sunday Ticket on my account, there wasn’t much else for me to ask about.

Plus, my monthly bill target had been met, so I said yes, I’d go with the $40 per month discount for 12 months deal.

A few more minutes while he finalized the changes to my account, and the deal was done – another year of DirecTV service at a reasonable price.

Wrap Up

So, while my contact started out on Twitter, it was completed with an old-fashioned phone call.

Would I have gotten a similar deal calling DirecTV – either the main number or one of the retention numbers listed in our “How To” post? I really don’t know.

But, using social media to start the discussion was a fairly easy and painless way to go. I was probably on the Twitter message chat for about 7-10 minutes total.

And the follow-up phone conversation took around 10 minutes.

A total of about 20 minutes is probably on the quicker side when looking back on all my DirecTV retention calls. Some calls went well past 30 minutes, even close to an hour, when factoring in getting everything completed.

So this was a much better experience from a time perspective and I got the monthly price I was looking for.

Could I have gotten the monthly price even lower if I’d said no one more time?

Possibly, but my gut tells me the DirecTV deals now and going forward will be determined by live-TV streaming pricing – YouTube TV at $65/month, DirecTV Stream with the Entertainment package at $69.99 per month, etc. – with a bit of a premium for a little better and potentially more reliable, service.

What kind of deals you’re able to get will be the real answer, though.

So take the info provided above, coupled with our “How To” post guidance, and make your own DirecTV contact – phone call or social media – to see what kind of deal is available to you.

And then let us know in the comments section below how the process played out.

Hopefully, you’ll have similar success getting and/or keeping your monthly DirecTV bill at a more reasonable level.

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Customer service rep image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net