Deep, Deep Discounts

In every household, there are key utility services that one cannot do without. In ours, aside from water, electricity, and garbage, these are TV, internet, and cellphone. And two of these are bundled together, as in most other providers. Our happens to be AT&T.

For the past so many years, I had been contemplating on changing services for our TV, in particular, because of other programming that I am more interested in. To be honest with you, I care less about the US cable programming offered by all the carriers. They all boast of hundreds and hundreds of channels. But, seriously, do you even have time to flip through all of them and enjoy each one? Well, if you are a coach potato maybe, yes. But for us who have to earn a living, we're lucky if we can even tune in to the local news.

As Pinoys (or Filipinos), we subscribe to the Filipino channel provided by our carrier. It consists of 2 of the major TV networks back home -- GMA and ABS-CBN. However, AT&T's version of this package only includes one channel each, plus a third for old movies produced by a local cinema outfit in the Philippines, called Viva. It costs $25 each month. These 2 major networks don't just have one channel each back home. As a matter of fact, both GMA and ABS-CBN have at least 2, and programming in all 4 are quite interesting.

Of all the major carriers in the Bay Area, only DirecTV has a Filipino channel package that contains 10 channels, which include the 2 channels from GMA and ABS-CBN, the latter's AM and FM radio stations' live broadcast, a movie channel, an adventure channel, a family-oriented channel, and a music video-type channel -- all for $35 each month. With a difference of $10, I think I'd have more bang for my buck with DirecTV's Pinoy programming.

Here's the catch. DirecTV does not have its own internet service, and I would still have to get it from AT&T. From a logistics perspective, it's an additional payee I have to track, versus having both services bundled into one. So, for the longest time, I am stuck with this dilemma of switching or staying.

As a consolation though, some tweety bird whispered into my ear many moons ago, that if I called AT&T on a periodic basis, and "threatened" them that I will terminate my service, they will offer current customers certain discounts, which can be as much as $30-$60 each month, depending on the services you have. As you know, new customers get huge discounts upon signing provided you stay on for 1-2 years. Then, everything reverts back to the regular price. So before your term expires, you need to give them a call and ask for discounts, or leave.

For the times I've tried, they've always given me good discounts. They will offer you different scenarios, including bumping up your number of TV channels in order to get a good discount for the same amount you are currently paying. For the most part, my experience has been good. In the end, you will have to figure out for yourself whether what they're offering is practical or will work for your needs. For my case, I now have the most number of channels, including the premium channels, like HBO and STARZ, while reducing the current monthly cost by a couple of dollars, and keeping all other services the same, like number of receivers and internet speed.

Is it worth the haggling and tracking expiration dates of these special discounts? Well, it all depends on your needs and if you are particular about your expenses. From the get-go, I have set a certain amount I am willing to pay each month for cable and internet. If my provider can meet that, or even lower it, then they will continue to have my business. Otherwise, I am gone.

I do still want to pursue DirecTV and their full Pinoy channel package. But I do want to make sure I get the same speed for my internet, for the same money. And most likely, it may still be with AT&T. We shall see.

Note: Author wishes to acknowledge AT&T and DirecTV for the use of the logos and online screenshot on this post.