Well, that's one way not to get me to want DirecTV

[wolfie]

Another option would be "I'm only interested in packages that contain Channel X", where Channel X is one that you KNOW has an exclusive deal with the competitor, or "My apartment faces north" (i.e. the only place you could put the dish is somewhere it can't see the satelite).

[smileyeagle1021]

I did go thru some withdrawal at first but I really feel no desire to go back.

I never went through withdrawal... almost every show I watch is available on Hulu, and I was already never watching them "live", I always DVR'ed it and watched it later... well, if I'm waiting at least a day to watch it anyway, the 24 hour waiting period for it to go on Hulu really was a moot point, the only difference, other than price, is I now navigate to the show on Hulu instead of my DVR.

[protege]

We don't have a TV. Haven't had one since 2002. That's what the internet is for

Uh, I think Trekkie would disagree with you there.

[Marmalady]

I was a bit incredulous that they'd try their sales pitch on someone with a screaming, inconsolable baby. Like, really, do I look like I want to hear about cable service right now?

Someone once tried to pitch their electricity company to me while I was hurrying to get my baby son to a mother-and-child place so I could feed him (and my boy made a lot of noise when he was hungry). It was at that moment that I discovered the maternal superpower known as the 'Don't you even think about it' glare, and I swear the guy shrivelled to about half his height

[MadMike]

Uh, I think Trekkie would disagree with you there.

You're ruining my song!

[Mr Hero]

I have a TV for exactly the same reason. I barely watch TV. But I do have 5 game systems hooked up to it, so I guess that shows what I'd rather do with my TV.

[Golden Phoenix]

My DH looooves the pushy or obnoxious TV salespeople. Or any kind of subscription service (newspapers, etc)

He likes to stand there and make interested noises and have them go through their entire pitch, asking questions and getting clarifications, he's even gone so far as to begin filling in a contract, but when they get to the bank details part he asks "Oh, I don't have a Bank account, is that a problem?" and watches their faces fall.

Nice people get a smile and a polite "no thank you" but the ones that p*ss him off get their time wasted. He figures it's better to have his own time wasted than have some poor old dear sign up to something she doesn't want because of a pushy or downright unscrupulous salesperson.

I can't quite decide if i approve of his tactics or not...

[Catwoman2965]

I hate pushy salespeople. This happened to me last year, and again last night. CLose to 8pm, my doorbell rings. I live in an apt, and a very safe area. Thinking it was either UPS, as I'm waiting on some packages, or my neighbor, i opened the door. Nope. It's the new rep for the local cable company, who i used to, but no longer, have service with. I guess the intent was to get me to switch back! But really? You come to my door that late, and when I politely say I'm not interested, thank you, continue on with "may I ask why?" and when I again repeat I'm happy with my service, keep talking....well, you get the door shut in your face.

I did feel kind of bad since it was a young guy, probably in his 20's and I know these types of cold calls suck, but come on. If I want your service, i will come to you, not respond to some unsolicted call when I'm in my jammies!

[drunkenwildmage]

While I was at work, I got a call from a Direct TV sales critter trying to get me to switch to Direct TV. Ended pretty quickly when I explained to them that I doubt the Cable TV company he just called would be interested.

[Seanette]

While I was at work, I got a call from a Direct TV sales critter trying to get me to switch to Direct TV. Ended pretty quickly when I explained to them that I doubt the Cable TV company he just called would be interested.

Someone wasn't paying attention to their phone lists.

[BlaqueKatt]

I've got cable TV, mostly because it's cheaper to get basic cable and basic internet as a bundle than to get *just* basic internet.

Yeah, we were shipped a box back in june for local channels and a few others that are bundled in, it's still in the box in the hallway.

[Kogarashi]

We have our TV for basically the same reason as Smileyeagle. It's actually a shiny new Smart TV now, since we used our recent move to justify replacing our 11-year-old clunker. It's hooked up to exactly four devices: router (because internet, being a Smart TV), PS3 (doubling as our BluRay/DVD player), PS2 (because my PS3 isn't backwards-compatible), and Wii. That's it. We watch movies, I play lots of video games (sometimes with my kids), and we stream any TV-type stuff we want to watch, usually via Hulu or Amazon.

I'd basically have to explain to anyone trying to sell us on cable or satellite that I won't buy in until they start selling channels ala carte, and even then they'd have to give a very good pitch. Most of the channels we'd want to watch aren't generally in most companies' basic packages, and we really don't care about most basic packages' content (like the sports channels, ESPN clones, and copies of network TV).

[Slave to the Phone]

Our front gate is always locked. People can easily come to the back door, though. Today, someone came to the front door and gave it a cop knock which scared the heck out of our kitties.

A Direct TV salesguy had climbed our fence so he could give us his sales pitch. My sweetie dealt with him while I called the police to make a trespassing complaint. I haven't heard anything since, but seriously, don't climb over a locked gate to try to sell an unwanted service to people. Its just not going to work out well.

[smileyeagle1021]

You come to my door that late, and when I politely say I'm not interested, thank you, continue on with "may I ask why?" and when I again repeat I'm happy with my service, keep talking....well, you get the door shut in your face.

My mom got one like that... it was a Kirby salesperson, and believe me, I love Kirby vacuums, I think they are some of the best on the market... but my mother has no carpet, none, nada, her entire house is hardwood. She uses a dust mop and a knock off of a Shark steam cleaner, and that's really all she needs. This guy, despite being told she had no carpet, was shown her lack of carpet, kept trying to sell her on the fact that it could do hardwood as well (yeah, not as quickly as a dust mop though, and would still need the steam cleaner and/or a mop), and when he realized that wasn't going to work tried to tell her what a great deal it would be for cleaning her few area rugs... yeah, no, you don't need a $2,000 vacuum for area rugs.
At that point she was done with being polite and simply closed the door in his face.

I'd basically have to explain to anyone trying to sell us on cable or satellite that I won't buy in until they start selling channels ala carte, and even then they'd have to give a very good pitch. Most of the channels we'd want to watch aren't generally in most companies' basic packages, and we really don't care about most basic packages' content (like the sports channels, ESPN clones, and copies of network TV).

If AT&T or Charter would let me subscribe to just History, Discovery (and a few varieties thereof), BBC, Biography, SyFy, and the locals, I would sign up in a heartbeat. But as they won't, most of the shows I would watch on those channels are available on Hulu, and the ones that aren't can be purchased for a hell of a lot cheaper than a cable subscription on Amazon.

A Direct TV salesguy had climbed our fence so he could give us his sales pitch. My sweetie dealt with him while I called the police to make a trespassing complaint. I haven't heard anything since, but seriously, don't climb over a locked gate to try to sell an unwanted service to people. Its just not going to work out well.

I would try contacting Direct TV as well... I'm fairly certain that they have policies against their employees violating local laws while performing their job.

[fma_fanatic]

I've run into the rude DirecTV reps at Best Buy. The last one was when I went to get our Roku box. He kept insisting that I could get most of the channels that Roku offered.

"Oh really? Okay, does DirecTV offer Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime TV? Because if it does, maybe it's time for me to consider cancelling Uverse." I knew he couldn't answer that question because that's what we wanted the Roku for.

Not only that, but we had DirecTV at one time and I hated the nearly constant telemarketing calls to get us to upgrade. We got what we wanted, and didn't need to add more channels. We had at the time figured how to set up our Wii to watch Hulu and Netflix.

If AT&T or Charter would let me subscribe to just History, Discovery (and a few varieties thereof), BBC, Biography, SyFy, and the locals, I would sign up in a heartbeat. But as they won't, most of the shows I would watch on those channels are available on Hulu, and the ones that aren't can be purchased for a hell of a lot cheaper than a cable subscription on Amazon.

The trick with Uverse is knowing how to haggle with them when you sign up. They usually offer a decent package, and if you tell them that their local cable competitor sent a flyer offering their equivalent of the U200 where those channels are at a cheaper price, they are more willing to bend to give you what you want. Because they are usually in another part of the country where that provider isn't and most likely are not going to call your bluff. Sometimes you have to call more than once, so it's sometimes a matter of being tenacious. Which reminds me, I need to check and see if HBO is going to be free again soon.