Surviving without our DVR

My DVR died last week. I knew it was coming as my DVR continued to make a clicking noise. At times I was unable to select a program I had recorded. Not a good sign. So, I called in to get help from Dish Network. As soon as I told the technician about the clicking noise, he said that was not a good sign. He confirmed that my hard drive crashed, and I would not be able to get my taped shows back. I wasn’t too concerned about my shows, but had a feeling when the kids found out they would not be happy. They are so used to watching everything taped and being able to pause in the middle of a show when I ask them to go do something. Live TV just doesn’t happen in our house. I love that I can tape 2 things at once and watch something else that I have taped at the same time. I never watch commercials anymore! I’m sure the marketers out there are not happy to hear that. Do you realize how much time is wasted by having to sit through the commercials? I have now given myself extra time in my day just by cutting out the commercials.

So, I asked the technician what I needed to do. He told me not to worry about anything. He said that they would mail me a new DVR. I asked how much I was going to have to pay. He told me I didn’t have to pay anything. He said my old DVR was under warranty. He said I would only have to pay shipping. I started to argue with him, when he told me that he would waive the shipping fee. I thought that was so nice of him. Then I asked what I should do with my broken machine. He told me I would have to ship it back to them as soon as I got my replacement. I started to ask if I would have to pay for the shipping. He let me know once again that they would cover the shipping costs. So, now I’m getting a new machine within a few days and won’t have to pay a dime. Wait, my dog is barking like a mad dog! It has to be either the mailman or the UPS guy. I went to check and guess what? My new DVR is here! We won’t have to suffer through another day of having to watch live TV and having to pick what show we like better, The Office or Grey’s Anatomy? The only good thing good thing to come out of this is I have discovered hulu.com. I can watch all of my shows that I missed on hulu.com. Isn’t modern technology great????

So, I was telling my friend that my DVR finally died. It had been acting funny about a month prior to this and we were sure it was going to die. I told her how great the customer service was at Dish Network and that they did not charge me anything. I didn’t even have to argue to get my way. She told me I didn’t have to fight with them because I already had a mark on my account that says, “Difficult customer! Give her whatever she wants!” You know, I’m ok with that!

The thing I didn’t mention is that within the past 4 months I have called Dish Network and negotiated my monthly fees. I have successfully reduced my bill by $20 a month without compromising my services! I never would have thought this was possible until last year my previous boss made me call my business phone and internet providers and ask for a discount. I thought she was crazy, and there was no way they would reduce our bill. I was wrong! The providers are willing to negotiate. You just have to ask. So, if you are not comfortable with negotiating, let me do it for you. I love to argue and get a good deal. I won’t charge you too much!