Uverse Promotional Period End and No Good Promotion for Existing Customer

Bear in mind that those new customers are going to be in the same boat as you at the end of their promotional period.

A lot of the new customer rates are so good because those new customers have to pay to get out of their current contracts. What they're really doing is paying (in a roundabout way) the new customer to get out of their old contract.

For what it is worth, we have been with AT&T U-verse since April 2010 in one way or another. For about a year, we had TV and internet, and then for about 1.5 years we had to drop down to just internet to match our budget. In October 2012, I ramped back up to TV at almost full retail. I think we had $15 off for 6 months. By May 2014, due to typical increases, the bill was ramped up to an uncomfortable level. So I called and mentioned that I had been paying full retail for almost a year and would like to receive their best offer. I asked for a contract period since I am very satisfied with AT&T U-verse and do not plan on switching.

Long story-short, by proving 4 year loyalty to U-verse and by asking to locked in to a 1-year contract, AT&T graciously dropped our bill from $160 to $120 with a small bump to $135.

After my current promotional contract expires, I plan on riding full retail for about 12 months and then asking for a long term contract again. Maybe, riding full retail for a while and then asking again is your best bet.

I hope you have success in your endevors.

Spaz,

I think I want to try this. I'm don't even want a promotional price, but I would at least like a price lock for a year.

djames82,

I mistyped. It wasn't a true "price lock" of total bill as the base retail rates did increase, as is typical. I have noticed base retail rates increase about every 3 - 6 months. Maybe $1-$5 each period. However, we received promotional discounts for a full 12 months on both tv (promo - $21 off ) and internet (promo - $15 off). Of course, this might not work anymore, but I think it was kind of AT&T to offer the promotional rates at the time.

AT&T is no different than any other provider, they all do it. I had TWC for over 10 years and when the rates got too much to bear they offered me a whopping $10 off for 6 months. So I switched to U-verse. I will probably do like a friend of mine does and when the promotional price ends with U-verse I will switch back to cable and when that ends switch back to U-verse. One uses coax (TWC) while the other uses Cat5 (U-verse) so just a matter of switching out equipment.

OK - Starting in May 2015, I am going to let my bill roll to full retail rates and I antipate a few increases in the base rates over the next 12 months. In May 2016, I plan on asking for a discount for existing customers. Come back in May/June 2016, and I will try to let you know my results.