A Question about Grandfathered Old Tivos

[OldTownTreadles]

Hi, as you know, some Tivo folk never hit the forums, and I've got a friend who is one of those. He's got an old, I mean old Tivo with lifetime, and he's just happy to watch his programs. I told him about how some of the old old Tivos had this grandfathered transferrability to their lifetime service, and he wanted me to ask you all a few questions:

1. He got it from a guy who had the unit originally, probably a guy who didn't know about this because he didn't read the forums. The guy had gotten a new Tivo and passed his old unit on. My friend plugged it in, changed the location for the guide to look for channels, and that's all he did. He didn't go online to contact the company, he didn't register it, didn't even think he'd have to. Now he's a happy lifetime camper, but he thinks:

a. What if it is one of those ones where the other guy decides he is going to talk a CSR into transferring the lifetime (if it is transferrable). Can the other guy transfer the lifetime after he's passed it on to my friend?

b. Should my friend come in now and go online and register his ownership of this Old Old Tivo? Is that what people with ancient Tivos do? If so, aside from possibly preventing the guy from transferring his lifetime, what benefit will he have?

c. If it's one of those Tivos where the "lifetime" is for the lifetime of the owner, then when the tivo with lifetime was transferred to my friend, was it an illusion, that is, was the lifetime not really transferred with the unit? If so, if he registered the unit would the lifetime be taken away? What about his expectation that a lifetime goes with the machine? Can he rely on that?

d. If it is one of the Ancient Tivos with lifetime being lifetime of the owner, now that he is the owner, would it be for his lifetime? Or for the lifetime of the original owner? If its for the lifetime of the original owner, what happens when he dies? If it's for the lifetime of the current owner, could he then take it and transfer it to a new unit?

e. And of course, what impact, if any, will this have on Tivo stock? :rolleyes:

There you go. It's not exactly twenty questions, and it's not a hot topic, but my friend wants to know.

[ZeoTiVo]

this has been answered in some other threads by TiVoOpsMgr but I don't feel like combing long threads fro them so I will just answer.

whoever has the old grandfathered TiVo has the lifetime to transfer, assuming they have it setup at TiVo.com on an account in their name.

e. of ocurse all news is bad for TiVo inc.

[OldTownTreadles]

this has been answered in some other threads by TiVoOpsMgr but I don't feel like combing long threads fro them so I will just answer.

whoever has the old grandfathered TiVo has the lifetime to transfer, assuming they have it setup at TiVo.com on an account in their name.

e. of ocurse all news is bad for TiVo inc.

:up: Thanks! I'll tell my friend. Maybe this'll get him online for a moment or two...

[Dan203]

The problem here is that your friend never had the TiVo put into his name. Which means that whoever gave it to him could conceivably call up TiVo and transfer the service from his TiVo to another TiVo and your friend couldn't do anything about it. Worse yet the only way to actually get it put into his name is to have the original owner call and have it transfered. However by doing so that person may become suspect and relaize what he did.

All of this of course is assuming this unit was purchased with lifetime service before January 20th, 2000. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's that old.

Dan

[OldTownTreadles]

The problem here is that your friend never had the TiVo put into his name. Which means that whoever gave it to him could conceivably call up TiVo and transfer the service from his TiVo to another TiVo and your friend couldn't do anything about it. Worse yet the only way to actually get it put into his name is to have the original owner call and have it transfered. However by doing so that person may become suspect and relaize what he did.

All of this of course is assuming this unit was purchased with lifetime service before January 20th, 2000. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's that old.

Dan

Nothing like a prickly problem. Thanks for another permutation. So, the only way for a tivo to transfer ownership, or for a person who is getting a second hand tivo to register it is if the old owner calls in and says they're not the owner anymore? Or is this just the case with these very old Tivos?

Let's say someone bought a tivo at an estate sale. The previous owner isn't around to transfer ownership. What then?

[Dan203]

Your best bet to get this to happen is to contact one of the TiVo employees who post on these forums and see if they can help you out.

Dan

[Sirshagg]

This also bring up an interesting dilema. The only reason why the one time transfer was allowed is because people "thought" lifetime mean their lifetime and not that of the unit.

Now you are asking that it be both the lifetime of the unit (in order to be transfered to someone other than the person who purchased the lifetime) and that it be the lifetime of the owner in order to transfer it to a new box.

Doesnt seem right t hat you could have it both ways. None-the-less I bet Tivo would and does allow it.

[weathertop]

Worse yet the only way to actually get it put into his name is to have the original owner call and have it transfered.

Dan

Au contraire, monfraire. :p

It is not necessary for the prior owner to call Tivo to transfer the service. As long as you, the new owner, can identify the old owner (usually first and last name, or just last name and mailing address) and share the Tivo service number, Tivo CSRs will transfer the service.

And, the old owner will be none the wiser.

I've purchased several old Tivos, including a grandfathered lifetime unit only 2-days ago (series 3, here I come!) and the process on my end to move the service in my name has always been the same.

[mick66]

Worse yet the only way to actually get it put into his name is to have the original owner call and have it transfered.

That's not at all necessary. I've bought and sold several Lifetimed Tivos. As the seller I've never had to do anything except tell the the buyer to contact Tivo to get the transfer of ownership done and they did. As the buyer, all I had to do was call Tivo and give them the TSN.

[weathertop]

That's not at all necessary. I've bought and sold several Lifetimed Tivos. As the seller I've never had to do anything except tell the the buyer to contact Tivo to get the transfer of ownership done and they did. As the buyer, all I had to do was call Tivo and give them the TSN.


Sounds familiar. :rolleyes:

[Narkul]

How would you go about finding out if you have purchased a grandfathered unit? I had a lifetime unit switched to my name but I am not allowed to view billing info on the unit under manage my account.

[weathertop]

Go instead to "DVR Preferences."

If the activation date for the Tivo in question is prior to January 21, 2000, then you might have a unit with grandfathered service that you can transfer to another unit.

The only way to be for sure (after passing this first test), is to call Tivo Customer Service and make sure that the lifetime service hasn't been moved already from earlier hardware to the unit now in your possession.

You can start your navigation through Tivo's IVR at 877-367-8486. Just say, "operator" at the prompt and you'll eventually be able to talk to a living human being.

[Dan203]

Au contraire, monfraire. :p

It is not necessary for the prior owner to call Tivo to transfer the service. As long as you, the new owner, can identify the old owner (usually first and last name, or just last name and mailing address) and share the Tivo service number, Tivo CSRs will transfer the service.

I did not know that, thanks for setting me straight. :)

Dan

[weathertop]

Not a problem. Thanks for the great sig material. :D

[mick66]

I did not know that, thanks for setting me straight. :)

Dan

I should add that I've read many people's accounts of transfering lifetime where they were asked for specific info on the previous owner by a CSR. So they may want some information and ask for it (I've never been asked for any), but that doesn't make it necessary.