Lifetime Sub Transfer - A Heads Up

[KiNeL]

Thought I'd post this information as I certainly wasn't aware of it and it could possibly catch somebody out.

I recently bought a 2nd TiVo which had been Lifetime subbed by the seller.

We agreed to transfer it to my name and discovered that, as part of this process, Tivo CANCEL the Lifetime sub and then re-enable it when the new owner phones in.

Even though I had given the seller all my details they wouldn't accept this and I had to phone in personally.

Their excuse for this is that it enables them to help you if you have a problem which is fair enough but why cancel it, they could leave it alone and just tell you to sod off if it's not registered to you.

In the normal course of events a transfer should go through smoothly but it's quite conceivable I guess that one could lose contact with a seller somewhere along the way and thereby lose the sub !

Also, what's to stop someone who's sold a Lifetime TiVo innocently phoning in to de-register, maybe weeks or month's after a sale, effectively killing the box for the buyer!

By logical deduction there must be TiVo's out there which have been Lifetime subbed but cancelled under this procedure so TiVo maybe getting a second bite of the cherry for the same machine.

So much for the sub belonging to the box...!

[kforshaw]

We have 2 x lifetime sub TiVos - both lucky bargains on eBay. :)
However, when we got the first - we had the same problem with the swapping of subscriptions and chose to leave the subscription if you like with its original owner as it is fairly unlikely as TiVo themselves said that they would contact the original seller.
However, we were given a slightly different reason. Our subscription was not bought it was 'won' by our seller and as such is a promotional subscription - I didn't win it therefore it is not transferable.

My account status is 11. Evaluation (it used to be 3. Account in good standing).
The second box also says the same thing - so I would assume this is the same - though I would have no chance moving the sub on that as I wouldn't have a clue of the seller (was picked up at a carboot by my seller thinking it was a freeview box!)

Anyway - perhaps thats a reason for the non movement of subscription.

Karen

[sanderton]

Why would you bother even telling TiVo? The machines are way out of warranty.

[KiNeL]

Why would you bother even telling TiVo? The machines are way out of warranty.
True, I suppose they might talk an inept noob through connecting up or maybe something equally basic but it's hard to see what else they could (or would) do for anyone, registered or not. Probably get a far better class of help on this forum anyway................!

[frogster]

Why would you bother even telling TiVo? The machines are way out of warranty.The machine may be but the lifetime sub isn't. :)

Maybe someone is thinking ahead to a day when they may want to ask TivoUK to transfer a lifetime sub from a sick box to a replacement box. For that it would be helpful to be the registered owner of the lifetime sub.

[Quinten]

But the lifetime sub is tied to the box, not the person. You can't transfer it from one box to another.

[KiNeL]

For sure but I don't know what happens if your Tivo dies a death.

Will they let you transfer to another, I suspect not but maybe someone will say differently.

[sanderton]

Technically they won't; in pracise in the past they have, but that was when they had stocks of spares, which AFAIK have now all gone.

[iankb]

I believe that they have transferred lifetime subs between boxes, when they've heard a good sob story. :p

The easiest way to enable this is to ask for a paid swapout (i.e. out of warranty swap), where they used to charge around £80-£90 to replace it, complete with transfer of a lifetime sub. When they say that they can't (because they sold off all their swap-out stock to the likes of Tivoland), explain that you will have to buy a swap yourself, but would expect the same transfer of sub that they would have provided if they had been able to provide a swap.

[KiNeL]

Sounds like a reasonable plan, after all what you've actually paid for in essence is a lifetime service and at zero cost to TiVo there is no logical reason for them to refuse a transfer to a replacement box, whether supplied by them or not. You quite probably have legal rights as well, especially so if you were the original subscriber.

It's not as though it can be abused either because you would have to give the number of the dead box which they can then cancel in the system.

Thankfully the TiVo box seems to be extremly reliable so let's hope nobody has to put it to the test.

FOOTNOTE:

I've just dug out and read the TiVo agreement and I quote:

"Definition of Lifetime Service: If you paid a Lifetime Service fee for your recorder, the TiVo service is guaranteed for the lifetime of that Recorder, even if you give it to a friend or family member. The TiVo service will be provided to that particular Recorder and therefore, cannot be transferred to any other you may purchase."

(nieve punctuation is theirs not mine!)

So there we have it, the strict answer is NO, you cannot transfer to another box.

[frogster]

So there we have it, the strict answer is NO, you cannot transfer to another box.But it has happened before.

[a_tivo_noob]

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sorry to bump (at least i searched eh :D ), but wondered if a good 3 yrs on, if anything has changed?

i've got my 'donor' box (gratefully given to me by a user on here), and hope that this will solve my freezing issues... but just wondered if i'm wasting my time?

[RichardJH]

I suppose you could make your donor box think it is your original box but SHHHHH :eek::eek::cool::cool: can't be talked about here