YOUR TIVO ORDER! Look what I just got in the email...

[angel35]

I ordered Tuesday at 9:09 AM EDT and the pre-auth went thru on my credit card.

I ordered around the same time and I also had pre-auth on my credit card. Still waiting for every thing else.I dont know if i shoud call? or wait. :confused:

[laserguns]

That was funny..thank you!!! Maybe the cable companies got together and sent a team of ninjas to take them out.

possibly ninjas. or possibly SAMURAIS

[dswallow]

I also mentioned that you only get one chance to make a good impression...
And presumably for almost everyone in this thread, that chance was long since used up and the impression made was a good one. After all, most everyone here has been a TiVo user for some time already.

[Parkmad]

Ordered on Tuesday at 3:30 PST, received the e-mail on Thursday but nothing since.

Saw availability at my local BestBuy online this mornign and placed an order. Received the pickup notification now and will be heading over in a minute. :)

Guess I will try to cancel or refuse delivery for the other one. I would have waited if I knew the order shipped yesterday, but I have Comcast coming next week and who knows when Tivo will ship.

[Rob Helmerichs]

Just a freaking email update, we shipped, we didn't ship, we will ship, we can't ship something other than your unit will ship no later than Thursday and you will get an email confirmation than silence
Exactly. The complete lack of communication is what's truly appalling. It's as if TiVo just took the week off to celebrate, and nobody's trying to figure out what's going on & keep the phone reps informed. There's just this giant vacuum being filled with misinformation by phone reps--that is, lies, whether through malice or more likely ignorance. If somebody at TiVo would just give them information, then they wouldn't have to pass on the latest rumor sweeping through the phone room, which is what seems to be going on now.

Just appalling.

[IdecideTV]

I am about 35 yrs old, but when it comes to TIVO I am like 3 yr old. I know in my inner heart that tivo series 3 is not going to be delivered until sometime next week with all the confusing status going on! Man, we have to do something to prevent TIVO being the monopoly in this field. It is not that hard, we can do it!

[Rob Helmerichs]

Well, TiVo is never likely to be a monopoly. The cablecos and satellite providers are using their own DVRs, which will likely have a much greater market share. Which is a shame, because TiVo's software is SO superior.

It's just too bad that TiVo's inability to break into the software business (due, I suppose, both to the general consumer just not understanding that there's a difference, and the desire of the providers to make their own, cheap versions) has forced them into the hardare business, for which they do not seem well-suited.

[IdecideTV]

Guys and girls me again!
WE just want to watch the TV content on our own time and also just skip the content we dont want to watch!

No big deal, we can create an open source TIVO like feature which could be better than TIVO than complaining about TIVO..

Hey, Sony, panasonic and other softare and hardware vendors, where are you,, cant you beat TIVO... shame on YOU..
'

[drusoicy]

Hey guys - here is the start of press coverage on this:

http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/tivo-lying-to-vip-customers-about-series3-orders-9161104/

Be sure to Digg here:
http://digg.com/tech_news/TiVo_Lies_To_Customers_About_Series3_Orders

And vote for this story on Netscape:
http://tech.netscape.com/story/2006/09/16/tivo-lies-to-customers-about-series3-orders/

People NEED to know about this.

[jfh3]

OMG. WHY? It makes Tivo have to fess up to their mistake. I would never let my friends drive drunk. Just like I would never let them order anything from TiVo.com

I'm sure Tivo will fess up to their mistake.

How does deliberately slamming Tivo help anything? All it will do is stop some people who otherwise would've purchase a Tivo box (either Series 2 or Series 3) from buying it. And I don't think the people who decide not to buy at tivo.com are just going to buy at retail - they won't buy at all.

Look at some of my other posts - I'm just as upset at how this has been handled and played out as anyone. But making this a big deal outside TCF or AVS and other similar sites is nothing but spiteful and harmful.

[khill821]

What the h*ll good does this do ANYONE?

Why would you want to deliberately bring bad press to Tivo?

:down: :down: :down:

TiVo needs to learn the business term "net detractor."

[ljg]

One word: accountability


Post something on their website, people have made appointments for installation and delivery, silence is reaaly unacceptable

[SteveJ]

After 3 different and equally ridiculous answers from the 3 different CSO reps I spoke with the 3 times I called yesterday afternoon, I have come to the conclusion that my order probably hasn't shipped. Either no one at Tivo knows what is going on, or they are deliberately being vague and misleading (not sure if their CSO reps are lying on their own or are being directed to -- but it's definitely happening). So...screw them. I'm refusing the delivery whenever it decides to come.

Meanwhile, I picked up the last Series 3 on the shelf at the Best Buy in Nashua, NH. Going to try to use it with OTA until the cablecards are installed on Wednesday...

[eisenb11]

I picked one up at BB today. Even though my unit hasn't shipped Tivo is refusing to cancel the order claiming that it can't be cancelled if it's sitting in a warehouse waiting to be put on a truck.

They told me to refuse the shipment and they will credit everything back to my account.

[Aiken]

I'm beginning to believe that no units have shipped at all. Perhaps they didn't arrive at the fulfillment house on Thursday as expected and now it's a game of jesus-christ-everyone-will-cancel-if-we-tell-them.

[Rob Helmerichs]

I just wish TiVo.com weren't the only game in town. But in this town, they are--if any local Best Buys got S3s, they're long gone by now.

Damn, I miss Richard "TiVolutionary" Bullwinkle...this would never have happened on his watch (the lack of communication, that is, not necessarily the shipping snafu).

[nhaigh]

Meanwhile, I picked up the last Series 3 on the shelf at the Best Buy in Nashua, NH. Going to try to use it with OTA until the cablecards are installed on Wednesday...

You don't need to use OTA. It will work with Analogue cable and will tune into the digital channels. Mine has found about 400 digital channels that I can watch a lot of them as they are in the clear. You just cannot get any guide data etc for them until the cablecards make sense of them all. That said I've not recorded anything - I'm just enjoying the HD view :)

[Gerhard]

Ok,

So, I want to start my Tivo 3 rant by saying that I genuinely HATE Best Buy, and that Tivo is now fast climbing the S@#! list.

....Even though I've been a loyal Tivo customer for 5 years, I can forsee the creation of a "TivoSucks" website.

Actuallys, that URL is taken, so I had to register "TivoSux." -grin-

Here is today's story:

As with everyone else I've been waiting for information on my Tivo3 order. Tivo has not seen fit to provide ANY updates or the order status. Furthermore, I get the 'ol multiple different stories when I call their customer service:

- They should all ship on Thurday (9/14)
- It shipped I just don't have a tracking number
- It hasn't shipped, maybe next week.

Like almost everyone else I have to have the cable company come out an install the cableCARDs for the Tivo3. As such, I gave it a week for the Tivo3 to arrive, and scheduled the cable company to come out. To insure the unit would arrive in time, I ordered it via overnight shipping.

When I realized that Tivo customer service was clueless, I opted to see if a Tivo 3 could be purchased locally...with the intention that I'd voice my disatisfaction with Tivo by refusing the package from Tivo whenever the new one arrived. (As other's are doing...)

So I go to Best Buy in Germantown, MD. I walk over to the shelf where the Tivo's are and see ONE TivoHD box.

Cool.

I pick it up and walk over to the register, and attempt to pay to for the Tivo3.

I'm asked for my phone number... I tell the kid he doesn't need it. He gives me some story, so I relent and give him my old phone number. My name then pops up but that isn't good enough, he now wants ALL of my contact information. INCLUDING MY ADDRESS, ETC...

I tell him asolutely not...and to get the manager. The manager comes over and can not tell me why they need the information, but that if I want to buy a Tivo3... I have to give my address and such to Best Buy. I consider using a phoney address, but they've already seen the other address info...

I tell him no. He tells me that's just too bad. I then tell "Brenndan" that I'd like to know his last name as well (so that I can address correspondence properly). He tells me that he will not give me his last name. (...but Best Buy wants mine!)

I basically mention that my attorney will have a field day with this, and EVERYTHING STOPS. The "manager" pulls the Tivo3 away from me (few inches), and then tells me that Best Buy will not sell me anything. He then writes down a 1-888 number with the menu commands for their corporate offices.

It appears that Best Buy has been sued a few times and that the managers have to memorize the phone number and the menu numbers.

Calling other stores turns out to be useless... It appears to be a fluke that the 1st Best Buy actually had one... and Circuit City will not have them in ANY of their stores (North East US) for about 2 weeks.

I'm pretty sure the practice of forcing customers to give you their address and such is illeagal in Maryland. I do remember some law that was passed in the last several years dealing with this...

However, frankly, I really blame Tivo for the aggrevation I've been put through today.

It's really not that difficult to coordinate a mass emailing indicating timeframes for orders and so on. ...and it would have been even less difficult to make sure that we all knew when ordering from them that could take a week or two for our orders to ship.

Right now, I'm really close to just diconnecting my Tivo2's and cancling my Tivo3 order...

So... I was this close...

(I'm sure some fo you will want to flame me... or call me childish, etc..etc....)

[montivette]

I'm sure Tivo will fess up to their mistake.

And I don't think the people who decide not to buy at tivo.com are just going to buy at retail - they won't buy at all.



Very likely to be true especially for someone who has never owned a TiVo and does not want to reward a website/company which is run like this one. And as such, they would have no sense of duty to not bash TiVo. Their entire experience with TiVo has been negative and a series of unkept promises. They may no longer have plans to ever buy a TiVo since this has occurred and their greatest wish is to see the company suffer and go under.

[Parkmad]

Picked mine up from Bestbuy. The guy in the store said they received 2 today, the one I got and a floor model. On to the setup...

[ChuckyBox]

How does deliberately slamming Tivo help anything? All it will do is stop some people who otherwise would've purchase a Tivo box (either Series 2 or Series 3) from buying it. And I don't think the people who decide not to buy at tivo.com are just going to buy at retail - they won't buy at all.

You think that might be the agenda of all these newbies and one-post-wonders that are crawling out of the gutter and posting this constant crap? You think maybe they're trying to generate bad press for TiVo? Gosh no! Who ever would do such a thing? Everybody loves TiVo.

You know better.

The reality is that the VIP site said 48 hours to ship. So if you ordered Tuesday, it should have gone out Thursday. It didn't. TiVo sent you an email explaining and telling you that they would refund your shipping charge. Your box went out yesterday (or maybe today or tomorrow, it doesn't really matter) -- you'll get it Monday, maybe Tuesday. Is that perfection incorporate? No, it's just life.

[Aiken]

Your box went out yesterday
No, it didn't.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316862

(or maybe today or tomorrow, it doesn't really matter)
Yes, it does. Don't tell me what matters to me.

[derekbill]

I'm in Albuquerque. I ordered an S3 on the 12th but have suffered the same lack of communication regarding my order that everyone else here has. So I went out shopping today. The Best Buys and Circuit Citys (two of each), and CompUSA have received none yet. I went to Ultimate Electronics as a last resort and...BEHOLD...they had one. I snapped it up. In my excitement I forgot to ask if they had any more.

Then, on to Comcast where I'd been told over the phone that I could just come in and pick up a couple of card. At the Comcast office I was told they had no cards on site, that I had to have an installer come out. $25.00. Next Saturday the 23rd is the first available appointment, so I took it. In the meantime I'll work with OTA. CMOast doesn't have CBS or CW in HD here, so I'll be using the OTA alongside the cable anyway. I already have Comcast internet and it's crazy fast.

When (if) my ordered unit is delivered I'll refuse it, and if that doesn't work I'll ask to return it, and if that doesn't work I'll dispute the charge.

I've had TiVos since the year they came out, and have even seriously considered buying their stock. Needless to say, this experience is not making me feel like a happy customer or potential investor. The lack of communication is inexcusable.

[baked]

Well they never sent me any letter and I ordered my S3 on 9/12/2006 at 12:46:00 PM. I called yesterday because I hadn't received any shipping info and had a a nice chat with a very perky rep. She said my order had been processed. Nothing about shipping. Oh, well. I'm forced to wait on the HDTV I ordered as well so for now I'm not too upset. For now.

[Rob Helmerichs]

I just found one at Ultimate Electronics. Unfortunately, it's too late to talk to TiVo and "cancel my order" (i.e., get a note in my file that I'm refusing shipment), so I guess I'll have to wait until Monday.

[tivoknucklehead]

its pretty absurd that nobody has received shipping notices and its now Saturday night

[drew2k]

... it's too late to talk to TiVo and "cancel my order" (i.e., get a note in my file that I'm refusing shipment), so I guess I'll have to wait until Monday.
its pretty absurd that nobody has received shipping notices and its now Saturday nightAnother Saturday night and I ain't got nobody
I've got some money 'cause I just got paid
Now, how I wish I had someone to talk to
I'm in an awful way ...



:)

[tivoknucklehead]

I grabbed one at Best Buy but would love to cancel my order from tivo.com . i can't refuse a shipment to my office and now I'll have to return it and pay shipping

[Rob Helmerichs]

Another Saturday night and I ain't got nobody
I've got some money 'cause I just got paid
Now, how I wish I had someone to talk to
I'm in an awful way ...
YOU JUST HATE AMERICA!!!

:D

[FireflyFan88]

I'd really love to know just how many orders it took in that first hour of availabilty to totally FUBAR their order process. I say the first hour because there have been several posts from people who placed orders in that first hour (myself included) that have yet to recieve anything. Given the web of BS, I can only assume nothing has shipped until I see a tracking number in my email or a package at my door.

I guess in some respects maybe it is good news that there is overwhelming demand but boy what a mess they are going to have sorting out returns while still trying to ship new orders.

[drew2k]

YOU JUST HATE AMERICA!!!

:DLOL!

(but I think I'll add a smiley to my earlier post to be safe! :p )

[philw1776]

This is one hilarious thread.

-p( not playing the early adopter game this time)

[raober]

Another sad point...the website is EXACTLY the same as it was Tuesday morning. It says nothing about backordering, and still claims that units will ship in 48 hours. Also, of course, the VIP page does not mention retail lifetime transfers either.

Something is ROYALLY screwed up here, folks.

[geekmedic]

For those of you who are pissed at this whole fiasco, I recommend you personally write Tom Rogers (TiVo CEO) at trogers@tivo.com.

[TiVotion]

I still feel badly for you guys. I've been monitoring this thread to see if anyone got their shipments today (Saturday), but it looks like that never materialized. :(

[drusoicy]

Just emailed Tom Rogers - short and sweet:

If you don't know about this, you have to be the blindest CEO out there:

http://gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/tivo-lying-to-vip-customers-about-series3-orders-9161104

You have a giant mess on your hands, and don't seem to be taking ANY steps at all to fix them, instead resorting to having TiVo service reps lie to anyone who calls for support and answers.

Some way to treat your "VIPs"...

[raober]

Just emailed Tom Rogers - short and sweet:

If you don't know about this, you have to be the blindest CEO out there:

http://gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/tivo-lying-to-vip-customers-about-series3-orders-9161104

You have a giant mess on your hands, and don't seem to be taking ANY steps at all to fix them, instead resorting to having TiVo service reps lie to anyone who calls for support and answers.

Some way to treat your "VIPs"...

Click the link and, if you have a digg account, digg it to death. Bad publicity may be the only thing that gets the process going at this point.

[TiVotion]

They should have never used the phrase "excessive order volumes" in that "delay" email.

Haven't they ever heard of the more marketing-friendly term, "overwhelming response?"

[dswallow]

[...] and still claims that units will ship in 48 hours.
That's probably 48 business hours.

:p

[cotton168]

That's probably 48 business hours.

:p

OMG dswallow. With 48 business hours, we'll never see our Tivos. LOL ;)

[bearcat2000]

Just got mine today from Outpost.com.....LOVE IT!!!! Watching and recording the Nebraska game tonight in HD....Did I say I LOVE IT!!! :)

[Aiken]

For those of you who are pissed at this whole fiasco, I recommend you personally write Tom Rogers (TiVo CEO) at trogers@tivo.com.
Already done. Expecting no results. I'm sure he already knows what's going on and would have done something already if he was going to do anything.

[geekmedic]

We can also file complaints with the FTC, US Attorney General Office, as well as State Attorney General Offices. There is a law that requires companies to issue prompt refunds and accept cancellations when requested by purchasers when there is a shipping delay. TiVo is clearly in violation of this law:

The Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule

Enforced by the FTC, this Rule covers merchandise you order by mail, telephone, computer and fax machine, and requires companies to have a reasonable basis for claiming they can ship an order within a certain period of time. The Rule was first enacted in October 1975 and amended as of March 1, 1994.



Ship Dates


By law a company should ship your order within the time stated in its ads. If no time is promised, the company should ship your order within 30 days.

The 30-day "clock" begins when the company receives a "properly completed order" which includes your name, address and payment (check, money order or authorization to charge an existing credit account — whether or not the account is debited at that time).

If the company doesn't promise a shipping time and you are applying for credit to pay for your purchase, the company has an additional 20 days (50 days total) to establish the account and ship the merchandise.

Delays

If the company is unable to ship within the promised time, it must notify you by mail or telephone, give a revised shipping date and give you the option to cancel for a full refund. The company also must give you some prepaid means to exercise the cancellation option, for example, a prepaid reply card or a toll-free 800 telephone number to call.

If you ignore the option notice, and the delay is 30 days or less, it's assumed that you accept the delay and are willing to wait for the merchandise.

If you do not respond and the delay is more than 30 days the order must be canceled by the 30th day of the delay period and a refund issued.

If the company finds it cannot meet the revised shipping date, it must then again notify you by mail or telephone and give you a new shipping date or cancel your order and give you a refund.

The order will be canceled and a refund issued promptly unless you indicate by the revised shipping date that you are willing to wait.

If you do not respond at all to the second notice, it's assumed that you are not willing to wait, and a refund should be issued promptly.

Refunds

If payment is made by check or money order, the company must issue you a refund within seven business days.

If you authorized a charge to a credit card account, the company must credit the account within one billing cycle not give credit toward a future purchase.

[Aiken]

We can also file complaints with the FTC, US Attorney General Office, as well as State Attorney General Offices. There is a law that requires companies to issue prompt refunds and accept cancellations when requested by purchasers when there is a shipping delay. TiVo is clearly in violation of this law:

The Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
Good find. I forwarded this to trogers@tivo.com.

[speedz]

Been waiting with the rest of you....
You all sound more impatient than my children...eek :)
The only reason any of us spent $800 is because we know its superior to the cable crap we have now.
Remember all the "missing features" we WANT means more people need to be buying...not less.
Stop griping cause I want Tivo to end up with the cash and the quantity demand to get my incoming S3 some new features soon!

[Gerhard]

For those of you who are pissed at this whole fiasco, I recommend you personally write Tom Rogers (TiVo CEO) at trogers@tivo.com.

My little message:

Tom,

As a Tivo owner and subscriber for 5 years, I have to say that I’m fairly distraught by my attempted purchase of a Tivo Series 3.

I ordered a Tivo 3 early in the week and paid for overnight shipping. Thus far it appears that no one in customer service with your company has a clue as to the order’s actual status. Furthermore, the fact that no communications indicating shipping status or a lack there of are being provided to that majority of loyal Tivo customers. It would be one thing if it were made clear that it could take a week for a new unit to ship during the purchasing process, but finding out after the fact is unacceptable.

The number of unhappy customers appears to be mounting, and after my experiences at Best Buy today I’m seriously looking at Tivo alternatives.

[Best Buy demanded my home address and all my contact information during checkout. I refused to give it. They refused to sell me a Series 3 Tivo. They say that TIVO requires it, but can give no information as to why. As a publicly traded company they are required to comply with federal law and present me with their privacy policy showing that my information is not being disclosed to any third party, or provide me the right to opt out.]

My attempt to purchase a unit through Tivo has yielded nothing. You primary public source in the northeast refuses to sell me a Tivo [Best Buy, Germantown, MD].

One has got to wonder how many new Tivo customers are being driven away by what appear to be, on the surface, inept customer service representatives. If they are not inept, then someone else at Tivo is hanging them out to dry along with your, up until now, loyal customers.

You only get one chance to make a first impression with any new product launch, and you guys are probably blowing it…

Sincerely,

Gerhard

[jfh3]

Ok,

So, I want to start my Tivo 3 rant by saying that I genuinely HATE Best Buy, and that Tivo is now fast climbing the S@#! list.

I'd talk to your lawyer friend anyway.

If you pay by credit card, the credit card company can ask you to verify your billing address, but that's about it.

BB has my address, since I'm enrolled in their rewards program.

[Gerhard]

I'd talk to your lawyer friend anyway.

If you pay by credit card, the credit card company can ask you to verify your billing address, but that's about it.

BB has my address, since I'm enrolled in their rewards program.

We've got a lawyer on retainer... and for this it will not cost me a dime.

My wife pointed out that there is a very strong possibility that since Best Buy is publically traded, they are REQUIRED to present their privacy policy on demand, and allow customers to "opt out."

The way I see it right now... there is Al Queda, and Best Buy. ...and they both must be destroyed. -smile-

[irkedpenguin]

Mine has shipped :) and according to UPS it was on 09/15/2006

[Gerhard]

I'd talk to your lawyer friend anyway.

If you pay by credit card, the credit card company can ask you to verify your billing address, but that's about it.

BB has my address, since I'm enrolled in their rewards program.

That means I show them my picture ID driver's license... which I did attempt to do BTW.

My issue what that they demanded I provide them full contact information (phone numbers, etc...) to be put into their system.

[Gerhard]

Mine has shipped :) and according to UPS it was on 09/15/2006

Yeah, when did you get this information?

[irkedpenguin]

Yeah, when did you get this information?

Tivo sent a shipping email.

And it will be here Monday

Check the forum for the thread

[SoBayJake]

I've received a shipping notice as well, status as follows:
DALLAS/FT. WORTH A/P, TX, US 09/16/2006 6:21 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
DALLAS/FT. WORTH A/P, TX, US 09/15/2006 10:08 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
FORT WORTH, TX, US 09/15/2006 9:45 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
FORT WORTH, TX, US 09/15/2006 8:04 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 09/15/2006 2:50 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED
Estimated delivery is Monday, 9/18/06

[drusoicy]

I also received shipping information this evening:

ROCKFORD,
IL, US 09/16/2006 6:01 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
DALLAS/FT. WORTH A/P,
TX, US 09/16/2006 1:08 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
DALLAS/FT. WORTH A/P,
TX, US 09/15/2006 9:27 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
FORT WORTH,
TX, US 09/15/2006 8:47 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
09/15/2006 8:12 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 09/14/2006 2:48 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Should be here Monday :)

[cap]

Still nothing here. :(

Tues 9am overnight.

[tunnelengineer]

me too, nothing yet and ordered tuesday morning at 10 AM EST with overnight delivery.

[hammersfd]

Ordered Wed. Shipped Friday, will be here Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!

** Important TiVo® Store Shipping Information**

Great news ! Your TiVo® Store order was shipped on 09/16/2006. Depending on your
choice of shipping methods, it may take four to six days for your order to
arrive.

Want to know where your order is?

Your order may have shipped via UPS or USPS.
Tracking #s: 1Z1X

If you have any questions about your shipment, please contact TiVO Customer
Support at (877)367-8486.

Order Information
:------------------------------------------------------------------

Order # ****** was shipped to
******
** **** **
LYNN , MA , 01905

Shipped Date: 09/16/2006
Ship Method: U5 / UPS-Ground


Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
DALLAS/FT. WORTH A/P,
TX, US 09/16/2006 4:31 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
DALLAS/FT. WORTH A/P,
TX, US 09/14/2006 9:20 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
FORT WORTH,
TX, US 09/14/2006 9:00 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
09/14/2006 7:44 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 09/14/2006 9:31 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

[geekmedic]

Someone I know is filing a lawsuit against TiVo for "deceptive marketing and business practices" as well as refusing to cancel orders. Her intention is to turn this into a class action lawsuit.

[tildenw]

Put my name in the hat.

Emotional Distress for having to wait on my Tivo.

:)

[russkle]

Anyone have a clue what Tivo uses for a reference number on their UPS orders? I was one who didn't receive the "sent" noticed, but was told by the CSR that it shipped. So I'm hoping that I'm one who didn't' get the notice but WILL get the shipment. Since I don't have the tracking number, I was hoping to track by reference. I tried the order number to no avail.

[dswallow]

Someone I know is filing a lawsuit against TiVo for "deceptive marketing and business practices" as well as refusing to cancel orders. Her intention is to turn this into a class action lawsuit.
I'm sure there's a 12-step program she can join to cure that.

[sommerfeld]

Someone I know is filing a lawsuit against TiVo for "deceptive marketing and business practices" as well as refusing to cancel orders. Her intention is to turn this into a class action lawsuit.
If they win, the lawyers will end up making enough to buy each of them a new yacht while class members will get a coupon good for three free months of tivo service.

[dswallow]

[...] while class members will get a coupon good for three free months of tivo service.
Three free months of TiVo service when you prepay for 24 months.

[geekmedic]

Complaints can be filed with the Federal Trade Commission by following this link: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

[TexasAg]

Um, my friend is the attorney. So, yes, she will gain a lot from this. Seize the opportunity, eh?

You're right - I was prevented from getting a Tivo when I originally thought, and then they had the GALL to REFUND the money I paid for shipping. I'm sure those 2 or 3 days that we'll have to wait before getting the boxes will be worth billions for some %#$@# attorney...

Seriously, I wouldn't count on "your friend" gaining "a lot" from this. This isn't some multi-billion dollar wrongful death lawsuit. It's a "I didn't get my piece of electronic gear when I wanted it" lawsuit.

FYI - I'm one of the people affected, and I still feel this way.

[fergiej]

A class action suit against a company whose errors appear to have been solved (more or less) within a week of release? And as far as not being able to cancel? Go to just about any online retailer. There will be a disclaimer that once the order reaches a certain stage (usually packed and ready to ship, ie in the warehouse) the order cannot be cancelled. Who owns this warehouse? Unlikely it's TiVo. most likely it is a fullfillment warehouse they contracted with and they are the ones who royally screwed up.

Man, I cannot wait until all of you actually get your boxes one way or the other so we can move on to more meaningful topics like "Why do my sound effects not work?" or "No Satellite!!???"...Oh, wait, never mind. I understand you are frustrated, but this one is over the top. A lawsuit. Cripes.

[ingenue007]

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Tivo Didnt Put My Apt Number On The Shipping.

[SoBayJake]

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Tivo Didnt Put My Apt Number On The Shipping.Join the club..did they at least get the city correct? They pulled the city from my "Manage My account" info, which is old!

[Canoehead]

Go to just about any online retailer. There will be a disclaimer that once the order reaches a certain stage (usually packed and ready to ship, ie in the warehouse) the order cannot be cancelled. Who owns this warehouse? Unlikely it's TiVo. most likely it is a fullfillment warehouse they contracted with and they are the ones who royally screwed up.
.

Funny - most other retailers allow you to cancel if you are on "back order" - which is the latest "info" from Tivo this morning - now, I don't know if it is actually true, but you have to admit, it certainly doesn't sound like shipping is imminent.

[Lisa898]

Someone I know is filing a lawsuit against TiVo for "deceptive marketing and business practices" as well as refusing to cancel orders. Her intention is to turn this into a class action lawsuit.


Seriously, this is a bad idea. It's less than a week after the order site went live. For all practical purposes there are no damages, especially if TIVO gets their act together (and they seem to be making some progress) and refunds people's shipping costs.

Supposedly the early adopters are big supporters of TIVO. Now granted everyone has a total right to be unhappy with how the rollout was handled, but there is a differnce between being unhappy and seeing if TIVO is going to step up to the plate and try to do something to make their customers happy and filing a class action lawsuit.

A lawsuit will accomplish the following:

1. Get them bad press and discourage potential customers (why would you want to do this, we should want TIVO to succeed)
2. depress the stock price potentially
3. make it difficult for TIVO to get or retain financing (most likely a lawsuit would put them in default under any current fiancing arrangements (I have no idea if they have any)
4. cost TIVO money to defend the suit (which is less cash to go to development and the battle with the cablecard people)
5. make the lawyers money and most likely result in those very few people who actually join the class getting something with a monetary value of less than $100.
6. result in any actual jury *laughing* at these overpriveledged morons who are suing because they didnt' get their overpriced electronic equipment in less than 7 days.

[RoanokeHokie]

Seriously, this is a bad idea. It's less than a week after the order site went live. For all practical purposes there are no damages, especially if TIVO gets their act together (and they seem to be making some progress) and refunds people's shipping costs.Actually, there are laws on the book which cover the options a company MUST provide when they cannot make shipment as promised; one of those LEGALLY MANDATED options is the ability to cancel the order. TiVo is unable or unwilling to cancel orders for those who request it, which is a violation of the law.

I'm a huge TiVo fan, but even TiVo should be held accountable if they break the law. It will be a significant cost to TiVo only if they choose to fight the suit; if they aren't reasonable enough to realize that their practices were woefully short of what was legally required, then why should I trust them to keep to their stated privacy policy? Privacy policies don't have the force of law to ensure TiVo's self-compliance.

[russkle]

Of course now that legal action is being brought to the table we have pretty much guaranteed that those like TivoPony won't be able to respond to our concerns. Thanks!

[Canoehead]

The thing is, most people here don't want a lawsuit - they just want an S3, or failing that, a straight answer. It's the failure to provide the latter that is really pissing people off. Online retailing has improved a lot in the last 6 or so years - and people have come to expect a certain level of service. Most of the people here are hard-core Tivo fans, and they are upset that the company they like has been lying to them for the last 5 days. I think people are more understanding of a systems crash (hey, stuff happens) than they are of a constantly shifting story and a trickle of information. Nothing spreads paranioa and fear like an information vacuum - something has to fill it, right?

Right now I am disgusted with the Tivo sales and delivery folks (and their contractors) - but I still think that the designers, coders et al produce a fine product that I want to continue to enjoy. I am also pissed that any action (ie FTC) in regards to this shoddy roll-out will ultimately hurt the larger company and possibly impair their ability to produce and refine the products we like.

I guess I've learned a lesson - let people do what they do best. I'll let Tivo develop the product and I'll buy hardware from real retailers. As long as Tivo takes back the unit (if it ever ships) at no cost to me, I'll be willing to call it a day. I'll still buy services from Tivo - but never again hardware.

[Lisa898]

Actually, there are laws on the book which cover the options a company MUST provide when they cannot make shipment as promised;

Yes, but (a) I don't recall seeing any promises about when it would be shipped on the website (eg with in a certain number of days) and (b) most of my points against the lawsuit weren't legal points they were of the "step back from the keyboard and take a deep breath" kind of points.

I'm just not sure I see the point of filing a class action suit that will essentially hurt TIVO even more than this fiasco has already hurt them considering that (a) we love TIVO so much we wanted one in the first three days and (b) as opposed to adressing problems, it seems to be about extracting a pound of flesh.

Clearly their order/shipment computer systems are FUBAR. They probably couldn't cancel the orders even if they wanted to because they can't even figure out what the orders are.

[laserguns]

The thing is, most people here don't want a lawsuit - they just want an S3, or failing that, a straight answer. It's the failure to provide the latter that is really pissing people off. Online retailing has improved a lot in the last 6 or so years - and people have come to expect a certain level of service. Most of the people here are hard-core Tivo fans, and they are upset that the company they like has been lying to them for the last 5 days. I think people are more understanding of a systems crash (hey, stuff happens) than they are of a constantly shifting story and a trickle of information. Nothing spreads paranioa and fear like an information vacuum - something has to fill it, right?

Right now I am disgusted with the Tivo sales and delivery folks (and their contractors) - but I still think that the designers, coders et al produce a fine product that I want to continue to enjoy. I am also pissed that any action (ie FTC) in regards to this shoddy roll-out will ultimately hurt the larger company and possibly impair their ability to produce and refine the products we like.

I guess I've learned a lesson - let people do what they do best. I'll let Tivo develop the product and I'll buy hardware from real retailers. As long as Tivo takes back the unit (if it ever ships) at no cost to me, I'll be willing to call it a day. I'll still buy services from Tivo - but never again hardware.

I agree with 100% of everything you just said.

[sommerfeld]

I don't recall seeing any promises about when it would be shipped on the website (eg with in a certain number of days)
When I ordered, it said "ship within 1-2 days".

[amjustice]

I agree with 100% of everything you just said.
Double Amen to that, I have a S3 from Best Buy sitting in my family room now waiting to be unboxed once I figure out what is going on with the one I orderd from Tivo.

[SoBayJake]

I don't recall seeing any promises about when it would be shipped on the website (eg with in a certain number of days)I'm not one for filing a lawsuit over this, but the site did (and still does) say "Ships in 48 hours." There are people that ordered BEFORE me, and appear to be on backorder. Mine was about 75 hours to ship.

[Lisa898]

I don't recall seeing any promises about when it would be shipped on the website (eg with in a certain number of days)

When I ordered, it said "ship within 1-2 days".

My bad. Regardless, I still think a lawsuit is going to hurt everyone in the long run.

I haven't looked up the citations you provided, but it's not like this is a pattern with Tivo or intentional (so far as it appears at this point). People aren't happy, I get that. People have a right to be angry and expect Tivo to do something about it. I truly hope Tivo does do something about it and takes practical steps to make sure this kind of thing doesnt' happen again. However, I think a lawsuit at this point is an over reaction.

[fergiej]

Double Amen to that, I have a S3 from Best Buy sitting in my family room now waiting to be unboxed once I figure out what is going on with the one I orderd from Tivo.
I'm sorry, but this sounds strange. You had to have one so bad that you went to BB and bought a SECOND one and yet you aren't going to open it until the tivo.com order shows up and you figure out what to do with that one? YOu have to admit, it sounds strange.

[sanfran_michael]

I'm trying hard not to cry.

I ordered mine Tuesday at 5pm. As of now, still no email saying it has shipped (I never got the email about the shipping delay either). And every time I call and ask someone, I get a completely different story from the rep. I'm thinking there is some contest in the call center to see who can come up with the most creative story around what went wrong.

No rep can tell me if it shipped for sure already, other than the "most orders were shipped Friday" line.

I'm going to be patient and wait another day to see if I get the confirmation. I'd go to BestBuy if the one where I lived actually had the S3 in stock. I understand that the distribution issue wasn't anticipated by TiVo and they are doing the best they can, but I must admit that the fact that it's been 6 days and no email isn't really acceptable.

Funny thing is that my S2 died three weeks ago, and I ordered a replacement right away. That hasn't been shipped, and I haven't received an email either. Of course, I don't want that one anymore since I'm thinking someday I might actually receive an S3.

I think TiVo is just trying to show me how pathetic my life is without them. That's what I guess TiVo calls "VIP treatment."

[RichB]

I ordered mine on Tuesday 9/12 with standard shipping.
Then I got another Order Confirmation on 9/17, so it looks like it took 5 days to charge me for it.

I have called twice. Customer support says they cannot track the shipment but the TiVo store can. I called the TiVo store and they said they cannot track the shipment would I like to talk to customer support.

Then I was told they are updating the computer so I should get a confirmation today.

I believe they call this the run-around.

TiVo should upgrade all standard shipping to 2-day, then I might not bitch as much ;)

- Rich

[RoanokeHokie]

Yes, but (a) I don't recall seeing any promises about when it would be shipped on the website (eg with in a certain number of days) and (b) most of my points against the lawsuit weren't legal points they were of the "step back from the keyboard and take a deep breath" kind of points.

I'm just not sure I see the point of filing a class action suit that will essentially hurt TIVO even more...At the bottom of the VIP page it states (and as of right now, still states) "ships in 48 hours." As soon as TiVo sent e-mails informing us of an availability delay (which was on Thursday), I believe they were required to accept cancellations, based on my understanding of the law. How many people have you seen posting that TiVo couldn't take the cancellation and are instead telling people to refuse delivery?

Personally I'd rather TiVo not be the subject of a lawsuit, but no company should treat their customers like mushrooms: they're keeping us in the dark and what little information they give us turns out to be crap. If it takes a lawsuit to get TiVo to tell the truth, then so be it.

[geekmedic]

At the bottom of the VIP page it states (and as of right now, still states) "ships in 48 hours." As soon as TiVo sent e-mails informing us of an availability delay (which was on Thursday), I believe they were required to accept cancellations, based on my understanding of the law. How many people have you seen posting that TiVo couldn't take the cancellation and are instead telling people to refuse delivery?

Personally I'd rather TiVo not be the subject of a lawsuit, but no company should treat their customers like mushrooms: they're keeping us in the dark and what little information they give us turns out to be crap. If it takes a lawsuit to get TiVo to tell the truth, then so be it.

See my posts about how to file a complaint with the FTC. As I understand it, refusing to cancel an order when there is a delay in shipment is a clear violation of federal law.

[Lisa898]

At the bottom of the VIP page it states (and as of right now, still states) "ships in 48 hours." As soon as TiVo sent e-mails informing us of an availability delay (which was on Thursday), I believe they were required to accept cancellations, based on my understanding of the law. How many people have you seen posting that TiVo couldn't take the cancellation and are instead telling people to refuse delivery?

Personally I'd rather TiVo not be the subject of a lawsuit, but no company should treat their customers like mushrooms: they're keeping us in the dark and what little information they give us turns out to be crap. If it takes a lawsuit to get TiVo to tell the truth, then so be it.


Yes, I already acknowledged I was totally wrong on that point re stating a time for delivery. I suspect that the system is so FUBAR they can't cancel the orders. Telling people is refuse delivery is probably their only alternative.

Look, everyone is bitching and moaning (justifiably) that their biggest issue is that TIVO is lying to them and putting out wrong information. So, now that they are (probably) telling the truth, that they can't cancel the orders, everyone wants to penalize them for that? It seems to me that telling people to refuse delivery is a reasonable alternative given the situation. (Assuming the situation is that the computers went down and they probably literally can't cancel the orders, which from anecdotal evidence appears to be true).

How would everone feel if Tivo said "sure, I'll cancel your order" and then come to find out a day or so later that it didn't work? I think Tivo would be in even deeper problems then, because they would have charged people for an order they said was cancelled.

[khill821]

At the bottom of the VIP page it states (and as of right now, still states) "ships in 48 hours." As soon as TiVo sent e-mails informing us of an availability delay (which was on Thursday), I believe they were required to accept cancellations, based on my understanding of the law. How many people have you seen posting that TiVo couldn't take the cancellation and are instead telling people to refuse delivery?

Personally I'd rather TiVo not be the subject of a lawsuit, but no company should treat their customers like mushrooms: they're keeping us in the dark and what little information they give us turns out to be crap. If it takes a lawsuit to get TiVo to tell the truth, then so be it.


While I too hate for the target so such things to be TiVo, this experience is unacceptable for e-commerce in 2006.

What if this ordering nightmare had occurred with Amazon, BB, CC or any major e-tailer? I don't think people would be so quick to defend...

For those of us caught without shipping confirmations, and getting the complete runaround from Customer Support, we have ~$900 held hostage becasue we are unable to cancel our orders.

[geekmedic]

Look, everyone is bitching and moaning (justifiably) that their biggest issue is that TIVO is lying to them and putting out wrong information. So, now that they are (probably) telling the truth, that they can't cancel the orders, everyone wants to penalize them for that? It seems to me that telling people to refuse delivery is a reasonable alternative given the situation. (Assuming the situation is that the computers went down and they probably literally can't cancel the orders, which from anecdotal evidence appears to be true).

The TiVo website reads:

TiVo Packages (combined sales of Box and Service)
TiVo offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for TiVo Packages as described herein. Only initial activations of TiVo Packages are eligible for this offer. Service renewals, TiVo Package payment plan changes, and hardware replacements and upgrades are not eligible for this offer. You may cancel your TiVo Package within 30 days of activation (which is typically your order shipment date) and return the DVR to TiVo for any reason for a full refund. If you cancel your TiVo Package within the first 30 days under this offer, you are exempt from your TiVo Package commitment. No early termination fee will be applied in that event. However, if you fail to return your DVR received as part of your TiVo Package within 15 days of your cancellation date, you will be charged the full retail value of the DVR, including applicable taxes. For details about how to return your DVR, please call 1-877-367-8486.

Returned DVRs must include all original components, literature, warranties and packaging in the same saleable condition in which it was received. Refunds for returns will cover product amount and any sales taxes charged. Refunds will not be made for any shipping and handling charges. Returns not meeting these requirements may be subject to a restocking fee equaling 15% of the retail value of the DVR (not including taxes). Damaged merchandise, cosmetically or otherwise, is subject to an increased restocking fee on a case-by-case basis. If an order has shipped, it is the purchaser's responsibility to accept the shipment and return the order per our Return Policy. Orders that are refused at the designated shipping address may incur a 15% restocking fee.

So, here is where it can go either way. If you refuse shipment, you very well may incur a 15% restocking fee (as I was told by a customer service representative). Now, does the purchase of a Series 3 unit constitute an upgrade? That's anyone's guess. The customer service representative I spoke with could not tell me if there would be a restocking fee or not if I returned the unit with an RMA. Go figure.

[khill821]

How would everone feel if Tivo said "sure, I'll cancel your order" and then come to find out a day or so later that it didn't work? I think Tivo would be in even deeper problems then, because they would have charged people for an order they said was cancelled.

These are all issues that should've been solved prior to launch. If every e-tailer ran their business like this, Amazon would not have the status it does, and NO-ONE would shop online due to the hassle. Unfortunately there is no end in sight to this fiasco for some of us.

[Lisa898]

So, here is where it can go either way. If you refuse shipment, you very well may incur a 15% restocking fee (as I was told by a customer service representative). Now, does the purchase of a Series 3 unit constitute an upgrade? That's anyone's guess. The customer service representative I spoke with could not tell me if there would be a restocking fee or not if I returned the unit with an RMA. Go figure.

If they charged the 15% restocking fee after telling people to refuse the order, then yes, they should be liable to refund that 15% restocking fee. However, after spending a significant portion of yesterday and today reading the posts here, I have only seen 1 post that I recall where the CSR told the customer that they would be charged the restocking fee.

It is Monday. The posts and weird double confirmation emails didn't start getting really furious in here until Friday ish for the most part. Tivo is probably still trying to assess the damage.

I hope they will do the right thing and not charge those restocking fees and waive shipment charges for everyone.

These are all issues that should've been solved prior to launch. If every e-tailer ran their business like this, Amazon would not have the status it does, and NO-ONE would shop online due to the hassle. Unfortunately there is no end in sight to this fiasco for some of us.

I agree that e-retailers can't run their business like this. Which is why I won't order direct from Tivo again. I still dont' think a lawsuit is the right remedy however.

[etsolow]

I hope they will do the right thing and not charge those restocking fees and waive shipment charges for everyone.
In my opinion, that would be insufficient to repair the damage this debacle has caused.

[khill821]

It is Monday. The posts and weird double confirmation emails didn't start getting really furious in here until Friday ish for the most part. Tivo is probably still trying to assess the damage.

I hope they will do the right thing and not charge those restocking fees and waive shipment charges for everyone.

I too hope it will all work out in the end, but as you stated, whatever happened last week is not fixed.

[khill821]

I agree that e-retailers can't run their business like this. Which is why I won't order direct from Tivo again. I still dont' think a lawsuit is the right remedy however.

What is the correct remedy? When they informed us of the delay and refused to cancel orders, they violated federal law.

If you get caught speeding, does the ticket get dismissed because you apologize?

[RoanokeHokie]

Look, everyone is bitching and moaning (justifiably) that their biggest issue is that TIVO is lying to them and putting out wrong information. So, now that they are (probably) telling the truth, that they can't cancel the orders, everyone wants to penalize them for that? It seems to me that telling people to refuse delivery is a reasonable alternative given the situation. (Assuming the situation is that the computers went down and they probably literally can't cancel the orders, which from anecdotal evidence appears to be true).There are many things that we can hold TiVo responsible for, and then tere are things that we can't. Right now, I think people who want to cancel should hold TiVo accountable for their inability to do so. I expect that that there will be people who refuse delivery as instructed by a CSR that TiVo will try to stick with the 15% restocking fee from their terms & conditions. Given everything that's happened to this point, why should anyone trust answers that come from a CSR?

[Lisa898]

In my opinion, that would be insufficient to repair the damage this debacle has caused.


I'm not saying that's all they should do. I have no idea what they should do other than do something to make it right. The only other thing I can think of is free rollover of lifetime account (waiving the $200) for those who ordered Tuesday and dont' have machines yet? A month or two of free service wont' do anyone any good if they are rolling over a lifetime account (which I'm assuming is why most of us went with the VIP offer and ordered from Tivo).

Do you have other suggestions?

What is the correct remedy? When they informed us of the delay and refused to cancel orders, they violated federal law.

Maybe the did and maybe they didn't, I haven't read the law, so I don't know, but let's see what remedy they offer before people jump into filing class action lawsuits.

If you get caught speeding, does the ticket get dismissed because you apologize?

I understand your point, but bad example, because yes, I've had cops let me off with a warning when I apologize.

[tunnelengineer]

amen

[tivoknucklehead]

now Monday afternoon 3:30 pm, no tracking number, it did not show up today, this morning got erroneous 2nd email that switched billing and shipping addresses. I ordered Tuesday at 11:30 a.m with next day air. Of course I tired to cancel Saturday but Tivo wouldn't let me.


On Saturday I found one at Best Buy, and now my cable company (Bright House- Orlando ) cancelled by appt I had for today and is refusing to give me cablecards


absolute, total fiasco



edit: 3 hours after cancelling my cablecard appt they just called to confirm it. Either my bitching worked or I will have a Charlie Brown moment when Lucy pulls the football back. :)

[etsolow]

Charter just showed up to install my CableCARDs... and I don't even have a shipping notice yet! Funny... or not.

[RCflier]

Phew, I'm glad tivo didn't forget about me. I had not received any email since the "will ship by friday" email.. I feel better now that I finally got my 2nd, and incorrect order confirmation like everybody else.. </sarcasm>

[amjustice]

Phew, I'm glad tivo didn't forget about me. I had not received any email since the "will ship by friday" email.. I feel better now that I finally got my 2nd, and incorrect order confirmation like everybody else.. </sarcasm>

Right there with you, I called the order dept and they said those emails were bogus and your origional shipping info should still go through on the order. We will see what actually happens though.

[stekson]

well i've had my tracking number and after thinking that i'd be getting it today all day, just came up rescheduled for tomorrow... boo.

[bilbo]

At the bottom of the VIP page it states (and as of right now, still states) "ships in 48 hours." As soon as TiVo sent e-mails informing us of an availability delay (which was on Thursday), I believe they were required to accept cancellations, based on my understanding of the law. How many people have you seen posting that TiVo couldn't take the cancellation and are instead telling people to refuse delivery?

Personally I'd rather TiVo not be the subject of a lawsuit, but no company should treat their customers like mushrooms: they're keeping us in the dark and what little information they give us turns out to be crap. If it takes a lawsuit to get TiVo to tell the truth, then so be it.

from the tivo.com/vip webpage

"Once your new box arrives within 7-10 days*,"

"*Ships in 48 hours."

Since the S3 was released on Tuesday, September 12th, that would mean (if you ordered on Tuesday, September 12th) delivery "within":

Tuesday, September 19th to Friday, September 22nd (if you assume that it means "within" 7-10 calendar days).

-or-

Thursday, September 21st to Tuesday, September 26th (if you assume that it means "within" 7-10 business days).

Wow, it is only four business days since the S3 was released, and people were already complaining one, two, and three business days after it was released.

[Troy J B]

Highly unlikely my S3 ordered Tue 9/12@12:52 EDT will be delivered today at the ship-to address.
UPS came by this morning to drop off a new optical cable and I asked if there any chance for another UPS delivery today, he said no. Now I have to wait out the day to see if it's delivered to my manage account address (my parents' house), of course that means waiting till 7pm.

Troy
p.s. got the order confirmation (1 only) and the shipping delayed message. No shipping confirmation, and the hold's on my credit card dropped off on Sunday.

Edit: spoke too soon. Just got the 2nd order confirmation. Sales tax changed from 7.75% to 8.25%, order summary is split out (dvr & transfer instructions). And the billing/shipping address changed to the manage account values (with an extra Sacramento thrown in). And new order date of "09/14/2006 / 15:26:10"

[SystemJinx]

Tivo is now telling people the S3 is backordered. Yet many people who ordered online, found they could purchase the unit from a local retailer and have a new machine much faster. It's a known fact that Tivo will not allow people to cancel their even before their orders are shipped. Instead Tivo tells people to "refuse" the delivery. Meanwhile many customers on the backordered list still have no Tivos. If the refused orders could have been canceled, that would have meant more deliveries for people on the backordered list.

[RoanokeHokie]

Wow, it is only four business days since the S3 was released, and people were already complaining one, two, and three business days after it was released.
Ships in 48 hours, or 2 days. Includes "free ground shipping", which takes 4 to 6 BUSINESS days. In the end, that's 8-10 calendar days, which is what the big text promised.

But many of us opted for 1 Day or 2 Day shipping. And that footnote said "Ships in 48 hours." Since I chose 1 Day, I feel it was reasonable to expect that the TiVo would have been delivered Friday. I'm hoping that my shipping notice just got lost, and that it really will be delivered today. I'm expecting, though, that TiVoPony is part of the confusion at Tivo and that not all units ordered last Tueday were shipped by Friday. Because, in the end, it's the absence of correct information that is the most aggravating for me.

[ljg]

Order arrived at my office, the shipping address provided to Tivo.com was my home. The office street address was correct but city address and zip code was for my home.................

I don't know how it made it here, sending it back however, I placed an order at Best buy

[etsolow]

Order arrived at my office, the shipping address provided to Tivo.com was my home. The office street address was correct but city address and zip code was for my home.................

I don't know how it made it here, sending it back however, I placed an order at Best buyThat is so beyond ridiculous. How many different ways could they screw up a single order? I think they are approaching the maximum theoretically possible!

[ljg]

Packing slip states:

Return policy and Procedures

If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your merchandise, you may return for a refund within 30 days of receipt of your order just call Tivo Customer support at 1-877-367-8468

[cap]

Well I just got my "second" order confirmation receipt that says I ordered on the 14th when I really ordered on the 12th.

I can't wait to see when it actually ships.

[joey398]

Well I just got my "second" order confirmation receipt that says I ordered on the 14th when I really ordered on the 12th.

I can't wait to see when it actually ships.


Same here. Got the email 10 minutes ago. Guess what? WhenIf it shows up at the door, "DENIED at the door". Have a nice day. :)

[stoli412]

Well I just got my "second" order confirmation receipt that says I ordered on the 14th when I really ordered on the 12th.

I can't wait to see when it actually ships.The same thing happened to me. When I called CS they were able to tell me that my credit card was charged (not just a hold placed) for the shipping charges on 9/15, so in all likelihood it shipped on 9/15 as well. We shall see when I get home from work tonight. ;)

[Aiken]

Tivo is now telling people the S3 is backordered.
I talked to a support supervisor today. When pressed for a complete account of what TiVo Corporate is telling them, it turns out that they have been told exactly as much as Pony has told us. Everything else they tell us is unofficial speculation and makey-up on their part.

What they actually know officially, from TiVo Corportate, is that supposedly everything shipped on Friday (false, since we know from the few tracking numbers that some shipped Saturday) and that they should be here Monday or Tuesday. THAT'S ALL THEY HAVE BEEN TOLD.

If they can't give you a tracking number, then you already know as much as can be known by anyone outside of corporate. And corporate won't talk to customers.

The supervisor agreed with me that this is a really awful way to launch a flagship product.

[Sepia]

This is such a fiasco it is funny. Ordered on Tuesday (12th) in the morning, and I just got 10 minutes ago, a second order confirmation claiming I ordered on the 14th.

I called TiVo and they claim they shipped my TiVo TODAY not Friday?! Was TiVoPony mistaken when he said that all Tuesday orders where shipped by Friday??

This is ridiculous. How many times am I going to reschedule my cable company's visit? :mad:

I am a very patient person, but after 1 day shy of a week, not to know the status of one's order is beyond comprehension for a high-tech company in this day and age. :down:

- Sepia

[RoanokeHokie]

I, too, recently received a second order confirmation. My contact history is now as follows:

Original order confirmation: 9/12 10:17am PST (order date 9/12 1:16:00 PM)
"Important Information": 9/14 6:21pm PST
"New" order confirmation: 9/18 12:56pm PST (order date changed to 9/14 15:31:15)

Both the original confirmation and the new confirmation have the same order number, 3761XX.

Why does it feel like I'm just getting the run-around? Am I not VIP enough for my unit?

[beerkensp]

Maybe their system was upgraded to the latest software version and they are experiencing the same slowdown as my tivo2.

[timckelley]

I will be interested to hear if any of you will be charged the restocking fee for refusing delivery. :)

[geekmedic]

I will be interested to hear if any of you will be charged the restocking fee for refusing delivery. :)
So will the Federal Trade Commission after numerous purchasers have been told they cannot cancel their order and that they will not be charged a restocking fee for refusing delivery.

[angel35]

I, too, recently received a second order confirmation. My contact history is now as follows:

Original order confirmation: 9/12 10:17am PST (order date 9/12 1:16:00 PM)
"Important Information": 9/14 6:21pm PST
"New" order confirmation: 9/18 12:56pm PST (order date changed to 9/14 15:31:15)

Both the original confirmation and the new confirmation have the same order number, 3761XX.

Why does it feel like I'm just getting the run-around? Am I not VIP enough for my unit?
WE ordered at the same time Ialso got a second order confrimation it says Iordered on 9.14.06 when I ordered on 9.12.06. My order # is almost the same as yours 3761xx :up: :(

[stoli412]

GRRRR! I just got my shipping confirmation. It just shipped TODAY. What the f*** happened to FRIDAY?! I ordered Tuesday, 10:15 AM EDT.

[timckelley]

GRRRR! I just got my shipping confirmation. It just shipped TODAY. What the f*** happened to FRIDAY?! I ordered Tuesday, 10:15 AM EDT.

I assume your question will be answered shortly by TiVoPony.

[etsolow]

I assume your question will be answered shortly by TiVoPony.Based on what? He hasn't posted for days, has he?

[timckelley]

Based on what? He hasn't posted for days, has he?

Based on the volume of bad service and disgruntlement I see here, and his job as explainer of things gone wrong. :)

[frankygamer]

I find it odd their ordering system is so screwed up you can't cancel but it still smart enough not to charge your CC after 6 days!

[etsolow]

Based on the volume of bad service and disgruntlement I see here, and his job as explainer of things gone wrong. :)Based on that? Then he should have been posting till his fingers were raw for the last 3 days!

[Bighouse]

I got my second order confirmation today as well...

Date of Purchase: 9/12/2006 6:02:00 PM

Nothing has shown up on my Credit Card, except for an odd $31.00 charge from TIVO that doesn't match any of the line items on my invoice.

The second confirmation, received today, has an "Order Date":
Order Date: 09/14/2006 / 16:18:03

BUT, my first confirmation has my PURCHASE Date and not my ORDER Date...

I really wish TIVO would step up and fix this confusion for us all. It's particularly frustrating when those who ordered after Tuesday are apparently getting a shipping receipt/tracking number AND their S3's as well.

I tried calling TIVO's number they included on my sales confirmation, the number that's listed in "If you have any questions about your order, please contact TiVo Sales Support at (800)292-9104" BUT, the guy there said "Oh, I can't help with that I can only take calls for new sales". After calling the other number he gave me and waiting for 30 minutes online, I hung up.

I somehow don't feel like a Very Important Person to TIVO Corp now. I get the feeling that they're laughing at me and making me feel left out, inept and stupid. They really should change the www.tivo.com/vip website page to something more like www.tivo.com/dumbfools.

[Troy J B]

Hmm, just checking my credit card balance (again) and there is now a charge for $45.72 listed as TIV*TIVO SERVICE... was that suppose to be a credit for the overnight shipping charge ($42.43).
Ah the difference in those 2 numbers is the extra "tax" between the 1st and 2nd order confirmation emails. Or was that the extra tax plus shipping, which means they owe me 2x shipping now?

And still about 4 hours to see if the Series3 is going to be delivered to my parents....

[RCflier]

I just checked my CC activity, all that is on there is my shipping price of 20.24, billed saturday... maybe Tivo sent me an S3 for just the cost of shipping ;) That would make up for all this.

[beerkensp]

Same here. My only tivo charge on my creditcard is for $39.78 which is the shipping cost. So in stead of refunding me the shipment they charged it.

[FireflyFan88]

Well, I just checked my Amex. There's a charge of 47.02 made on the 16th. My shipping was 43.54. So I'm wondering what the 3.48 is. .... oh wait, it must be the "I'm an idiot charge" for believing I might actually recieve my S3 today!...

[Bighouse]

I can't help but wonder for those of us who ordered on Tuesday and now it seems the only charge on our credit cards is for something close the the shipping fee, if we're going to get what we paid for....

[frankygamer]

I get the feeling that they're laughing at me and making me feel left out, inept and stupid. They really should change the www.tivo.com/vip website page to something more like www.tivo.com/dumbfools.
I can't get the second link to work. Anybody else having trouble :o :rolleyes:

[Canoehead]

WE ordered at the same time Ialso got a second order confrimation it says Iordered on 9.14.06 when I ordered on 9.12.06. My order # is almost the same as yours 3761xx :up: :(

Mine is 3769** but I appear to be on the same schedule.

[Spastic]

I've had a Tivo since 2002, and I've always been a big cheerleader for them. Right now, I'm fuming though.

I ordered on Tuesday at noon, and today I got the second order confirmation, but this time it had my old address on it. I still haven't recieved a tracking number. The main problem is, my old address is in Washington state, and I live in Texas now. That's pretty far off. Although I imagine it's far too late now, I tried to update my address on the Tivo website. After I'm done though, it puts changes my city from Austin to San Antonio. Wow, great work guys!

I would love to just go buy one at Best Buy or Fry's, but at this point I'm guessing they're all sold out. At this point, I'm so fed up I'd like to just cancel the whole thing, and wait a few months before I get a S3, so everything has settled down. Oh, and of course I've got a CableCard install scheduled for Wednesday that I'll have to cancel.

[SmirkingRevenge]

I can't believe I just registered for this site due to how absolutely terrible Tivo's customer support has been this morning, but here I am. I have spent about 90 minutes trying to cancel my series 3 order, to no avail. Unfortunately, my credit card company cannot reverse or block tivo from billing my card as it has been authorized but not yet billed. When it is billed, I will be reversing the charge as well and putting a note on my door refusing shipment. Yesterday I had planned to purchase 2-3 of these boxes depending on my experience with the first. Now I doubt I will ever do business with this company again. If anyone knows what legal recource is available due to their policy of disallowing order cancellation, I'd be interested in pursuit, even if it's only to the length of being able to file a complaint. This is completely asinine.

[joegarrett]

Interesting profile name. :cool:

[DocSavag]

Interesting profile name. :cool:

Even more interesting is why someone would register at a web site to tell us that they were no longer going to be doing business with the company that is the sole purpose of the web site.

Its like a cry for attention or something....

[dswallow]

If anyone knows what legal recource is available due to their policy of disallowing order cancellation, I'd be interested in pursuit, even if it's only to the length of being able to file a complaint. This is completely asinine.
There's only recourse available if they fail to deliver when they promised, or within 30 days if they don't make a specific promise. They're supposed to permit you to cancel if that happens.

If you didn't want it, you really shouldn't order it.

There's no law saying they have to allow you to cancel whenever you want, and for that matter nothing that says they even have to allow you to cancel at all or even accept returns.

[SmirkingRevenge]

Why is that interesting? I own two series 2 Tivo's with lifetime. This thread exists due to Tivo's woeful customer support and purchasing practices (and illegalities). To have gone from an enthusiastic purchaser of one to many series 3s yesterday to someone who is now seriously considering never purchasing another product with the Tivo logo on it today means that I've had one hell of a lousy customer experience and damn right I want to post about it. I didn't realize that this forum was only for lickspittles and that valid complaints (of which there are numerous in this thread alone) were disallowed.

[timckelley]

My wife was asking me how y'all can refuse shipment when UPS usually just leaves it on your doorstep without ringing the doorbell (i.e. you won't know when they're there).

I see somebody above suggested putting a note on the door instructing them you're refusing shipment. Would that work? Or might they ignore that note and just leave the box? If so, does that mean now you have to ship it back to TiVo at your expense?

[DocSavag]

Why is that interesting? I own two series 2 Tivo's with lifetime. This thread exists due to Tivo's woeful customer support and purchasing practices (and illegalities). To have gone from an enthusiastic purchaser of one to many series 3s yesterday to someone who is now seriously considering never purchasing another product with the Tivo logo on it today means that I've had one hell of a lousy customer experience and damn right I want to post about it. I didn't realize that this forum was only for lickspittles and that valid complaints (of which there are numerous in this thread alone) were disallowed.


Who said it was disallowed? We just said it was intersting.

[derekcbart]

My wife was asking me how y'all can refuse shipment when UPS usually just leaves it on your doorstep without ringing the doorbell (i.e. you won't know when they're there).

I see somebody above suggested putting a note on the door instructing them you're refusing shipment. Would that work? Or might they ignore that note and just leave the box? If so, does that mean now you have to ship it back to TiVo at your expense?
You should be able to drop it off at a UPS store and they should take it back without charging you.

[dswallow]

My wife was asking me how y'all can refuse shipment when UPS usually just leaves it on your doorstep without ringing the doorbell (i.e. you won't know when they're there).

I see somebody above suggested putting a note on the door instructing them you're refusing shipment. Would that work? Or might they ignore that note and just leave the box? If so, does that mean now you have to ship it back to TiVo at your expense?
If a delivery service leaves a package because no one is there to accept it, you can call them up and tell them you want the package picked up because you're refusing delivery.

[timckelley]

Oh, I guess that clears that up. :)

[Bodshal]

My wife was asking me how y'all can refuse shipment when UPS usually just leaves it on your doorstep without ringing the doorbell (i.e. you won't know when they're there).

I see somebody above suggested putting a note on the door instructing them you're refusing shipment. Would that work? Or might they ignore that note and just leave the box? If so, does that mean now you have to ship it back to TiVo at your expense?

And, so said my regular UPS guy, you can give the box - unopened - to any UPS delivery guy and say you're refusing it.

The box being unopened is important, obviously.

Chris.

[timckelley]

Okay, so I guess there's no cost in refusing it. They must build in the cost of the occasional refusal into the original shipping price then.

[Necro]

I ordered mine last Friday. It came in last night.

Problem now is that they charged me three times for the lifetime transfer (I have over $600 pending on my credit card!!!!).

[MichaelK]

pending or charged?

lots of merchents wind up with a bunch of pendings for whatever reason but you only get one charge.

Exxon and staples seem to do it to me all the time...

[vstone]

Most people and companies have bad days. Tivo has had a few extra bad days lately, apparently due to a bonehead decision to change company software during their biggest product release since the original S1.

I take it SmirkingRevenge never had a bad day before, excepting, of course, the day he decided to use SmirkingRevenge as his alias.

Have a gods day.

[montivette]

My wife was asking me how y'all can refuse shipment when UPS usually just leaves it on your doorstep without ringing the doorbell (i.e. you won't know when they're there).

I see somebody above suggested putting a note on the door instructing them you're refusing shipment. Would that work? Or might they ignore that note and just leave the box? If so, does that mean now you have to ship it back to TiVo at your expense?


The note on the door worked for me. TiVo has had it in their possesion now for almost a week according to UPS tracking. I am still waiting to see a credit on my account or to receive a phone call asking why it had been refused.

More than likely they will claim they never received it back or have no idea where it is. They will say something like "due to overwhelming unexpected amounts of refused packages in the midst of the product launch we have been unable to determine what happened to your refused TiVo."

[SmirkingRevenge]

I managed to cancel my order a few hours ago via a very nice guy from the executive relations team named Adam. This was in response to a detailed complaint I sent to the CEO of TIVO this morning after posting here. He apologized for the inability of the various departments to address the issue of cancelling an order and indicated they were working to fix and educate their people so as to avoid this in the future (it sounded as though it was happening a lot, which I can certainly believe from my experience and from other posts on this thread). I'm not back on the "ra-ra TIVO" bandwagon, but I was pleased to finally speak to someone who was both polite and able to actually address my concern and he sounded genuine in trying to avoid this issue in the future. To the others who are having the same problem, try going above the heads of the CSRs when they can't help you, because the people who actually run the company DO definitely seem to care about your business.


Oh and VStone and others, I have used this handle for roughly 6 years now (since fight club came out) in various online games and message boards. It has nothing whatsoever to do with this morning's lousyness.