Still not gotten my S3 refund [Text View]

Aiken

10-18-2006, 07:58 PM

A warning to any of the other Lucky 200 who weren't allowed to cancel and had to refuse shipping:

I checked today, and three weeks after UPS dropped off my refused S3 at TiVo, I still hadn't gotten a refund. I called TiVo customer support and asked about it. The CSR checked it out and said they had no record of it being returned. I disagreed, since the UPS tracking number they gave me clearly showed that the item had been refused by me and that someone at TiVo had signed for it when it was returned to them. She said she had to escalate it and someone would call me within a couple of business days to take care of it.

Given my poor recent experiences with TiVo, I'm not expecting them to fix this problem in the next two business days, and if not, I'll just dispute the charge and let them deal with that hassle. I have little faith that they'll take care of it otherwise.

So, if you refused shipping, make sure you got your refund, and if you didn't get it, take action now. If you don't take action, you may not get your money.

(Nice work, TiVo. Yet another great experience with your detail-oriented staff. Maybe if you send me another piece of TiVo-branded merchandise that I have no use for, it'll repair our relationship. Oh, wait... no, it won't.)

MichaelK

10-18-2006, 08:02 PM

Aiken

10-18-2006, 08:04 PM

i refused and got my refund already- it took a decent amount of time to post after they received it. I think I got at the beginning of last week.

Mine was shipped overnight so they got it the day after I refused it.

Was your's ground- so it took a few days to get to you and a few days back? DOesn't make it right but might explain it.
They got it two days after I refused it, on September 27th. They have it, and have had it for three weeks. But, the girl claims they don't have it. It's not a matter of time; they weren't going to be sending me a refund because they don't even think I returned it.

MichaelK

10-18-2006, 08:40 PM

soo special...

mindstorm

10-18-2006, 09:42 PM

They just left my unit at the door so I couldn't refuse it. I had to do an RMA so I had to pay shipping, but they received it on a Wednesday and I had my refund on Thursday. Sounds like they might be "playing games" with refused shipments.

nyjklein

10-18-2006, 09:54 PM

They left mine also so I couldn't refuse shipment but I got TiVo to send an RMA shipping label so i didn't have to pay for return shipping. Mine arrived back at the TiVo warehouse in Kentucky on Sep 27 also and I'm still waiting for a refund. I called yesterday and was told that somehow they didn't assoicate my returned unit with my account. So despite the fact that I had called twice, once on Oct 2 and again on Oct 12, it wasn't until my third call yesterday that I got someone to actually verify they had the box and associated it with my account. She now says I should see my refund within 10 days (the same message I got on Oct 2).

We'll see. Insult to injury.

If I wasn't so happy with the retail S3 I bought on the friday of the first week of availability, I would probably be more upset over this.

Aiken

10-18-2006, 10:28 PM

She now says I should see my refund within 10 days (the same message I got on Oct 2).
Yeah, I'm not playing that game twice. If it's not fixed in 48 hours, I'm just disputing the charge. I might even file a complaint with the FTC. TiVo has been playing fast and loose with the rules of mail-order business and might need a wake-up call to get its act together. Clearly, the complaints of customers result only in ineffectual apologies and no action.

(Me, I would have thought it was bad enough that they had gotten me to the point where I've completely stopped the rabid hyping of TiVo that I used to do with my friends.)

musicforme

10-18-2006, 11:29 PM

Add me to the list of people that haven't got there refund yet, and this is after two seperate calls to request it. During both calls they confirmed they received it in Fort Worth.

I didn't get a warm and fuzzy feeling after my second call, so I called my credit card company and started the dispute process. I got a conditional credit on my account within 48 hours and I'm no longer paying interest on the transaction.

At this point, I'm going to let my credit card company duke it out with Tivo. I'm tired of trying to convince them to give me my money back.

montivette

10-19-2006, 02:31 AM

I am not surprised I am going through the same thing. This is has to be the worst company I have ever dealt with in regards to a online purchase. They can absolutely get nothing right. They can't ship in a timely manner, they can't cancel an order which has not shipped, and they do not follow through on shipment promises. By promises I mean the e-mail stating roughly "sorry for the delay but due to unexpected demand we were unable to get a single TiVo shipped to a consumer who ordered it on Tuesday September 12. We will have your unit shipped out on September 15th and you will receive a tracking number at that time.” Gosh, I received no e-mail, no tracking number and the unit did not ship till the 18th. Then they said "some orders did not get out on Friday as anticipated, we will contact those people via phone." I received no phone call and no apology.

They can’t cancel orders due to their inefficient system. And so instead I have to wait over 4 weeks since they received my unit back before I get a credit. I still have not received the credit, so who knows how long before they give it. Sure, they claim they have given me a credit every day I call there. And every day I call they say it is amazing I called the same day the credit was given. Their supervisor now claims my bank must not be "accepting" the credit yet and hence the delay. My bank says as soon as they see the credit from TiVo, they will process it. And as I stated in another post I made, in my billing history for the returned unit, the date the unit was returned changes every day to the current date. I am skeptical when they say they refunded the unit, because on two different occasions they stated they had refunded the unit on the day I called. I told them the date in my billing history online keeps changing and that is why every time I call they think I received a credit on the day I called. I think their system is royally screwed up. If they returned it and issued a credit, I can see no logical reason for the date in the TiVo billing history online to change every day to the current date

I like the product, but people should buy these units from a reputable retailer and avoid these TiVo.com clowns like the plague. I suggest anyone who has not bought a unit to avoid ordering from TiVo.com. TiVo needs to get out of sales and distribution to consumers as it is making them look bad.

Seriously, this is my first TiVo unit, and although I like the product the experience in dealing with TiVo has led me to regret purchasing one of their products and paying them money for a subscription..

Aiken

10-19-2006, 07:24 AM

I think it's ridiculous that they sent most of the Lucky 200 a long, supposedly-contrite form letter, and then didn't bother to make sure any outstanding issues were promptly taken care of without further intervention from us. It's yet another alienating PR blunder.

I mean, really, I suspect I never would have gotten a refund if I hadn't followed up, since the box apparently fell through the cracks. That's pretty bad, not to mention illegal. I shouldn't have to keep constantly monitoring TiVo to make sure they're doing the right thing. It should have been taken care of, and making sure of that should have been a priority for them after the initial fiasco.

I sent Tom Rogers another email. Mind you, I never got a response to the last one I sent, after he requested that we continue to contact him directly if we had any more issues. We'll see if he ignores this one, too.

hookbill

10-19-2006, 07:28 AM

Aiken

10-19-2006, 07:35 AM

Just curious. Can you guys explain how you got so "lucky" to be included in this 200? I almost bought from TiVo direct but I remember seeing people complaining about delays in shipping so I bought from Circuit City. What did they offer you?
It's facetious. We're not lucky at all. Our Day 1 orders got screwed up and delayed and people at TiVo lied to us repeatedly about status, refused to let us cancel orders (thus the refused shipping), and now there's this.

tivoknucklehead

10-19-2006, 09:28 AM

I was part of the initial no ship fiasco so I found a S3 locally and I cancelled my 3 year service 9-19, returned the S3 that eventually shipped on 9-22. Got my $799 box refund 10-4 but still don't have my $299 service refund. I have called 4 times about this, including over 90 minutes of cumulative hold time and talked to one supervisor on 10-13 who promised me he would escalate it. This is simply unacceptable. i will wait a few more days and make my 5th call

love the product, detest the company

tunnelengineer

10-19-2006, 10:34 AM

tivoknucklehead

10-19-2006, 11:07 AM

I am not defending their process much as I think it is very sloppy, but you gotta admit you knew you were taking a risk the day you decided to refuse the shipment from tivo. It was well known the CSR's were lying or clueless about everything for the first full week of shipping.

You gambled, and now you couldn't possibly convince anyone that you expected a full refund without any repeated phone calls or problems in the process.......

except I received shipment and went through normal RGA process and got refund for the box only and its been a month now since I cancelled the 3 year service agreement and still have no refund even after 4 phone calls including a main supervisor

Stanley Rohner

10-19-2006, 01:55 PM

MichaelK

10-19-2006, 04:07 PM

I am not defending their process much as I think it is very sloppy, but you gotta admit you knew you were taking a risk the day you decided to refuse the shipment from tivo. It was well known the CSR's were lying or clueless about everything for the first full week of shipping.

You gambled, and now you couldn't possibly convince anyone that you expected a full refund without any repeated phone calls or problems in the process.......

risky in that they seemed to be completely at a loss to know what was going on.

But TiVoPony himself posted we should just refuse shipment. People listened to him.

MichaelK

10-19-2006, 04:18 PM

It would have been a lot easier to just wait the 1 or 2 extra days it took to get the TiVo you ordered instead of running around in a panic to buy one locally and refuse shipping on the one TiVo agreed to ship to you.

if at the time anyone could have said it would just be another day or two then sure. Even if they could have said with certainty it would be another 3 or 4 or 5 days then likely.

But at the time- people were repeatedly lied to (I dont think on purpose in any way- but they were lies non the less) and told on more than one occasion "it will be just another day or 2".

THursday we were snt an email to say they didn't all go out but would CERTAINLY all go out firday.
When the weekend rolled around and i had no tracking info I called and was told they might not have all gone out on Firday but they CERTAINLY all went out on saturday.
On monday Monday evening when no box arrived I called in and was todl with CERTAINTY that since my card had been charged for shipping on saturday that it MUST have gone out then but maybe 2-day shipping and it CERTAINY would arrive tuesday.
When it didn't arrive tuesday I went to best buy and got one there.

I think my box from tivo finally arrived on wednesday or thursday- but how would I ever have known when it really was coming? No one at Tivo told us the real story at any point.

Mixed in between the 3 times I was lied to - twice I was told they were backordered and they had no idea when they might get them.

Under such conditions it wasn't so insane to find a best buy that had them and get one when one could. Maybe you dont remember the inital HR10-250 roll-out but there were crazy shortages and the like and if you didn't act at the right moment you could have been without a box for another 2-3 weeks. With the s3 coming out at the beginning of the TV season and right before the baseball playoffs some didn't want to take a chance at another 2-3 or 4 weeks.

Stanley Rohner

10-19-2006, 05:53 PM

if at the time anyone could have said it would just be another day or two then sure. Even if they could have said with certainty it would be another 3 or 4 or 5 days then likely.

But at the time- people were repeatedly lied to (I dont think on purpose in any way- but they were lies non the less) and told on more than one occasion "it will be just another day or 2".

THursday we were snt an email to say they didn't all go out but would CERTAINLY all go out firday.
When the weekend rolled around and i had no tracking info I called and was told they might not have all gone out on Firday but they CERTAINLY all went out on saturday.
On monday Monday evening when no box arrived I called in and was todl with CERTAINTY that since my card had been charged for shipping on saturday that it MUST have gone out then but maybe 2-day shipping and it CERTAINY would arrive tuesday.
When it didn't arrive tuesday I went to best buy and got one there.

I think my box from tivo finally arrived on wednesday or thursday- but how would I ever have known when it really was coming? No one at Tivo told us the real story at any point.

Mixed in between the 3 times I was lied to - twice I was told they were backordered and they had no idea when they might get them.

Under such conditions it wasn't so insane to find a best buy that had them and get one when one could. Maybe you dont remember the inital HR10-250 roll-out but there were crazy shortages and the like and if you didn't act at the right moment you could have been without a box for another 2-3 weeks. With the s3 coming out at the beginning of the TV season and right before the baseball playoffs some didn't want to take a chance at another 2-3 or 4 weeks.

There was a big screw up on TiVos part but I don't really think anyone was told to LIE to the customers. Quit saying you were LIED to. :rolleyes:

It was a brand new product release for them and apparently a lot of people called in to order one that first day despite the $800 price tag. It's not to hard to believe it might not show up by Friday or Saturday or even Tuesday or Wednesday of the next week.

Aiken

10-19-2006, 06:05 PM

Update--

My email to Tom Rogers did produce a response. He sent me a brief email apologizing for the continued frustration, thanking me for bringing it to his attention, and saying the head of customer service would contact me today.

I received a phone call from one of his staff today, who let me know that the problem had been addressed, that the credit to my account had been set up today, and that would probably be processed by my credit card in a couple of days (which is how it usually works). She said the impromptu way they had handled the refused shipments had (obviously) not worked right and communication had broken down between various parts of the company somewhere in the process. If I understood correctly, there's a meeting scheduled with CSR people to bring them up to speed on this issue and to get them more into the loop on some other related matters. I hope that helps, but I bet there's more they need to do.

When I let her know that there were several other people here who also said they hadn't received their refunds, she said they were aware it was not just an isolated thing and that they were going to check into the other returns as well. She also said they would have one of their forum-watchers take a look here to see who's said they're still waiting.

She was very nice and very apologetic and took the time to talk to me at length about a few other aspects of this situation. She also offered me a some compensation, but despite what certain forum trolls keep implying, I'm not looking for a handout and I declined. It was nice of her to offer, but the only times I've wanted them to give me something, it was 1) when I wanted them just to credit me the cost of their return shipping, and then I'd keep the box, which would be a wash for them (in fact, probably even a win) and a good PR move with me, and 2) when they sent me a messenger bag I didn't want and I said that if they were going to send something, it should at least have been something I could have used or wanted. Anyway, it was the thought that counted.

I'm happy that there was some effort at TiVo's end to improve their relationship with me. It's more in keeping with what I had come to expect from the company, and I am a lot less disappointed in them. It's unfortunate that I had gotten sufficiently frustrated that it took a response from the top to make me feel better, but that's how it was and I'm glad they came through.

I recommend that those of you who aren't sure yet about your own returns do follow up, because there are obviously significant communication problems between departments at their end and they may remain for some time. Given the seeming abundance of cracks for things to fall through, even earnest efforts to clean up this problem may not catch everything.

MichaelK

10-19-2006, 08:27 PM

There was a big screw up on TiVos part but I don't really think anyone was told to LIE to the customers. Quit saying you were LIED to. :rolleyes:

It was a brand new product release for them and apparently a lot of people called in to order one that first day despite the $800 price tag. It's not to hard to believe it might not show up by Friday or Saturday or even Tuesday or Wednesday of the next week.

that's why I said:

(I dont think on purpose in any way- but they were lies non the less)

if you read the dictionary one of the definitions under lied= an inaccurate or false statement.

explain how any of statements that were made were accurate or truthfull.

it was all misfortunate and a lot of confusion and misunderstandings on their part- but when you tell people the wrong thing it's a lie.

Now that you made me think of it- many of the CSR's were lieing on purpose even. Pony- i think shared what he believed to be true at all times. But some of the CSR's just flat out were making information up. And they made it up on purpose with no basis in fact.

Aiken

10-24-2006, 09:07 PM

Well, it's now been five days since I was told a credit had been issued, and there's no sign of it. I'm getting angry again.

ChuckyBox

10-24-2006, 09:47 PM

if you read the dictionary one of the definitions under lied= an inaccurate or false statement.

That's not a customary usage. You might as well call a typo a lie. Any resonable definition of "lie" includes the constraint that the untruth be deliberate or given with intent to deceive. In fact, calling something a lie when it was mearly inaccurate is more likely a lie than the inaccurate statement, because it implies deception when none was present.

Aiken

10-24-2006, 10:04 PM

MichaelK

10-25-2006, 10:30 AM

That's not a customary usage. You might as well call a typo a lie. Any resonable definition of "lie" includes the constraint that the untruth be deliberate or given with intent to deceive. In fact, calling something a lie when it was mearly inaccurate is more likely a lie than the inaccurate statement, because it implies deception when none was present.

I agree saying lied implys purposfully misleading and for the most part I dont think that was the case. I made sure to say so in my original post with the word.

So I do follow your point that it's inflamatory- I could have said "we were given incorrect information time and tiem again"

But I also posted-

...

Now that you made me think of it- many of the CSR's were lieing on purpose even. Pony- i think shared what he believed to be true at all times. But some of the CSR's just flat out were making information up. And they made it up on purpose with no basis in fact.

It's one thing to believe what you say as I feel pony was doing. It's a whole 'nother thing to just say anything you can think of to get customers off the phone. That is intentional. I dont think the intention was to tell a falsehood, but thir was certainly NO INTENTION to tell the truth- which would have been "i dont know what is going on with your order- let me see if I can get my supervisor to decipher what the computer says for you"

Again it's not trying to decieve but that is intentionally doing somethign wrong. (hipefully folks can follow- sorry but I'm actually at a loss to describe that behavior in english)

MichaelK

10-25-2006, 10:33 AM

I think the implicit lie in the original matter was that TiVo chose not to inform its CSRs, or possibly even Pony (though I find that hard to believe) about the true nature of the delays and the actual process going on to resolve them. The knowing prevention of the spread of truth (in this case, bad news they didn't want publicized for fear of cancellations) is effectively a lie. The CSRs may not have known they were telling customers falsehoods, but the corporate office did know the CSRs were doing so and chose to allow it. That makes them voluntarily culpable and makes the misinformation a deliberate lie by proxy.

I dont know if it was so evil- but you make a good point that purposefully withholding the truth, while not maybe a dictionary defination of would "customary use" of the word.

Someone someplace knew the truth at all steps and decided not to pass that information along. May not even have been TiVo- could have been whoever they contract to handle their store- but it's TiVo's job to find an honest vendor.

Aiken

10-25-2006, 09:12 PM

ANOTHER update...

Let's just say that whoever is supposed to be issuing the credit at TiVo's end, which is supposedly the warehouse we've all come to know as totally incompetent, has not yet done so, despite being contacted by the head of Customer Service last week on behalf of the CEO.

Since I cannot seem to contact the head of CS that I spoke to before, I spent two hours today waiting on hold, so I could talk to their "CSI" (customer service investigators) department. All they were really able to do is send more email to the warehouse, telling them it's urgent to get this taken care of ASAP. Since the warehouse obviously ignores all email from customer service, I expect that I'm going to end up having to dispute the charge and file a compaint with the FTC. The people I deal with are all nice and friendly, but they just aren't able to fix the problem.

If anyone else is still waiting, don't assume it'll just happen. Stay on top of it and don't bother working with the regular CS people. Get a CSI person. And then stay on top of it some more, because even they may not be able to have any effect. Hell, even after Tom Rogers himself responded to me, nothing has happened. Obviously, the people in the warehouse are untouchable gods. Me, I'd have fired them, but apparently the CEO doesn't have that kind of control.

TIVO, YOU ARE FAILING MISERABLY TO CORRECT THE PROBLEMS WITH RETURNS.

For anyone who's totally given up, just contact your credit card (you have 180 days) to dispute the charge, and/or file a complain with the Federal Trade Commission:

https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

We shouldn't have to put up with this.

Aiken

10-26-2006, 05:23 PM

And another day goes by with no credit to my Discover card.

BlackBetty

10-26-2006, 05:37 PM

And another day goes by with no credit to my Discover card.

you should never have refused the delivery. If I were TiVo, I'd wait a year before refunding you. The punishment needs to fit the crime.

hiker

10-26-2006, 05:50 PM

...
For anyone who's totally given up, just contact your credit card (you have 180 days) to dispute the charge
...
Have you tried disputing the charge with Discover Card? I believe the federal law regulating the dispute process has a time limit of 60 days from when you received the statement with the charge.

ChuckyBox

10-26-2006, 05:58 PM

Again it's not trying to decieve but that is intentionally doing somethign wrong. (hipefully folks can follow- sorry but I'm actually at a loss to describe that behavior in english)
I don't disagree that some CSRs have character defects that result in them lying to customers, or taking the easy way out, or just being so lazy that they are effectively lying. But I think most of them are telling the truth as they know it. And I doubt that anyone at TiVo had the full picture of what was going on. I think people were giving the information that they believed to be true, and were telling us what the plan was to deal with it, but the reality ended up different from expectations and intent, and it made a bad situation worse.

I don't see a conspiracy here, or any intent to decieve or defraud anyone. I see a screw up compounded by incomplete information, poor systems and procedures, and probably a certain amount of incompetence in some key places at some key times. I hope the powers that be feel a certain amount of embarrassment over this, and it motivates them to develop a better order and fulfillment system.

On the other hand, it's not like a space shuttle blew up or anyone died, as can happen with management screw ups in other industries. Some of us just didn't get our toys as soon as we hoped, and had to make a few phone calls to sort things out. Frustrating, yes. Shouldn't have happened, yes. But let's keep it in perspective. There are people starving, and kids getting shot up or blown up in hellholes all over the world, and we're buying an $800 box so we can follow the exploits of Veronica Mars in HD.

Aiken

10-27-2006, 08:55 AM

you should never have refused the delivery. If I were TiVo, I'd wait a year before refunding you. The punishment needs to fit the crime.
Uh. TiVo TOLD me to refuse it. Dumbass.

If you're going to open your mouth, make sure the brain behind it has done its homework.

Aiken

10-27-2006, 09:00 AM

Have you tried disputing the charge with Discover Card? I believe the federal law regulating the dispute process has a time limit of 60 days from when you received the statement with the charge.
I talked to Discover last week. They told me I had 180 days. Perhaps that's not true for all cards. I don't know.

I'm giving TiVo a bit longer. Not sure exactly how long, but not very. Whatever day I get permanently fed up with the whole thing. Then I dispute the charge and submit the FTC complaint form I've already filled out.

Really, I'm not sure why I'm waiting. The vague feeling like the most recent person who told me the ball was really rolling now is probably totally misguided and I should do it now.

hiker

10-27-2006, 09:41 AM

Aiken,
I would suggest you go ahead and have Discover put a temporary credit on your account so you don't have to pay while the dispute is being resolved. This will cause a chargeback to the merchant account and should get it resolved sooner.

MichaelK

10-28-2006, 04:07 PM

you should never have refused the delivery. If I were TiVo, I'd wait a year before refunding you. The punishment needs to fit the crime.

maybe you should get your facts straight. What exactly is the crime commited? Following the instructions of Tivo?

Tivo instructed people to refuse the delivery becasue tivo was unable to cancel unshipped orders. It is apparently a violation of the law not to cancel orders that havn't shipped. Had tivo canceled the orders when requested and as required by law then it wouldn't have been necessary to refuse the order or get an RMA. So what "crime" was committed.

MichaelK

10-28-2006, 04:12 PM

I don't disagree that some CSRs have character defects that result in them lying to customers, or taking the easy way out, or just being so lazy that they are effectively lying. But I think most of them are telling the truth as they know it. And I doubt that anyone at TiVo had the full picture of what was going on. I think people were giving the information that they believed to be true, and were telling us what the plan was to deal with it, but the reality ended up different from expectations and intent, and it made a bad situation worse.

I don't see a conspiracy here, or any intent to decieve or defraud anyone. I see a screw up compounded by incomplete information, poor systems and procedures, and probably a certain amount of incompetence in some key places at some key times. I hope the powers that be feel a certain amount of embarrassment over this, and it motivates them to develop a better order and fulfillment system.

On the other hand, it's not like a space shuttle blew up or anyone died, as can happen with management screw ups in other industries. Some of us just didn't get our toys as soon as we hoped, and had to make a few phone calls to sort things out. Frustrating, yes. Shouldn't have happened, yes. But let's keep it in perspective. There are people starving, and kids getting shot up or blown up in hellholes all over the world, and we're buying an $800 box so we can follow the exploits of Veronica Mars in HD.

I'd agree with your assessment 100%. I dont think it was some big conspiracy but i do think the facts never got to the front line CSR's for whatever reason and then depending on the CSR's involved either they were intelligent enough to get a supervisor involved or not that smart and made matters worse.

What I find completely amazing is that this and the other thread(s) like it are still open. You would think the first thread would get someone off their rear and quickly follow up on the dispostition of the lucky 200. Probably more than half kept the tivo shipment. SO maybe there are 100 refused shipments/rma's that need to get double checked to make sure credits were issued. INstead of someone at tivo taking the hour or 2 to do that- these threads live on and embarrass them more every day.

r11roadster

10-28-2006, 05:13 PM

FWIW got my refund a week after I shipped it back.

Aiken

10-30-2006, 07:53 PM

Today, Oct. 30th, I finally got my refund.

Good luck to anyone else who's still waiting.

geekmedic

10-31-2006, 12:49 AM

That's nice. I still haven't received mine.

musicforme

10-31-2006, 09:59 AM

I can't recall if I posted it earlier in this thread, but I sent a detailed PM to TivoPony about my two previous phone calls and no credit.

Early last week a guy by the name of "Adam" called me to discuss the credit. I gave him all the info and he said he'd call me back the next day. "Adam" did call me the next day saying the credit should hit in the next couple of days.

I also received my dispute form from Citibank the day I first spoke to "Adam". I let him know that I was going to hold on to it for three business days before sending it back. I still have yet to get my credit and the dispute letter went out in Monday's mail. I'm finished dealing with Tivo regarding this credit and will let my credit card company deal with them.

montivette

10-31-2006, 11:36 AM

Don't hold your breath, a TiVo supervisor told me "for sure" a credit was issued to my card on October 12th. It is October 31 and still I have not received a credit on my card. Originally they told me to wait a couple of days to see it appear on my card, but stated on their end it had gone through.

A week later they stated it was the fault of my bank not posting the credit yet, blah, blah, give it a few more days, blah, blah. I have given up on complaining to TiVo directly as it is a huge waste of time.

As others have said, it would be best to dispute the charges with the card company.

Aiken

10-31-2006, 07:29 PM

I just want to repeat something I said earlier or elsewhere:

Don't talk to Customer Service. They can't fix your problem, but they'll tell you they can and have. Talk to Customer Service Investigations (yes, CSI, like on TV, but less cool). Beware that the hold times for them can be an hour easy, but they can fix the problem.

Or just dispute the charge...

MikeO

11-09-2006, 03:57 PM

argh!! I have to vent!

I have never jumped on the tivo.com bashing bandwagon but this is incredible!

I was one that ordered from tivo.com the series 3. The whole overnight that turned into a week... had a CableCard appointment that was hard to get and decided to get one from BestBuy so I wouldn't lose my appt.

I went through proper channels and rma'ed the one that finally came in... Got an email back stating I would be refunded the 799.99 and 299.99 (3yr service) within 15 days..

that was over 30 days ago.. I called monday, explained etc.. they claimed a glitch caused the system to not generate a refund and they would take care of it.. might take up to 14 days.. ouch..

So today.... Checking my discover card for something totally different there is a 799.99 charge from MONDAY when I called...

Tivo now has 1900.00 of MY money!! They now claim that the monday inquery caused the system to charge my CC for failure to return tivo.. Even though they KNOW they got the tivo back ( some other glitch )..

Last purchase from tivo.com !

mike

Sixto

11-09-2006, 05:48 PM

Exact same here, two 799.99+tax charges for S3 that was RMA'ed and returned immediately.

TiVo.com S3 was returned 9/18 (1-hour after receipt from UPS - already had Best Buy unit for cable install on 9/17). Box was received in warehouse on 9/20.

On 10/31, was charged a 2nd time (non-return fee) for 799.99+tax.

On 11/1, finally received credit for the first 799.99+tax charge.

Still waiting on the 2nd credit ... any day now ...

Speak to TiVo customer service more often then I talk to my Mom ... :)

montivette

11-10-2006, 06:36 PM

7 Weeks since they got mine back and no refund. 4 weeks since the supervisor told me I for sure was given a credit that day and my bank must not have processed it yet so just give it a few more days..., :)

On the positive side:

1. At least I have not been double charged.

2. I knew they would mess it up regardless of what they said. So I disputed the charge a month ago with the card company and gave up talking to the lousy misinformed TiVo staff as it just made me aggravated as they are so incompetent.

Moderators, I am sorry about the mild pseudo name calling, but how can a company not be considered to be lousy if they can not issue a refund after 7 weeks, and try to claim they gave my card a refund 4 weeks ago and the delay is not their fault, but the fault of my bank not giving me credit yet.

Great product but poor organization and service. I fully expect a company such as this should fail if they continue in this manner.

Since I have their product and like it, I am torn however between love of the product and hatred of the company. So on one level I hope they fail, on the other hand I hope they will fix all their problems and continue providing my TiVo service.

jfh3

11-10-2006, 07:41 PM

I think I've finally gotten somewhere with mine ... as others have said, no matter what the first line CSR tells you, they can't help. You need to get transferred to the supervisor queue.

Apparently, there were some RMA returns that didn't get processed properly and the belief is that those boxes simply got new shipping labels before the returns folks processed the credit.
Yesterday, I found someone that actually verified the UPS return info and the credit card charges and found that Tivo was in error. He sent the case to the returns queue and said their response time is about two business days.

I'll see next week I guess. Took two hours on the phone though. :(

MikeO

11-20-2006, 12:27 PM

jfh3

11-20-2006, 09:09 PM

I guess I spoke too soon ... 11 days from my last call, still no $799.99 credit.

This is amazing. :(

Really not looking forward to another few hours on the phone ...

montivette

11-21-2006, 07:22 PM

Might as well dispute the charge with your card company and save yourself time on the Phone with TiVo.

After you spend another two hours on the phone with them they will tell you it is all taken care of once again, and to be patient. They will say your card company must not have posted the credit yet and to give it more time.

I hope you do not believe them.

montivette

11-21-2006, 08:01 PM

I called them again and they said I called them yesterday! I had not called TiVo for over a month.

I kind of wonder however if it might have been my credit card company calling them in regards to the dispute.

TiVo now says the credit was issued yesterday.

And I think they may have done it correctly because when I look at the billing history at TiVo.com for this TiVo unit it now shows the credit date effective as of 9/29/2006.

Prior to this, they always showed the unit was returned on the current date. So yesterday if I checked it would show yesterday as the return date. Then today I would look and it would show it was returned today and the date had been changed in this manner for months.

So I think it is a good sign the date is no longer changing. They may have finally done it correctly. Time will tell.

jfh3

11-21-2006, 09:29 PM

Well, it was only 20 minutes today - but they couldn't tell me anything other than "accounting looked at it on 11/17 and needed more information". What a crock. I even spoke to the supervisor I had spoken to on the 9th and he couldn't explain why it took them 8 days to look at it and do nothing. Of course, he couldn't transfer me to anyone that knew anything or could handle a credit more than $12.95. I actually felt bad for the guy, because I was a lot more hot under the collar than I should have been.

I called Tivo corporate and left a message for someone in accounting. We'll see if anything happens.

Aiken

11-22-2006, 01:10 AM

I'll repeat again:

The only people who can help you work in a department called Customer Service Investigations.

It's not Customer Service. They can't help you, their supervisors can't help you, the head of the department can't help you. The worst part is, they don't know they can't help you. You have to get to Customer Service Investigations. It's a long time on hold, but they can help you. Call CS and insist on being transferred to CSI. When you get to CSI, ask for a direct number for future contact.

Or just dispute it with your financial institution, because TiVo is really in the wrong here. They've known about it for two months, and they're clearly still not making efforts to fix the outstanding problems. Any hassle you create for them is rather richly deserved at this point, if you ask me.

I feel bad for people who don't even frequent the forums to know what's going on. I'm just aghast to come back here and find my thread still active with people who still have no refunds. That's very, very wrong, TiVo. Shame on you for letting this fester.

TiVoPony

11-28-2006, 04:46 PM

I'm afraid that I haven't run across this thread before today.

If you've had trouble with your Series3 billing, please send me a private message with your contact information and I'll ask someone on the team to help you.

Thanks,
Pony

jfh3

11-28-2006, 10:09 PM

I called Tivo corporate and left a message for someone in accounting. We'll see if anything happens.

I got a call back from a gentleman in accounting yesterday.

He has taken charge of the situation and, in theory, had the credit issued to my card yesterday. My original charge was made in September on a card that had an October expiration date. Apparently Tivo's system can't process a charge to a card that has expired (though the bank said they should have no problem).

It's nice of Pony to offer help, but it would be better for all if he could get folks to look at why the fulfillment and order processing systems got so fouled up in the first place. :)