Why Can't I cancel my account?

[mramey]

I called in May to cancel my account. And it is now November and I cannot get them to stop charging my credit card. Every time I call they tell me it will be taken care of but nothing happens. They even stoop so far as to give me a bogus confirmation number so there is no record of my call. Then they have the balls to tell me that they cannot credit my account because I did not call. I love TIVO ( I went to Direct TV) but I cannot stand their customer service.

[JimSpence]

Call your credit card company and ask them to no longer accept charges from TiVo.
Or if that can't be done, dispute each monthly charge. They should get the idea.

Or call and change your payment method. Stop the automatic charge.

[Leon WIlkinson]

Sounds like you have a DirecTiVo so if you would call TiVo, they can not cancel the service.

[HiDefGator]

I think he meant he left Tivo because he switched to DirecTV.

[GusMan]

Call your credit card company and ask them to no longer accept charges from TiVo.
Or if that can't be done, dispute each monthly charge. They should get the idea.

Or call and change your payment method. Stop the automatic charge.
Or have your cc number changed.

[samo]

Or have your cc number changed.
This is the simplest solution. Report your CC lost and your present CC number will be blocked for any future transactions.

[cowboys2002]

The OP should call (actually write) to cancel the automatic payment.

Then the OP should continue to dispute the monthly charges.

If it continues, cancel the credit card.


Is it just me, or is it always easier to sign-up for autopayments, yet almost impossible to stop it?

On a side note, I just had an issue where a company started billing me monthly for a service that I did not sign up for. I call my bank to dispute it. The bank made me call the company to cancel. I faxed a written letter to have them stop. I signed an affidavit to my bank that it was not authorized. I did not "catch it" for 3 months as this account was not my primary (minimal balance and transactions) that I haven't deposited to or used the debit card in 11 months.

What gets me is that the bank allowed the first charge to go through, which took the account negative. By the time I get my statement and see the charge and call to inquire, they tell me another charge just went through. They "claim" that they put the transaction through as a courtesy and that the 2 $25 fees had noting to do with it. Now the account is negative $150 mainly because of the bogus transactions and bank fees.

Moral to this story, be careful whom you give your credit/debit card or checking information to. And don't sign-up for auto bill payment for everything!

Getting things in writing trumps anything verbal (despite the calls being recorded).

[TiVoStephen]

Hi mramey, I'm sorry to hear about this issue. Please e-mail me (estephen@tivo.com) with your contact information and I'll make sure a senior account specialist not only makes sure that your account is canceled, but also makes sure you get the proper credit.

Apologies again for the problem. We'll definitely investigate to see what went wrong.

Best regards,
Stephen

[robbins]

Do a chargeback every single month, it will cost them money and make them pay for their mistakes.

[TiVoStephen]

Do a chargeback every single month, it will cost them money and make them pay for their mistakes.Hi robbins,

Thanks for the thought, and I agree TiVo should not make mistakes.

However, I'd rather you encourage everyone to help us keep our costs down, so that we can continue to offer you new features and services and hold off price increases. The best thing to do in a situation like this is to have the customer call our customer service and ask to speak to a supervisor.

This situation is very rare -- if a customer calls to cancel, we cancel them. I can't recall the last time I saw an escalation about a cancellation not going through. We have several safeguards (including phone monitoring and several queries) to make sure cancellations happen as advertised.

Best regards,
Stephen

[TiVoStephen]

This is the simplest solution. Report your CC lost and your present CC number will be blocked for any future transactions.Samo (and others advising the same),

I have to respectfully disagree. I believe this is bad advice not just for TiVo but for any company that does credit card billing -- because it does not cancel your account and does not remove your obligation to pay. Instead, it just creates an uncollected debt that many companies will turn over to a collection agency.

In addition, it will do nothing to get credit for the previous months that were billed in error.

The best advice is to call the company that is charging you incorrectly and demand satisfaction. If the first agent you speak with doesn't resolve the situation, speak to a supervisor.

For TiVo, you have the forum here as an additional way to resolve the situation, but I guarantee you that the above approach is the best approach for any company doing business in this country, and is the approach you should try first.

It also is helpful to make sure you write down any case numbers that are created (and any professional company should keep a record with a case number of the issue), as well as the dates and names of who you speak with.

Best regards,
Stephen

[BlackBetty]

I called in May to cancel my account. And it is now November and I cannot get them to stop charging my credit card. Every time I call they tell me it will be taken care of but nothing happens. They even stoop so far as to give me a bogus confirmation number so there is no record of my call. Then they have the balls to tell me that they cannot credit my account because I did not call. I love TIVO ( I went to Direct TV) but I cannot stand their customer service.


I'm sorry but I am not buying this at all.

[shanew1289]

I'm sorry but I am not buying this at all.

why not? AOL did it, Charter did it (and reported those payments as subscribers and someone got them in trouble).

A noted Radio or TV personality in St. Louis even ON THE AIR (I love it when they do that!:) ) broadcasted WHY cant he get Charter to STOP charging his credit card automatically after cancelling and MOVING form the home where he set it up.

It did get stopped, but some automated things are sometimes troublesome.

AOL couldnt stop theirs for liek 60 days, "but dont worry, we will credit you back in another 60" I never did like AOL after that crap.

May clear to November seems extreme, and being posted here seems odd. I'd be so peeved by now, I'd be ranting!!!! :)

[propermodulation]

why not? AOL did it, Charter did it (and reported those payments as subscribers and someone got them in trouble).


So is this guy talking about AOL or Charter? No he is not.

Most people, who have done so, including myself, have had no problems canceling accounts or service with Tivo. IMHO, if this did occur, it's uncommon mistake that will be resolved.