Can I just keep 'em in their boxes...

[20TIL6]

Hi everyone,

I bought a couple of S3 units on eBay. They are new, in the box. They also both have lifetime service. The seller went through the VIP process on them, and contacted TiVo to transfer these lifetime service accounts into my name and gave me some reference numbers. He told me about the 60 day wait; currently when I log into TiVo, manage my account, there are no units listed. But I am sure they will show up eventually.

Anyway, I will start using these units around March 2007. The house they will go into is still being built.

So when the UPS man drops them off, can I just leave them in their boxes until I am ready to use them at the new house? Or do they need to be connected and talking back to TiVo within a certain timeframe? I could hook them up on my home network just to serve this purpose, but I would rather just store them until I am ready to really use them. My current situation is with DirecTV with no HD TVs, so there is really no purpose in me hooking up the series 3 units right now.

Thanks. I am excited about these units.

[hookbill]

I don't know much about the lifetime service contracts but I find it real hard to believe they are "transferable." It seems to me that TiVo is trying very hard to dump these lifetime service contracts.

I'm a little suspicious about this. Guys? Anybody else smell something fishy here?

[20TIL6]

I don't know much about the lifetime service contracts but I find it real hard to believe they are "transferable." It seems to me that TiVo is trying very hard to dump these lifetime service contracts.

I'm a little suspicious about this. Guys? Anybody else smell something fishy here?
I would like to hear what others think. I think it's OK since the service is linked to the unit, not a person.

I initiated a similar transfer maybe 18 months ago. I bought a series 2 for a friend as a gift. For whatever reason, TiVo's gift subscriptions system was down. I could not buy the service as a gift. So I ended up buying the unit and the lifetime service completely in my name. I gave the unit to the person, then called TiVo and had the unit and service transferred to her. No issue whatsoever.

Even though I bought the units in this transaction through eBay, I cannot think that from TiVo's perspective that this is any different.

[Stanley Rohner]

What did the two Series3s cost you ?

If you won't use them till March 2007 why buy them now ? The brand new ones sold in the stores might be cheaper by March 2007 and they'll be more of them available in the stores by then.

You should hook them up when you get them and see if they have lifetime or not. It would kinda suck to wait till march of 2007 or later to hook them up and find out they don't have lifetime service.

[20TIL6]

What did the two Series3s cost you ?

If you won't use them till March 2007 why buy them now ? The brand new ones sold in the stores might be cheaper by March 2007 and they'll be more of them available in the stores by then.

You should hook them up when you get them and see if they have lifetime or not. It would kinda suck to wait till march of 2007 or later to hook them up and find out they don't have lifetime service.
Well, I paid what I consider to be a "slight" premium over the cost of a unit with 3 years prepaid each.

As far as why I did not wait. Well, it's the most common reason. I HAD to have them now! Seriously, I wanted the lifetime service most of all. And I'm thinking that lifetime will become more difficult to get. I'm sure the unit price will go down, but I figure my cost of the units and service is capped with this purchase. And seeing that I still use a 6 year old SAT-T60 (note I am leaving DTV), getting the lifetime on the S3 makes sense for me.

But there is no getting around it, this was expensive.

I'd like to just leave them in their boxes, but I could have them up and running in a corner with a network connection.

[Bierboy]

What I'm puzzled about is why you "...HAD to have them now!" but aren't hooking them up? That makes no sense to me.

[20TIL6]

I was kidding about "HAD to have them now". Now vs. later was driven by my concern that I might not be able to find (2) new units with lifetime service included later. I had already decided that I was leaving DTV, so I knew at one point I would be buying two units for the new house anyway. Will the S3 price go down? Most likely. What would be my ability to get lifetime at that point? I don't know.

[ewilts]

Hi everyone,

I bought a couple of S3 units on eBay. They are new, in the box. They also both have lifetime service. The seller went through the VIP process on them, and contacted TiVo to transfer these lifetime service accounts into my name and gave me some reference numbers. He told me about the 60 day wait; currently when I log into TiVo, manage my account, there are no units listed. But I am sure they will show up eventually.

Anyway, I will start using these units around March 2007. The house they will go into is still being built.

So when the UPS man drops them off, can I just leave them in their boxes until I am ready to use them at the new house? Or do they need to be connected and talking back to TiVo within a certain timeframe?
I don't think they need to be connected but I would take them out of the box, write down the serial numbers, and phone TiVo to get some details on them. You at least need to cover your butt in case they don't have lifetime on them. The Customer Service folks should be able to tell you.

.../Ed

[samo]

I'd like to just leave them in their boxes, but I could have them up and running in a corner with a network connection.
You need to get them out of the box, hook them up and not only verify that they are lifetime, but also verify that they work with at least OTA signal. You will not be able to verify that CC slots are not defective, but at least you will know that your units are not DOA. Do you realize that by March your units will be out of manufacturers warranty?

[greg_burns]

Don't need to take them out of the box to get the TSN. It is on the outside. Hooking them up now isn't going to tell you if they are lifetime'd anyways. Nobody's lifetime has transferred yet that did the VIP transfer.

[mattack]

Why don't you hook them up and use them as "just" dual tuner Tivos for now? Plus, you'll make sure that they actually work.. (Isn't the warranty only 90 days?)

[c3]

The seller went through the VIP process on them, and contacted TiVo to transfer these lifetime service accounts into my name and gave me some reference numbers.

Since the S3s do not have lifetime status yet, how is it possible for the seller to transfer them into your name? If something goes wrong in the transfer process, you may not know until it's too late.

[20TIL6]

Well, I know that lifetime is the only type of service that can be transferred. So I see your point. These units are still within the 60 day VIP conversion. When I receive the units, I'll call TiVo to ensure that they are part of the VIP transfer process. The seller already called TiVo and provided them with my information for the final ownership transfer of the two lifetime services. The seller gave me two case ID numbers that reference the ownership transfer requests. And that same day I got an email from TiVo themselves with logon information and a temporary password for the 'manage my account' system. I did not request this access from TiVo, so I think it was a result of his call to them.

Now when I access 'manage my account', no units are listed at this time. So I think the 60 day VIP process has to clear, and then the units/lifetime services will transfer into my account. I do have a trail to work with, and case numbers to reference with customer support. The seller appears to be very reputable, a lot of eBay feedback, 100% positive.

You folks are making me think I should get them online and talking back to the mothership, just so they don't somehow get lost in the shuffle.

[ScottUrman]

FWIW, we just got a new series 3 and transferred the lifetime service from a series 2 last week. When I log into my tivo account, the series 2 still says lifetime and the series 3 says service only, 1 year prepay. So I would think that your series 3's should say the 1 year prepay too. Although I did hook up the series 3 before calling in to transfer the lifetime service.

[GoHokies!]

You folks are making me think I should get them online and talking back to the mothership, just so they don't somehow get lost in the shuffle.

I think that's a fine idea. You may be OK if you wait, but it's much better to find out of you have a problem now. Like someone else said, go ahead and use them as dual tuner OTA boxes until you're in the new house to make sure that everything is good to go.