A Tale of Two Tivos

[wmcbrine]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

I ordered two S3's from Buy.com, and they came yesterday. The first one worked beautifully (OTA only for now). But the second one was DOA.

So, I checked Buy.com and Tivo.com to see where/how I should return the broken unit. It seems they each have policies that amount to "Send it back, and 7-10 business days after we get it, we'll send you a replacement." There appears to be no way to get my money back from Buy.com -- "Opened/Defective electronics may only be returned for replacement." (Is that legal?)

Well, I could live with that -- except that the Fios installer is coming on Tuesday, with four CableCards.

I could go to a brick and mortar store right now, eat the price difference, and be sure of having two working S3's on Tuesday. But then I'd still have the broken one, for which I could still only get an exchange, not a refund. I don't want three S3's.

What should I do?

[randywalters]

A retailer can have any return/exchange/refund policy they choose, but that sucks that the exchange will take that long to make.

What i would do when the FIOS guy gets there is have him install and activate the first two Cablecards in your working unit and get em working, then pull them out, put them in individual baggies and mark them "top" and "bottom" and set em aside for use in your replacement S3 in a few weeks.

Then have him install the 2nd pair of CCs in the same working S3 and leave them there......

You might be able to re-install the set-aside CCs into your replacement S3 yourself and re-run guided setup and get your channels back. I've read some posts here that the CableCards are "married" to the device they're originally installed in, but this must not always be the case because a couple of guys in This Thread (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=335802) transferred their own CCs into replacement S3s themselves and they worked so maybe it would work for you. Since the FIOS guy is coming already, you don't have anything to lose by trying this. And if they don't come back to life on their own, you may be able to call Verizon and see if they can re-activate them for you without having to send a Tech back out.

The worst that can happen is your set-aside CCs won't come back to life in your replacement S3 and you have to have a Tech come back, but at least you tried and it would be a lot cheaper than buying a 3rd S3 :D

[Mike Farrington]

I think if you call a TiVo CSR, you have two return options
a) cross-shipping units (as you described)
b) you give them a CC and they send you a new one ASAP. Then credit your CC when they receive the defective one. However, I have no idea whether or not they offer expedited shipping.

[wolverines]

I think your best option will be to delay the FIOS install. I don't think they can install the cards, then have those moved to another Tivo (but I might be wrong). It's easier to have 2 working Tivo's on hand when the FIOS guy gets there.

[Roderigo]

What i would do when the FIOS guy gets there is have him install and activate the first two Cablecards in your working unit and get em working, then pull them out, put them in individual baggies and mark them "top" and "bottom" and set em aside for use in your replacement S3 in a few weeks.

If you do this, no need to label them. Since they're going into a different box, it doesn't matter which slot they were in for the original box.

[JohnBrowning]

randywalters approach will be the quickest FiOS DOES NOT bind the cablecards to the device.

[Shawn95GT]

I went through this twice on S3 #2.

The first one arrived from TCF Store DoA. It barely made it through guided setup before giving up the ghost.

TCF Store was awesome to deal with and cross shipped me a replacement.

The replacement seemed fine but after 2 weeks it started having problems too. I contacted TCF store and I was outside of their exchange window. I understood that now that I was at least 3 weeks past the original purchase.

After couple rounds of support calls / trouble shooting with Tivo they agreed to swap the box. Once both tuners got 'stuck' on channels they agreed that the hardware was having issues ;). Tivo offered to cross ship if I would pay for the replacement and wait for a credit once they receive the old box. Option 2 was to ship the old box and when they get it they'll send my my replacement.

I wasn't in a hurry so I chose option 2. I boxed up the bad unit as-per their directions (just the box itself, no remote / cords / cables / etc) and sent it back with the pre-paid label they e-mailed me. I was expecting a refurb in return and the CSR couldn't confirm if i'd get the retail packaging on the replacement unit so I kept all of that and send it back padded in the brown outter box that one of my S3s had been double boxed in.

Much to my suprise, about a week and a half later I got a brand new retail packaged S3 as a replacement - same as if I had just went to best buy and picked up a 4th one. Tivo must not have a stockpile of refurbs yet. Thanks Tivo!

[wmcbrine]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I called Tivo, and of course, they wouldn't allow an exchange without going through a pointless troubleshooting script, and I'd already repacked the unit. So they gave me a case number, and told me to call back when it was ready. I dug up an old monitor instead of reattaching it to the TV (less hassle), and... after resting overnight, it's working now. The only continuing symptom is that it's putting out a really strong ozone smell, which I guess isn't conclusive of anything, though the other one doesn't do it.

I have no faith that it won't die again at any moment. But for now, I guess I'll leave the issue alone... unless the open ticket at Tivo will be a problem?

[Mike Farrington]

Ozone = BAD!

[spassmeister]

Same experience. Two S3s to keep my two lifetime service contracts going. One worked flawlessly, the other had every problem on the message boards (repeated reboot, loss of signal, program guide issues, etc.) TiVo shipped me a new one...and...I have to have ANOTHER truck roll so the technician can read the number from the card over the phone as was done the first time. I can watch the basic HD and basic cable, but to authorize the expanded cable and pay channels requires the second truck roll. Terrific.

[synch22]

I have seen that policy with Buy.com. I forgot it is what i bought when i did i was a bit worried. I tend to pay the extra $ and buy from places like Costco where i have a built in satisfaction gurantee. Hopeyou get it worked out but when purchasing higher ticket items,stick with better stores.

I have done so with all pastmajor purchases, hence why i spend so much with costco.


Still have yet to but the series 3, i just spend hours lurking here staying with lifetime series 2. I may pull the trigger soon who knows, but if i do it will be with costco despite the extra $50 or so dolars.

[TydalForce]

]The only continuing symptom is that it's putting out a really strong ozone smell, which I guess isn't conclusive of anything, though the other one doesn't do it.


My S3 and my Humax didn't have an odd smell, but I bought a S2DT for my b/f for Christmas and it had that smell for a week or two until it finally burned off....

Don't know what it is -- some kind of New Electronics Burn-In I suppose. Maybe the hard drive? Or maybe something they use as an adhesive or solvent internally...

But it did go away on his, so I presume it'll go away on yours too.

[wmcbrine]

Update: Well, the smell actually turned out to be coming from the monitor. However, the S3 isn't off the hook. I ran it for maybe 13 hours on the monitor with no problems, then unplugged it and left it for a day. I was planning to hook it back up to my TV Monday, to have it ready for the Fios install; but this morning my old HR10-250 locked up, and since I was going to have to unplug it anyway, I decided to set up the S3 then.

It ran fine for about four hours, then spontaneously rebooted while showing live TV. The reboot hung on the Welcome screen. I pulled the plug, waited a bit, and tried again. It rebooted during the reboot, but eventually started, and let me watch for about five minutes more. Then it froze while I was trying to schedule a recording, with a still frame of live TV beneath an inoperable menu.

Then I unplugged it, switched from HDMI to component (some of the things it was doing made me wonder if HDMI was the culprit), left it for 90 minutes, and tried again. I got through 25 minutes before it spontaneously rebooted again, and again hung on Welcome. So now I'm leaving it unplugged for a few more hours... I'll hope it holds up for the Fios install, then I'll call Tivo and fight with them again to get it exchanged. Or maybe I'll call them tomorrow, before the install.

[Shawn95GT]

I'd wait for it to blow up and then call Tivo.

I'd almost put money on them asking you to re-run guided setup. Then it will work (duh, you just re-booted it!) and wait for it to blow up again. Basicly - get a case number. When you track your problems with the box on a single case it gives you a lot more credibility with the CSR on the other end.

I almost to a week of 'so far so good' on my latest replacement. WooHoo!

[wmcbrine]

After a four-hour+ wait, I could watch for five minutes, then it froze again.

[wmcbrine]

So, I should say how this was resolved:

Last Monday I called again and got a much more helpful representative (although both were unfailingly polite), who authorized an exchange. I had to call again to get the return shipping label, but it was no problem. I got the replacement last Friday, and so far it's working great. But I haven't tried it on HDMI yet.

Retracting my retraction, I now think that at least part of the ozone smell was indeed from the Tivo.

Next up, my Fios story...