Early Termination Fee never happened

[jem286]

Hi all. I signed up in April 2006 for TiVo with a 3 year commitment at $16.95/month. I cancelled my service on March 1st, 2007 and it shows up as cancelled on my account, but I have not yet been charged the $200 early termination fee. I knew this fee existed and was fully ready to pay it, and was even told I would have to by the TiVo people on the phone, but no such charge has occurred over 2 weeks since closing the account. Do they not always charge you for an early termination? I know in the service agreement it says "If you terminate your account or this Agreement before meeting any applicable Service Commitment, TiVo reserves the right to charge you the early termination fee agreed to by you at the time you subscribed to the TiVo service," but I assumed this was just a formal way of saying you WILL be charged. Maybe it just takes a while for them to charge you. If that's the case, I don't think that's right. Every penny of my money needs to be stretched to its limit and it's difficult for me to always make sure I have an extra $200 in case today is the day the charge goes through. Has anyone had this experience or know anything about the situation? I would call TiVo and ask, but if for some strange, unkown reason they neglected to charge me, I don't want them to be reminded!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[rdrrepair]

I would call TiVo and ask, but if for some strange, unkown reason they neglected to charge me, I don't want them to be reminded!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated.My advice: Shhhh, be very quiet. Don't say a word and hope you don't get charged.

If you liked the TiVo service you might want to try an Ebay TiVo that has a lifetime subscription on it -- At that point you wouldn't have to contact TiVo and let them know you have it.

[restart88]

Don't get too excited just yet!

I had a return from direct purchase, which they received because they recorded receiving the adaptor that was shipped in the same box and I have my UPS tracking, and a month later they nailed me with a failure to return equipment charge.

After 2 weeks of phone games they finally "agreed" to credit the charge back off of my credit card and then that took over another week to get posted.

But to this day that unit STILL shows as being in my possession on my account, where I suppose it will remain until Tivo closes it's doors - if not longer. :rolleyes:

I kinda wonder what ever happened to it, since if they fixed it and somebody else got it as a reburb it seems it wouldn't still be showing as being in my possession. But who knows? All I know is the Tivo billing department has not exactly been stellar in my dealings.

[funtoupgrade]

One thing TiVo does do in these cases is mark the TiVo unit as in default of payment which renders is totallly useless until the early termination fee is paid. They will not allow anybody else to activate the unit until the termination fee is paid. Why they have not billed you for the termination fee is unexplainable. I always assumed they could just charge your credit card on file for it, but maybe not.

[jlb]

....I signed up in April 2006 for TiVo with a 3 year commitment at $16.95/month. I cancelled my service on March 1st, 2006.......

You didn't get charged since you had to break the space/time continuum to cancel your account..... ;)

[jtlytle]

Hi all. I signed up in April 2006 for TiVo with a 3 year commitment at $16.95/month. I cancelled my service on March 1st, 2006 and it shows up as cancelled on my account, but I have not yet been charged the $200 ealy termination fee.

Do you meant March 1st, 2007 ?

[aadam101]

One thing TiVo does do in these cases is mark the TiVo unit as in default of payment which renders is totallly useless until the early termination fee is paid. They will not allow anybody else to activate the unit until the termination fee is paid. Why they have not billed you for the termination fee is unexplainable. I always assumed they could just charge your credit card on file for it, but maybe not.

Do you know this for a fact? I had a very different experience with mine. Some of us have already figured out how to escape our contracts.

[jem286]

haha, yes, march 2007. I STILL write 2006 on my checks. haven't gotten used to it.

[jem286]

One thing TiVo does do in these cases is mark the TiVo unit as in default of payment which renders is totallly useless until the early termination fee is paid. They will not allow anybody else to activate the unit until the termination fee is paid. Why they have not billed you for the termination fee is unexplainable. I always assumed they could just charge your credit card on file for it, but maybe not.

I hope this isn't the case because I already resold the box on Amazon. The guy I talked to at TiVo when I cancelled said over and over again to give the box to friends or family or anyone so they can enjoy the benefits of TiVo! I shipped the TiVo a few days ago so it should arrive soon to whoever bought it. I guess we'll see what happens.

[mick66]

The early terminatuion fee is the lesser of $200 and the remaining value of your commitment. At worst, Tivo would be charging you an early termination fee equal to one or two months depending on exactly when you your billing date was and the date you canceled service.

It's only been two weeks - that's nothing. A billing cycle probably hasn't even passed yet. It could and probably will take up to 3 months, but it will happen.

[funtoupgrade]

Do you know this for a fact? I had a very different experience with mine. Some of us have already figured out how to escape our contracts.

Yup, I have a DT unit sitting here I bought on eBay which is under default on a 3 year contract after 5 months. Of course, the seller did not bother to mention this. Several calls to TiVo supervisors confirmed the locked status of the unit. They said the best they could do was let me take over the $16.95 per month remaining term of the 3 year contract if I wanted to activate it. The good news is Paypal just agreed with my Buyer Complaint and refunded all my money and even let me keep the piece of junk!

[jem286]

The early terminatuion fee is the lesser of $200 and the remaining value of your commitment. At worst, Tivo would be charging you an early termination fee equal to one or two months depending on exactly when you your billing date was and the date you canceled service.

It's only been two weeks - that's nothing. A billing cycle probably hasn't even passed yet. It could and probably will take up to 3 months, but it will happen.

I don't really understand what you mean in this first paragraph. At worst they would charge me a fee equal to only 2 months? Also, I purposely cancelled exactly one week before the billing cycle ended.

[jem286]

Yup, I have a DT unit sitting here I bought on eBay which is under default on a 3 year contract after 5 months. Of course, the seller did not bother to mention this. Several calls to TiVo supervisors confirmed the locked status of the unit. They said the best they could do was let me take over the $16.95 per month remaining term of the 3 year contract if I wanted to activate it. The good news is Paypal just agreed with my Buyer Complaint and refunded all my money and even let me keep the piece of junk!

So will mine be "under default" because I haven't paid any fee (not that I refused to, I just haven't been charged)? I sold it on Amazon and am just worried whoever bought it won't be able to use it. The guy on the phone at TiVo specifically said, after cancelling the account, to give it to friends or family. My family and friends, in this case, is Amazon customers. ;)

[mick66]

I don't really understand what you mean in this first paragraph. At worst they would charge me a fee equal to only 2 months? Also, I purposely cancelled exactly one week before the billing cycle ended.

from:
http://www.tivo.com/5.11.6.asp

8. An early termination fee of the lesser of $200.00 or the amount owed on the remaining term of your monthly TiVo Package commitment will be charged to you if your monthly TiVo Package is cancelled prior to the end of your commitment, except as permitted under TiVo's 30 day Money Back Guarantee.

So you're looking at an early termination fee of $16.95 - 1 month

the only time they block service to a unit is when the subscriber does not allow tivo to charge their credit card for the fee.

http://www.tivo.com/5.11.2.asp
14. Termination of Service. Subject to any Service Commitment to which you may be bound, you may terminate your account, this Agreement, and your right to use the TiVo service, at any time and for any reason or no reason, by contacting TiVo Customer Support at 1-877-367-8486. The TiVo service will be terminated within 24 hours after your call and unused subscription fees are nonrefundable. If you terminate your account or this Agreement before meeting any applicable Service Commitment, TiVo reserves the right to charge you the early termination fee agreed to by you at the time you subscribed to the TiVo service. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, TiVo retains the absolute right to immediately suspend or terminate your account, and terminate this Agreement, if the charges to your credit card for the fees described in Section 8 ("Subscription Fees and Service Commitment") and Section 10 ("Payment Authorization") are refused for any reason, if you breach any provision in this Agreement, if you misuse the TiVo service, and/or if you alter your TiVo DVR or use the TiVo service or software in such a manner as to infringe upon the intellectual property rights of TiVo or any third party. In addition, TiVo reserves the right to terminate your account and this Agreement for any other reason or no reason if TiVo gives you at least 30 days advance notice of such termination. Upon any such termination of your account, you will remain obligated to pay all outstanding fees and charges relating to your use of the TiVo service before termination.

[wolflord11]

The Men in Black suits will be knocking on your Door soon. They will take you to a damp dark basement, and hold you until you break down and pay all dues owed!!!

LOL.

It will take a little while for your Final Fee to appear, but it will. And by all accounts it will be $16.95. Just pay it and be done, before what is mentioned above happens.

[jem286]

The Men in Black suits will be knocking on your Door soon. They will take you to a damp dark basement, and hold you until you break down and pay all dues owed!!!

LOL.

It will take a little while for your Final Fee to appear, but it will. And by all accounts it will be $16.95. Just pay it and be done, before what is mentioned above happens.

Haha. But why would it only be $16.95? I thought it was the lesser of $200 or the remainder of your contract. I had two years left, so $200 would definitely be the lesser of the two!

[samo]

Haha. But why would it only be $16.95? I thought it was the lesser of $200 or the remainder of your contract. I had two years left, so $200 would definitely be the lesser of the two!
You better check the length of the contract. If you signed up for 3 years, then your monthly fee would have been $12.95. Since you are paying $16.95 /month, you are most likely on 1 year commitment plan.

[mick66]

The OP would be cancelling 25 months early (423.75) on a 3 year contract, so he'd get hit with the $200 fee.

Sorry, I guess I just got stuck on one year for some reason related to the fact that it's been about one year since the OP started his contract. I read the OP when it was first posted but didn't respond until much later and likely didn't reread the OP. Sorry.

[Adam1115]

You better check the length of the contract. If you signed up for 3 years, then your monthly fee would have been $12.95. Since you are paying $16.95 /month, you are most likely on 1 year commitment plan.

No, that's the current model. For awhile, to get a FREE box, it was $19.95 for 1 year, $18.95 for 2 years, and $16.95 for three years.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=290668&highlight=pricing

[jem286]

No, that's the current model. For awhile, to get a FREE box, it was $19.95 for 1 year, $18.95 for 2 years, and $16.95 for three years.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=290668&highlight=pricing

Yeah, that's the plan I went in under. I got the free box.

[wolflord11]

Ahh ok, well then, guess your be getting a Bill for $200.00 then.

Or maybe Tivo might just come knocking at the Door, break a leg or Two, then leave :D