Billing Confusion

[lawilson2]

Ok, today is my last day of my 1yr contract. I'll be paying $12.95/month from here on out until I choose to cancel. Great.

I call Tivo and ask if I can just pre-pay that 12.95/month ($155.40/yr) so I don't have to deal with monthly billing. I was told that if I did that, I would have to pay $170 or so and be put on a new contract. Huh?

Why wouldn't they want people to just prepay and save costs on billing at the rate they are currently on? It's confusing for me that I would have to get a whole new agreement just to pay my bill early. I don't care for monthly billing and I pre-pay most things just to get it out of the way.

Of course, I could be seeing this wrong, so that's why I'm posting here for clarification.

[megazone]

They just don't have a provision in their system for that. Could they do it? Sure. But they're not setup for it in their billing and accounting system. A one-year pre-pay is $179, and that's all they have in the system. Two years is $299 - and three years is $299. (Three years is 'normally' $349, but it seems to be on permanent special at a 3-for-2 price.)

If you have the scratch, pre-paying the three years is the best deal, brings it to about $8.31/month.

[Ishma]

Sounds like you might have a special deal if you only paying $12.95/month after a 1yr contract. Normally it would go up to $16.95/month. In that case paying $179 is actually a good deal.

So enjoy your great deal.

[mick66]

They just don't have a provision in their system for that. Could they do it? Sure. But they're not setup for it in their billing and accounting system. A one-year pre-pay is $179, and that's all they have in the system. Two years is $299 - and three years is $299. (Three years is 'normally' $349, but it seems to be on permanent special at a 3-for-2 price.)

If you have the scratch, pre-paying the three years is the best deal, brings it to about $8.31/month.


2 years is $179
3 years is $299 - not a "special" anymore

It was changed a month or two ago.

[mick66]

Sounds like you might have a special deal if you only paying $12.95/month after a 1yr contract. Normally it would go up to $16.95/month. In that case paying $179 is actually a good deal.

So enjoy your great deal.

I believe the rate wasn't increased until November of last year, so the OP would still be paying the older rate.

[c3]

If you want to prepay, go for 3 years at $299. That's less than two years at $12.95/month.

[lawilson2]

Yeah, my contract ends today at the 12.95/month rate, but I was told that it would stay the same. I had no idea they went up on the subscription costs to 16.95/month! If I really thought that I would have my S3 another 3 years I'd consider the 3 year option. I'll ponder over it and see if that's the best deal.

I cancelled my Tivo in the bedroom (s2) that I was paying 6.95/month for when it's contract ended last week. That was because I barely used it and I'm waiting for the Slingbox Catcher that I'll hook up to that TV so I can sling from my current slingbox on the s3 directly to my bedroom. It'll save on tivo and cablecard fees.

[c3]

If I really thought that I would have my S3 another 3 years I'd consider the 3 year option.

Another 2 years, since that's the breakeven point. Also, you are free to change the service to any other hardware within the 3-year period.

[lawilson2]

Another 2 years, since that's the breakeven point. Also, you are free to change the service to any other hardware within the 3-year period.

Good stuff; thanks for that tidbit!

[lawilson2]

Just to update, I went on and prepaid the 299 fee. It made sense, and it's good to know that it's transferable to a new box should something happen with my current S3 (it does have a 3 year PR warranty with Frys that I got free with it so that's great). Plus, since it's a subscription service, I can write off the large payment on this year's taxes for the type of work I do. Cool.