Tivo Lifetime transfers need to cancel original

[shamilian]

I took Tivo up on their offer last year to upgrade from my old Sony Series 1 to TivoHD with lifetime. I didn't pay much attention but Tivo gave us a 1 year service on the old Series 1. I did not use the old series one and just left it unplugged in the basement.

Well one year later Tivo decides to start billing me on the Sony that hasn't called in in over a year. The customer support tells me that it was up to me to call in to cancel my subscription.

I explain that I transferred my subscription and the unit was not even plugged in. He tells me, it is their policy to roll-over the 1 year contract that I did not ask for to a month to month that I did not ask for. If I want to do anything about it I need to write a letter to corporate about their policy.

I use to think this was the one company that was fair to their customers.

[pdhenry]

Well, they were always clear that the old TiVo would get service for a year. I agree that they should have been upfront that the tiVo still had active, billable service after the year was up. Bummer. But it probably was pretty clear in your account information that both units still had service.

[dianebrat]

Well, they were always clear that the old TiVo would get service for a year. I agree that they should have been upfront that the tiVo still had active, billable service after the year was up. Bummer. But it probably was pretty clear in your account information that both units still had service.

This has unfortunately been the case in both the S3 and TivoHD "transfer lifetime" promotions, and it's pretty bottom-feeding IMNSHO, and I've been burned by it, I learned my lesson and caught my TivoHD this month when it was ready to switch over to the highest price plan available, which is also dumb, it's CLEARLY eligible for MSD, yet it gets billed at $16.95.

While it doesn't affect a lot of people, I certainly expect better then this from Tivo.

Diane

[scandia101]

I didn't pay much attention
Obviously, and yet you still seem to believe that Tivo did something wrong. They can't make you pay attention. It's your responsibility to know what you're doing with your resources.
There is no such thing as a tivo subscription that just ends and there never has been. Tivo makes this very clear and they always have. Not paying attention is the most ridiculous excuse I've heard yet.

[etz]

I kinda figure that if it's not calling in, the billing should stop. TiVo is pretty quick to write off a lifetimed box as being dead and abandoned if it doesn't call home every 6 months, so why should they assume that this box should still pay? However if the OP would plug it in one day, it should not provide any service until he contacts TiVo to make payment arrangements. It sounds kind of sleazy... it keeps an income stream going for the few people that don't notice, but eventually it gets noticed and then you have a pissed off customer who will go to a competitor.

[ThAbtO]

I had a offer from tivo to transfer lifetime from my S1 to THD and I took it up. They said it would take 2 months to tranfer the lifetime over to the new box, in the meantime, the THD had a 1 yr sub. I waited and confirmed the THD had the lifetime and the S1 had the 1 yr switched around, then I called Tivo back and had them switch the remainder of the 1 yr over to the S2 I had, then canceled the S1. It was confirmed online at the tivo/My Account.

Now, the S2's 1 yr is over and is back on the monthly per my setting at 'My Account'. If I hadn't done that, there would be another 1 yr to roll over on.

[destek]

Thanks for the tip - I called in and they had billed me this morning. The fellow was very nice and issued a credit. My old tivo has been in the basement on a shelf - I just don't see any need to keep it going.
I tried to sell it on craigslist earlier this year - but no one even inquired.... It's kind of sad.
I still love the HD.

[scandia101]

had them switch the remainder of the 1 yr over to the S2 I had, then canceled the S1.
How do you cancel a subscription that no longer exists?

Now, the S2's 1 yr is over and is back on the monthly per my setting at 'My Account'. If I hadn't done that, there would be another 1 yr to roll over on.

No. There wouldn't be another year. Yearly and all other prepay term length subs automatically revert to monthly at the end of the term. *For for the time being*

[ThAbtO]

How do you cancel a subscription that no longer exists?

I had them cancel the S1 over the phone after the 1 yr was switched over to the S2.

No. There wouldn't be another year. Yearly and all other prepay term length subs automatically revert to monthly at the end of the term.

According to the info on My Account, it would roll over to another 1 yr term, I had to manually select the monthly.

[pdhenry]

You can now choose what plan your TiVo will switch to at the end of its service period. My S2DT is on a 3-year $6.95 MSD plan. I can now choose to switch to a $9.95 MSD plan, a $99.00 annual plan or a $299 Lifetime subscription when the current plan ends in 2010.

[scandia101]

I had them cancel the S1 over the phone after the 1 yr was switched over to the S2.
When you moved the sub from the s1 to the s2, the s1 was left w/o a subscription. There was no subscription to cancel.

According to the info on My Account, it would roll over to another 1 yr term, I had to manually select the monthly

When you changed the option to monthly, you also signed yourself up for another 12 month commitment.

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/8770/tivosubchangeaf5.jpg

the Details
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/1535/tivosubchangedetailshx7.jpg


and if you had done nothing, you'd be on a commitment free monthly sub.
http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/customerservice/myaccountandbilling/TiVo_Payment_Plans_and_Policies.html
If you have a monthly plan: The contract will roll over to a month-to-month plan and continue to be charged either at the same rate or the current monthly rate advertised on tivo.com/buy, whichever is lower.



If you have a prepaid plan: The contract will enter a new annual commitment and be charged at the current rate advertised on tivo.com/buy .



NOTE: If you activated a payment plan prior to 5/15/08, your plan will roll over to a month-to-month billing plan at the end of your commitment, regardless of original plan type.
;)

[shamilian]

So I called to cancel 5 days ago, the account still does not show that it is canceled!

They don't seem to offer a way to cancel on-line.

Now I am on hold for 30 minutes

Great customer care.

[shamilian]

They refuse to cancel it right away. They have billed me for
a whole month and they refuse to cancel until the end of the
month.

They don't want to refund the unused portion of the month,
even if the unit is not functional, even if I have asked for
cancellation.

Great customer care.

Another pissed off customer.

[rainwater]

Obviously, and yet you still seem to believe that Tivo did something wrong. They can't make you pay attention.

It's true that TiVo did nothing wrong. But they should do like most companies and send out email notifications when contracts are ending or new commitments are starting. TiVo could save themselves a lot of trouble by helping users out like this. However, I do think they feel it is worth the risk of upsetting small set of users by automatically re-upping the commitments on these transfers. They probably have lots of users paying for boxes that aren't in use, and TiVo will not go out of its way to remind these users of this.

[magnus]

For as long as I was with D*.... I never got any of these emails that these so called companies send out.

They never sent me an email stating that they were going to add to my commitment. Oh, and they also never set me an email letting me know my commitment was up and that I could jump ship if I wanted. They also never put anything on my bill stating anything about the length of my commitment terms.

So, I'd like to know who most companies are. Because I've never seen any of these notifications from any companies that I've dealt with. However, it would be great if they respected their customers enough to do so.

It's true that TiVo did nothing wrong. But they should do like most companies and send out email notifications when contracts are ending or new commitments are starting. TiVo could save themselves a lot of trouble by helping users out like this. However, I do think they feel it is worth the risk of upsetting small set of users by automatically re-upping the commitments on these transfers. They probably have lots of users paying for boxes that aren't in use, and TiVo will not go out of its way to remind these users of this.

[shamilian]

Tivo Policy updated November 2007

After the end of your monthly or prepaid commitment period, as applicable, TiVo will continue to charge you on a monthly basis at the current rate that you are paying (excluding promotional rates), or at the then applicable-rate for one (1), two (2), or three (3) year monthly TiVo service based on whether your original commitment period was for one (1), two (2), or three (3) years, whichever is the lower rate.

Tivo Policy updated september 2008

#8

After the end of your annual or 3 year commitment, as applicable, TiVo will continue to charge you on an annual basis at the then-current annual rate. You will receive a notification approximately 30 days prior to your renewal date to notify you of the renewal. Your credit card on file with us will be charged the then-annual renewal rate on your renewal date. You will have up to 30 days after the renewal date to change or cancel your service plan and receive a full refund.

So the new policy states that they have to notify the customer that they are renewing the service and give them 30 days to cancel.
But my unit is under the old policy so they never bothered to email me and give me the option to cancel.

Thanks.

Great Customer Care.

[DawnW]

Are you only out one full month of service? That isn't too much is it?

Dawn

[pdonoghu]

You can now choose what plan your TiVo will switch to at the end of its service period. My S2DT is on a 3-year $6.95 MSD plan. I can now choose to switch to a $9.95 MSD plan, a $99.00 annual plan or a $299 Lifetime subscription when the current plan ends in 2010.

If you don't want to lose the $6.95 MSD price, do nothing. The $6.95/month will continue automatically, month to month when your contract ends. People with the grandfathered $6.95 MSD price who are not paying attention and sign up for a future plan will end up paying more.

[scandia101]

They refuse to cancel it right away. They have billed me for
a whole month and they refuse to cancel until the end of the
month.

They don't want to refund the unused portion of the month,
even if the unit is not functional, even if I have asked for
cancellation.

Great customer care.

Another pissed off customer.

Another pissed off customer that just doesn't get it.

It seems that cancellations are no longer immediate. Subscriptions are allowed to use up the entire month that has already been paid for. The only difference to the customers cost is, well, there is no difference. The former policy put an immediate end to your service, but you didn't get any kind of prorated refund. That's how it worked since the very beginning. So I don't get what you're complaining about. You're getting more service than you would have had you canceled under the old policy.

You are not entitled to anything that you didn't get.

[shamilian]

Are you only out one full month of service? That isn't too much is it?

Dawn

No it is not too much. It is just annoying.

I had a better opinion of the Tivo company, than other
companies. I assumed that they would be more fair.

They implemented a new policy that notifies the users when their current contract is almost up, but they only implemented this if your contract started after May 2008.

Why not notify all users when their contract comes due?

[shamilian]

Another pissed off customer that just doesn't get it.

It seems that cancellations are no longer immediate. Subscriptions are allowed to use up the entire month that has already been paid for. The only difference to the customers cost is, well, there is no difference. The former policy put an immediate end to your service, but you didn't get any kind of prorated refund. That's how it worked since the very beginning. So I don't get what you're complaining about. You're getting more service than you would have had you canceled under the old policy.

You are not entitled to anything that you didn't get.


No cable company or phone company is allowed to continue to charge you. When I canceled comcast they sent me a check for the portion of the month that I did not use their service. Just because Tivo says it is their policy it does not make it fair or legal.

There is a reason the wireless companies were forced to change their policies by both the FCC and congress.

"In addition, FCC chairman Kevin Martin says he wants the commission to investigate similar fees for cable, Internet and landline contracts."

[magnus]

But you did get the service all this time didn't you? You just did not do what was needed to cancel. I think somewhere along the line of this thread you said that you put the 1 year onto a series 2. Or did I miss something?


No cable company or phone company is allowed to continue to charge you. When I canceled comcast they sent me a check for the portion of the month that I did not use their service. Just because Tivo says it is their policy it does not make it fair or legal.

There is a reason the wireless companies were forced to change their policies by both the FCC and congress.

"In addition, FCC chairman Kevin Martin says he wants the commission to investigate similar fees for cable, Internet and landline contracts."

[scandia101]

There is a reason the wireless companies were forced to change their policies by both the FCC and congress.

Well, maybe that's why TiVo seems to have changed their policy. But that doesn't change anything as far as your situation is concerned. You already paid for a month of service and you are getting that service. You are entitled to nothing else - as I stated previously.

[rainwater]

For as long as I was with D*.... I never got any of these emails that these so called companies send out.

They never sent me an email stating that they were going to add to my commitment. Oh, and they also never set me an email letting me know my commitment was up and that I could jump ship if I wanted. They also never put anything on my bill stating anything about the length of my commitment terms.

So, I'd like to know who most companies are. Because I've never seen any of these notifications from any companies that I've dealt with. However, it would be great if they respected their customers enough to do so.

Many companies whose business uses paperless billing using email notification. For instance T-mobile does this. It isn't uncommon for paperless billing systems to provide email information to customers. In fact, I have always been surprised TiVo doesn't send monthly payment reports.

[magnus]

D* is paperless. So, why don't they do what you suggested? TMobile does not really do that. They don't send you reminders that your contract is about to expire. They don't send emails saying that you can get a new phone. What type of emails are you refering to that TMobile sends? I think they send emails if you don't pay but that's about it. I believe that they send the invoice via email but what good does that do if you already have someone that is not paying attention (like the OP)? And they still don't mark the amount of commitment time that you have... so, I'm not sure the point.

Many companies whose business uses paperless billing using email notification. For instance T-mobile does this. It isn't uncommon for paperless billing systems to provide email information to customers. In fact, I have always been surprised TiVo doesn't send monthly payment reports.

[rainwater]

D* is paperless. So, why don't they do what you suggested? TMobile does not really do that. They don't send you reminders that your contract is about to expire. They don't send emails saying that you can get a new phone. What type of emails are you refering to that TMobile sends? I think they send emails if you don't pay but that's about it. I believe that they send the invoice via email but what good does that do if you already have someone that is not paying attention (like the OP)? And they still don't mark the amount of commitment time that you have... so, I'm not sure the point.

Hello? I never said every company did this. I get about 3 emails a month regarding account due notices from various online companies. My point is TiVo COULD do this and save a lot of hassle and generate some good will with it's customers.

[Adam1115]

This is confusing. So what happens when my 3 year prepaid is up...? It goes month to month? Or renews annually? Or renews for 3 years?

[magnus]

Ok, but it sounds like the OPs account was never past due. So, what would they send to the OP???

What exactly could Tivo send? Something like this.... Hey, Dummy your 1 year service is about to expire.... please read this email and take appropriate action. If you don't then we'll keep charging your card as agreed by you previously.

Hello? I never said every company did this. I get about 3 emails a month regarding account due notices from various online companies. My point is TiVo COULD do this and save a lot of hassle and generate some good will with it's customers.

[Adam1115]

Ok, but it sounds like the OPs account was never past due. So, what would they send to the OP???

What exactly could Tivo send? Something like this.... Hey, Dummy your 1 year service is about to expire.... please read this email and take appropriate action. If you don't then we'll keep charging your card as agreed by you previously.

How about "Your annual tivo service expires in 30 days. Please renew now to avoid an interruption in service."

Auto-renewing sucks.

I'm supposed to remember the EXACT second my 3 year pre-paid expires and do something about it?

[ciTiVo]

I don't care where they buried the info in the 'Agreement' -- it was unethical, and unethical behavior is a sign of very poor leadership, desperation, lack of oversight, or other problems.

The fact that they fixed the problem for new Agreements shows promise, but the fact that they're making people *still* jump through the same hoops I had to a year ago does not speak highly of TiVo management.

There's a problem. Fix it. And don't make your customers suffer.

[pdonoghu]

This is confusing. So what happens when my 3 year prepaid is up...? It goes month to month? Or renews annually? Or renews for 3 years?

It goes to month to month billing. You can cancel at any time. If you existing Tivo was on MSD pricing, you will get the MSD price.

[Adam1115]

It goes to month to month billing. You can cancel at any time. If you existing Tivo was on MSD pricing, you will get the MSD price.

TiVo's site doesn't say that. It says under 3 year pre-paid:

"At the end of your prepaid service, your plan will automatically renew at the then current annual service rate. You will be notified prior to your renewal."

What does that mean, they renew you for a year?

[magnus]

Then the OP should have just cancelled the 1 year of service from day one. I'm sure that someone on the other side of things would say... don't cancel my service... just auto bill me.


How about "Your annual tivo service expires in 30 days. Please renew now to avoid an interruption in service."

Auto-renewing sucks.

I'm supposed to remember the EXACT second my 3 year pre-paid expires and do something about it?

[Adam1115]

Then the OP should have just cancelled the 1 year of service from day one. I'm sure that someone on the other side of things would say... don't cancel my service... just auto bill me.

Maybe. I generally don't like anyone charging me for anything without authorization.

When my credit card expired and I cancelled it, TiVo started HOUNDING me with 'alerts' that my credit card was expired and that I needed to add another one, even though I'm PREPAID for another YEAR!

SO now I had to give them my debit card and allow them to keep it on file so they can force renew me a year from now....

[scandia101]

It goes to month to month billing. You can cancel at any time. If you existing Tivo was on MSD pricing, you will get the MSD price.
TiVo's site doesn't say that. It says under 3 year pre-paid:

"At the end of your prepaid service, your plan will automatically renew at the then current annual service rate. You will be notified prior to your renewal."

What does that mean, they renew you for a year?

Yes it does say that. I posted it and a link to the tivo.com web page that has the information in post #11.