Any advice would be very much appreciated ... Tivo HD box question

[Stephen D]

Okay, here's the deal:

I have two Tivo units. My Tivo series 2 unit is about four years old and I absolutely love it. I have no issues with it. I'm only including it here as reference.

1. In January 2010 I bought a TIVO HD unit. My wife and I received a smallish HDTV that we put in the bedroom and I used that as the lever to finally get her to be interested in getting the Tivo HD. Well, that, and the prospect of all that Netflix goodness being at her fingertips. She loves cheesy horror movies and I knew that would seal the deal. So it was done... we got the HD box and installed it immediately.

2. Everything went along fine for a little while. Maybe three weeks. We got occasional reboots and such, but nothing extreme. We could live with it, though we did note that it wasn't nearly as reliable as our original Series 2 unit which was still chugging along upstairs as good as ever.

3. Since the first of March, it hasn't worked in a reliable manner for longer than 24 hours, and in most cases, less than ten minutes. It freezes, reboots, gray screens, etc. time and again and again and again.

4. After various phone calls and live chats with Tivo, I've, in no particular order, replaced the CableCard, had Cox Communications out to check their stuff, attached various ratings of attenuators to the cable, removed CableCard altogether, purchased a UPC, then removed the UPC, disconnected the unit from the surround sound receiver, ran it straight to the TV, disconnected the wireless antennae, reconnected it, done hard reboot after hard reboot, stood on my hands and chanted, given it a shiatsu massage, and tried out and out bribery.

Nothing has worked.

The only way we have TV with any reliability downstairs is to disconnect the HD. If we want to record shows for viewing down there, we use the Series 2 down there. Yes we physically lug that old faithful downstairs and reconnect it, on occasion, to get some viewing down there.

Here's the setup: TIVO HD, no expander, no nothing. the only thing we have on it is the wireless connector in place of the phone connection. It runs to the TV via a receiver we use for surround sound.

I am at a loss as to what to do. I called today and spoke to Tivo who offered me a Tivo Premier at the "upgrade" cost of 199.00. I really don't want to do that based on what I'm reading on these forums. It just feels like throwing more money down the drain.

The lady I spoke to thought I might qualify for a free replacement, since I've been calling them weekly since March, but when she came back on the line, all she could do was offer the Premier upgrade.

I think I'm out of this. Its been too much trouble devoted to something so trivial as TV recording. But I SO MUCH don't want to be out of it. I LOVE my original Tivo and when it works, it can't be beat, but I just don't know what to do with this as it stands.

What I'm looking for is this: Have I done everything that can be done here? Is there some secret thing that I haven't seen yet, some arcane knowledge, that will allow this TIVO HD to start working better? Or is it just what it is?

No complaints... just a sincere desire to see this work and keep the joy I had before. But... I can't continue to pay this sort of money for a product like this. '

I'm not the kind of person who can call up a customer service rep and just harass them into doing something for me. If they say that is their option, then I take it and either accept it, or move on.

At this point I think it might be time to move on. Which is really depressing, since its been so good these past few years.

Any insight would be appreciated.

[turbobuick86]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but you're not alone. If you bought it new 5 months ago and it's broken, why isn't Tivo making it right?

I bought two used units recently, one works with netflix and one doesn't. Some will say use ethernet only, no wireless, but in the end it doesn't matter as long as your wireless is strong. That being said, I would run an ethernet cable directly from the modem/router. Even on top of the carpet/floor for testing purposes.

Tivo needs to step up and at least admit to the shortcomings. If they advertise these as Netflix friendly, then they should make them so.

Good luck and I wouldn't let them off the hook so easily if I had bought mine new and they were still under warranty.

[WhiskeyTango]

Sounds like a problem with the hard drive. You may want to try the Kickstart tests to see if they can find a problem with the drive.

[solutionsetc]

Sorry about your troubles. You should have returned the unit at step two.

I bought two TiVo HDs last year. One of the units behaved the same as you describe in step two. TiVo support was useless… after trying to get me to jump through a whole bunch of hoops, I finally just swapped it (and the cable cards) with the other unit so it was hooked to the same outlet and using the same cablecards. The rebooting problem stayed with the same unit at the other location and cable card. Clearly it was defective.

At that point their resolution was to replace my brand new, defective out of the box unit, with a refurb. I told them no thanks and returned it to amazon for a 'new' replacement. No problems with the new box from Amazon. This is one of the reasons I buy from them.

If you opened up a ticket with TiVo during the warranty period for this issue (and have record of it - and it sounds as if you and TiVo both know that you have), TiVo is legally obligated to repair or replace the box. Here's how you can expedite matters:

Send a certified letter addressed to the CEO; Tom Rogers. Politely describe all of the details since you first called them as specifically as you can. Follow all of this with the following paragraph:

"I have been very patient and given you every opportunity to fix this TiVo. Your records will clearly reflect an in-warranty reporting of this problem and advice given to solve the problem on my end, including arranging for my cable provider to come out and verify their equipment was all in working order. The fact that none of this has resolved the problem does not mean your warranty has expired - it means the warranty is still in place and has been breached by your inability to address the problem. At this point I would respectfully request either a refund of my money (you can have the TiVo back) or a new TiVo of like kind and quality. If I receive neither, then you have left me with no choice but to file suit under California's consumer protection statutes."

You will be hearing from them within a week or so after their receipt of your certified letter.

And next time don't wait when there is a problem.

[solutionsetc]

Oh and one more thing. I know you said you don't like to make waves, but if TiVo thinks their sole responsibility to you at this point is to allow you buy a new unit, they are sadly mistaken.

You're not harassing anyone, you're standing up for your rights as provided by our laws. The CSRs you spoke with could very well not be familiar with their warranty obligations under the law, but the person that your letter will find its way to will be.

[steve614]

Does the customer have say when a ticket is closed?
Otherwise TiVo could claim the ticket closed and not honor the warranty.

[solutionsetc]

Samsung closed the ticket on me and that letter still had them delivering me a brand new 50" HDTV.

The fact is that, if informed of a covered issue within the warranty, they're on the hook to fix it within a reasonable period of time.

[Stephen D]

Thought I'd update with new info:

After two more months of this I've officially thrown in the towel. Called Tivo every two days for the last few weeks, and they just keep telling me I need to upgrade to a premier and that's all they can do.

I boxed it up. Went to Cox and got a Digital DVR for the downstairs bedroom and I'll keep my series 2 Tivo until it quits I guess, or I get a good TV upstairs.

Now to cancel the service on the Tivo HD, which I understand is going to be a whole other can of worms.

Beginning to wish I'd never heard of these guys.