A round about way to get lifetime on Series 3 (maybe)

[MEngland]

Okay, so I'm gonna get a Series3 (unless the S3 costs thousands of dollars or has a huge monthly fee). I'd like to have my S3 with lifetime, but I don't have:
1) an unused BestBuy Lifetime gift card
or
2) a grandfathered Series 1 to tansfer from

So, I was thinking "how else can I get my S3 with lifetime"? And I came up with this. I'd be interested to hear if anyone thinks this would not work.

According to this post:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...&&#post3851329
you can transfer a lifetime sub, within the first 30 days, to a new unit.

And according to this post:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...00#post3858800
"new Humax DVD Recorder products not previously activated for service (that is, they have no activation history) will continue to be eligible for Product Lifetime Service activation"

So, if I
- Buy a Humax DVD
- DO NOT activate it l
- Purchase a S3 when they become available
- THEN activate my Humax with lifetime

Could I then transfer by lifetime from Humax to S3 in the next 30 days?

The most obvious problem with this plan is that Iwould not be able to get the $150 rebate on the Humax (since the rebate requires activation), so my cost would be $400 for the Humax + $300 for the lifetime. And the price of the S3.

But would it work?

[Gregor]

Only one way to find out. You first

[ChuckyBox]

If you are going to go that route, wouldn't it make more sense to buy the Humax box later, rather than sooner? Then you could get the lifetime sub for the Humax box, transfer it to the S3, then return the Humax box within the 30-day money back period.

Not that I think it will work, but this way you wouldn't be out the price of the box either way.

[filburt1]

You could probably return the Humax because it won't have service once you (ideally) have it transferred to a Series3. It would require buying the Humax a couple weeks or fewer before the Series3 is released and you buy one.

edit: Curse my timing.

[jfh3]

Originally Posted by MEngland

But would it work?

I'm certainly can't provide a definitive answer, but I would say no - I suspect you can transfer a lifetime sub in the first 30 days only to the same type box - a standard Tivo box to standard Tivo box or Humax DVD to Humax DVD, but not from a Series 2 box to a Series 3 box.

It seems if you want lifetime on an S3, you need to get an unused lifetime gift card or find a lifetime S1 sub'ed prior to January 2000 that has the grandfathered subscription intact.

[xnevergiveinx]

i think they'd only let you transfer it to another dvd box

[megazone]

The transfers within 30 days are for a bad unit, if you buy a unit and have to return it for a replacement they'll transfer the sub. I think they'd question transferring it to a completely different generation of box.

Personally I'd say this is unethical to do anyway. You know the Humax is a loss for them to sell, expecting to make it up on the sub. So you'd be knowingly exploiting the system to impose the loss. If you return the Humax for money back, that's even worse, many fees are incurred for restocking, etc. It is like people who go by a hard drive to use as a backup while working on a box, then return the drive when they're done. Or doing it with tools, etc. When I see or hear about people doing that I wish someone would beat some morals into them. "I'm just following the rules they established" isn't an excuse.

[MEngland]

megaZone - If you read my original post, I never said anything about returning the DVD writer. In fact, I noted that I would not even be able to get the rebate for the unit. I expected to pay a total of $700 ($400 for the humax + $300 for the lifetime sub) to get the lifetime that could be transferred to the S3.

So, before you go looking for someone to "beat some morals into", make sure the person has actually committed the transgression you ascribe to them.

[mick66]

Originally Posted by megazone

The transfers within 30 days are for a bad unit, if you buy a unit and have to return it for a replacement

According to one of the TiVo people on this forum, you can freely transfer a lifetime subscription during the first 30 days. That can be done on the tivo website. The Humax used to obtain the lifetime sub could be returned to the store or resold to someone else.

[megazone]

Originally Posted by MEngland

So, before you go looking for someone to "beat some morals into", make sure the person has actually committed the transgression you ascribe to them.

Why did you presume that was addressed to you? It was suggested in the thread to buy the Humax and return it. The reply was to the thread overall.

[jfh3]

Originally Posted by mick66

According to one of the TiVo people on this forum, you can freely transfer a lifetime subscription during the first 30 days. That can be done on the tivo website. The Humax used to obtain the lifetime sub could be returned to the store or resold to someone else.

True, but there's never been an explicit confirmation that you could do so when talking about a transfer from a Series 2 to a Series 3 box. I can see cases where it's Series 2 to Series 2, but can't imagine why Tivo would allow this for S2 to S3.

[mick66]

I really doubt it would work for a series 3, but it would probably work if you wanted to get lifetime on a 540 unit in the future. Another thing that people should keep in mind is that Tivo could and likely will eventually end lifetime subscriptions on Humax units. The question though is when will this happen? sooner or later?

[TiVoStephen]

This won't work. We won't allow you to transfer Product Lifetime from a Humax DVD-R unit to a different type of unit after 5/16.

[Dan203]

So it should be safe for you guys to release those Series 2 DT units after that.

Dan

[OldTownTreadles]

I shouldn't log in while at work, because my thinking is far too linear. But wouldn't it make sense to wait till Humax comes out with a series 3 unit with HD DVD and then lifetime it?

BTW, I had dealings with Humax customer support last weekend when my daughter was having trouble with the Humax unit, and they had no wait, knew their stuff, and were very nice. Not only that but their fix didn't involve a return, was simple enough for her to do herself, and best of all, worked. So, based on the customer service that I received, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a Humax unit for the living room.

Now, back to work.

[ChuckyBox]

Originally Posted by TiVoOpsMgr

This won't work. We won't allow you to transfer Product Lifetime from a Humax DVD-R unit to a different type of unit after 5/16.

"5/16?" "5/16?" "5/16?" So I can do it for the next month?

[Dan203]

You're always able to transfer lifetime for the first 30 days. So the only people who will be able to do that on 5/16 are those who purchased lifetime on 4/16. If you bought it before 4/16 then your clock runs out 30 days from the date of purchase.

Dan

[Sirshagg]

It makes sense. if you bought lifetime on ANY unit on 4/15 you would have till 5/15 (30 days) to transfer it to another box.

[ZeoTiVo]

Originally Posted by Sirshagg

It makes sense. if you bought lifetime on ANY unit on 4/15 you would have till 5/15 (30 days) to transfer it to another box.

of the same type and model

[TiVoStephen]

No -- within the first 30 days you can transfer Product Lifetime to ANY standalnoe model.

Don't read anything into 5/15 other than that it's 30 days after 4/15, the last day for Product Lifetime.

[ChuckyBox]

Originally Posted by Sirshagg

It makes sense. if you bought lifetime on ANY unit on 4/15 you would have till 5/15 (30 days) to transfer it to another box.

But the point is, you can still get lifetime on a Humax DVD box. So on 5/14 I could buy a Humax box, lifetime it, transfer the lifetime to another box, then return the Humax box. As long as you do it before 5/16 (and are willing to be a pain in TiVo's a**), you can still get lifetime on any box you want.

[MEngland]

Originally Posted by TiVoOpsMgr

No -- within the first 30 days you can transfer Product Lifetime to ANY standalone model.

Don't read anything into 5/15 other than that it's 30 days after 4/15, the last day for Product Lifetime.

I was about to comment earlier that I was no longer confused, but now I am re-confused.

I thought that Lifetime was still available for Humax DVD units. If that is true, then I can buy a Humax DVD next week (4/24) and I would have until 5/24 to transfer the lifetime to ANY Standalone TiVo. I can buy a Humax on 5/1 and I have until 6/1 to transfer the lifetime.

So I guess the question now is... How much longer will Lifetime be available for Humax DVD boxes?

[TiVoStephen]

It is an exception currently, but we will monitor to make sure people do not abuse it.

After 5/15, you cannot transfer PLT from Humax DVD units to other types of units. So if you bought the Humax unit on 4/24 and then bought PLT, you could transfer it to any other type of unit until 5/15.

Similarly, if you bought a Series2 last week and bought Product Lifetime on it on Saturday, you could transfer your Product Lifetime in the next 30 days.

[jfh3]

I'm guessing this means that the odds of the Series 3 being released before 5/15 are just about zero, slightly worse than the odds of the Series 2 DT being released by then ...