Lifetime subscription cost is too low?

[peterado]

I see e-bay lifetime subscriptions for sale in the low 300's. Is this
a scam? What's going on here?

[mattack]

You can get the lifetime subscription for $299 if you have another subscribed Tivo.

So I think this 'scam' is them getting a lifetime subscription through that method, then transferring the Tivo + subscription to your account.. something like that.

[Dan203]

It's actually $399 if you buy through TiVo right now.

However it's still probably not a scam. Back in the early days lifetime was only $199, then $249, then $299 for a looooong time. There have also been several situations in history that allowed lifetime service to be transferred to a newer unit, which means there are boxes out there that have lifetime on them that the original owner paid less then $300 for the service and got years of use out of it before selling it for a profit like this.

Dan

[dave13077]

You can get a Lifetime sub if the unit qualifies for a MSD. The question I have is what happens if I get a Lifetime sub at a MSD of $299 and down the road cancel the sub on my main unit? Can they come back and charge me more for the second unit.

Right now I am monthy on both units.

[scandia101]

Originally Posted by dave13077

You can get a Lifetime sub if the unit qualifies for a MSD. The question I have is what happens if I get a Lifetime sub at a MSD of $299 and down the road cancel the sub on my main unit? Can they come back and charge me more for the second unit.

Right now I am monthy on both units.

Last year my my friend took her 11 year old twins to kids eat free night at a local restaurant every week. Last month they turned 12 and no longer qualify for free meals and the restaurant put a charge of over $500 on her credit card for the meals the kids had in 2008.
See how silly that sounds?

[dave13077]

Originally Posted by scandia101

Last year my my friend took her 11 year old twins to kids eat free night at a local restaurant every week. Last month they turned 12 and no longer qualify for free meals and the restaurant put a charge of over $500 on her credit card for the meals the kids had in 2008.
See how silly that sounds?

....Just asking......no need to be a jerk

[scandia101]

Originally Posted by dave13077

....Just asking......no need to be a jerk

I was just using a simple analogy that put it into a context that you and many others that ask the same question will more easily understand. Many people get confused because it's related to technology. They don't understand the tech, so they don't bother thinking about anything else that comes with it. They just assume they'll be equally dumbfounded by every thing related to it.

[naranja]

Originally Posted by dave13077

....Just asking......

I'd like to know too. I leave an old 40 hour with Lifetime plugged in and phoning home so the two HD Tivos we use will qualify for multi service discount.

Can I upgrade one of the HDs to lifetime using the MSD price of $299 and it become my "main" unit? That way I end up with an HD Tivo with lifetime, the other HD still getting the msd discount and I can get rid of the old 40 hr lifetime unit.

[JoeTaxpayer]

I bought a series 3 on eBay that came with Lifetime service.
When I bought another eBay series 3 with no service I called TiVo to activate and new lifetime was $300.
I think (not 100% here) that so long as you are on record as being a customer, the next unit qualifies for the deals for multiple service discount. So, in theory, you can provide the service of activating units with lifetime service and selling those to friends, if all that effort is worth saving the $100.
Or, and this is better - you can buy a series 2 with LT service for about $250 on eBay, then add LT service to an HD or series 3 for the $300 multi discount.
I don't believe that when you have two units that either one is considered 'main', you are either an active customer or not. Active meaning you are either paying for service or on record as holding a lifetime service box.

[SMWinnie]

Out of curiosity, could someone who bought the $300 MSD-Lifetime take a look at their settings screen and let us know whether it says, what? "Status: 5 - Product Lifetime Service" or whatever?

[Aflat]

If you read the ebay auction you can see that he states Refurbished Tivo's don't qualify. This means he is using his MSD discount and applying it to your tivo. If it was a gift card bought in the past, it would qualify to be used on the refurbished tivos as well.

[JoeTaxpayer]

Originally Posted by SMWinnie

Out of curiosity, could someone who bought the $300 MSD-Lifetime take a look at their settings screen and let us know whether it says, what? "Status: 5 - Product Lifetime Service" or whatever?

Mine says : 5: Product Lifetime Service

Both the transferred TiVo and one that I purchased the LT service say this.

[SMWinnie]

Originally Posted by JoeTaxpayer

Mine says : 5: Product Lifetime Service

Both the transferred TiVo and one that I purchased the LT service say this.

That sounds right to me, and it jibes with what we've heard before - that the MSD status is evaluated at the time of purchase and the new lifetimed box has plain vanilla lifetime. There's no "gotcha" waiting.

[Dan203]

I didn't realize that lifetime was discounted to $299 when you signed in to your account before purchasing. Interesting.

Dan