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Continual care question

Discussion in 'TiVo Coffee House - TiVo Discussion' started by Ocresident, Oct 26, 2020.

  1. Oct 26, 2020 #1 of 6
    Ocresident

    Ocresident Member

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    I haven’t been paying much attention to any changes at TiVo for quite some time so I’m behind on anything that’s happened with the company in the past couple of years.

    I have a TiVo Bolt that died today. It’s the second time it died. The unit is about 2 years old. I seem to remember a $49 replacement fee if the unit dies while under continual care. Apparently this policy has changed to a tiered fee based on the age of the unit. I renewed my continual care contract last November so I’m curious to know whether the policy change took place before or after I renewed my service agreement.

    I spent 40 minutes with tech support going through all sorts of gyrations. First they told me I have a cable card problem and there is nothing wrong with the unit. Then they offered to sell me an Edge unit for $299 as a courtesy. After pushing back I finally got them to admit they have no more Bolts in stock but they agreed to give me a 2TB Edge to replace my 3TB Bolt for $99. I’m not very happy about that as it appears the Edge doesn’t really offer much improvement but I lose 33% of my storage capacity while spending $99 to do so.

    I’ve been a TiVo user since the S1 so I hate to abandon the platform. I have four units in my house. But each year they seem to make the overall platform a little less attractive. And three unit failures in two years seems a bit excessive.
     
    mrsean likes this.
  2. Oct 27, 2020 #2 of 6
    tommage1

    tommage1 Well-Known Member

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    Well if your Bolt has failed and you don't take the deal you have nothing (unless you can fix the Bolt). I'm not sure what you mean about renewing your continual care "contract", you mean you renewed your monthly/yearly subscription? From what I hear (not sure), you only get one exchange per device? And you've used yours, you said this is second time it has "died"? I'm assuming you don't have lifetime based on "renewing" but either way $99 is not bad for a working Edge vs a broken Bolt. Even losing a TB. If you don't want/like Edge sell it and buy a used Bolt?

    That being said, Bolt and Edge use 2.5" drives. If you go external with 3.5" CMR drive I think failures would be a lot less, at least drive related.
     
    mrsean likes this.
  3. Oct 27, 2020 #3 of 6
    Ocresident

    Ocresident Member

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    I purchased the Bolt in 2018. It died six months later in early 2019. I paid $49 for TiVo to send me a refurbed replacement unit, which lasted about a year and died this week.

    Now I’m paying $99 to replace that unit with a refurbed 2TB Edge unit. When I first signed up for the continual care contract it was a flat $49 replacement fee if the box fails. At some point TiVo changed the terms of the agreement to a tiered replacement fee based on how old the unit is. I would like to know if anyone knows the date this change took place. The rep on the phone told me it was in June, which would have been after I renewed the agreement. If that is the case it would appear to me they retroactively changed the terms of the agreement after I paid for it.

    From what I’ve read about the Edge it does not seem like people on this forum are all that enthusiastic about it. Aside from HDR and Dolby and a slightly faster processor it does not seem to offer anything new, but I lose 1TB of disk space compared to my Bolt.

    I have an LG C9 TV and I prefer to use the smart TV apps to watch Netflix and other streaming services, so I don’t see much need for the HDR or Dolby Atmos support. Is there anything else in the Edge that will improve my experience over the Bolt?
     
  4. Oct 28, 2020 #4 of 6
    tommage1

    tommage1 Well-Known Member

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    I heard it changed Sept 1 but could be wrong. Did not know the "continual care" provision was part of the contract when renewing subscription. You are correct, used to be $49 and was for monthly/yearly devices only. Now the tiered, more expensive in most cases, limited to 5 years, and only devices purchased new. Good part is they added lifetime boxes but that does not apply to you.

    Yes, if continual care is part of the subscription renewal they should honor the $49. When I first saw the new terms I mentioned those that had purchased units on monthly/yearly expecting $49 replacements would not be happy. So much has changed, the $49 program they replaced with same box. But now they have nothing but Edge. So probably jacked the fee since getting a more expensive box.

    You can try to get the $49, might be tough since you can never talk to anyone with actual authority. The $99 is not bad though. A non lifetime Bolt is only worth about $50 in working condition. A non lifetime cable Edge should be worth $200+ in open market. Not sure what is best for you really, I don't think you will get a Bolt from them, even if you did it would not be 3TB as those are long gone. So Edge only choice. Or fix Bolt, if drive is problem will be tough to find 2.5 3TB CMR drive for under $100. You are right, Edge not really better for you, also stuck with TE4, Bolt is TE3 or TE4. Good luck, at least you have a semi decent choice, the $99, would have been paying $49 best case, losing a TB not great but that's the way it is in this case.
     
    Dan Cour likes this.
  5. Oct 28, 2020 #5 of 6
    ManeJon

    ManeJon Active Member

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    I've had 2 Bolts go bad in the last month - first one I had 2 years 2 was the replacement for the first - lasted almost 3 weeks. Sending me another BOLT so they are still doing that
     
    tommage1 likes this.
  6. Oct 28, 2020 #6 of 6
    tommage1

    tommage1 Well-Known Member

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    Interesting. Perhaps depends on model of Bolt. Maybe they don't have any of the 6 tuner cable only Bolts left so do Edge. But maybe they have some 4 tuner models left so still doing same model exchanges for those?
     

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