Lifetime service discount question

Awesome. I was hoping I could buy it locally in case I wasn't happy with it and needed to return it. A local Best Buy store would be a TON easier to do a return.

Can I also maybe initially sign this TiVO up on a monthly plan? Then if happy in about 2-3 months, switch it to a PLS at $399. Or does the $399 PLS have to be bought right off the bat.

I say all this cause I have also gotten numerous different & conflicting reports on obtaining the cable card for it. A Comcast rep on the phone has told me it would cost the same as getting another full digital cable box ($8.95/month). However, a rep in my local Comcast office said the additional cable card for it (my 3rd) would run me $1.50/month. I would of course try to get it from my local office, but since I already have two cable cards for my S3 (at $1.50 each), I'm not sure who to believe. If I'm able to truly get this 3rd card at only $1.50/month, I'm cool with that.

But if I discover a few weeks later that Comcast's billing department over rides my local office & winds up charging me $8.95/month for this 3rd card, then I want the option of dumping the whole thing and taking the TiVo Premiere back without having to pay shipping charges.

I've seen all kinds of reports here on what Comcast has charged people for cable cards. I actually had to get them to initially adjust my bill and explain to them that the two cable cards I got are actually for ONE TiVo since its an older model (Series 3). They wound up finally fixing it and I have been charged $3/month for both for some time now, but it took some wrangling.

Not to mention how it also took some wrangling to convince the Comcast tech who came to install it that I needed TWO S-cards for my TiVo when he initially insisted the one M-card he had would work. Sure enough & like I told him in the first place, this one M-card didn't function at all in my S3. He actually only had one S-card with him so they had to schedule to have another tech come out with a 2nd S-Card. Oy Vey!!!

That's why I can't really trust Comcast as far as I can throw them (even if the service itself has been pretty good for the most part in my area)

I haven't been charged the "additional outlet fee" for any of my current cable cards (two of them). I only have $3 cable card fees each month on my Comcast bill and its been that way for about a year now. I currently also have one SD digital box from Comcast as well (first "free" one), but no additional digital boxes. Like I said, it took a little wrangling and explaining to get it this way, but was finally granted & able to get it done.

The woman at the local Comcast office told me it would be JUST the additional $1.50/month for a new M-card. The Comcast rep on the phone said it would be JUST $8.95/month for another cable card. Nobody said it would be both & if that does wind up being the case, that is ridiculous and I would then return EVERYTHING.

I like the suggestion of getting the card a couple of days before my billing date. Unfortunately, my Comcast area requires a Comcast tech to do a TiVo cable card install. I have no choice on this matter & can't do a self-install so I would then have to do some coordinating including making a Comcast appointment a few days before my billing date & then buy the TiVo Premiere at my Best Buy a few days before that Comcast appointment. Hopefully then have it all done within a week. I can then see what they sock me with and then have some room to either get it fixed or return it all.