[Skye]

I got an email from Tivo last night telling me that they removed the preroll ads from my account. The email instructed me to go to Settings>network settings>TiVo Service connection and re run that. I did, then tried to play a recording and still saw the background go to the arrows before playback started. I have not taken the rules out of my firewall that block the ads, but just seeing those arrows pop up tells me that they did NOT remove the ads despite what their email said.

 

[realityboy]

Please elaborate on HOW you asked for the pre-roll ads to be removed and what you had to go through to accomplish that. I tried yesterday and was told "not possible"

The phone support went along with it pretty easily. After he gave me the line about being able to skip it, I did mention that sometimes it doesn't even play, it just goes to the frozen screen so skipping wasn't a good solution.

 

[ej42137]

Please elaborate on HOW you asked for the pre-roll ads to be removed and what you had to go through to accomplish that. I tried yesterday and was told "not possible"

"That is not true, there are numerous reports on TiVoCommunity and Twitter confirming it is possible. Please escalate my call to your supervisor."

There are also several reports of TiVo support telling people it is not possible.

 

[Fofer]

Yeah well I wouldn’t mention that part, and I would refuse to get off the phone or drop the issue until I spoke to a CSR or supervisor who handled the issue properly for me.

 

[Skye]

Tivo sent me another email asking me to try again. Pre roll ads are now gone. Yes!!!

 

[aaronwt]

I finally saw my first pre-roll ad today.

Sent from my Tab S 10.5

 

[Narkul]

Got my first pre-roll today too. I knew it was coming when I started to see the arrows screen before recordings start. Didn't get the usual "new mail" notification when new features are added, lol. Keurig Donut Shoppe coffee was the pitch for me. The second time I encountered it I just hit the skip and it was done. Not nearly as intrusive as the TiVo plus plastered in the guide and menu bar. I miss the ToDo menu item that TiVo plus booted out.

 

[Noelmel]

I miss the ToDo menu item that TiVo plus booted out.

Yah that annoyed me too I'm so used to hitting the shortcut TiVo 3. Changed it to TiVo 8 so just gotta get used to it now

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JKR123]

Today marks the 5th time I have had to call requesting the pre-roll ads to be removed from my Bolt boxes. This was due to various reasons.

(1) My first request was on Oct. 1st and I was not able to view a recording that had a pre-roll ad. They said to give them 72 hours and they would remove them. They were successfully removed until Nov. 10th.

(2) My 2nd request was on Nov. 10th, and they told me they had not completely removed all of the ads from my 1st request which is why I was seeing them again. At this time I also asked that the ads be removed from all of my boxes if they were not doing this at an account level. They said to give them up to 72 hrs.

(3) My 3rd request was on Nov. 14, and they told me they still had not completed my 2nd request because it had been routed to the wrong back office area. It was also at this time that they told me that the ads came back due to a software update from version 21.9.2 to version 21.9.6. This didn’t make sense to me though because my box in question had been updated on Oct. 30th with version 21.9.6 but I didn’t see the ads come back until Nov. 10th. They told me my request had been escalated and to give them 24 hours to make the change. They also told me after they make the change the additional gray arrow screens would be removed.

(4) My 4th request was on Nov. 15th and they told me they were still working on my previous request and to give them another 72 hours.

(5) My 5th request was today, Nov. 20th, when I saw the ads and also the gray arrow screens on a different Bolt box. They told me that my previous request had only been made to one of my boxes even though I had requested it to cover all of my boxes. Again, they are telling me to give them up to 72 hours to get this corrected.

 

[chiguy50]

I finally saw my first pre-roll ad today.

Got my first pre-roll today too. I knew it was coming when I started to see the arrows screen before recordings start. Didn't get the usual "new mail" notification when new features are added, lol. Keurig Donut Shoppe coffee was the pitch for me. The second time I encountered it I just hit the skip and it was done. Not nearly as intrusive as the TiVo plus plastered in the guide and menu bar. I miss the ToDo menu item that TiVo plus booted out.

Although we must assume that you are both on TE4 (Hydra), it would be appreciated if everyone would please specify your TiVo model(s) and/or UI when posting about pre-roll ad appearance.

If you are on TE3, this would be news of primary and unsettling significance on the issue of this loathsome "feature."

 

[Fofer]

Today marks the 5th time I have had to call requesting the pre-roll ads to be removed from my Bolt boxes. This was due to various reasons.

(1) My first request was on Oct. 1st and I was not able to view a recording that had a pre-roll ad. They said to give them 72 hours and they would remove them. They were successfully removed until Nov. 10th.

(2) My 2nd request was on Nov. 10th, and they told me they had not completely removed all of the ads from my 1st request which is why I was seeing them again. At this time I also asked that the ads be removed from all of my boxes if they were not doing this at an account level. They said to give them up to 72 hrs.

(3) My 3rd request was on Nov. 14, and they told me they still had not completed my 2nd request because it had been routed to the wrong back office area. It was also at this time that they told me that the ads came back due to a software update from version 21.9.2 to version 21.9.6. This didn't make sense to me though because my box in question had been updated on Oct. 30th with version 21.9.6 but I didn't see the ads come back until Nov. 10th. They told me my request had been escalated and to give them 24 hours to make the change. They also told me after they make the change the additional gray arrow screens would be removed.

(4) My 4th request was on Nov. 15th and they told me they were still working on my previous request and to give them another 72 hours.

(5) My 5th request was today, Nov. 20th, when I saw the ads and also the gray arrow screens on a different Bolt box. They told me that my previous request had only been made to one of my boxes even though I had requested it to cover all of my boxes. Again, they are telling me to give them up to 72 hours to get this corrected.

I'm not sure what disgusts me more: the very introduction of these pre-roll ads, or TiVo's inconsistent and unreliable customer service related to the issue. It all sounds awful.

Many of us have waited decades for TiVo to finally catch up to the old ReplayTV and UltimateTV DVRs, and offer completely automatic comskip. It finally happened, and for tagged shows, it works beautifully, it just requires we pay $$$ for new hardware and to upgrade to Hydra to get the feature. For TiVo to then introduce their own pre-roll at the beginning of our (local!) playback just seems so slimy to me. That they're using a software mechanism that is crashing some people's TiVos is pathetic. And that they haven't figured out how to make it simple for any customer to opt out and stay opted out and not have to worry about it anymore, is the straw that (finally) breaks this camel's back. I mean, really. The saga you've shared above is ridiculous.

 

[BobCamp1]

Today marks the 5th time I have had to call requesting the pre-roll ads to be removed from my Bolt boxes. This was due to various reasons.

Either get rid of the box or roll back to TE3. If Tivo is that incompetent with your account, then you've got to take other action.

 

[Charles R]

Again, they are telling me to give them up to 72 hours to get this corrected.

At this point it's well documented as to which domains to block (without any negative impact) so there is no real reason to deal with TiVo especially if each new release brings them back (at some point)... block them and by done.

 

[foghorn2]

Although we must assume that you are both on TE4 (Hydra), it would be appreciated if everyone would please specify your TiVo model(s) and/or UI when posting about pre-roll ad appearance.

If you are on TE3, this would be news of primary and unsettling significance on the issue of this loathsome "feature."

Yes, if you are going to report you are getting pre rolls, post the TiVO model and UI.

 

[Adam C.]

At this point it's well documented as to which domains to block (without any negative impact) so there is no real reason to deal with TiVo especially if each new release brings them back (at some point)... block them and by done.

I agree. Dealing with Tivo seems like such a waste of time on this. Even if they block the ads temporarily, people have reported that they reappear in the future. Blocking the domains is one solution, although I fully expect those to change over time as well, so it will be a wild goose chase keeping up

 

[JKR123]

Yes, if you are going to report you are getting pre rolls, post the TiVO model and UI.

My Bolts are the VOX models both 500 GB and 1TB and they all seem to be at software version 21.9.6.v.5. I didn't know about the capability of rolling them back to TE3 until just recently so they are running with what came installed on them which I understand is called Hydra.

I saw some posts about blocking domains. Is there any documentation that someone could point me to in order to guide me through that process? I don't know a lot about that stuff but I can certainly follow directions. Thanks

 

[Charles R]

Blocking the domains is one solution, although I fully expect those to change over time as well, so it will be a wild goose chase keeping up

I doubt TiVo will put that much effort into it. Based on my (daily) usage pi-hole blocks from 15-30% of my DNS requests with the majority of them being "big boys" Now most of them are via Blocklists which I'm sure get updated on a regular basis however I get the impression they are fairly static. If they don't try I can't imagine TiVo giving much of an attempt.

 

[aaronwt]

Yes, if you are going to report you are getting pre rolls, post the TiVO model and UI.

I noticed the ad on my Mini Vox. I'll need to check my Bolts, ROamio, and Mini v1 this weekend. I run Hydra(or whatever it's called now) on all my TiVos.

 

[ej42137]

At this point it's well documented as to which domains to block (without any negative impact) so there is no real reason to deal with TiVo especially if each new release brings them back (at some point)... block them and by done.

Requesting to opt-out gives TiVo the message that you are very unhappy with the pre-roll ads. If you just block the domains they're going to think you are all right with them.

 

[Adam C.]

Requesting to opt-out gives TiVo the message that you are very unhappy with the pre-roll ads. If you just block the domains they're going to think you are all right with them.

Good point. But highly unlikely that they will care or do anything differently.