[Unhappyeger]

Bad Experience with Tivo Support. My HUMAX unit broke after one week. I called to get a replacement unit. When it arrived, I followed the instructions exactly. Here is what happened when I tried to transfer my account:

1. After listening to TIVO's music on hold for about ten minutes, the first representative came to the phone. She asked me various identification questions, then she put me on hold again. Then she told me that she only handled new activations and not transfers. She then put me on hold for another 15 minutes.

2. A second person came to the phone. She asked me to identify myself again with the very same questions. She then put me on hold. When she returned, she said that the transfer had to be handled by HUMAX and suggested that I call them. I asked to speak with a manager. She gave me a case number. Of course, I was put on hold again.

3. When the manager came on, I explained that I was replacing a unit and needed to transfer my account. She had to ask me the same questions, but then she transferred the account. I complained that I had been on hold for about 40 minutes. She apologized weakly.

Until now, I really liked Tivo. Their lack of support is apalling. With this type of support, this company will not be in business very long.

 

[Stanley Rohner]

They've been in business for years now.

I doubt that your bad experience is gonna decide the fate of the company.

 

[cartwa]

Speaking as a NON TiVo employee, I am going to second what Unhappyeger is complaining about. The whole activation code screw-up they put me through was embarrassing and should have resulted in many terminations. Instead of owning up to the screw-up the different TiVo departments blame each other. 2 weeks it took TiVo to correct their own issue. People who bought a TiVo box and an "invalid activation code" at stores like Best Buy were told to simply take back the box. A great marketing campaign clearly f-ed up by a very underprepared company. Great timing too. Nothing like screwing up and making a complete arse of yourself during the Christmas retail season. The customer service people I talked to were hit or miss. If this is how it handles large sales, I think the fate of the company definitely could be questioned.

Non-Tivo employees only are welcome to share your experience.

 

[mick66]

When I bought my Tivo in May of '01 I chose the yearly subscription option. When that first year was comming to an end I upgraded to Lifetime. They charged me for both. I called cs and after spending about a minute on hold I explained the problem to the cs rep and he said that everything would be fixed and it was. The anually subscription fee was refunded the next day. Then in Sept. '04 I bought a used 540 S2 on ebay. The seller didn't cancel his service because he thought he needed to keep it subscribed until he actually got his rebate check. I called cs again. After >5 minutes on hold I explained the problem and the cs rep was able to cancel the seller's subscription so that I could go online and start my own subscription, but I was told it could take a couple of hours. After about ten minutes, I tried to activate it again and everthing worked.
Tivo customer service is great!

Non-Tivo employees only are welcome to share your experience.

Sorry, but it's really not up to you to make that rule.

 

[Turtleboy]

Speaking as a NON TiVo employee, I

Non-Tivo employees only are welcome to share your experience.

There are only 3-4 Tivo employees who post on the board, and they are clearly identified as such.

99.99999999% of the people who post here are not Tivo employees. It's silly of you to think they are.

 

[Unhappyeger]

The manager showed no interest in correcting the underlying problem. She didn't say that she would talk to the employees (who need training). She did not seem to care!

Forty minutes on hold is too long, although I am not sure how long I was on the phone. I started my call at half-time. It was the fourth quarter by the time I spoke to the manager.

That's bad CS.

 

[MickeS]

The manager showed no interest in correcting the underlying problem. She didn't say that she would talk to the employees (who need training). She did not seem to care!

Honestly, she probably just wanted to end your call so others could get through.

I agree that wait times at support are way too long.

 

[Billy66]

There is one thing that TiVo is great at. Making DVR software that is reliable. It seems like they struggle in almost every other area. For me, it they are only going to be good at one thing, they picked the right one.

That's not to say that they stink at everything else. Just that everything else seems to be more hit and miss.

 

[mec1991]

With this type of support, this company will not be in business very long.

When are you trolls going to understand that using this same line over and over identifies you and makes your post a joke?

Be original for a change! Use your imagination, damn it.

 

[Billy66]

When are you trolls going to understand that using this same line over and over identifies you and makes your post a joke?

When are you TiVo fanboys going to realize that these are real experiences and feelings of frustrated customers who do not devote as much time as you and I to understanding TiVo's path.

Calling this person a troll is a copout. You should be calling TiVo out on their horrible support for these two new customers.

Sure, when a customer feels this way they overblow their emotions into doom for the company, but that is how they feel in the moment.

You, because you have no defense for the actions of TiVo, simply wipe this away by calling him names. Your post in this thread better fits the definition of trolling than does the OP's.

Get your head out of the sand. TiVo is a great product and they can offer some very good service. Sometimes, especially when it's busy, they show the cracking point in their abilities.

 

[mec1991]

When are you TiVo fanboys going to realize that these are real experiences and feelings of frustrated customers who do not devote as much time as you and I to understanding TiVo's path.

Get your head out of the sand. TiVo is a great product and they can offer some very good service. Sometimes, especially when it's busy, they show the cracking point in their abilities.

Check my earlier posts. I have my differences with TiVo as well as a number of other companies. Never once have I posted that they will go out of business despite my frustrations with them.

Fanboy? I have referred to others here as TiVo whores!

I just get tired of the same old crap over and over. Like I wrote, let them use some imagination and not just repeat the same thing.

 

[Billy66]

When people continue to experience the same frustration in the same way from TiVo, why would you expect that they would express it differently? If you're tired of it, ***** for TiVo to provide better service. That will do as much as criticizing the victim of poor service.

 

[cartwa]

Wow, I have learned a lot today. I assumed that these zealots that seemed to want to protect TiVo blindly were actual employees of the company. It seems that not just this thread but all the other threads that hold a hint a negativism towards TiVo are all bombarded with sarcastic rants and insults towards the originator. It seems like TiVo has become an adopted child for some of these TV watching drones and by insulting their TiVo, somehow you are insulting them personally. This thread started with a harmless complaint towards the poor customer service received by TiVo. I am guessing most of the rubes that have replied in this thread have not recently purchased anything from TiVo so would have NO idea what customer service is currently like. Even Minnesota Mick66, who had wonderful service, bought his little child in 2001.

I have had TiVo since 2002. I have had no issues. I gave it as a gift this year and both my gift recipients were treated rudely and waited on line for 20+ minutes. I called in myself only to receive the same treatment. I was told that because of the success of the Christmas special, service was backed up.

I am going to love reading what you TiVo Rubes are going to spew towards me next.

 

[dgh]

I am going to love reading what you TiVo Rubes are going to spew towards me next.

This is a user to user help forum. If you'd like help with something that is within the power of other TiVo users, please feel free to stop trolling and just ask.

 

[MickeS]

What's a "rube"?

 

[HIHZia]

Back to the original topic. I had to have my service transfered twice in less than a month. Both times it took less than 10 mins including the time to take the poll at the end. I was quite pleased with the customer service so YMMV.

 

[TiVoStephen]

Unhappyeger, sorry to hear about your experience. Please send me an e-mail ([email protected]) and we'll make sure the customer support team resolves your issue right away.

Best regards,
Stephen

 

[dr_mal]

I've had issues with TiVo support recently, too.

After years of waiting, TiVo service is finally available in Canada, so this year my parents got a TiVo for Christmas.

Unfortunately, there's an error in the channel lineup for their postal code. I've e-mailed Tribune, TiVo Lineup support, and spent a couple hours on the phone with TiVo support (first support guy actually told me to just go ahead and take the TiVo back to Best Buy since he apparently didn't want to fix the problem), and finally sent an e-mail off to TiVoOpsMgr last week. So far, no joy

As a 5-year satisfied TiVo evangelist, I'm a little disheartened. Fortunately, TiVo, Inc has distracted me with that super sexy Series 3 they were showing at CES, so I'm not too hung up on the poor support so far.