[sammydee]

I've got two Tivo HDs - one with 3 year prepaid; the other on the multi-unit discount billed monthly $ 6.95. Or so I thought.

Imagine my surprise to find a bill on my credit card from TiVo for $31.70! What could that possibly be for, I wondered?

Well...imagine my surprise to find the following on the TiVo website for my account:

Action Date Transaction Information Amount Sales Tax Total
Billed Aug 22, 2007 The TiVo Package, 3 Year, Monthly $6.95 $24.75 $31.70

That's right. They charged me $6.95 for the multi-unit TiVo, plus $24.75 in sales tax.

For a company with such great products, they really suck at most other things. Like billing and fulfillment. Incredible.

...Sam

 

[jfh3]

I've got two Tivo HDs - one with 3 year prepaid; the other on the multi-unit discount billed monthly $ 6.95. Or so I thought.

Imagine my surprise to find a bill on my credit card from TiVo for $31.70! What could that possibly be for, I wondered?

Well...imagine my surprise to find the following on the TiVo website for my account:

Action Date Transaction Information Amount Sales Tax Total
Billed Aug 22, 2007 The TiVo Package, 3 Year, Monthly $6.95 $24.75 $31.70

That's right. They charged me $6.95 for the multi-unit TiVo, plus $24.75 in sales tax.

For a company with such great products, they really suck at most other things. Like billing and fulfillment. Incredible.

...Sam

If you (a) live in New York or California and (b) bought the Tivo HD from Tivo, this seems right to me - about 8% tax.

 

[sammydee]

If you (a) live in New York or California and (b) bought the Tivo HD from Tivo, this seems right to me - about 8% tax.

You're missing the point ... that's not what the charged me for tax on the HD box; that's just what they charged me for the monthly service fee!

...Sam

 

[sfhub]

Were you also charged tax when you bought the TiVo HD?

Is there any indication the $24.75 is recurring?

 

[sammydee]

Yes, I was charged sales tax when I bought the Tivo, and then the same amount of sales tax AGAIN when the first monthly bill came.
The whole story is a bit more complicated; I apologize for not laying it all out in the first post.

I purchased this tivo on day 1 via the website, with 3 year prepaid service.

A few days later when they were available at retail I cancelled this one on the website and bought one at CircuitCity. TiVo's site confirmed that the order was cancelled.

Imagine my surprise when 3 weeks later it showed up on the doorstep. TiVo error #1.

By that time I had decided that I wanted a 2nd one anyway, so I kept it. But I called TiVo and we changed the billing from the 3 year prepaid to 3 years billed monthly with the Multi-Service Discount. (The MSD can only be billed monthly.)

SO now my account for that TiVo shows:

1. Purchased hardware for $299.99 plus $0.00 sales tax
2. Purchased 3 year prepaid service for $299.00 plus $24.75 sales tax
3. First monthly bill for $6.95 plus $24.75 sales tax.

...and they have never processed a refund for item (2). TiVo Error #2.

One might argue, I guess, that the sales tax on (3) is prepaying the sales tax for the entire 3 years worth of service, or something. It's certainly odd that they are charging sales tax for the SERVICE but none for the HARDWARE. If the sales tax on the monthly was a one-time item that would make sense; it's impossible to tell from the website.

In any case, they owe me a refund for (2).

After a 60+ minute phone call that passed through 3 different agents I was told that they would ask accounting to issue the refund in 14 business days...the exact same thing I was told when we converted the service.

TiVo...incredible products...3rd world accounting and customer support systems

...Sam

 

[sfhub]

SO now my account for that TiVo shows:

1. Purchased hardware for $299.99 plus $0.00 sales tax
2. Purchased 3 year prepaid service for $299.00 plus $24.75 sales tax
3. First monthly bill for $6.95 plus $24.75 sales tax.

...and they have never processed a refund for item (2). TiVo Error #2.

One might argue, I guess, that the sales tax on (3) is prepaying the sales tax for the entire 3 years worth of service, or something. It's certainly odd that they are charging sales tax for the SERVICE but none for the HARDWARE. If the sales tax on the monthly was a one-time item that would make sense; it's impossible to tell from the website.

In any case, they owe me a refund for (2).

I think they definitely owe you the refund for (2)

They didn't charge you sales tax on (1) so $24.75 on (3) could be for (1), assuming it is not recurring.

If the $24.75 is recurring, something is definitely wrong.

 

[jfh3]

As one of the Series 3 "Lucky 200", you're not going to get any argument for me that Tivo could significantly improve their billing and accounting systems ... Took me almost two months and countless calls to get a billing error fixed ...

Be interested to hear what the problem is. Note that it usually takes a couple weeks for Tivo to process credits.