[DPF]

Alright, first off, I do not yet have the unit in my possession, that will be next week.

I have a friend here at work who has had a series 2 since he got married about 3 years ago. Problem is, according to him, the thing has never worked right.

He has trick play stuff, but that's it. He can only play from the buffer. If he sets a recording, nothing records. If he tries to manually start a recording after the show has started, he gets the confirmation, confirms to start the recording, the red light may flicker for a second, then nothing.

That's it. For three years. Unbelievable.

He tried going thru TiVo CS a while back to no avail. They were no help. Software Updates/reinstalls have not fixed the problem. That was all they could offer, repeat guided setup, we'll push a reinstall etc. Nothing worked. The told him to buy a new one. (Though nowadays that may not be a bad idea, what are DT prices now?)

Anyone have any ideas or run into this before. I tried searching but came up empty. When I get the unit from him next week and play with it, I'll post if anything changes. Maybe he just doesn't nkwo what the hell he's doing, but I doubt that.

He's got a young'n who'll be getting into the Disney/Noggin stuf in the not to distant future so I'm trying to get him going so he can build up a nice Wiggles/Backyardigans library for the squirt. Since he let it go so long, if his machine is malfunctioning as he claims, his warranty is long gone. Which sucks.

Thanks In Advance
-DPF

 

[FatesWebb]

Alright, first off, I do not yet have the unit in my possession, that will be next week.

I have a friend here at work who has had a series 2 since he got married about 3 years ago. Problem is, according to him, the thing has never worked right.

He has trick play stuff, but that's it. He can only play from the buffer. If he sets a recording, nothing records. If he tries to manually start a recording after the show has started, he gets the confirmation, confirms to start the recording, the red light may flicker for a second, then nothing.

That's it. For three years. Unbelievable.

He tried going thru TiVo CS a while back to no avail. They were no help. Software Updates/reinstalls have not fixed the problem. That was all they could offer, repeat guided setup, we'll push a reinstall etc. Nothing worked. The told him to buy a new one. (Though nowadays that may not be a bad idea, what are DT prices now?)

Anyone have any ideas or run into this before. I tried searching but came up empty. When I get the unit from him next week and play with it, I'll post if anything changes. Maybe he just doesn't nkwo what the hell he's doing, but I doubt that.

He's got a young'n who'll be getting into the Disney/Noggin stuf in the not to distant future so I'm trying to get him going so he can build up a nice Wiggles/Backyardigans library for the squirt. Since he let it go so long, if his machine is malfunctioning as he claims, his warranty is long gone. Which sucks.

Thanks In Advance
-DPF

A new dt is completely free with a 1 year agreement, 16 dollars to pay for your first month. shipped in 2 days free.

 

[fredct]

Unfortunately he shoulda taken care of it at the time. If it really was the box, its a warranty issue and its now way way out of warranty. If you have a car problem and wait 10 years to try to take care of it, the manufacturer isn't going to fix it under warranty for you.

The first thing that popped into my mind is that it kinda sounds like its not subscribed. When that's the case you can still play from the live buffer, but nothing else. But I'd hope if that was the issue three years ago, one of the techs would have noticed that. Has he been paying for a subscription all this time?

I wonder if either, a) he never subscribed it and the techs somehow didn't notice it, or b) that's his symptoms now and he's confusing it with whatever was wrong 3 years ago. Anyway, the first thing I'd check is the subscription status on the screen, and subscribe if necessary. There's a 30 day money back guarantee if you still can't get it working.

 

[EVizzle]

Unfortunately he shoulda taken care of it at the time. If it really was the box, its a warranty issue and its now way way out of warranty. If you have a car problem and wait 10 years to try to take care of it, the manufacturer isn't going to fix it under warranty for you.

The first thing that popped into my mind is that it kinda sounds like its not subscribed. When that's the case you can still play from the live buffer, but nothing else. But I'd hope if that was the issue three years ago, one of the techs would have noticed that. Has he been paying for a subscription all this time?

I wonder if either, a) he never subscribed it and the techs somehow didn't notice it, or b) that's his symptoms now and he's confusing it with whatever was wrong 3 years ago. Anyway, the first thing I'd check is the subscription status on the screen, and subscribe if necessary. There's a 30 day money back guarantee if you still can't get it working.

My first thought too. I doubt anyone would continue to pay for a service every month without seeing any benefit from it. Probably never subscribed...

 

[DPF]

Actually, that was the "Unbelievable" part of my post.

Yes, it's subscribed. He's been paying monthly the whole time. They went thru all the "subscribed" verification when he was working with TiVo CS. He has been intending to just cancel it for quite some time. Just never actually got around to it and has continued to pay for a service he hasn't been getting.

Now he really wants to get it working or replace it since (and this is part of the problem regarding being to busy to get around to fixing/canceling) he has a toddler and the time-shifting will be very handy for kids programming.

Again, I won't have th unit in my possession until next week so I can't verify the subscribed status off the box itself until then. But according to him, it is subbed, verified by TiVo CS and been paying the whole time.

Unless of course he just orders a new box in one of the free(ish) DT deals and we don't even pursue the old one further. Which would make sense to do at those prices. Unless the fact that he'd be moving his sub to that new box would be an issue with the pricing/sale structure of the DT deals. I don't think it would though. THe only catch would be if the deals were only viable for "new subscriptions".

Thanks for the input.

-DPF

 

[fredct]

I'll never understand people who are so unconcerned with their money...

But that aside... perhaps the box never called in correctly? So it was 'active', but it didn't know it? I definitely think the first thing to check is what the box thinks its own subscription status is.

Based on what we know about your friend thusfar, I can't say I'd be too surprised if he never read the directions to know he had to plug it into a phone line (or internet connection)


As far as getting a new box, the rebate/deals are usually only valid for new service, but, since he can't possibly have a committment on the old box, this would certainly be new service. Don't transfer the subscription, just sign it up again and cancel the old box. It'd only be an issue if he were in the midsts of a commitment.