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Tivo Institutes 1 Year Service Contracts
azoblue writes "TiVo recently changed their customer agreement, allowing them to institute service contracts with early cancellation fees." From the article: "According to the new service agreement, any TiVo activated after September 6 will require a 12-month commitment. Those who cancel before the end of their contract, or have their contracts terminated by TiVo, will be forced to pay a $150 early termination fee ... Although not specified in the new agreement, some customers have reported that adding a new TiVo to their service makes contracts activated before that date also applicable to the new policy."
According to this article the company has been able to silently (and with no-opt-out policy) upgrade the TiVo to include the red flag stuff(some shows can be delete or not retained more than 7 days...you know..)
Very..."unconfortable"...
From boing boing:
Earlier this month, TiVo owners discovered that a mandatory, non-optional "update" to their TiVos changed the built-in software so that broadcasters could flag certain shows for automatic deletion and for restriction from use with TiVoToGo. David Zatz, a TiVo owner, decided to cancel his TiVo service. After all, he'd bought a device that could record all shows, not one that could record all shows save those that some paranoid Hollywood exec, overzealous broadcaster, or fumble-fingered technician gave him permission to record. TiVo had broken his device and he didn't want to keep using it. But when he looked up canceling his TiVo, he found out that under the terms of his "agreement" with TiVo (e.g., the crap he clicked through when get got set up), he was obliged to pay a $150 "early cancellation" fee.
Apple iProduct. Non importa cosa sia, lo comprerete!
Just a change in business plans, RTFA. Tivo is giving deep discounts and rebates for the hardware. $50 for a Tivo means that they *have* to get a service commitment to break even.
Nothing new here, move along...
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
They're giving 150 rebate for new users so that a tivo box only costs 50 dollars, they're gonna execute that 150 fee back at those people if they cancel.
The story is complete misinformation. The 1 year service issues only apply to machines bought now that qualify for a $150 rebate. If you don't keep your TiVo service active for a full year, you get a chargeback for your $150 rebate. All other TiVos use the old monthly service charges or you can buy a lifetime subscription. This is a non-issue.
Since you can buy TiVo units for a cost of $50 now (and for a brief time, you could actually make a $50 PROFIT buying a $100 TiVo on Amazon and getting a $150 rebate) it only makes sense for TiVo to protect themselves from people buying cheap units for the rebate, then dumping them on eBay.
A long time ago, I spoke to one of the top executives at TiVo, he told me that they make no money on hardware sales, they gave all those profits to the hardware manufacturers, they make money only on subscriptions and subsidiary projects like advertising. TiVo is giving up $150, the equivalent of a full year's subscription fees, just to move more hardware. It is a gift to their hardware producing partners. It only makes sense for TiVo to protect themselves from unscrupulous buyers exploiting this project.
That's why I use Windows Media Center edition 2005, bought a $50 200GB HD and $50 TV card, put them in old AMD 1700+ computer and I pay no monthly fee.
I think that Tivo wanted to see what 65,000,000 middle fingers looked like all at once.
Karma: a simple way of silencing those with unpopular views regardless how correct or just that view might be.
Yeah, that sounds user-friendly. No wonder Linux is flying off the shelves.
Sure, I've had a stable MythTV server for over 12 months. I've got 350GB striped storage, DVB tuners and multiple frontends (Mac, Xbox, Laptop).
Easy.
That last lesson is the hardest to learn. Once you stop "tweaking" the damn thing, it stops breaking.
That's how I got out of my AT&T/Cingular contract. While Cingular is still trying to claim that it is impossible for them to fulfill thier contracts with AT&T bought customers, after filling a complaint with the FCC, I got a call from their "office of the president". When I kept pressing the person on the phone, and kept telling them that they are under contract, and breaking my phone service is a violation of that contract, they eventually cancelled my contract withour penelty.
The conversation went along the lines of...
Me: You have broken my phone. You need to fix the service or cancel the contract without penalty.
Cingular: We are aware of the problem, it is caused by our upgrades to the system. We can sell you a new phone, and move you to the Cingular network. That would solve the problem.
Me: Would that require a restart of the contract period? What would be the cost?
Cingular: Yes, it would restart your contract period. It would be about $10 more a month, and you would get 200 less minutes.
Me: Why would I sign a new contract with a company that has violated their existing contract, AND pay more for less minutes? That would be stupid of me wouldn't it?
Cingular: Well, I guess. There really isn't anything else we can do...
Me: No, you need to fulfill the existing contract.
Cingular: We can't do that.
Me: Then you are in breach of contract. To continue to bill me for a service that you know you are not providing is fraud.
Cingular: Well, if you read your contract, we don't guarantee service in all areas.
Me: I'm not complaining about various dead zones. I am complaining about zones that previously had service, and no longer has them. I am complaining about voice mail being delivered days later, and out of order. I am complaining about sitting still, and having calls disconnect.
Cingular: What would you like us to do about that?
Me: I would like you to fulfill your contract.
Cingular: Well, we don't like to do this, but we could cancel your contract.
Me: Without any penalty to me?
Cingular: Yes.
Me: Ok. That would be acceptable.
actually its really amazing and has changed the way I watch tv. What makes Tivo better (and more costly)?
:-)
Actually nothing. The interface may be better, I don't have a TiVo. What's going on here is U.S. Cable conglomerates being greedy. You're in Canada I take it being on Rogers. In the U.S. cable providers don't make their boxes available to buy at Best Buy, Circuit City, ect. If you did manage to procure a box (like by keeping one from your cable provider or buying one on eBay) the new provider would refuse to authorize it on their systems. In fact, if I remember right, buying digital cable boxes online is illegal (probably since the boxes are never meant to be sold and therefore are considered stolen property on the marketplace). And now they've probably added DMCA stuff to the mix.
If you want to record a digital cable station while watching another you can either rent a second converter box to use solely with your TiVo or other PVR (none of which can deencrypt the digital signal on their own), or rent a PVR with dual tuners from your cable company. U.S. cable companies will not allow you to purchase outright any digital cable box, only rent.
Cable companies sucker people in with the extra channels on digital cable, not mentioning how it will keep them from being able to record and watch the higher channels without paying a second box fee like they have been able to with analog cable and a VCR for decades. Plus, they do stuff like disable the S-video port of cable boxes so TiVo can't make the box tune stations on it's own. When you call and complain, they will be sympathetic, then they'll offer you a DVR rental for a low monthly fee to alleviate your sudden issues using TiVo.