Kristy's Blog

13 responses so far ↓

• 1 Scott // May 6, 2010 at 6:51 pm

  A fair warning about TiVo and why TiVo sucks.

  Short version: I paid for a lifetime subscription. TiVo cancelled my account, claimed I called and cancelled, and claimed they credited my account. I never called and cancelled my account and they never issued a credit to my credit card. Now I have a useless TiVo machine with no service and I’m out over $300.

  Details: I used to always brag about TiVo and have purchased 6 TiVo machines. I have been a TiVo customer for years and currently have three TiVo boxes “running.” I have to put quotes around running since TiVo took it upon themselves to turn off one of them, which I paid a lifetime subscription for. I received and email warning and I emailed back to TiVo and even attached screenshot showing I had a lifetime subscription and never received any response. The proceeded to shut off my box. I then had the pleasure of calling TiVo. Should you ever call them, be prepared to be on hold forever. After giving up on two previous occasions, I finally planned my day around it and was able to get through after about 20 minutes of being on hold. The customer service representative was less than helpful. He claimed I called and cancelled my account, which I had not. I explained I had a lifetime subscription and he insisted I cancelled my account and claimed my credit card was credited. My credit card was never credited and I explained that. He then claimed their records showed they issued me a credit and he blamed my credit card company and said I had to take it up with them.

  I called my credit card company and they confirmed I never received a credit from TiVo.

  I got online with TiVo, which still took about 30 minutes to get a representative. The guy looked at my account and agreed something did not look correct; however, he would have to send it to a supervisor to look at. Even though he did absolutely nothing to rectify the problem, except pass it along, he seemed helpful. He told me someone would call me and I asked if they would leave a message with a number I could call back without being on hold forever, since I don’t answer calls I don’t recognize, since they’re oftentimes sales calls. He said they would leave a number that was a direct line. Did they ever call and so much as leave a message? No.

  Bottom line: TiVo can take your money, claim you cancelled, claim they refunded your money, and leave you with a useless TiVo box and out hundreds of dollars. But they’ll make sure they wait a few months, so you don’t even have recourse with your credit card company. TiVo SUCKS.

• 2 Tivo sucks ass // Jul 25, 2010 at 4:17 pm

  I hate Tivo and their condescending customer support assholes. They think everyone is stupid. I agree, we are stupid to pay Tivo for their primitive crap and ghetto customer service.

• 3 Once again, Tivo sucks ass! // Sep 12, 2010 at 10:51 am

  Almost there… Just a few more decades.
  They want me to pay $149 replacement fee for their crappy box that I called for about 40 times ( no exaggeration). So, they have an incentive to have faulty boxes out there so they could capitalize on it as well. This is where I see a lawsuit. I have to send them my box 1st, then wait for them to send me a replacement, in meanwhile I have no television for 2 wks, and when I get a new one, I have to spend a whole day or 2 resetting all my recordings, while still paying to cable and to Tivo monthly fee plus $149. TIVO SUCKS. Tivo is a total rip-off. Tivo reviews. Don’t get Tivo. Stay with your cable company, at least they have local technicians.

• 4 Don't get Tivo! Warning!!! // Sep 12, 2010 at 11:42 am

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  Your local Cable Company does not charge you to get a DVR Box, only monthly fee. You have to pay for Tivo Box + monthly fee to Tivo + Monthly Fee to Cable and you will be footballed around between the 2 when the crappy Tivo Box does not restart, about once a week. Customer service is only there to make notes. If the Greeting of Tivo when you call starts with ”
  Unplug your Tivo to resolve problems…” this is a clear indication that they are overwhelmed with technical issues because they sold so many faulty boxes. I’m waiting for a Class Action lawsuit. I’ve never had any problems of this sort with Verizon, I only got Tivo because I thought it would be an upgrade. I was wrong, and I regret getting Tivo. If it rains and power goes of momentarily, Tivo box will take 40 minutes to 2 hours to restart, that is after you move your media center furniture around, molest the box out of it scratching your counters, break your nails disconnecting and reconnecting everything while holding your phone on your shoulder listening to Tivo “tech support” demanding that you remain professional about it.
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• 5 Fuck Tivo // Jan 20, 2011 at 11:12 am

  Fuck Tivo. Piece of primitive shit. Even if they go Internet, I will never even look at it from across the street. What a Garbage!
  I’m getting my Verizon DVR back, I thought that Tivo Was an upgrade, boy was I wrong. This crap gets frozen once to thrice a week. (Hey Conan!) So fuck you Tivo! You suck ass of a blowfish.

• 6 TiVo is...Dishonest Business Practice // Aug 8, 2011 at 1:21 pm

  I called TiVo 8 months ago to tell them I needed to activate my new Premier HD box to replace my old Series 2. They activated the new box but 7 months later we realized they never cancelled the service on the old box..\ theyt claim it is my responsibility to cancel by calling or asking to be redirected to a different department even though I used the terminology “Replace” when I called to activate the new box. The fact that the old box was in a box in the closet and never connected to the Internet was not enough for them, they just thrive of such dishonesty to do business and provide a service that is crap… and YES, their customer service is less than acceptable with their condescending and arogant employees. TiVo SUCKS the big one.

• 7 Rick // Nov 2, 2011 at 1:25 pm

  The Tivo product is good, it’s the greedy executives looking to screw the customer base for recurring revenue. I just called Tivo to look into upgrading to a Premier. Seems that lifetime has been shortened, if you box dies after 3 years and you’re not a $40 maintenance plan, your lifetime plan dies. I’ve used Tivo for the past 10 years, and I understand they have to make money, but there is zero loyalty to the customers and their staff (support and sales) have a crappy attitude. I’m going to ween myself off of Tivo and work with Time Warner’s DVR for $2 a month. Hell, maybe I’ll even short their stock.

• 8 Jim // Mar 7, 2012 at 4:02 pm

  So here is an example of a chat with TiVo from this week. In the month before this we went round and round with TiVo on replacing the other unit mentioned in the chat under warranty–just finished shipping the failed unit back to them last week.

  Michael: Thank you for contacting TiVo! My name is Michael. So that I may
  better assist you, are you an existing customer?
  yes

  Michael: Excellent! I was able to locate an account with your
  information! For security purposes, would you mind verifying the address
  and telephone number that would match your account?

  Michael: Perfect! Thank you for verifying your contact
  information for me, . What can I do for you today?
  one of our tivos stopped communicating with tivo for
  updates today
  it started failing on “Connecting” with a state of
  “getting account status”
  Michael: I see. Have you tried any troubleshooting to fix the
  problem?
  the unit is livingroomtivo
  Michael: I see. Have you tried any troubleshooting to fix the
  problem?
  Michael: ? Still with me?
  yes
  Michael: OK. Can you please provide the steps you’ve already tried?
  we’ve rebooted the tivo
  we’ve tested from the other tivo (masterbroomtivo
  works fine)
  we’ve had livingroomtivo attempt a test connection
  which succeeds
  Michael: Stop
  Michael: If the connection succeeds, then why did you say earlier
  that it was failing?
  a test connection succeeds, the actual connection fails
  Michael: Oh I see!
  Michael: I understand the situation. The best way to solve a
  networking problem like this is to restart the entire network, but we want
  to do things in order to ensure everything re-connects properly. Please
  unplug power from your modem, router, and TiVo box. Let all of them sit
  unplugged for 30 seconds. Then, please plug-in your modem first. Wait
  about 2 minutes, then plug-in your router. Wait another 2 minutes, then
  finally plug-in power to the TiVo box. This should allow all of your
  network devices to re-detect each other and will likely solve the problem.
  Yeh
  one of your hosts keeps sending a TCP reset when
  livingroomtivo tries to connect
  you see, I’m in IT and I’m
  sniffing the traffic when it tries to connect out
  Michael: If you’d prefer to troubleshoot this problem on your
  own, feel free. However, if you’re looking for assistance from TiVo,
  please go through the steps we offer.
  I already have
  Michael: Odd. I didn’t see our chat disconnect.
  i tried it before I contacted you
  wow
  I’m going to call in and have a supervisor review the
  chat transcript
  Michael: Sounds good! Is there anything else I can help you with
  today?
  you haven’t even helped
  Michael: I didn’t say I did. I asked if there was something else
  you’d like help with. Would you like me to explain the difference?
  oh please do, this will be fun to post to
  tivocommunity.com
  Michael: If I were to ask if I helped you I would ask, “Have I
  helped you?” however instead I asked “Is there anything else I can help
  you with today?” which is not the same question.
  very well, I’ll make sure to complain about you
  specifically when I call in
  Michael: OK. I do not expect that will solve your networking
  problem, but if it makes you feel better be sure to file your complaint.
  Let us know when you’re ready to actually troubleshoot the problem and
  we’ll be happy to provide assistance with that as well.
  i’ve already stated that I have troubleshot the problem
  i’ve rebooted the box, i’ve powered off the devices
  the box connects to (firewall and modem)
  what precisely have I not done?
  Michael: You have not cooperated.
  Michael: Once you’re willing to go through the steps we suggest
  when we suggest them, we can start working toward a resolution.
  how have I not been cooperative
  Michael: I asked you to reset your entire network, you did not.
  Michael: See, if you had been cooperating, you would have gone to
  your router, modem, and TiVo box, disconnected power from them and
  proceeded from there as my instructions outlined. However, you did not.
  Michael: Do you understand how not doing what is asked is the
  same as not cooperating?
  i did all of that before the chat
  it would have been difficult to chat if i waited until
  after trying a chat to do that
  Michael: See, you’re doing it again. You’re not proceeding with
  the steps I’ve suggested and instead are arguing about how this has been
  done in the past. This is a perfect example of not cooperating. Do you
  understand?
  agent on the phone says it looks like the box is
  reporting in
  and that indicates the network transport is fine
  Michael: That does not change the facts, . You’re now
  changing the subject, which is not going to help solve the problem.
  So I’m going to go because the rep on the phone is
  more helpful
  and I’m not changing facts I’m stating what the rep on
  the phone is telling me while I’m also chatting with you
  Michael: Sounds good! I’m sure you’ll find a solution if you’re
  willing to cooperate with our phone support!
  At this point though it is silly for me to tie up two
  reps at TiVo though so good bye
  Michael: Thank you for using TiVo Chat and have a great day!

• 9 Matt // Mar 11, 2012 at 6:32 am

  I bought a Tivo premier as a present to my self for christmas. This past December the Tivo started resetting. Then it went into a constant reboot. I called Tivo support. They had me try everything. Nothing worked. My favorite is when they tell me to plug into the wall out let as apposed to the surge protector/power strip… its funny to me because I keep explaining that my entire home theater system is hooked up to a power center that regulates the power and protects. its in a rack and I can just simply unplug it and switch the wall. The outlet is not the problem is what I am getting at. So after 45 minutes of going back and forth I get approval to replace for a $50 fee. I was pissed because this unit is less than a year old and I assumed like every other electronic nowadays it would have at least a year warranty… I was wrong. So at this point I dont even want to talk. I decided to hold off. Then I forget about it because Ive been busy with work. I called a week ago and explained what happened and they said no problem. I paid the 150+ deposit so I can get the new one first. It shows up on Thursday. Im all excited to finally be able to watch my shows when I want to and not as reruns. I take the old out and put in the new. I go through all of the setup steps. The on screen guide says it has to add all the channels and it could take 10-20 minutes. I decided to step outside to check on something. I come back and the Tivo is on the splash screen that says something like “just a few more minutes”. Im excited at this point. I pick up a magazine and start reading. Now I’m done with the magazine. I realize the Tivo just rebooted about 6 times. I call Tivo support at this point. They walk me through the same steps as before… I even unhooked my power center and went straight to the wall like they wanted and now things are worse. At this point Im pissed off . They transfer me to another department. They said they understand and they will ship me another unit. I said I DO NOT WANT ANOTHER REFURB UNIT! The guy says no problem… we will ship you a new one. I said is there anything you can do to expidite the shipping on this one since I have already waited a long time without a TV and the one you shipped me was defective? He replied… yes. I will ship it 2day air. Here it is Sunday and 3 days later (I know they dont ship on Sundays) and I decided to check the tracking number. The new (it better be new) is still sitting at Tivo. Its still sitting at the UPS in Texas. That is definitely not 2 day air. Ive just about had enough… Im almost to the point where Tivo wishes I never bought one of their boxes. Anyone else hoping for a class action lawsuit because they sell defective equipment?

• 10 scott // Sep 11, 2012 at 10:13 am

  Tivo openly admits that I have not used the service since 2011, but wants seven dollars because I did not “formally” cancel the account.
  Thieves. Liars. Cheats. A dead company still flopping around pretending they are alive.

• 11 Erock // Oct 14, 2012 at 10:20 am

  LOL, Tivo. They pushed an update to my box that scrambled all my channels, then they claim that they don’t support my cable system. Uh, it worked until you guys screwed it up! I’m pretty sure it’s part of a “kick these lifetime members off our service” program.

  Of course, there’s no way to manually map channels. At least they didn’t take the opportunity to try to sell my another unit.

• 12 Jude // Oct 23, 2012 at 7:57 pm

  Bought a TiVo box at BstBuy. $250. Bought a wireless network adapter $100. Signed up for monthly service $15 per month. Called Cable company and fight with them for 2 weeks to get a tuning adapter and a cable card. After 2 trips to my house…finally got it! I’m all excited because I use to have TiVo years ago….and it was a good experience. It took a while to get it all set up. Had to figure it out myself cause customer support doesn’t know what they are doing. Calling them for setup support is the biggest waste of time…read your little booklet and use your noggin because 10 times out of 10….you are smarter than they are. So….I’m all set and can’t wait for the little Bloop! sounds TiVo makes. WHAT A NIGHTMARE. Pause your remote control and run to the bathroom…you’ll come back and find it started playing without you. So, much for the pause function on your “smart” DVR! Want to watch a movie on Netflix? Be prepared to watch the movie blink, blink, blink, blink all the way through the movie. You’ll miss half of it. You can download music on your Premier XL!! NO YOU CAN’T. TiVo box never recognized the music on my computer….and I paid for every single song through iTunes! I’m reading some of these blogs on tivo community and learning about all the software glitches and I’m thinking…uh unh! Life is hard enough without putting up with grief over an entertainment box! Before anything else could piss me off….I pack up that box and the wireless adapter, nice and neat and take it back to BestBuy. Got my $300 bucks back. I even called my cable company and asked them to bring me their HD DVR and take the tuning adapter and cable card back. I’m not going to deal with TiVo. So, I’m inside of 30 days and I’m down. I don’t even own the TiVo box! I try for 3 weeks to get those sons of bitches on the phone….just to cancel. They must have sniffing dogs that can detect a canceller through the phone wire….cause you’ll be holding for an hour. Seriously, I’ve got better things to do with my time. My time, is my time. I’m not paid to sit on hold waiting for TiVo! I gave up trying to cancel with them and just called my credit card company and blocked TiVo from charging my account again. You can only CHANGE your info on line….you can’t delete it. I figured….they’ll contact me when they don’t get their monthly payment!! And they do. Finally….I get them on the phone. So, I tell them; “I want to cancel. I’ve been trying to contact you. But I don’t have an extra hour per day to waste on you. I took the box back. I’m done. TiVo guy says to me: “I don’t see where you have ever called in and requested Tech support.” I told him: I’m nipping this crap in the bud. I’ve read on line the problems people are dealing with and how long it takes to resolve it. I’m not dealing with all your problems. Your box is glitchy as hell. You don’t deliver what you promise and it looks like you enjoy making peoples’ lives miserable from what I have read in the blogs on-line. And don’t tell me I have signed up for 12 months and I’m stuck in a contract. I don’t own the box anymore. (It’s at Bestbuy waiting on some other poor schmuck to purchase it). The arrogant TiVo prick proceeds to talk down to me…..”Well, when you signed up you were agreeing to a 12 month commitment.” I tell him again. I don’t own the box. You’re telling me I have to pay you for the next 11 months, $15 per month for a service I don’t have? He says to me; “Miss ***, This is what I am going to do for you.” I stop him dead in his tracks. “Buddy….I couldn’t give two flying figs what you think you’re going to do for me. I’m not paying it. Period. Sue me! You have a good day, now. He hears dial tone. Moral to this story. I’m 45 years old. Been around the block a few times and I don’t put up with peoples’ shit. I have never heard such arrogance from a customer service rep in my life. You can never get them on the phone and they offer no help. They just spew out the same dribble from their script. They really don’t know what to do to help you. When Jim told Michael that he’d already done all the trouble shooting tricks….Michael probably shit his pants….so, he proceeds to tell Jim that he is not cooperating. What an arrogant dick. So, I got rid of TiVo before they could fuck me. Cause it certainly looks like that is how they are staying in business…..

• 13 Mark Williams // Oct 24, 2012 at 5:50 pm

  I’ve been loyal to tivo with 9 tivo boxes over the years (4 that are still active). Can you believe that tivo wouldn’t give me more than $100 off of a lifetime service plan on my newest box, even though I’ve already paid $180 in service charges on it? I expected better!

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