TiVo Solutions
Reviews and Complaints

Hello I ordered Tivo on 11/27/17 it was a refurbed machine and I purchased the extended warranty…I was able to activated on 12/4/17
Get email from TIVO on 12/4/17
Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for your recent Extend Service Plan purchase. Your decision to protect your investment is a wise one that will ensure long-term peace of mind and the assurance of continued enjoyment from your product purchase.

2/18 I email Tivo support with DVR issue…I give them my troubleshooting…they send me the same troubleshooting I told them I tried…and sent it in an email with the title "DO NOT REPLLY" This is only 76 Days into my time of having TIVO
2/21 when the "No Signal" issue started…even though my signals were all strong
2/25 Called and talked with Daphne …I asked to send emails but she couldn't take them…I noted that my shows were not recording due to no signal the tivo shows the signal strength of most common channels I watch
ABC 85 PBS 84 Fox 72 NBC 72 CBS 85 ION 72
We did a lot of trouble shooting ( hour and ½), she said if issue continues I could call and ask for her about a replacement. It seems to work but by 8 oclock that night when first show is about to record..notice it has no signal but usually is 72..private eyes on ion 51-1…next morning none of morning shows record. This is 84 days into my use of TIVO since activation Case Number [protected]
2/26 I call to ask for her since I can't get home before 7pm but they say they can't forward call to Daphne
2/27/18 I call again..forget girls name but she says she can't forward to Daphne…she wants to trouble shoot without readying any of Daphne's notes….I say read her notes..we have done this already…tv part of tivo shows strong signal…but dvr doesn't. This is now 86 days into my use of TIVO She says I'm going to get a replacement but I loose my Extended Warranty. Gives me case [protected] . I need to call customer service because they have already gone for day
2/28/17 Calling Customer service and email…I'm going to send this to Better Business bureau and consumer affairs after calling and talking to MGR.
I talked to Andre from 8:05 am until 8:44 he said it's 92 days from the day they shipped it…he says that although started saying I had problems on 2/18…76 days since I had activated…none of that counts as before 90 days because the tivo product was under investigation.
So the bottom line is since they are actually mailing me the tivo box 92 days since I purchased it..not received it or called in problems…they are using extended warranty instead of 90 days and I lose the 3 year extended warranty I purchased with getting a replacement machine.

I would like them to restore my extended warranty since it's not fair it wasn't even plugged in for 72 days before issue starting happening…but there answer was that the problem was under investigation so the problem of 90 days starts when they realize there is nothing they can do. You suffer for there troubleshooting

I have complained previously about the TiVo box I have taping programmes not asked for or taping programmes you have asked to be taped for half the time instead of the whole programme. Previous calls have been with a call centre outside the UK and I have done exactly as they've asked this being to reboot the machine but this has not solved the problem. All I want to do is speak with someone in a UK call centre and for the TiVo box to actually work. I pay hard earned cash for this but get dreadful customer care! I was told by the agent tonight that I would have to pay for a new box but why should I when the one they've given me is kaput!

The
following information represents my opinion of TiVo and its Sales
Support personnel based on a situation in which TiVo, in my opinion,
wronged me. This posting not intended to be malicious, demeaning,
slanderous, or misrepresenting in any way. It is intended to communicate
what I believe is a breakdown in integrity and to stress that it is
important for any customer to record calls that are made to TiVo
customer support so that you have a formal record of conversations. The
following is accurate to the best of my memory, with the final call
from TiVo having occurred less than 1 hour ago (09-Oct-2014: 8:22pm
CDT). I am very disappointed in TiVo. Last week, I chatted with a
TiVo rep. Rep recommended that I call the Sales Support line to
investigate a $150 discount for which I might qualify. Called the Sales
Support number and the rep confirmed that I was eligible for a $150
promotion, and that the price of the Roamio Plus was also discounted by
$50 and a $100 discount on Lifetime. I told the rep that I would
consider it. Next day, I called Sales Support to order the Roamio Plus
with Lifetime, but was told that no such promotions were available. I
escalated to his supervisor and talked with ***** (withholding name, as
my intent is not to get a specific Supervisor in trouble or cause her
any problems, but I hope she reads this and learns...). She backed up
her support rep and told me that these promotions were not correct.
However, she agreed to research the previous call (kudos for that).
Upon review, she called me back (she had to try a few times, so kudos to
her for her persistence) and told me that 1) she understood how I
"might" have understood that there were promos (sounds like perhaps a
voice of reason), and 2) the original rep had been "counseled" (sounds
like perhaps an honest mistake on his part), that there was no way the
transaction would have gone through with the original rep (has no
bearing on the current situation), and that only the "current" promos
would be honored (that is where you crossed the line from explaining the
situation to making excuses and refusing to do the right thing).
Given this history, here is my situation. I was quoted prices that
TiVo WILL NOT HONOR. Perhaps these prices were offered in error, but
the fact is that I was quoted very specific promo prices. TiVo refuses
to honor prices quoted to me by one of their Sales Support reps. TIVO
REFUSES TO DO THE RIGHT THING BY NOT HONORING THEIR PRICING TO ME. Are
TiVo Sales Supervisors trained to refuse to do the right thing, or could
it be that the Supervisors do not represent the best interests of the
customer when a wrong is committed by a TiVo employee, or is there
pervasive situational ethics within the TiVo Sales Support organization,
or is this an isolated instance? Who can know? My opinion is that
this is an apparent integrity issue that presents itself when a
supervisor refuses to do the right thing for the customer. So
now I face the dilemma of whether I repair my Series 3 HD and continue
to use it, buy a Roamio Plus while trying to ignore the apparent
integrity issue of TiVo, or do I buy a competitor's product? I am not
certain which route I will take. But what I am certain about is
that I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED that TiVo would permit its supervisors
(very specifically...Supervisor ****) to act in a way where they feel
it is acceptable to explain away an obvious error, instead of accepting
responsibility for its employees and honoring the price, EVEN if it
meant finding a high enough manager that could authorize a price
override. Chances are that the only way that upper management at TiVo
will even find out about this is from this posting. And then once you
do, will you do the right thing for me...the customer? My only recourse
now is in the court of public opinion...

I was just made aware that I have been being billed by TiVo, Inc. based in San Jose, CA for THREE TiVo boxes two of which were deactivated years ago. When I called TiVo customer service the very pleasant CSR confirmed that I was indeed being charged monthly for THREE TiVo boxes:

1. The Tivo Series 2 that we had purchased on May 26, 2007 and discontinued using on Dec. 17, 2010 when we purchased
2. The TiVo Premier that we discontinued using on 3/26/14 when we purchased
3. The TiVO Roamio that we purchased on 3/26/14 which we currently use.

At the time we purchased our new TiVo boxes, I went to the TiVo website and deactivated the old TiVo box and by doing so was under the impression that I had cancelled the TiVo service for the old box when activating the service for the new box. It was just brought to my attention that all these years we have been being billed by TiVo for the unused boxes as follows:

Since Dec. 2010 we have been being billed for our unused TiVo Series 2: $12.95/month for a total of $543.90

Since April 2014 we have been being billed for our unused TiVo Premier: $19.99/month for a total of $79.96.

The total we have paid for unused services is $543.90 + $79.96 = $623.86.

I was told by the customer service representative that TiVo has a policy that a customer cannot be reimbursed for charges that were made to their account for services billed to their unused TiVo devices. She did say that she would make sure that the billing for the two unused boxes would be terminated this month. She also told me that this is the NUMBER ONE complaint that they get from TiVo customers — being billed for old, discontinued boxes. I told her that I understood that she herself couldn’t change the policy but that I felt the policy was a symptom of how a corporation takes advantage of and collects thousands of dollars in unearned revenue from unsuspecting customers.

After speaking with the CSR I did an online search and found that there are MANY people who have the same complaint against this company. I personally feel that this should be deemed an illegal billing practice that the company should immediately change the way they handle activating and deactivating TiVo boxes by asking the customer upfront when they activate a new TiVo if they want the old TiVo box to be removed from service and their billing cycle. Apparently the act of “deactivating” an old TiVo box does not translate into DO NOT BILL any longer for this box. I also feel that TiVo should be made to reimburse customers who have been the victims of their unethical billing practices.

I am, therefore, filing an official complaint against TiVo for fraudulent billing.

What Settlement am I seeking:

I am seeking a refund of $623.86 billed for unused services after deactivation of two TiVo boxes. I am also requesting the following:

1. that the company be REQUIRED to change their policy around refunds for unused services and

2. that they change the way they inform their customers about what's involved in activating and deactivating the SERVICE CHARGES for their deactivated TiVO boxes so it is clear what they are going to be billed for.

I bought a new TIVO box and activated it through the website. What I didn't realize at the time was that I needed to call and cancel the service on my first box. I thought my account covered whichever version of TIVO I happened to own. Well I learned the hard way (and the $$$ way) that this is not the case. You have to call and cancel your old service in order to avoid being billed twice, even if you only have one box. TIVO has been double billing me for 16 months and once I realized it, I talked to several different people, all of whom steadfastly refused to refund the money from the overbilling! They told me they have "a company policy" and do not refund money in a situation like this. In fact one of the senior managers reprimanded me like a child and told me that I was actually at fault (I take some responsibility for not paying enough attention to the billing) and that TIVO had no responsibility to refund my money. So they didn't.

The next time I'm in the market for a DVR, TIVO won't even be on my list of options. This is absolutely the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I've ever had and I've dealt with some hideous companies (Comcast comes to mind...).

Caveat emptor! Look around before you get caught up in the TIVO trap. It's going to cost you$$$$$$$.

Tivo "LIFETIME" SERVICE IS A RIPOFF! It sounds good at first, but the lifetime is only for the lifetime of the box. If it dies prematurely, tough luck, apparently. TIVO will charge a LOT of money to transfer the subscription to a replacement box, even if they're the ones doing the replacement! My box died at 2 years. Tivo will replace it for $149, but also wants $199 to transfer the subscription to the new box.

Tivo has been losing customers left and right...their subscription base keeps declining each financial quarter. They may not exist in a few years. I understand their desire to squeeze every penny from customers, but it will bite them in the long run as longtime fans such as myself turn sour on their product. I wanted to buy a 3rd Tivo with lifetime, but am very hesitant now.

I bought a TIVO set ($300) and signed up for the service only to find out that my phone company who provides my cable service does not use cards. After spending several months trying to find a workaround (this was not a high priority in my life), I finally realized that the TIVO would not work. When I tried to cancel the service, I was informed that cancellation after 30 days was not possible due to company policy. Needless to say this was news to me. The agent agreed that my inability to connect TIVO and all of the related problems were documented.

I explained I physically could not use the service, the essence of his answer, too bad, company policy not to allow cancellations after 30 days.

I would not recommend TIVO because of this. Their behavior on this matter is totally unaceptable and it is a good indicator what they would be like on other matters. As the saying goes, "buyer beware".

I canceled my Tivo service. At the time they offered me the right to call back within 30 days to start service again with a better program. I declined. I disconnected my tivo. I had automatic billing and Tivo did not bill my credit card for two months. Then, after I stopped watching for the charge, they started billing my account again. When I called to complain and indicated how suspicious this looked, they said that I had been offered two months free and that is why the billing started again in the third month. I asked how that could be when he offered me the right to call and reconnect service within 30 days. The account representative admitted that this was in my notes. They did reverse the charge. However, I must wonder how often they pull this scam and people do not notice the charge on the credit card since it is months past when they would be looking for it.

After subscribing to TIVO service for 6 1/2 years, my TIVO box crashed. No repair service was available, as the box was no longer in production. No concession was offered; I would have to buy a new box for around $400. I cancelled the service and switched to Comcast on 2/20/2011. The TIVO rep told me he would give me 2 months free service to "think about it" in case I didn't like Comcast. I said I would get I would get back to him if I wanted to reconsider. TIVO resumed debiting my account for April and May. I called demanding a refund for both months, because I was being charged for a service for which I had no equipment to use. I was offered to "meet in the middle" with a one month refund, not two. This is really poor customer relations, on both the equipment replacement and the billing issue. I wouldn't deal with this company again if they were my only choice available.

There is a web site for customers to contact the CEO of TiVo Inc. who are not satisfied with the assistance provided by the customer service department. I wrote the attached letter to the CEO this past Sunday and have not received an answer. I am currently looking for other disgruntled customers who are interested in filing a class action suit against TiVo for dishonest billing practices. I have spoken to a few lawyer friends and there are grounds to challenge the terms and conditions they site gives them the right to keep money for services they know they did not render. My next step is to contact some of the more outspoken, highly visible consumer advocates to see if they would be interested in championing the suit. My first call or email will be to Clark Howard. If you are interested, please reply to this thread. I am in the process of setting up a dedicated Blog towards the effort. I don't know about you, but I would rather let a judge decide whether Big Money companies like TiVo has the right to keep my money. I am not willing to take their word for it.
I AM SICK AND TIRED OF BIG MONEY GETTING AWAY WITH TAKING OURS, COUNTING ON 99% OF US NOT EVEN BOTHERING TO FIGHT BACK! WELL HERE IS YOUR CHANCE!

Good Evening Mr. Rogers:

I had the extreme misfortune to speak with one of your supervisors regarding this situation. I believe her name was Jessica. She lacked compassion and if that wasn't bad enough, she was darn right rude.
The situation related to customer service was as follows:
I moved in Nov 2009. My new location and service does not support TIVO Service. I loved my TiVo and before I learned that I would not be able to install it in my new home, I actually went out and purchased a wireless TIVO Adapter for more than $40. I had 3 different technicians come to my home to try to get it hooked up again and they were all unsuccessful. When it was apparent that I would not be able to activate my TIVO, I cancelled my service. Here in lies my problem. In my efforts to go green I went paperless on all my credit card statements. And also in my efforts to reduce my debt, I stopped using credit except for one card. Unfortunately it was not the card that the TIVO service was continuing to be billed on. Because of the relatively small amount that TIVO charges monthly and the balance on that credit card, I did not realize that my card was continued to be charged. It wasn't until, the credit card company reduced my available credit and increased my interest rate that I called them. In my conversations with them, I stated that I had not used the card in well over a year. to which they replied what about the monthly TiVo charges. Considering the situation, I was alarmed to say the least. The agent that I was speaking with advised me to contact the company to request that the charges be reversed. They, as did I, thought that given the fact that I had requested cancellation and that it was an error would reverse the charges. Particularly since it would also be apparent that my TIVO service had never been activated since the day of my move in November 2009.

When I called TIVO, the first agent that I spoke with was what I had come to expect from TIVO Customer Service. He was empathetic and kind and genuinely tried to help me, but because of the amount of time and therefore charges incurred, he was not authorized to extend that size credit amount. which is when his supervisor Jessica became involved. She informed me quite rudely, that I was not entitled to any refund what-so-ever and that it was my own fault for not checking to make sure that the charges had stopped. She informed me that according to company policy, I had 90 days to dispute charges and that I was well past that time. When I asked to speak to someone else to plead my case, she informed me that they would not tell me anything different. That company policy is company policy. And that I had agreed to the terms and conditions when I first purchased my TIVO service.

I have since read thru the several pages of terms and conditions and found the paragraph in which the 90 day term policy is stated. Frankly, I find it completely unfair that something of such importance would be buried several pages into the terms and conditions. It is almost as if the company did it intentionally. Betting the odds that most people/customers would not read the entire terms and conditions before clicking on the "I Agree" button. I admit that if it were part of your terms and conditions when I purchased the service, I did not see it, so...

I am asking you as head of TIVO or whomever you designate to handle this in your executive staff, to please reverse the charges that TIVO charged me after I cancelled my account. If you will not, I respectfully request, proof that I agreed to "terms and conditions" that included that obscure policy that entitles TIVO to keep money for services that I never received. Secondly, I will need the date of the initial cancellation and any related account records. Because I tried several times to set it up, the cancellation request wasn't placed in November or December 2009. To my best recollection it was sometime in early January 2010.

I have spoken to several people about this and all agree that this policy is unfair and should be reported, so that others may be warned. Because I strongly believe that I am entitled to a refund and because of the shabby way that the supervisor Jessica handled the situation, I do not intend to just let this go. It may not seem like a lot of money to you, but it is to me. I am a single woman struggling to make ends meet. And although it may have been foolish of me not to have checked to make sure that the TIVO company had carried out my request, I am not so foolish that I would not do whatever I could to get the error corrected. Since my last contact with TIVO, I have done some online research. As a systems analyst, I am Tec savvy and will employ any and all resources available to me.

But when I came across the web site that encourages people who were not satisfied with the customer service they had received to contact the CEO, I decided to plead my case with you one last time. I truly hope that you will be able to help me resolve this without me having to turn into a prolific writer on the subject.

I am cutting and pasting the text from the cancellation email I received from the evil Jessica below. My contact information was updated on my TIVO account even though it was never able to be activated. I even checked the support forums every few months to see if anyone had resolved the connection problem. In truth, I still hope to someday have my TIVO service restored, because I was a big TiVo fan.

Thank you for your time and patience. I hope to hear from you soon.

Purchased an upgrade to the HD Series 3 unit. Actually was defective and failed within a couple weeks. Was told had to pay for shipping of replacement unit and had to pay in advance for the replacement (which really is NOT supportive on how the warranty is covered). When I got the new unit, I was convinced to accept the 90 day grace period to remove all the content from the box and sell or give to someone - not fully disclosing that it starts billing again...! Then, they won't credit back up to those months it started, and additionaly, state they have a 90 day credit back billing dispute Policy. Unbelieveable..! Obviously, for someone to have a 90 day policy on billing disputes, really must mean that theyhave major billing issues...! And we're only talking about a differnce of about $80-90.

I'm just dumping TIVO totally and going with the cable DVR. The menuing on TIVO is consistently incorrect, too...

BUYER BEWARE of TIVO...!

I signed up for TIVO and then found it impossible to install on my system. Took hours on the phone trying to reach them withoout success. I have been charged fdor several months without receiving any service. Then my credit card went stale dated and I thought that woluld be an end to it - but instead they said they had cut off service (which is what I wanted), place my account with a colelction agency and charge me a $200 early cancellation fee.

Ther seems to be no way to contact them buy email - which seems to be intentional so you cannot commujnicate and they can continue to bill.

Does anyone know how to contact them by email?

When I purchased my Tivo boxes I was assured that my privacy settings would be respected. I told them how I wanted them set and was assured again that they would be. To my surprise about 6 months later I learned that when you initially set up your Tivo box it automaticly sets you up for a less restricting privacy setting then you were originally told it would be. When I called to find out what happened I was told that I could have easily reset my privacy to the strictest setting by going to messages/settings at the time I set up my box. I pointed out that their were no such instructions to do this at time of set up or after. I was told that I should have known. I found out that Tivo's position on this is that the customer should have known to do this even though nowhere in the set up does it even suggest the customer had this option.
I then found out that if I did choose to the more restrictive option so that my information is not shared and that I would no longer receive advertising that Tivo sells to marketers I would not be able to receive a good portion of programming or updates to my Tivo sets. They cleverly mixed in the items you need or want to keep your Tivo box running smoothly and up to date with their marketing. This way if you choose to opt out your kinda screwed!
I have contacted their support area, but with no help from them at all I requested to speak to their executive relations team. I called them and emailed them on June 30th and was told someone from there privacy dpt. will call me. It is now July 9, and I have not heard a peep from them.
Conclusion: If you are set on purchasing Tivo products and do not care about privacy issues then go for it. If you have concerns about doing business with a company that has decided to take a turn for the worst by being dishonest and not only wanting to make money off of the merchandise and service they sell you, but also demand that they continue making money off you by utilizing your private information such as what you watch when you watch it and any and all information they can gather about you personally for marketing purposes, please feel free to call them.
But don't forget they decided to punish any customer that feels they have the right to protect their own privacy by preventing customers from receiving important updates and information about the programming by connecting these functions with there privacy/marketing settings.
Also as a side not Tivo is passe now. Cox, dish, ect. ect. and all such companies now provide you with DVR's that are as good or better then what Tivo has. You can save thousands of dollars by not going with Tivo and keep your personal information private.

TIVO and its incompetent Customer Service Representatives. I am writing this to detail how incompetent its Customer Service Representatives can get and have gotten. On February 27 2010 I ordered a HD 20hr (R6521B) refurb or a HD TIVO (that was supposed to have been) refurbished HD DVR. On March 1, 2010, that order was shipped. According to the e-mail, that I was sent by TIVO it would take about 4-6 days to arrive. Okay I was willing to pay for faster shipping but shipping was free and there was no option for a faster shipping method. I purchased a refurbished, as this was all I wanted at the time. I do not own a HD TV yet so why buy a lot more then I could use in the next 6 to 8 months. When I am ready for more, I can upgrade and use the old one in the bedroom.

The unit arrives on March 5, 2010, (sort of that is not important to this problem here). I take it out of the box and read the instructions. I install it according to the supplied instructions. When I turn on the TV and then the TIVO, I get the welcome to warming up screen. Hey great, I had used a Direct TV DVR from TIVO before so I knew it takes a few minutes to warm up. Then the screen goes blank. This is new, so I waited and nothing happened. Therefore, I called support. We start to go through some steps when I accidently disconnected the phone call. I tried to call back right away, was told it was after hours, and would have told call back the next day. Goodbye. Therefore, I called the next day, the technician and I went through some steps to trouble shot the problem. He tells me that the unit is defective. He says he is going to send me another unit. I tell him you (TIVO) have had my money since the February 27, 2010 and I wanted my replacement unit sent by 2-day air. He says I have to get approval but he can do that and it will ship on Monday. Okay no problem, he sends me shipping instructions and a shipping label. It is early on the March 6, 2010 (at about 2 to 3 pm) so I repackage the defective unit and take it to the UPS store for shipment back to TIVO.

I called TIVO to cancel there service coonectiong to FIOS, but that I would be moving to a new location which did not have FIOS. At that time I might use TIVO. The lady said I would recieve three months free service if I reconnected at new location, but after three months they started billing me. I have not moved still use HD FIOS and billed for TIVO for a service that is not connected. They are able to tell if the service is connected, try and connect a box, without calling them it does not work.

My Tivo unit refused to update its software. When I called in about this, I was told they would exchange the unit for $50 and my lifetime subscription would transfer.

Forward 2 years because there were many family problems and a move to another state. I call back in and now all of a sudden the fee is $349 PLUS I have to pay for service all over again.

I cannot afford that.

Shame on Tivo for gouging the public. Since you do not stand behind the products you sell and try to make more money off those of us who already paid for a lifetime subscription by denying it when your box refuses to update the software, you are not a reliable vendor.

Remember people: you can tell the quality of a company by how it acts when you have problems.

Tivo gets an F.

They were not capable of making a simple credit card information update wich resulted in me having to call over six times and loosing many of my recordings. Not only were they not able to fix a simple problem but the make you wait over an hour just to get to the right person. And after you get to the "right" person, they keep putting you on hold until you're reduced to tears from frustration.

The president of this company should fire everyone in customer service and hire more qualified people.

I will think twice about purchasing any service or equipment from tivo unless you feel like being treated like dirt.

After paying for a 1-year subscription to service, the TIVO stopped working. Seems like a normal enough thing to me, so I cancelled my cable (because I don't watch a lot of TV), and went on my merry way. Didn't think that I would continue to be charged $12.95 a month for service I wasn't using. Well, I thought wrong. 14 months later, when I called about the problem, I was told that in my 1-year service agreement, somewhere in there, it told me that I would be automatically renewed to monthly service, without my permission. Beware, customers, because TIVO cannot give refunds, or so I am told.

Is there anything I can do about this?