We'd had a TiVo Series 1 that we barely used, so in January when TiVo had its offer to transfer a lifetime subscription for $199, we decided to buy a TiVo Series 3 and transfer the lifetime subscription from our Series 1 to the new Series 3 since we had bought a new Sony HDTV. At the time TiVo included a one-year free subscription of the old TiVo Series 1, which we didn't use because we already had a Series 2 in addition to the new Series 3.
Since the old TiVo wasn't even hooked up to call in to download programming information, I didn't even think about the one year "free" subscription ending. Well, imagine my surprise in January when I noticed an additional charge on my credit card statement for $12.95 from TiVo. When I contacted TiVo, they informed me that I only had the "free" subscription on our old Series 1 for a year, so they were charging me for service for the old DVR because it still showed up on my account even though IT HADN'T CALLED INTO TIVO IN OVER A YEAR FOR ANY PROGRAMMING INFORMATION. I informed them that I hadn't used the old TiVo Series 1 for a year, and asked why their records didn't show that there hadn't been any calls made for this DVR in that entire time. They informed me they don't keep track of whether or not the DVR is calling in, that they're billing me because they assume the DVR is being used unless I call in to cancel the service. So of course, I cancel the service on the old TiVo, and I'm told they can't reverse the first charge for $12.95 since I didn't call in before it was billed, but they won't charge me anymore.
That was in January and it's now June and despite repeated calls, TiVo continues to charge me $12.95/month for a DVR I haven't used since January! I love the TiVo service but not enough to pay an extra $12.95/month for a DVR I don't use! It's almost impossible to get a TiVo customer service rep who knows anything, and they don't understand why you're getting frustrated and angry because of these repeated charges.
I finally had to contact my credit card company to dispute the charges.
TiVo needs to get its act together! These kinds of fraudulent practices are enough to turn off longtime Tivotees like me and make me consider alternative DVRs.
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