TiVo Survives For One Reason: Customer Service

Last week my three and a half year TiVo box started showing signs of dying. Programs would not record and playback properly, video was constantly freezing and it was starting to affect the live TV signal as well.

I put in a call to TiVo this morning expecting to have to pay to get a new DVR since mine was over three years old and I was not under a contract, which apparently means the DVR is not under warranty. After telling me I had to pay $179 to get a new unit, I figured I should probably cancel my TiVo service since I will be switching from Cablevision to FiOS TV in the next few weeks anyway and would want a Verizon DVR. After harassing my local town board, calling each week for the past three months, I've learned that they have come to terms with Verizon for a TV license in my town and should be offering the TV service later this month. (I've had FiOS Internet service for almost two years now and love it.)

After telling TiVo it would be best to just cancel my service, I was transferred to someone who didn't try and sell me anything, flat out said they didn't want to lose my business and would just send me a new DVR at no cost. They didn't give me the run around, spoke English, was friendly and understood the situation and was honest and upfront. The sad part about this for TiVo is that while I didn't cancel my service, they can only get another month or so of my business as once FiOS TV is available, I can't come up with one strength TiVo has over the Verizon TV DVR. The Verizon DVR can record in HD, can record two shows at once, can playback recorded shows in multiple rooms at once with only one DVR and can record up to 85 hours of standard definition. Even the new TiVo box they are sending me can't do HD, can't record two shows, can't playback video in more than one room and only records up to 40 hours.

The only thing that TiVo has over Verizon that I can think of is the TiVo VideoToGo feature which while cool, I've never used once. I've always liked TiVo for their customer service and how easy their product is to use. And to date, it's their customer service that keeps me as a customer. But I'm afraid that pretty soon, that won't be able to keep me much longer. I wish Verizon would have licensed the TiVo software for their DVRs, but they ended up building all of that on their own. Just don't see how TiVo can survive in the long run, even though I wish they would.

Comments

[HAB]

Sure, that's where their revenue is coming from - monthly fees. But what about the smart early TiVo customers with lifetime subscriptions - I bet we'd get screwed and wouldn't be offered a free DVR to replace ours.

In fact, since you're talking about TiVo Customer Service, they "offered" lifetime subscribers a "deal" to transfer our lifetime subscriptions to the new HD Dual Tuner DVR's for a fee of $200 - the original cost of our lifetime subscriptions. Oh, and there was no discount off the $800 price tag on the DVR either - real nice. That DVR now goes for $400 after incentives/rebates.

So, they wanted to "honor" their loyal and early subscribers with an over-priced DVR and the opportunity to buy our lifetime subscriptions again. $1000 in all.

Uh huh, real nice customer service there.

As I've told TiVo already, I await the coming upgrades to the Apple TV box so that I can kiss my TiVo good bye, lifetime subscription and all.

HAB

[Yun Lin]

Just want to point out that Tivo S3 and HD units works with FiOS, because FiOS uses cable card technology. Tivo has officially said that TivoToGo and Multi-Room-Viewing is coming to Tivo S3 and HD in Nov.

Tivo HD is $299 for the box, if you prepay 3 years, the monthly sub fee is about $8.30. You get a dual-tuner HD DVR for $598 for 3 years, including everything that a Tivo does.

[Bill G]

TiVo may very well survive as an IP provider to [or be purchased by] one of the cable MSOs, but their days of providing boxes to people as a stand alone business are slipping away.

Here's a chart of their net subscriber adds for the past several years.
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2007/08/30/net-new-tivo-subscribers-2001-2007/

And another of the current estimated US DVR installed base. The TiVo owned slice of the pie is small, and shrinking.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2007/09/11/dvr-installed-base-august-2007/

[HDTiVo]

I thought TiVo Survives For One Reason:

They raise on average tens of millions of dollars per year of fresh capital which keeps their disasterous business afloat.

[ojmd]

Tivo keeps my business in spite of their bad customer service. I'm just not motivated enough to take the time to research other options and make the change. I wouldn't even call Dan's experience good customer service - it's more like desperation.

[nameless]

I use to work for tivo and recently quit because there is nothing for tivo. they gave me a box for an employee with employee life time service, once I quit they thought they cut off my service. to be honest with you tivo bankruptcy is due to them offering free exchanges and giving people discount for wanting people cancling, if you ask to speak to a supervisor they will give you anything you want. I know by me giving this information I can get fined due to privacy agreements but as much as tivo rips people off for their locked in contracts they offer and over priced plans. if you really want the glory of tivo but don't want to pay for service. go to there website and browse around the website you can get the tivo server software for free. TIVO is open source which means the software has to be open for distribution and don't hold any copyrights to selling there software. (hint hint) which means that tivo shouldn't be aloud to sell service.

[Amazed]

If you're an ex-TiVo employee, no wonder they're going out of business. Your grammar sucks, go back and take an English class.

[Charles Raiff]

It's nice you had a good time with Tivo Customer Service. Read about my experience with the same problems that went in the opposite direction. http://tinyurl.com/d4tivo