TiVo

Full review
I've had TiVo service for about 4 years now. Early adopter. Bought the box at one of the chain stores, set it up with a phone line in my bedroom, and have been addicted ever since. Big TiVo proponent. Now, all of that is soured and I will never look at my TiVo box the same loving way again, all because I tried to buy a second box. This time, I made the mistake of ordering from tivo.com. I saw a refurb 80 hour dual tuner for $50 and decided it was time to purchase a box for the living room. I placed my order on 8/26 and was immediately charged for the DVR and a month's service of 12.95. Then, nothing...The box didn't ship. It didn't ship until 9/6 and didn't arrive until 9/11. I paid for a month's service that I never got to use, that was the start. Then the box didn't work with the TiVo USB network connector and it kept rebooting. I had to call TiVo CS, and was onl hold for 42 miuntes only to have them tell me that they couldn't tell me how to troubleshoot the problem, so I put the TiVo aside to return. When I went on their site to find out how returns worked, I found out that the only way to return the box was to get an RMA # and the only way to get an RMA # was a call, rather than a quick online transaction via a form or an email. Really? I get it, TiVo Customer Service. You want to dissuade me. But my TiVo doesn't work, so, setting aside a half hour of my evening, I call the main CS line. I get into a vague phone loop and choose Customer Service and accounts/orders. I am on hold for 28 minutes and then get a person who listens to the problem and then tells me she is going to transfer me to the Returns Department. I ask her, if there is no other way to return a TiVo order than to call, why there isn't an IVR phone option to return something. She says she didn't invent the service, so she doesn't know, but that there isn't a direct line for returns. OK, that's pretty obviously scummy. So, I want another 16 minutes and get the returns department. They send me to a URL http://www.tivo.com/buytivo/cs/tivodirect.html where I have to get a form and had I not looked at the form while making the rep hold on the line with me, I wouldn't have known to ask him for not just the RMA # but the "return for credit case #" the "order #" and the "tivo service number," all of which need to be on the form. Basically, it's a nightmare. By the time he and I are done, I have been on the phone for an hour and 4 minutes. All I needed was an RMA number. I am disgusted and will never buy another TiVo product.

**I'd like to ask readers of these reviews to make sure that the writers are not confusing the TiVo product with the TiVo online sales experience, which is what the reviews in this section are supposed to be about.**