# Email addresses for Tivo customer service managers?



## mixylplik3 (Sep 5, 2007)

Yesterday, sadly, my 8-year Tivo relationship came to an end over a billing issue. I have written a letter that I would like to send to a higher-up at Tivo just telling my story and why they have 1 less long-time customer.

I have searched this site and over the web and have been unable to find a single email address for anyone of significance at Tivo. Is there a customer service overseer or someone I could contact? Any assistance would be appreciated.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

If you really searched this site over, you would have realized that many of the TiVo employees are actually members of the forum too. Often, just posting herein can catch the interest of these folks. 

I suggest you post what your "issue" is and maybe TiVoStephen, TiVoPony, TiVoShanan or someone else will be able to direct your communication to the right place.

Please let us know too what the issue is. I bet there may be a solution for whatever your problem is. We may be able to offer advice.


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## mixylplik3 (Sep 5, 2007)

Thanks jlb. I knew that to be the case but didn't want to drag this out nor was I comfortable contacting someone on this forum out of the blue.

In a nutshell, I have been paying Tivo monthly since 2001. In 2005 due to not really using my series 1 anymore I attempted to cancel my account and was offered the $6.95 a month fee. I figured for that much I would eventually get my Tivo working again and continue using it so I kept my account open. I never did get the series 1 back online but bought a TivoHD last summer and after a few weeks of it working fine the cablecards started having problems. The Tivo sat for most of the last 6-8 months sporadically working. I had to deal with Comcast several times including a few trips to my house but it never quite was fixed. 

When updating my billing info last month, I mistyped the expiration date. Not using the Tivo, I did not see the alerts that my account was past due. Yesterday I decided to get the Tivo/Comcast issue solved once and for all and much to my surprise when I switched over to my Tivo I saw that my account closed a couple weeks ago for being 2 months past due. 

When reinstating my account I was told it was $12.95 a month. There would be no $6.95 a month for me anymore. After all the months of paying Tivo for a device I wasn't using I did not find this acceptable. I was transferred to someone that told me the $6.95 days are "long gone." Well, in that case, so am I. After all my years of business they would rather I cancel than give me the billing terms I previously had.


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

So you wanted a special retention discount on a unit that you were trying to put new service back on.

And you're surprised that they didn't give it to you?


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## mixylplik3 (Sep 5, 2007)

GoHokies! said:


> And you're surprised that they didn't give it to you?


Yeah I expected this kind of reply and no I'm not surprised.


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

You've got unrealistic expectations (and since you were expecting that reply, it sounds like you know it). Everybody wants something for nothing.


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## mixylplik3 (Sep 5, 2007)

No I don't think they were unrealistic. It's okay, it's just business. Shut up and deal or nothing at all. I don't want something for nothing, either.


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## petew (Jul 31, 2003)

mixylplik3 said:


> When updating my billing info last month, I mistyped the expiration date. Not using the Tivo, I did not see the alerts that my account was past due. Yesterday I decided to get the Tivo/Comcast issue solved once and for all and much to my surprise when I switched over to my Tivo I saw that my account closed a couple weeks ago for being 2 months past due.


I can sympathizes on this point. Every account has an email address associated with it yet Tivo do not appear to make any effort to send past due notices by email. I almost lost month to month on my sons Tivo due to an expired credit card and the fact that he didn't bother to tell me about the messages on the unit.


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## mixylplik3 (Sep 5, 2007)

petew said:


> I can sympathizes on this point. Every account has an email address associated with it yet Tivo do not appear to make any effort to send past due notices by email. I almost lost month to month on my sons Tivo due to an expired credit card and the fact that he didn't bother to tell me about the messages on the unit.


I never received an email except for when my billing info expired. Area for improvement, I guess.

I'm not looking for sympathy nor support from the community-at-large for my situation. I just want to contact someone at Tivo and relay my experience for what it's worth.


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## nhaigh (Jul 16, 2001)

Based on the OP's description of events I would say that it does seem pretty unreasonable of TiVo. He had $6.95 on the new unit and TiVo can verify that. They can also verify the unit has not been dialing home so its reasonable to expect the OP had no idea the account had become invalid. 

I'm a long time TiVo user as well and I also find it remarkably frustrating that there is no way to correspond with them via E-mail for support or particularly escalation and feedback.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

mixylplik3 said:


> I never received an email except for when my billing info expired. Area for improvement, I guess.
> 
> I'm not looking for sympathy nor support from the community-at-large for my situation. I just want to contact someone at Tivo and relay my experience for what it's worth.


Look in TiVoStephen's profile for his email. He is your best candidate for getting the feedback to the right person. I for one think you could get a break on this - though I have seen TiVo stay hardline on this issue as the average rate per sub is very closely watched by TiVo counters.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

ZeoTiVo said:


> Look in TiVoStephen's profile for his email. He is your best candidate for getting the feedback to the right person. I for one think you could get a break on this - though I have seen TiVo stay hardline on this issue as the average rate per sub is very closely watched by TiVo counters.


So is the number of subscribers. For a company to lose a subscriber of seven or eight years over this is almost unbelievable. Its not like they weren't making a buck from him - I'm sure they were. But they wanted more and now will get nothing. Guess they don't believe the saying about the bird in the hand...


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

RoyK said:


> So is the number of subscribers. For a company to lose a subscriber of seven or eight years over this is almost unbelievable. Its not like they weren't making a buck from him - I'm sure they were. But they wanted more and now will get nothing. Guess they don't believe the saying about the bird in the hand...


agreed, if it was my call I would give him the rate back. Just kind of casually mention we are noting it in his file to make sure it gets done..... and that this is not something we would do often


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

Rule 1 of Email: If it isn't worth talking to someone over the telephone or actually putting a stamp on a letter, it probably isn't an important issue.


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## jcaudle (Aug 16, 2004)

It is rather stupid if you have an email address on your Tivo online profile that you can't receive renewal reminders from them via email....other vendors don't seem to have a problem doing that.


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

bicker said:


> Rule 1 of Email: If it isn't worth talking to someone over the telephone or actually putting a stamp on a letter, it probably isn't an important issue.


Oh bicker, you such a rule-maker! Why don't you publish your words of wisdom so millions of people who use e-mail for communication would know them.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

Nah... customers aren't willing to pay enough for me to bother making my wisdom available in such a convenient form. 

Seriously, it may suck, but if your complaining through the mechanism that takes the least amount of work, then there is no reason to believe that you care much about what you're complaining about. The reason WHY people want to complain by email (because they really don't care enough to do real work to communicate their dissatisfaction) is the reason why email complaints can much more readily be ignored.


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## rocko (Oct 29, 2002)

It's just as easy to toss a paper letter in the trash as it is to ignore an email.

Following your logic, corporate communications are less urgent if sent by email rather than a paper memorandum - just because it's easier.

Email is the medium of the moment - like it or not. I imagine some are pining away for the days of the typewriter and carbon paper - stationery and postage stamps. True, the art of letter writing has diminished in our tech-driven existance, but it is what it is.

Corporate america is losing paper at an accelerated rate. I guarantee every company you do business with is trying to convince you to switch to online statements - your bank, the phone company, etc. It doesn't mean any less if it's not on paper. And let's not start on the environmental debate about tree killing.

Thanks for your attention. Carry on.


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## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

Hi folks,

Just to let you know, we do send e-mail reminders for expired credit cards. The e-mails are sent around the 15th of the month before the card expires, and then again during the first three days of the month once the card has expired.

mixylplik3 (I won't try to trick you into typing that backwards), please send an e-mail to [email protected] and I'll make sure a customer service account specialist contacts you to discuss your case. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Best regards,
Stephen


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## petew (Jul 31, 2003)

TiVoStephen said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> Just to let you know, we do send e-mail reminders for expired credit cards. The e-mails are sent around the 15th of the month before the card expires, and then again during the first three days of the month once the card has expired.


In my experience the problem has been when the credit card can't be processed for other reasons such as card lost/stolen so new number issued.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

GoHokies! said:


> So you wanted a special retention discount on a unit that you were trying to put new service back on.
> 
> And you're surprised that they didn't give it to you?


No, he was asking for "email addresses for TiVo customer service managers" so he could provide feedback on his opinion of their billing system, not for people to analyze his complaint. What's wrong with that?

It's a wonder anybody ever comes back here when they are frustrated just trying to get a simple answer....

The end result is that TiVo lost a customer. It's _possible_ that TiVo would like to know why, even if you deem it it to be an invalid reason.


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## tommy275 (Jun 8, 2003)

we've been having issues with a large appliance that we bought almost a year ago from day one. we've called the company several times to complain. we've had it serviced 4 times, for the same reasons. we were told on more than one occasion that since the appliance was under warranty, the would just contain to try to fix it (once it was out of warranty we would have been SOL). 

The other day my wife emailed the CEO of the company and a VP voicing our frustration. The next day, less than 24 hours later, we received a voicemail from the company telling us that they would replace the appliance.

For those who think that an email is too informal, or that emails aren't the way companies handle business (which boggles the mind as just about every company that i deal with handles correspondence via email, especially since I don't give out my phone number), there's a story to consider. Not that your minds will be changed, but I'm just sayin'.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

tommy275 said:


> Not that your minds will be changed, but I'm just sayin'.


TiVo had email in the past for support but the questions were mainly technical and ended up in voice calls so many times that the ycut out the middleman and its related expense. Perhaps a better system that would help tie in the account to the email would have improved this.

It was a business decision and not an oversight on TiVo inc's part.


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## tommy275 (Jun 8, 2003)

ZeoTiVo said:


> TiVo had email in the past for support but the questions were mainly technical and ended up in voice calls so many times that the ycut out the middleman and its related expense. Perhaps a better system that would help tie in the account to the email would have improved this.
> 
> It was a business decision and not an oversight on TiVo inc's part.


i was speaking to the thought that email isn't a valid method of communcation (the "if it's worth saying it's worth writing a letter" theory). I don't have an opinion one way or the other about TiVo's approach to email. not yet anyway!


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

Adam1115 said:


> What's wrong with that?


Nothing at all.

I simply provided my opinion that the OP was making an unreasonable demand. What's wrong with that?


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## jmace57 (Nov 30, 2002)

This forum used to be a lot friendlier place.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

GoHokies! said:


> Nothing at all.
> 
> I simply provided my opinion that the OP was making an unreasonable demand. What's wrong with that?


The OP didn't ask for anyone's opinion.

He also didn't make any 'demands'.



jmace57 said:


> This forum used to be a lot friendlier place.


Agreed.


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## husky55 (Feb 2, 2008)

TiVoStephen said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> Just to let you know, we do send e-mail reminders for expired credit cards. The e-mails are sent around the 15th of the month before the card expires, and then again during the first three days of the month once the card has expired.
> 
> ...


3 Thumbs UP for you. I read this thread with dread until your post. Whatever the reason, Tivo as a company has to show a human empathy side to it. If what mixylplik3 said can be verified, then of course some leniency about his account could and should be considered.

On the other hand why not offer him a lifetime plan, that way mixylplik3 can use or not use his TivoHD and not worry about credit card mess-up and Tivo will keep a long time customer for life.

@mixylplik3, going to TivoHD from series 1 or 2 is like jumping through several generations of display and video processor technology, assuming you have an HDTV and HD cable. Good luck.


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## mixylplik3 (Sep 5, 2007)

I appreciate some of the comments in this thread and just returned from some time off. I have a great deal of experience running a large forum so I know how attitudes change and people wish for the "good old days" of sites being more newbie friendly and generally a more sociable place. 

TiVoStephen: Thank you for chiming in. I will email you as soon as I can. I did save a copy of my billing history which I will include to verify my tenure as a customer.

My issue is more on principle than the amount of money involved. I'm sick of big companies pushing around consumers like we're supposed to just take it. Problem is, most people just shrug and move on. The experience that drove me to posting last week just struck a nerve.


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## vazquezj324 (Jul 2, 2008)

mixylplik3 said:


> My issue is more on principle than the amount of money involved. I'm sick of big companies pushing around consumers like we're supposed to just take it. Problem is, most people just shrug and move on. The experience that drove me to posting last week just struck a nerve.


*appluads* :up:


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## markw365 (Aug 23, 2007)

Ok, I switched from DTV to Cable when the TivoHD came out and DTV wasn't offering TivoHD, but instead some crap DVR along the lines of an SA. Soooo,
I jumped last year when the TivoHD came out and have been fairly happy. SA M card, no real issues from the Tivo itself. So we get the second HD TV for the bedroom, I decided to get a second Tivo. Went to hook it up last night, go online to activate it and I get this:

"We're sorry, your account balance is past due. Before you can proceed, please update your credit card using the Change credit card function. Thank you. "

The credit card I have on file is good. My billing history shows that for the last year they billed on like the 7th and it cleared on the 8th. They billed on the 7th of this month and since the bank/tivo's card service/whatever hasn't cleared yet, my bill is now "past due?!?", yet the account status is "In Good Standing". So now I'm inconvenienced because of how Tivo's system works. I called the customer rep line this morning, but I forgot the new unit's number, so I'll try this afternoon when I get home. I'm sure some batch job that gets run nightly will update tonight to show it cleared. The customer service rep said it was just "Pending" but hadn't been rejected. 

This is in the Logic of Tivo's activation system, it should look at the account status and let you activate, however since my bill is "pending" according to customer service and "past due" according to the web page I'm the one that's out right now.  Tivo needs to fix this problem with their system.
Right now there's a day or two window _EVERY_ month that you can't activate a new box.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

markw365 said:


> Right now there's a day or two window _EVERY_ month that you can't activate a new box.


That is a glitch in the system but you can still setup the box and get guide data and start recording shows without activation, so it is a small glitch.


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## markw365 (Aug 23, 2007)

ZeoTiVo said:


> That is a glitch in the system but you can still setup the box and get guide data and start recording shows without activation, so it is a small glitch.


Apparently this "glitch" changed the month date on my CC tivo had on file so the charge didn't go through. I re-entered the same card info with the proper date and it works. I'll keep an eye on it.


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

Adam1115 said:


> The OP didn't ask for anyone's opinion.


That's funny, I also don't recall asking for your opinion on my comments, or are you the only one that's allowed to offer unsolicited opinions?


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## vazquezj324 (Jul 2, 2008)

I thought that's what forums were all about? Giving opinions and getting answers? Any post is up for scrutiny under any and all personalities. It's the risk you take by writing freely, whether you ask for it or not.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

GoHokies! said:


> That's funny, I also don't recall asking for your opinion on my comments, or are you the only one that's allowed to offer unsolicited opinions?


No, I'm defending the OP against this threadjacking to flame him.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

vazquezj324 said:


> I thought that's what forums were all about? Giving opinions and getting answers? Any post is up for scrutiny under any and all personalities. It's the risk you take by writing freely, whether you ask for it or not.


What tends to happen is a newbie comes to this forum to ask a simple question, and instead of being offered an answer, they get posts like "RTFM", or bashed about how wrong they are...

I suppose everyone here is within their rights to sit back and wait for newbies to pounce on, but it doesn't serve the interest of this community very well....


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## vazquezj324 (Jul 2, 2008)

I understand that. I'm a newbie as well...but isn't it just dragging out that problem by attacking the attacker? Which I'm not saying you did, it actually seems to be a common problem among these threads. 
i guess I should clarify that what I meant was everyone is entitled to write what they want, just as much as everyone is entitled to read, accept or ignore what they want. Argument should really be a rally of ideas rather than an opinion or rightousness. Correct?


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## elkcum55 (Jan 6, 2008)

Adam1115 said:


> No, I'm defending the OP against this threadjacking to flame him.


I also had this issue with TIVO....not once but twice! The first time my credit card got lost and they stopped my 6.95 account. After talking with a supervisor, they agreed to give it back to me if I signed up for a minimum of a one year contract.

The second time just happened last month. I also updated my credit card and typed in the wrong info. I do disagree about being sent an email for warning. I was not sent one. The TIVO was not being used because my son is at college and therefore the message was not seeing on the TIVO.
After a few calls and talking with corporate, they agreed to give me the 6.95 back again.

So YES, it can be reinstated with a little help from a supervisor.

Good luck


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

tommy275 said:


> For those who think that an email is too informal, or that emails aren't the way companies handle business (which boggles the mind as just about every company that i deal with handles correspondence via email, especially since I don't give out my phone number), there's a story to consider. Not that your minds will be changed, but I'm just sayin'.


I can guarantee you that if anyone - customer or otherwise - sends me a letter, it will be ignored, as I routinely trash all mail without reading it. A voicemail will probably illicit a response within 2 or 3 days if I deem the matter to be significant to my company. I usually check my voicemail every day or so if I am not working from home. An e-mail from a legitimate source will be read within moments of its arrival if I am online, or very briefly after I return to work after lunch, a meeting, or in the morning. It's very likely I will reply to the e-mail within minutes, and I will respond to it as my schedule, the depth of the issue, and the urgent nature of the issue allows. I don't respond to unsolicited correspondence from vendors, no matter who they are, and any vendor representative who persists in attempting to correspond with me without my initiation of the dialogue is removed from the list of vendors I employ.


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

Adam1115 said:


> The OP didn't ask for anyone's opinion.


Implicitly, yes he did. He posted his message in a discussion forum, whose entire purpose is a free exchange of ideas, opinions, and facts. By the very act of posting, one invites opinions and comments from other posters. If anyone wishes not to have their messages commented upon, then they should not post. That said, the OP's posts certainly have said nothing inviting flames. He has been calm, polite, and reasonable. What's more, having received a response from tivostephen, it's possible his issue is on the way to being resolved in a perfectly equitable manner, or at least has been communicated to officials at TiVo for proper consideration. It's a great object lesson for onlookers, if you ask me, not to mention good PR for TiVo.



Adam1115 said:


> He also didn't make any 'demands'.


Of the forum or of TiVo, Inc? He indeed made no demands upon the forum or the members thereof, but he certainly had demands of Tivo. He may well have submitted them politely in the form we might call a "request" rather than a "demand", but at root it is still an ultimatum, no matter how politely phrased. Note there is nothing wrong with such negotiations, and his having engaged in one should not qualify him for ridicule. Some people come into this (or other) forum and whine about how unfairly they were treated when their requests were denied by some other party, but he has not done that. Whatever his tome may have been when on the phone with TiVo customer support, his tone here has been even, fair, and professional.


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

husky55 said:


> Tivo as a company has to show a human empathy side to it. If what mixylplik3 said can be verified, then of course some leniency about his account could and should be considered.


yeah - that's awfully tight not to understand a typo, and that can definitely be verified.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

lrhorer said:


> Implicitly, yes he did.


Hi!

Welcome to nine days later.

We don't need to re-hash it again...


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## Jimbo713 (Dec 25, 2001)

I have a good customer service story. I have three TiVo's - each with their own account. My debit card was being charged at 3 different times each month and I was wanting to consolidate the three accounts into one. I was told they couldn't do that. OK. But I was also told that they could not simply change the payment dates on the three accounts so that that they would occur on the same date. If they did that, they'd have to cancel each account and open a new one for each unit, and that would re-set the 30-day out clause (I could cancel in 30 days with no penalty). I was transferred up three CS levels and finally, my goal due dates are now all the same - after I assured them that I was intending to be a customer for the long haul. After all, I orginally was a TiVo user in 1999. All is well now - and CS served me well.


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## mixylplik3 (Sep 5, 2007)

This story has a happy ending. 

Thanks to TiVoStephen for forwarding my letter of last week to the "proper authorities." :up:

This morning I received a call from a guy at "Tivo Executive Relations" who was very nice and offered to reinstate my account. He did say that it was because of my long-standing relationship with TiVo that they decided to allow me to have my $6.95 account back.

As I stated before, this was on principle and not about the money involved. I'm glad TiVo decided to make things right (in my mind). I am looking foward to getting some new cablecards in there. Thank you TiVo, for restoring my faith in you.

Another happy customer, again.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

mixylplik3 said:


> He did say that it was because of my long-standing relationship with TiVo that they decided to allow me to have my $6.95 account back.


How could you have a 6.95 rate and not be long-standing  Glad it worked out for you, I knew TiVoStephen would get your issue to the right person :up:


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