# DirecTV Lifetime Tivo no more?



## pinballfan (Oct 2, 2001)

Has anyone that had lifetime Tivo/DVR service actually bought one of these yet? 

For years now DirecTV has been printing something like "DIRECTV DVR service lifetime" on my bill, but back when I bought it, it was called "Lifetime Tivo". 

In fact I still have the bill (hardcopy) from January 2002 which shows I paid $249 for "Lifetime Tivo".

If they now try to charge me an extra $5 a month I will be pretty seriously ticked off. Since I'm not in one of the early markets so I don't want to waste my time trying to call them...

I'm wondering if they continued to offer the lifetime option after they started calling it DVR service or if everyone with lifetime started out like I did with "Lifetime Tivo".


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

Once DirecTV took over sales and billing for the old Tivo-based DVRs several years ago, they stopped selling any new Lifetime subscriptions. If you still have an active account with a lifetime Tivo subscription from way back then, I think DirecTV will waive the $5 Tivo Fee. Best to call and verify, though.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Until some who has been through this actually calls D* and finds out a definitive answer, there can only be speculation. The "Lifetime TiVo" service was transformed into a "Lifetime DVR" service and those that bought it are not paying the (now) $7 monthly fee for a D* DVR(s) or an older D*TiVo box(es).

Not sure whether or not it would be reasonable to expect D* to swallow BOTH fees.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Did you pay that $249 to TiVo or to DirecTV?


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## MamaKAS (Jul 28, 2004)

pinballfan said:


> Has anyone that had lifetime Tivo/DVR service actually bought one of these yet?
> 
> For years now DirecTV has been printing something like "DIRECTV DVR service lifetime" on my bill, but back when I bought it, it was called "Lifetime Tivo".
> 
> ...


I seriously doubt you'll avoid the TiVo fee.
Would you rather have been paying the DVR fee for the last 5 or 6 years?
They did not continue to offer a lifetime option after they started calling it DVR service. In fact, they changed it to DVR service long after the option to purchase lifetime was gone.


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## pinballfan (Oct 2, 2001)

unitron said:


> Did you pay that $249 to TiVo or to DirecTV?


Paid to DirecTV.

The bill I mentioned was a DirecTV bill. The $249 fee is just one of the line items on the bill and was rolled in with the other charges for that billing cycle.


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## pinballfan (Oct 2, 2001)

MamaKAS said:


> Would you rather have been paying the DVR fee for the last 5 or 6 years?


Obviously not, but...

Had they asked for a monthly DVR fee when I bought my DirecTV DVR I might have jumped ship for Comcast, I'm not sure. Probably not since I still had seeral DirecTV Tivos at the time. But who knows...


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## MamaKAS (Jul 28, 2004)

pinballfan said:


> Obviously not, but...
> 
> Had they asked for a monthly DVR fee when I bought my DirecTV DVR I might have jumped ship for Comcast, I'm not sure. Probably not since I still had seeral DirecTV Tivos at the time. But who knows...


But you bought it as a TiVo lifetime.

D* was kind enough to transfer it to a DVR lifetime for you (and everyone else). The other option they had was to start charging you a DVR fee. You can't expect them to convert it back to TiVo lifetime now can you?

And if they do convert it back to a TiVo lifetime, your DVR lifetime probably won't exist anymore. So, you'll be saving the $5 TiVo fee and paying the $7 DVR fee.

Be careful what you wish for.


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