# Upgrade offer to expire in 2 Days/New Pricing Plan



## shadowplay0918 (May 16, 2011)

Just received email from Tivo stating I have 2 days to upgrade at my current offer and then they list new pricing at bottom of email. I was considering getting rid of my last series 2 (also have 2 HDTivo's) this fall when I have more $$ but maybe not depending on new offer...

_New pricing begins May 19th

DVR pricing: $99.99 TiVo Premiere OR $299.99 TiVo Premiere XL DVR with purchase of a TiVo service plan
Service plans*: $19.99/mo. with 1-yr commitment OR $499.99 Product Lifetime service
_


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## prisk (Nov 19, 2006)

Anyone have any idea on the new pricing? TiVo rep I talked to was very tight-lipped.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

I have been expecting a similar movement. It doesn't make sense for Tivo to keep the two tiered pricing. It only makes sense to raise the price on Lifetime and move on. This allows you to get any available plan by purchasing at retail (which for me I think may be currently hurting Tivo). Now what might be interesting to see is the price after that 1-year contract is up. I do hope that it stays in the $13-15 range, but I bet it will all go to $19.99. This would make Tivo not very competitive on price and with questionable (at best) product superiority in the marketplace. We'll see how this all turns out.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

I just got the email. I tried to click on the link but maybe it's getting hammered because it's not loading for me.


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## bikegeek (Dec 28, 2006)

The Tivo site is really slow.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

bikegeek said:


> The Tivo site is really slow.


It is loading faster than normal for me... Maybe it is a peering issue...


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

socrplyr said:


> It is loading faster than normal for me... Maybe it is a peering issue...


Well all pages except the upgrade page. Must be hosted on a different server...


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## rifleman69 (Jan 6, 2005)

Using their $19.99 pricing, Lifetime makes sense after the 25th month.


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## ecoblue (Jan 2, 2009)

I had planned to purchase upgrades for my Humax DRT800 and Tivo HD today--before I received the email. If I was planning to wait around, this would certainly have motivated me to buy now.

The new prices aren't bad, but my current upgrade offer is a little less. 

Still, it's great to see that Lifetime service isn't going away. It's just getting a price adjustment to reflect the (currently) lower prices of the Tivo boxes at retail.


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## garys (Feb 2, 2002)

The pricing confusion is probably good to get away from, but getting rid of pricing benefits for existing lifetime subscription owners only makes sense if they have a product that is so superior to the existing boxes that the difference between what users have (and have fully paid for) and what the user could have is worth the $600 or $800 in new costs (minus whatever the existing box gets on ebay).

I have two tivo HDs and two series 3s, and there simply is no compelling benefit to upgrading to a Premiere.

All of which has me thinking that the new pricing plan only works in conjunction with substantially improved new hardware (like the Tivo hardware come out in Great Britain) or with some spectacular new Premiere-only features (more than just some iPad app). Access to on demand content from Comcast might do it, but Tivo's record on rolling out that kind of thing on time doesn't instill confidence.

On the flip side, the new pricing plan means that the ebay resale value of my used series 3 or tivo HD with lifetime subscription is probably going to increase significantly, so maybe the trick is to upgrade today, hold the old lifetime Tivo's for a month or two while the ebay prices rise, then sell them.


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

Right now if I want to upgrade my Lifetime S2 unit I'm looking at
$269.99 TiVo Premiere or $449.99 TiVo Premiere XL
and $199 for lifetime
So... $468.99 / $648.99
Versus after the 18th

DVR pricing: $99.99 TiVo Premiere OR $299.99 TiVo Premiere XL DVR with purchase of a TiVo service plan
Service plans*: $19.99/mo. with 1-yr commitment OR $499.99 Product Lifetime service

$599.98 / $799.98

Now the current upgrade offer is with an incentive. the question will be what kinda incentive will they be offering with that new pricing. Otherwise I don't see current customers wanting to really upgrade. 

Now if this is really only just allowing people now to purchase a Lifetime subscription for $500 right away instead of paying $19.99 a month for a year prior to purchasing lifetime, that makes sense, and hopefully they will be sending out numbers for current customers and upgrading in the future.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

Site still will not let me see the deal, but i'm sure it's the same as ducker outlined above. I don't think I'm going to bite and upgrade my S2. Now if they offered a deal that allowed me to transfer my S2 lifetime to a Premiere then I'd take a closer look even if it meant paying more for the Premiere, say something like $349.99.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

I wonder why more people haven't gotten this email seems like we should all get it. 

This is a pretty big price increase currently most of us either have $469 or $500 upgrade deals with lifetime looks like now it is going to be $600? or will there still be a MSD that brings the price back down to $500? 

Thanks,


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

ducker said:


> ...


Incentives have always come and gone. I agree with you that it means that they won't be as good of a "deal" as they are now. I am sure that within 6 months (probably less) there would be another similar incentive if it is actually profitable for them to sell at that price. Remember that right now the $469 deal is a reduction of $229 from $698. This pricing puts it at $598, which is the same as the current $299+$299 pricing for MSD (so they are just dropping the "upgrade" offer for a while). I haven't gotten the email yet, but I am interested to know if it is $99+$499 for someone without a prior subscription or not. What was posted doesn't really indicate (and I don't know that it does/doesn't).


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## blacknoi (Jan 23, 2006)

So the $12.99 / month 1st unit / $9.99 MSD discount pricing is going away entirely?


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## groot (Jan 8, 2003)

NOTE: I love my Tivo and you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands.

Here's what I find absolutely hysterically funny. The new pricing plan displayed in the email is $99.99 for the Tivo Premiere, but yet when I click on the "special upgrade pricing just for me", it's $199. So, why would I ever upgrade now?

Oh yeah... and... When I read the message on my phone, because they played with the font sizes and didn't actually insert the ".", the new pricing showed up as $9999 for the Tivo Premiere or $29999. I thought for a minute that Tivo was about to lose a LOT of business. I guess it just didn't look right to insert a "." anywhere in the price.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

atmuscarella said:


> I wonder why more people haven't gotten this email seems like we should all get it.
> 
> This is a pretty big price increase currently most of us either have $469 or $500 upgrade deals with lifetime looks like now it is going to be $600? or will there still be a MSD that brings the price back down to $500?
> 
> Thanks,


Tivo's emails don't go out to everyone immediately (limitations on mail servers). I have seen up to a day or so difference from when others get them. Hopefully this one comes out faster as it is time sensitive.

For your questions, see my post before this one. This is equivalent to the current MSD pricing, so I don't know that you want to always run your incentive pricing. Typically companies run incentives for time periods. This way some purchase a full price and those who don't b/c of price hopefully wait until you do run the incentive. Also, remember that I am betting you could buy a box off Amazon ($84 today) and at least get a bit of a discount.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

blacknoi said:


> So the $12.99 / month 1st unit / $9.99 MSD discount pricing is going away entirely?


Who knows, this doesn't indicate either way.

It just indicates what a new box will require.


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## smark (Nov 20, 2002)

I got the email as well. Though I can see no reason to upgrade since I'm on 12.95 and 6.95 for my two TivoHDs.


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## blacknoi (Jan 23, 2006)

socrplyr said:


> Who knows, this doesn't indicate either way.
> 
> It just indicates what a new box will require.


So in an effort to reduce confusion, they've created more. Seems about right.

Dunno, I've been holding off on buying a lifetime premier unit with this incentive offer because of a # of reasons (HD interface not being finished, no 2nd core utilization, bugs people reported here etc)... not sure if this will change my mind..


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

blacknoi said:


> So in an effort to reduce confusion, they've created more. Seems about right.
> 
> Dunno, I've been holding off on buying a lifetime premier unit with this incentive offer because of a # of reasons (HD interface not being finished, no 2nd core utilization, bugs people reported here etc)... not sure if this will change my mind..


Agreed that it causes confusion, but this is trying to get those who need a bump to make their purchase. While it has gone on for quite a while, the upgrade offer was definitely a "limited" promotion. Deals of its magnitude will likely come and go. For the time being, I am thinking that it will be gone...

I am not saying that you don't have some valid reasons for not buying yet, but I always laugh when people say stuff about the 2nd core. Utilized or not it provides no direct features. Utilizing it may cause a performance hit (using more than two cores does have some overhead associated with it). A more reasonable statement is that the box is too slow...


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## Stormspace (Apr 13, 2004)

If TiVo's prices increase any more it's just another nail in the coffin as far as I'm concerned. If anything prices should be coming down, especially those for subscriptions. I guess however that when you are hemorrhaging customers you have two choices, lower your prices to attract more users, or charge the remaining customers enough to make up for your losses.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

socrplyr said:


> Tivo's emails don't go out to everyone immediately (limitations on mail servers). I have seen up to a day or so difference from when others get them. Hopefully this one comes out faster as it is time sensitive.
> 
> For your questions, see my post before this one. This is equivalent to the current MSD pricing, so I don't know that you want to always run your incentive pricing. Typically companies run incentives for time periods. This way some purchase a full price and those who don't b/c of price hopefully wait until you do run the incentive. Also, remember that I am betting you could buy a box off Amazon ($84 today) and at least get a bit of a discount.


I guess when "upgrade" offers have been around as long as the current ones I tend to say it is the normal pricing. Kind of like stuff in many department stores that are only at the full price for about 5 minutes a year the rest of the time they are "marked down" to a certain price and then when there are real sales it is off the "marked down" price.


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## alangst (Jan 21, 2004)

Quick question about upgrading my series2. Will I still be able to use it as I am now on another tv? Or, does it basically become a harddrive backup just able to play and record manually?


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

alangst said:


> Quick question about upgrading my series2. Will I still be able to use it as I am now on another tv? Or, does it basically become a harddrive backup just able to play and record manually?


If your S2 has a lifetime subscription it keeps its lifetime and is a fully functional unit. I don't know if it isn't a lifetimed unit.


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## pjasper (Sep 27, 2006)

Best Buy is already listing the new prices ($99.99/$299.98 + $19.99/month) on its web site.


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## alangst (Jan 21, 2004)

Yes, I'm currently on a lifetime subscription. So, I'm guessing that would be $468 for me to get a new lifetime premiere and keep my S2 for a second TV..... I'm very tempted.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

pjasper said:


> Best Buy is already listing the new prices ($99.99/$299.98 + $19.99/month) on its web site.


That has been the price at Best Buy for the last 6 months or so. There is no change in pricing for retail units at this point. This really only changes pricing for Tivo.com purchases (and possibly renewing contracts, but there is no direct indication there).


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

alangst said:


> Yes, I'm currently on a lifetime subscription. So, I'm guessing that would be $468 for me to get a new lifetime premiere and keep my S2 for a second TV..... I'm very tempted.


Yes, you are correct. That's part of my problem. I have an S2 and a Tivo HD. If I got the Premiere I really wouldn't need the S2 any longer. That's why I'd love to see an incentive that would allow us to transfer lifetime from another box to a Premiere.


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## alangst (Jan 21, 2004)

brettatk said:


> Yes, you are correct. That's part of my problem. I have an S2 and a Tivo HD. If I got the Premiere I really wouldn't need the S2 any longer. That's why I'd love to see an incentive that would allow us to transfer lifetime from another box to a Premiere.


Would you be able to sell the S2 with the lifetime contract on Ebay?


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

I know box cost vs. monthly cost is a balancing act, but $19.99/month seems like a deal-breaker for many. Really, my cable TV bill costs $42/month (before a few dollars of tax). I just don't see this model as viable in the long term.

Maybe Tivo has some long-term plan to get the major cable companies to purchase and use their boxes essentially as upscale cable box replacements. Who knows? This seems a good strategy to me. Really, the fact that the HD Tivo units don't work with satellites is *the* biggest single reason I haven't left cable (FiOS isn't available in my area). It seems Tivo could use this "stickiness" as a selling point to big cable.

That said, IF this is Tivo's plan, I hope it's not developed and implemented by the same group who planned the existing Comcast Tivo, or who planned the new DirecTV Tivo, or who planned and implemented the Premiere, or who planned the Netflix interface....

Suddenly I'm not feeling so good.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

alangst said:


> Would you be able to sell the S2 with the lifetime contract on Ebay?


I guess I could if I wanted to go that route. It would probably make sense to buy the Premiere w/ lifetime for $468 and then sell my S2 for a reasonable amount. I'd think with a 1TB internal drive and lifetime I'd be able to get something for it. I just don't know if I want to mess with it though.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

I know when the TiVo Premiere launched, TiVo said the upgrade offer was something they planned to keep around rather than a limited time thing. I wonder if this chanegd or if the offer will just change based off the new terms.

I haven't gotten the email yet, but I don't need another TiVo. I don't plan on grabbing another one until we have the 4 tuner version as an option. 

I think I would have preferred if they just started offering the new lifetime on the $99 boxes while still offering the $299 boxes with $12.99/$9.99 a month from TiVo. Also it will be curious how this applies to older boxes since they didn't get the "subsidized" price model. In other words if you cancel for a month and later reactivate will you be forced into the $19.99 price.


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## alangst (Jan 21, 2004)

Another added cost would have to be the new or additional HD I would have to install on the premiere, because I know I can't work with just 45 hours.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

innocentfreak said:


> I know when the TiVo Premiere launched, TiVo said the upgrade offer was something they planned to keep around rather than a limited time thing. I wonder if this chanegd or if the offer will just change based off the new terms.
> 
> I haven't gotten the email yet, but I don't need another TiVo. I don't plan on grabbing another one until we have the 4 tuner version as an option.
> 
> I think I would have preferred if they just started offering the new lifetime on the $99 boxes while still offering the $299 boxes with $12.99/$9.99 a month from TiVo. Also it will be curious how this applies to older boxes since they didn't get the "subsidized" price model. In other words if you cancel for a month and later reactivate will you be forced into the $19.99 price.


I don't think this has said anything about renewing subs, but it wouldn't surprise me if they went to $19.99 across the board for any subs. It seems like a big price jump though. If you read what was posted, it says you get that price for the box with the purchase of one of those plans. It doesn't say anything about after the 1-year, so here's to hoping.


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## h0mi (Dec 29, 2007)

Tivo, you're moving in the wrong direction for pricing. I can get a lifetime premiere today for $468, now you're saying it will cost me $598 in 2 days. Yeah, I'll jump right on that.


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## Riverdome (May 12, 2005)

brettatk said:


> Yes, you are correct. That's part of my problem. I have an S2 and a Tivo HD. If I got the Premiere I really wouldn't need the S2 any longer. That's why I'd love to see an incentive that would allow us to transfer lifetime from another box to a Premiere.


These have been offered before but really there is no incentive for Tivo to ever do it again. Most of us consider 'Lifetime' to be the life of the box so it stands to reason that a new box would require a new lifetime sub. That said I transferred lifetime from an old S2 when I purchased my S3 for $800.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

h0mi said:


> Tivo, you're moving in the wrong direction for pricing. I can get a lifetime premiere today for $468, now you're saying it will cost me $598 in 2 days. Yeah, I'll jump right on that.


Apparently, you aren't a very good price shopper. If I told you something is going to cost you more tomorrow, then (if you were going to buy it in the first place) you should buy it today...

Generally speaking, in the last 5 years has there been a cheaper price for a new box with lifetime than $468? (My deal was a lifetime transfer $299+$199 onto a TivoHD.) I guess maybe it is time for the price to take a bump up. Whether it comes down again or not, who knows...


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## Riverdome (May 12, 2005)

innocentfreak said:


> .....I don't need another TiVo. I don't plan on grabbing another one until we have the 4 tuner version as an option.


BINGO!


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## appleye1 (Jan 26, 2002)

I thought for sure this signaled that the $12.95 monthly prices were going away, and they were going to settle on the $19.95 price for everybody.

But then I just got this upgrade offer email for a refurbed XL (not that I'm complaining!):


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## skaggs (Feb 13, 2003)

Here are the two emails I received today from TiVo:










and










The real question is, what will be the multi-service discount price be for lifetime subscriptions after the price changes?


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## JoeTaxpayer (Dec 23, 2008)

alangst said:


> Another added cost would have to be the new or additional HD I would have to install on the premiere, because I know I can't work with just 45 hours.


I thought about this as well, but with the faster transfer speed, I'd just set up the "auto transfer" and the size drive would be pretty moot.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

skaggs said:


> Here are the two emails I received today from TiVo:
> 
> The real question is, what will be the multi-service discount price be for lifetime subscriptions after the price changes?


Thanks for posting. I just realized I had the offers emails turned off, so I would never get to see them.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Notice the emails says your current upgrade offer so it definitely sounds like it isn't going anywhere. My guess it will work out to be around the same as what it is now, it will just be discounted off the $99 + $499 price. I could see them doing $69 + $399 lifetime and you are at the same price as the current $468 offer.


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## h0mi (Dec 29, 2007)

socrplyr said:


> Apparently, you aren't a very good price shopper.


Tivo has offered this upgrade price for at least 6 months. There's nothing that has happened to convince me it was a good price during this time- not the price, not the hardware upgrade from a Tivo HD, not the hassle of buying/using my existing external drive. Setting a price hike 2 days from now does nothing to change my mind and is, IMO, the wrong direction to go for Tivo.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

h0mi said:


> Tivo has offered this upgrade price for at least 6 months. There's nothing that has happened to convince me it was a good price during this time- not the price, not the hardware upgrade from a Tivo HD, not the hassle of buying/using my existing external drive. Setting a price hike 2 days from now does nothing to change my mind and is, IMO, the wrong direction to go for Tivo.


You ignored the part where I said "if you were going to buy it in the first place," obviously you weren't. Realistically, Tivo's problem isn't the overall price as it is cheaper than just about every option out there (over the long long term). The consuming public and our society as a whole has shown over and over that we are not willing to invest in anything. I doubt you will see pricing much lower than this anytime soon. They just can't make money as it is and I doubt lowering the price will bring in a whole lot more people for the previous mentioned reasons.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

brettatk said:


> That's why I'd love to see an incentive that would allow us to transfer lifetime from another box to a Premiere.


I would too. I have a refurb Premiere just waiting for some kind of deal. My S2 w/ lifetime isn't really doing anything now except retrieving my video podcast subscriptions. 
I may just call TiVo and play CSR roulette.


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## Royster (May 24, 2002)

Oooh. Now I have a decision to make. I have an S3 with lifetime and an S2 that I pay month to month. Since Cablevision went all digital, I have the kludgey ir zappers to change the channel on the set top box.


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## Stuxnet (Feb 9, 2011)

Interesting... TiVo continues to hype HuluPlus... maybe they should get that up in two days, lol


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## miadlor (Sep 4, 2003)

Lose subscribers = Raise price. No sense.
Only thing I'm worried about is not breaking at least even with my current Premieres (vs rentals) before they go out.


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

So here is the breakdown for people who can upgrade typically.
$269 unit, $199 for lifetime = $468
As of 5/19 it will be
$99 unit, $499 lifetime = $598

So an awesome increase of $130.

I wrote to Tivo support again regarding this crazy situation and received the following reply.

In addition to some interesting information regarding a (possible) Premiere update on the 18th.



> We are releasing a software update on the Premiere starting on the 18th that will fix many issues that the Premiere models have been experiencing.
> 
> The new pricing simplifies everything so that TiVo service for any Premiere, whether new, factory-renewed, used, purchased directly from TiVo, a retailer or anywhere else is only $19.99/month (w/one-year commitment). Even better, Product Lifetime Service will be available for everyone at only $499.99 ($399.99 with Multi-service discount). The other major change is that all $19.99/month plans activated after the price change will be eligible for MSD pricing at $14.99/month.


So... perhaps if I already have a S2 lifetime unit, I can get the $399 lifetime going forward. That would just mean a $30 increase in price.. I can wait for that.


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

Confirmed from the rep via email, that if you currently have a system with lifetime on it, the future lifetime will be $399. So that's not so bad, not gonna jump on this until I see what happens with the update.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

h0mi said:


> Setting a price hike 2 days from now does nothing to change my mind and is, IMO, the wrong direction to go for Tivo.


I don't want to give them positive feedback on this negative step (as others have said, the non-believers (heh) already think Tivo is too expensive)...

but the lifetime price increase from $200 to $250 (or was it ever $150 to $200? I don't remember) was actually what got me to get my first S1... though it actually ended up being slightly after the price increase IIRC (it wasn't a new in box unit so I paid less on the hardware side though).


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

ducker said:


> So here is the breakdown for people who can upgrade typically.
> $269 unit, $199 for lifetime = $468
> As of 5/19 it will be
> $99 unit, $499 lifetime = $598
> ...


Your pricing is based off the upgrade offer. You get one upgrade offer per box as far as I can tell. This isn't an accurate comparison.

Normal Price 
$299 + $399 = $698

New Normal Price
$99 + $499 = $598 or $100 cheaper

Normal additional lifetime box
$299 + $299 = $598

New additional lifetime box
$99 + $399 = $498 or $100 cheaper assuming $399 is correct

Current Upgrade offer
$269 + $199 = $468

New Upgrade offer
*Unknown* 
would guess possibly $69 + $399 or $299-$349 assuming $399 is the new additional lifetime. $368-$468 is my guess. I would guess more along the lines of $368 if the $399 pricing is correct for additional lifetime units.


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## bdaoust (Dec 3, 2008)

I pay monthly (I know kinda stupid since I've owned a Tivo for a long time)

I pay $12+ for my existing Tivo HD. Do I have to upgrade? Is my monthly rate going to $19.99? If so, I'm cancelling.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

bdaoust said:


> I pay monthly (I know kinda stupid since I've owned a Tivo for a long time)
> 
> I pay $12+ for my existing Tivo HD. Do I have to upgrade? Is my monthly rate going to $19.99? If so, I'm cancelling.


My guess is it will only apply to premieres. The real question is will it apply to premieres where people didn't pay $99 or so.


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## fastoy (May 5, 2011)

bdaoust said:


> I pay monthly (I know kinda stupid since I've owned a Tivo for a long time)
> 
> I pay $12+ for my existing Tivo HD. Do I have to upgrade? Is my monthly rate going to $19.99? If so, I'm cancelling.


I just bought a refurb Premier because the monthly subscription was $12.99 for the first year. I asked what the renewal was going to be. I was told that they wouldn't dare change it from that as it had been that "forever." This is what I used to make my decision.

I'm depending on TiVo not to disappoint me by raising my rate at the end of the year. Just in case, I still have time on my return period.


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

innocentfreak said:


> Current Upgrade offer
> $269 + $199 = $468
> 
> New Upgrade offer
> ...


My take from the correspondence I received was that it was going to be a flat price of $99 anywhere, any situation and either $499 or $399 for lifetime weather or not you have a current system with tivo.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

ducker said:


> My take from the correspondence I received was that it was going to be a flat price of $99 anywhere, any situation and either $499 or $399 for lifetime weather or not you have a current system with tivo.


I am actually talking about the upgrade program though. They never announce upgrade offers in advance.

This is only through TiVo.com/upgrade.


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## Killerz298 (Feb 9, 2004)

bmgoodman said:


> Maybe Tivo has some long-term plan to get the major cable companies to purchase and use their boxes essentially as upscale cable box replacements. Who knows? This seems a good strategy to me. Really, the fact that the HD Tivo units don't work with satellites is *the* biggest single reason I haven't left cable (FiOS isn't available in my area). It seems Tivo could use this "stickiness" as a selling point to big cable.


Here is at least 1: http://www.tivo.com/products/source/cable/tivo-rcn/index.html


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

socrplyr said:


> ...
> Generally speaking, in the last 5 years has there been a cheaper price for a new box with lifetime than $468? (My deal was a lifetime transfer $299+$199 onto a TivoHD.) I guess maybe it is time for the price to take a bump up. Whether it comes down again or not, who knows...


My first Series 2's net cost with lifetime was $299. The unit cost $150 & had a $150 rebate. The same for my second Series 2 ($150 cost $150 rebate) except I went with the $6.95/mo plan ended up using it for 43 months for $299 and then subbing in a refurbed Series 3 into the $6.95 plan. My TiVo HD cost $500 with lifetime so same basic cost as current Premiere's through upgrade offers. My Premiere through shear luck ended up costing me $295 with lifetime.

Thanks,


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

atmuscarella said:


> My first Series 2's net cost with lifetime was $299. The unit cost $150 & had a $150 rebate. The same for my second Series 2 ($150 cost $150 rebate) except I went with the $6.95/mo plan ended up using it for 43 months for $299 and then subbing in a refurbed Series 3 into the $6.95 plan. My TiVo HD cost $500 with lifetime so same basic cost as current Premiere's through upgrade offers. My Premiere through shear luck ended up costing me $295 with lifetime.
> 
> Thanks,


So your answer is no... S2s were older than 5 years right? The S3 was a plan not available to others (6.95 disappeared a long time ago). HD was in line with this (well actually more by now with inflation). Your Premiere was pricing that you said yourself was lucky (never intended to be offered).

If what the others posted is correct Tivo is actually reducing its pricing for lifetime without a special offer. I'm sure from time to time you will be able to pick up a $70 Premiere from Amazon to meet the "upgrade" offer as it is now...


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

While I should have done LT a loooooooooooong time ago, I am glad, at least now, that I am on a month-to-month price of $6.95.


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## blacknoi (Jan 23, 2006)

Interesting, I got the 1st email about "just 2 days left to take advantage of your upgrade offer" but I didn't get the 2nd email about the "3 offers"


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

ducker said:


> So here is the breakdown for people who can upgrade typically.
> $269 unit, $199 for lifetime = $468
> As of 5/19 it will be
> $99 unit, $499 lifetime = $598
> ...


SO the normal Lifetime price went up 25% to $500?

I'll definitely be sticking with my $6.95 a month plan for my 5th Premiere. The other four already have lifetime.


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

aaronwt said:


> SO the normal Lifetime price went up 25% to $500?
> 
> I'll definitely be sticking with my $6.95 a month plan for my 5th Premiere. The other four already have lifetime.


It would be $400 for you, as you have multiple systems already.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

ducker said:


> It would be $400 for you, as you have multiple systems already.


And as I posted earlier $100 cheaper than it would cost you now without the upgrade offer.

Everyone is focusing on the $399-499 lifetime or $100 price increase and ignoring the $200 price discount on the hardware.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

A couple of random thoughts:

First, this eliminates those Moxi fans that say "Moxi has no monthly fees" (for a new Tivo owner). Now, a Tivo with lifetime (at point of original purchase) is only $599.

Second, if the effective price of Tivo w/lifetime is available again to all comers at only $598, that will probably put downward pressure on those lifetime boxes on Ebay. At current $299+$399 ($698) for a new Tivo subscriber, the used prices on an S3/HD w/lifeitme is running about $350 on average. I think we'll see this fall, probably to a point that it will no longer be viable to sell our boxes when we upgrade like some on here have been doing.

Third, I get a bad feeling that this may be a step toward eliminating the $6.99 MSD as Tivo streamlines pricing plans. That plan has not been offered for a couple of years, but many of us have boxes at that rate.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

ducker said:


> Confirmed from the rep via email, that if you currently have a system with lifetime on it, the future lifetime will be $399. So that's not so bad, not gonna jump on this until I see what happens with the update.


So this means a current subscriber w a lifetime box, would get a premiere for $99+$399 or $498, not too much more than the current $469. If they are giving away a TivoSlide with it (looks maybe so) for current subs, it is actually cheaper than the current $469.

I love my TivoSlide BTW but I only have one due to the cost...


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

larrs said:


> So this means a current subscriber w a lifetime box, would get a premiere for $99+$399 or $498, not too much more than the current $469. If they are giving away a TivoSlide with it (looks maybe so) for current subs, it is actually chaper than the current $469.
> 
> I love my TivoSlide BTW but I only have one due to the cost...


Yeah this is why I think the upgrade offer may drop in price even more.


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

larrs said:


> So this means a current subscriber w a lifetime box, would get a premiere for $99+$399 or $498, not too much more than the current $469. If they are giving away a TivoSlide with it (looks maybe so) for current subs, it is actually cheaper than the current $469.
> 
> I love my TivoSlide BTW but I only have one due to the cost...


If you're referring to the offer that someone posted that they received in their inbox. isn't that a refirb box that comes with that tivo slide?


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

ducker said:


> If you're referring to the offer that someone posted that they received in their inbox. isn't that a refirb box that comes with that tivo slide?


No he is referring to the upgrade offer, TiVo.com/upgrade. This is different than the offer on the refurb.

Looking at TiVo.com, it looks like any TiVo comes with a free slide remote unless they changed it.


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## morac (Mar 14, 2003)

blacknoi said:


> Interesting, I got the 1st email about "just 2 days left to take advantage of your upgrade offer" but I didn't get the 2nd email about the "3 offers"


I still have the upgrade offer and I haven't received any emails.


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## babycakes2 (Feb 11, 2008)

larrs said:


> So this means a current subscriber w a lifetime box, would get a premiere for $99+$399 or $498, not too much more than the current $469. If they are giving away a TivoSlide with it (looks maybe so) for current subs, it is actually cheaper than the current $469.


My possibly incorrect understanding, from reading the Service Agreement on the web site and from talking to a rep, is (for Premiere):

New AND Current Subscribers: $99+$19.95/month for a year, don't know service cost after a year. *No option for an annual or lifetime subscription.* Only the $19.95/month option. That includes current subscribers, whether they have been on a lifetime plan or not. I dont think you can combine the offers.

First year: 19.95 x 12 = 239.40 + 99 = 338.40
Presumably after a year one could purchase lifetime (or annual) service, but at $499, not $399, unless they raise (or lower) that between now and then.
That would bring the total cost of the unit + one year service + lifetime service to: 338.40 + 499 = 837.40. (Total for lifetime service = 738.40).​
Current (expiring) Upgrade offer for Current subscribers only: 199+399 for lifetime service = 598, which would save $239.40 (the cost of one year service at $19.95).

*The most important point is that for the $99 plan you cannot purchase an annual or lifetime service plan, at least not until after the first year.*

I can't post links, but if you can find the TiVo Policies page, there are links to Payment Plans and Service Agreements.

_If the above is total garbage I would appreciate being corrected, since I upgraded from Series 3 to Premiere using the current subscribers plan + lifetime service. $598._ Then I will still have 30 days to return it.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

You need to reread the thread or Dave Zatz's post, http://www.zatznotfunny.com.

These are changes that go into effect 5/18-5/19. Previously lifetime wasn't an option on the $99 TiVo and that is changing as described in this thread.


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## babycakes2 (Feb 11, 2008)

innocentfreak said:


> You need to reread the thread or Dave Zatz's post.
> 
> These are changes that go into effect 5/18-5/19. Previously lifetime wasn't an option on the $99 TiVo and that is changing as described in this thread.


Thanks InnocentFreak. I think I understand, between you and the patient TiVo rep. So under the new plan it would be $99 + $499, the $399 would only be for a multi-discount, and I won't be keeping current Series 3.

So I guess I'm coming out $100 ahead since under the expiring upgrade plan since I can pay $399 for lifetime. (I think I understand now.)

Now I'm going to go open a bottle of wine. I've heard that helps remedy Acute Brain Strain.

[P.S.: Had to remove link from your quoted post since I can't send links.]


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

I just hope that these changes presage something that will make it worth "upgrading".


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

4 tuner tivo that's been rumored..?


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## redbeard25 (Jan 15, 2002)

Okay, so someone just tell me.

*Do I need to buy a premiere+lifetime today?*


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

After reading more about this I'm a little concerned that we'd ONLY have the option to sign up for a 1 year commitment at $19.99 prior to going lifetime. If that's the case on all new premieres... I'm just going to skip it.


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

blacknoi said:


> Interesting, I got the 1st email about "just 2 days left to take advantage of your upgrade offer" but I didn't get the 2nd email about the "3 offers"


For me, it's just the opposite. I haven't received anything stating I have 2 days left (even though there are 4 TiVos on my account eligible for the $199 lifetime price when bouht w/a Premiere) yet I'd gotten at least 3 duplicate emails in a row for the "3 offers".


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

No emails from TiVo here at all.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

socrplyr said:


> Now what might be interesting to see is the price after that 1-year contract is up. I do hope that it stays in the $13-15 range, but I bet it will all go to $19.99. This would make Tivo not very competitive on price and with questionable (at best) product superiority in the marketplace. We'll see how this all turns out.


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## KCcardsfan (Feb 20, 2011)

I would have jumped on this 2 months ago when I bought. In fact this represents about a $130 less then what I was planning on paying for the Tivo with lifetime. I will call and badger them about this. It kind of ticks me off that I might have to pay that bid a difference to get to lifetime based on their new plan. The Moxi is $599 and now the TIVO is $598 with no monthly fee. I think it is a very well thought out price point for them and should be pretty succesful.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

ZeoTiVo said:


>


Reminds me of a song "Blue Skies", which abbreviates to..... BS.


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## dstoffa (Dec 14, 2005)

So is anyone going to spend $99 for a unit, not activate it, and just use it as a cable box?

Cheers!
-Doug


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## TWinbrook46636 (Feb 9, 2008)

innocentfreak said:


> Looking at TiVo.com, it looks like any TiVo comes with a free slide remote unless they changed it.


It's only valid on this particular page and it expires today:

http://www.tivo.com/promo/freeslide.html?WT.ac=tivohome_mantle_freeslide


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

TWinbrook46636 said:


> It's only valid on this particular page and it expires today:
> 
> http://www.tivo.com/promo/freeslide.html?WT.ac=tivohome_mantle_freeslide


Thanks for posting the link... as all places I was looking didn't have anything regarding this promo.... it's because that promo is a monthly payment plan not lifetime; something I wouldn't really consider.

It will be interesting to see what they offer as of tomorrow!


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

Stuxnet said:


> Interesting... TiVo continues to hype HuluPlus... maybe they should get that up in two days, lol


Indeed. And at these prices, the TiVo subscription should INCLUDE the monthly fee for Hulu Plus. Who's going to be happy about paying $20 for TiVo monthly and then another $8 to Hulu? Not me.


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## UConnHuskyTx (Dec 31, 2008)

So for those of us who just bought the Premiere a month ago for $49 (Amazon Gold Box), are locked into the $19.99 for a year, with no options at all for lifetime. Right?

Chatted with a Tivo rep online today, and he confirmed absolutely nothing about what happens a year from now. Just keep paying my $19.99 and hope. He thought that Tivo might offer Lifetime then, but wouldn't commit to it.

I received no emails, or offers from Tivo. And I'm now reading this thread how buying this Premiere "on sale" last month, might cost me several hundred $ (over buying it today) when I go lifetime.


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## daveak (Mar 23, 2009)

UConnHuskyTx said:


> So for those of us who just bought the Premiere a month ago for $49 (Amazon Gold Box), are locked into the $19.99 for a year, with no options at all for lifetime. Right?
> 
> Chatted with a Tivo rep online today, and he confirmed absolutely nothing about what happens a year from now. Just keep paying my $19.99 and hope. He thought that Tivo might offer Lifetime then, but wouldn't commit to it.
> 
> I received no emails, or offers from Tivo. And I'm now reading this thread how buying this Premiere "on sale" last month, might cost me several hundred $ (over buying it today) when I go lifetime.


If you really want lifetime, I would call in the next day or two and check. With the new pricing structure going into effect tomorrow, you just might be able to purchase it.


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

Sure am glad I got the refurb Premiere off Woot for $65 back in January. It was eligible for the cheapest service plans, and I opted to pay the $299 for lifetime. I upgraded it to 2 TB and it's working adequately. Then I sold off my previous Series 3 and made all that cash (and then some) back.

I've a feeling this will be my last TiVo, however. I just don't have any confidence that the will company survive as we know it, and I'm sure in 18-24 months, some new DVR solution (or set top box, or TV entertainment service) will completely leapfrog what TiVo's offering.


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## smitty2000 (Jan 29, 2008)

Seems to me the people who might want to act before the new pricing goes into effect, are those who already have some additional tivo boxes without lifetime service and want to add it. From everything I've read, if they do it today -- it will cost them $299, but if they wait until tomorrow it will likely cost them $399 ($499 less the $100 existing subscriber discount). Is this analysis correct?


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

smitty2000 said:


> Seems to me the people who might want to act before the new pricing goes into effect, are those who already have some additional tivo boxes without lifetime service and want to add it. From everything I've read, if they do it today -- it will cost them $299, but if they wait until tomorrow it will likely cost them $399 ($499 less the $100 existing subscriber discount). Is this analysis correct?


Yes, with the difference being if you buy the new $99 unit today, you can't get lifetime. You would have to pay the full price to get the lifetime in the upgrade offer. It will end up costing $30 more starting tomorrow ($170 off the box, +$200 on the sub).


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## morac (Mar 14, 2003)

WhiskeyTango said:


> Yes, with the difference being if you buy the new $99 unit today, you can't get lifetime. You would have to pay the full price to get the lifetime in the upgrade offer. It will end up costing $30 more starting tomorrow ($170 off the box, +$200 on the sub).


I'm not sure how anyone knows this is 100% certain. The upgrade special could still be $200 of lifetime for all we know.

I still haven't received any emails on this and I still have the upgrade offer. Then again I haven't been receiving any emails in general from TiVo as of late even though I'm subscribed to their monthly newsletter.


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## TWinbrook46636 (Feb 9, 2008)

Not exactly sure what to do with just a few hours to go. The email says the _*current*_ (my emphasis) upgrade offer expires tonight but if the monthly MSD is going from $9.99 to $14.99 then it stands to reason that the lifetime MSD will increase as well. Hmmmm.


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## Cap'n Preshoot (Apr 25, 2011)

Lifetime MSD (2 + boxes) goes to $399 each or $499 individually. Annual subscriptions will no longer be offered.

Those of us (like me) who bought our TIVO Premiers before the price drop and then took annual subs are getting royally screwed because they will not let us out of the annual deal early to grab the Lifetime plan before it goes up tomorrow.

I smell a class action suit in the air.


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## Cap'n Preshoot (Apr 25, 2011)

smitty2000 said:


> Seems to me the people who might want to act before the new pricing goes into effect, are those who already have some additional tivo boxes without lifetime service and want to add it. From everything I've read, if they do it today -- it will cost them $299, but if they wait until tomorrow it will likely cost them $399 ($499 less the $100 existing subscriber discount). Is this analysis correct?


The only way you can do this is if your currently on a month-to-month plan. If you're already under committment with an ANNUAL plan, they won't let you cancel it early in order to grab the Lifetime deal.

Bummer.


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## randyb359 (Jan 3, 2009)

I just tried to get in on the current upgrade offer but it declined two of my credit cards. I called the credit card company and both are good. I guess it is a sign that I really shouldn't buy one anyway


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## TWinbrook46636 (Feb 9, 2008)

Looks like the upgrade program is _effectively_ over? You just get $100 off lifetime while the TiVo is full price yet you get $100 off for the MSD anyway. There is no additional discount if you click on the upgrade tab for current customers.

If I buy a Premiere XL not using the special upgrade offer: $299 + $399 (-$100 MSD) = $698
If I buy a Premiere XL using the special upgrade offer: $299 + $399 (-$100 MSD) = $698


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## brian1269 (Jul 24, 2003)

So my understanding is that for everyone that already is paying month to month, the $12.99 will remain. And for new subscribers, or if you upgrade, it will go to $19.99 a month, even after you complete the 1-year commitment.

So basically TiVo is jacking up the price of all the units, upping the price of lifetime, and raising the monthly fees for any new subscribers by 54% in one shot. Is this correct?

Instead of trying to attract the half of its customer base TiVo has lost in the past few years, it's trying to get more out of the subscribers it still has. Not a good plan in my opinion. Might be time to start looking at a dish.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

TWinbrook46636 said:


> Looks like the upgrade program is _effectively_ over? You just get $100 off lifetime while the TiVo is full price yet you get $100 off for the MSD anyway. There is no additional discount if you click on the upgrade tab for current customers.
> 
> If I buy a Premiere XL not using the special upgrade offer: $299 + $399 (-$100 MSD) = $698
> If I buy a Premiere XL using the special upgrade offer: $299 + $399 (-$100 MSD) = $698


This may just be the initial offering. I can't see them sticking with this since it is the same price. On my account via the upgrade option, it says I qualify for Multi Service Discount so the price being the same right now makes sense.



brian1269 said:


> So my understanding is that for everyone that already is paying month to month, the $12.99 will remain. And for new subscribers, or if you upgrade, it will go to $19.99 a month, even after you complete the 1-year commitment.
> 
> So basically TiVo is jacking up the price of all the units, upping the price of lifetime, and raising the monthly fees for any new subscribers by 54% in one shot. Is this correct?
> 
> Instead of trying to attract the half of its customer base TiVo has lost in the past few years, it's trying to get more out of the subscribers it still has. Not a good plan in my opinion. Might be time to start looking at a dish.


TiVo is raising the monthly fee, but dropped the overall cost of the hardware. As a result the first and second year of ownership are cheaper with the new plan if you previously paid monthly. Sometime around the third year you will pass the original price with subscription. Now if you originally paid a year in advance, the new pricing is about the same for the first year and by the end of the second year the new plan will cost you more.

Compare...
$299 + $12.99 x 24 = $612 or so
$299 + $12.99 x 12 = $456 or so
$299 + $129.99 = $430
$99 + $19.99 x 24 = $580 or so
$99 + $19.99 x 12 = $340


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## TWinbrook46636 (Feb 9, 2008)

innocentfreak said:


> This may just be the initial offering. I can't see them sticking with this since it is the same price. On my account via the upgrade option, it says I qualify for Multi Service Discount so the price being the same right now makes sense.


It tells me "Congratulations you quality for the MSD" regardless if I select the Upgrade or not, as long as I'm logged in. So for me at least there is no difference between buying one normally or using the upgrade offer, both deduct $100 off MSD.

The upgrade offer now costs $50 more.


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## TWinbrook46636 (Feb 9, 2008)

Old upgrade offer:

$449 ($50 off) + 199 ($200 off) = $648

New upgrade offer:

$299 + $399 ($100 off) = $698


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

TWinbrook46636 said:


> Old upgrade offer:
> 
> $449 ($50 off) + 199 ($200 off) = $648
> 
> ...


Yep, but here you go...
http://www.amazon.com/TiVo-TCD74800...ref=sr_du_1_map?ie=UTF8&qid=1305825980&sr=8-1
Using MSD
$237 (shipping) + $399.99(MSD) = ~$637
Cheaper now...


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

Cap'n Preshoot said:


> The only way you can do this is if your currently on a month-to-month plan. If you're already under committment with an ANNUAL plan, they won't let you cancel it early in order to grab the Lifetime deal.
> 
> Bummer.


Well, I had one of my boxes on an annual MSD price of $99. I chatted with a Tivo rep last week and got a price of $299 to upgrade to lifetime, but they said it would not be charged to my account until the annual plan ran out. I accepted the deal and kept a copy of the chat transcript. I called back yesterday to make sure that the deal was set, as I was afradi it might be overridden by the new pricing. I was told I am still scheduled to be billed $299 in December. If interested, you may want to call and play CSR roulette until you get someone to put it on your account.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

I logged in and got the $99 plus $14.99 as my new upgrade offer. If I were to upgrade this would quite literally FORCE me to lifetime a the break even point is just past the 2nd year whereas it has always been three years or over.

I think this is the best thing for Tivo. It gets more lifetime subscribers and, with it, a lot more money up front. Over time, there will likely be failures and they'll be able to recoup another $150 or so for each replacement box. Then, there will also be more hardware and more upgrades.


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## jclem (Aug 20, 2008)

socrplyr said:


> Yep, but here you go...
> http://www.amazon.com/TiVo-TCD74800...ref=sr_du_1_map?ie=UTF8&qid=1305825980&sr=8-1
> Using MSD
> $237 (shipping) + $399.99(MSD) = ~$637
> Cheaper now...


Do you get the $400 lifetime from Amazon or do you call Tivo? and does Tivo allow you to do this?


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

jclem said:


> Do you get the $400 lifetime from Amazon or do you call Tivo? and does Tivo allow you to do this?


With the new plans, you should be able to just activate it online at TiVo.com if you qualify for MSD.


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## Phantom Gremlin (Jun 20, 2002)

groot said:


> Oh yeah... and... When I read the message on my phone, because they played with the font sizes and didn't actually insert the ".", the new pricing showed up as $9999 for the Tivo Premiere or $29999. I thought for a minute that Tivo was about to lose a LOT of business. I guess it just didn't look right to insert a "." anywhere in the price.


I had this same problem. It was so hilarious, I had to see if anyone else had mentioned it. If not, I was going to create a new thread about it. It's 2011, I can't believe that people sending HTML to mass audiences are still such morons about how their emails will appear on the vast variety of different displays out there.

For everyone missing out, here's what the email looks like with 18 pt min font size and without a min font size:


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