# Come Back Offer



## kturcotte (Dec 9, 2002)

Just got an email from Tivo ([email protected]) that seems legit, but also too good to be true.
" As a former TiVo customer, you're eligible for an exclusive offer:
For just $49 you can sign up for a special One-Time Service Extension plan and never pay another cent for TiVo service. Take advantage of this amazing, limited-time offer today!

The One-Time Service Extension plan only applies to the DVR for which it was purchased. It cannot be transferred to another DVR.

Call 1-877-367-8486 today and mention the One-Time Service Extension offer.

Thank you, and we look forward to you returning to the TiVo family."

Am I reading this right? Lifetime service for only $49? And if it is legit, how exactly does Lifetime work? What happens if the DVR needs to be replaced? What if I upgrade?


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Lifetime is for the unit...you can upgrade the unit (e.g., swap hard) and no problem. But you can't transfer lifetime (for no cost) to another box.

Can't comment on the veracity of the offer, but it does sound almost too good to be true...


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## L David Matheny (Jan 29, 2011)

kturcotte said:


> Just got an email from Tivo ([email protected]) that seems legit, but also too good to be true.
> " As a former TiVo customer, you're eligible for an exclusive offer:
> For just $49 you can sign up for a special One-Time Service Extension plan and never pay another cent for TiVo service. Take advantage of this amazing, limited-time offer today!
> 
> ...


It does sound like an offer to put Product Lifetime Service on your current (presumably older) unit for $49 instead of the $99 that they have been offering. What model TiVo do you have?

If the unit ever needs to be replaced, TiVo would probably sell you a refurbished unit (same model) and transfer the lifetime to it for a fee, but that fee would probably be more than the $49. Of course you're not taking a lot of risk at that price. If you upgrade, you would have to buy lifetime (or pay monthly) for service on your new unit. That would be unrelated to this special offer.


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## jcondon (Jul 9, 2003)

I just got this email today too. I really like FIOS's multiroom PVR. But this might be worth doing at $49 even if I don't use my TIVO for another 10 months (Free multi room DVR for a year promotion).

I have the Tivo Premier (2 tuner device). Had service for about 2 years and canceled about 2+ months ago.


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## tatergator1 (Mar 27, 2008)

That's the Tivo Customer Service number and it seems believable to me. Tivo has had numerous $99 lifetime offers to existing customers on old equipment.

I assume you have an old Series 2, or perhaps even a Series3/TivoHD that you cancelled some time ago. I could see this being a push by Tivo to increase subscriber numbers by re-activating old boxes for a "to good to pass up" price. Tivo gets $49 and can count you as a subscriber for a while and boost their user counts and you get the use of your old box back.

Lifetime service is tied to the box. If the box dies the day after you pay $49, you just lost $49. You take a risk that the box will survive long enough to feel like you got your money's worth. At $49, I'd be happy even if the box failed after 6 months. If it kept going for more than a year, I'd be over the moon. If you upgrade, you can not transfer lifetime. Tivo has only allowed Lifetime "Transfers" during rare promotions, and even then you had to fork over $199.

Ultimately, its up to you to decide if you want to pay $50 for service that last as long as the box is working. What model Tivo would you be re-activating?


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## tgrim1 (Sep 11, 2006)

kturcotte said:


> Just got an email from Tivo ([email protected]) that seems legit, but also too good to be true.
> " As a former TiVo customer, you're eligible for an exclusive offer:
> For just $49 you can sign up for a special One-Time Service Extension plan and never pay another cent for TiVo service. Take advantage of this amazing, limited-time offer today!
> 
> ...


I came here to ask the same question. I just got the same email. Ive had Tivo for years with both OTA and cable and cancelled service (after they gave me a free 30 days) 2 months ago to go OTA with an HTPC. If this offer is true I could use this Tivo in the bedroom networked to the HTPC! Basically saves me money from getting a WDTV or Roku plus still have recording OTA capabilty.
I'll check back after the call.

Edit: Mine is a premier that I put a 2TB drive in.


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## kturcotte (Dec 9, 2002)

I can confirm that it's real. I called Tivo, and asked them about the promo/deal, and after being put on hold for about 2 mins, was told Lifetime could be added to my Tivo Premiere (2 tuner, plus 2 OTA tuners) for $49. I agreed, and after hanging up, let me Tivo connect, and it did say Lifetime was activated under Information.


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## tluxon (Feb 28, 2002)

kturcotte said:


> I can confirm that it's real. I called Tivo, and asked them about the promo/deal, and after being put on hold for about 2 mins, was told Lifetime could be added to my Tivo Premiere (2 tuner, plus 2 OTA tuners) for $49. I agreed, and after hanging up, let me Tivo connect, and it did say Lifetime was activated under Information.


How long had you not used your Premiere prior to getting the offer? Adding the $49 to what you paid to fulfill the original contract, do you figure you're saving anything compared to if you had gone lifetime from the start?

I'm looking at adding a Premiere to our network and this has got me wondering if it could possibly be as cost-effective to forego lifetime up front (like I did with our two TiVoHDs 5 years ago) and wait for a special offer like this.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

tluxon said:


> How long had you not used your Premiere prior to getting the offer? Adding the $49 to what you paid to fulfill the original contract, do you figure you're saving anything compared to if you had gone lifetime from the start?
> 
> I'm looking at adding a Premiere to our network and this has got me wondering if it could possibly be as cost-effective to forego lifetime up front (like I did with our two TiVoHDs 5 years ago) and wait for a special offer like this.


I will bet that you would need at least 2 years at the monthly rate, some TPs were sold for $0 and a 2 year commitment at about $20/month, so that would $480+$49 for a Lifetime TP, you could get the TP for about $60 or so some years ago + $400 for Lifetime, not much difference in total price.

I don't think you can take a TP for a few months at some monthly rate than get a $49 Lifetime offer.


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

I spoke to a CSR who said the promo should be good for 30 days and only valid on deactivated units. Do I tempt fate and cancel service on the Premiere I was hoping to replace with a Mini and then try to get it?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

I just tried this on a deactivated 2-tuner Premiere and my TSN did not qualify. The CSR said the reason it didn't qualify is because it's a series 4 unit and this offer is for series 3 units. Not sure how others in this thread are getting their Premiere's re-activated if that's the case. I then asked if there were any other promos for re-activation of series 4 units and there was nothing besides the $399 MSD lifetime.


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## sbiller (May 10, 2002)

moyekj said:


> I just tried this on a deactivated 2-tuner Premiere and my TSN did not qualify. The CSR said the reason it didn't qualify is because it's a series 4 unit and this offer is for series 3 units. Not sure how others in this thread are getting their Premiere's re-activated if that's the case. I then asked if there were any other promos for re-activation of series 4 units and there was nothing besides the $399 MSD lifetime.


This makes sense on deactivated Series 3 units since they were already unofficially offering $99 lifetime on those units when someone upgraded to a new Premiere box. I wouldn't be shocked if this was also available on deactivated Series 4 units. This could result in a slight improvement in the churn numbers that will be reported for M/E Jan 2013 on TiVo's February 26th earnings release.


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## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

I just got this as well. Its for a Tivo that I had on contract for a year and then cancelled it after the year was up. I paid $14.99 a month for a year on this box, and I bought it from Electronics Expo when they had a sale for $49.99 with free shipping. That seems like such a huge loss for Tivo to go from $399 to $49 Lifetime on a Premiere box that was just used for a year.


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## sbiller (May 10, 2002)

MeInDallas said:


> I just got this as well. Its for a Tivo that I had on contract for a year and then cancelled it after the year was up. I paid $14.99 a month for a year on this box, and I bought it from Electronics Expo when they had a sale for $49.99 with free shipping. That seems like such a huge loss for Tivo to go from $399 to $49 Lifetime on a Premiere box that was just used for a year.
> 
> View attachment 17981


This costs TiVo nothing. It will result in the TiVo-Owned ARPU dropping slightly since the $49 lifetime will likely be amortized across 66 months -- $0.74/mo. From a company perspective this turns a box that was producing zero revenue into something that is positive, reduces churn, opens up the advertising possibilities, and allows for additional revenue from On Demand, etc.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

From what I was led to believe by CSR, if you don't get an email from TiVo then your TSN is not on the qualifying list. Can't hurt to call and try anyway like I did - it was a pretty quick phone call (under 10 minutes total).


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## tgrim1 (Sep 11, 2006)

sbiller said:


> This costs TiVo nothing. It will result in the TiVo-Owned ARPU dropping slightly since the $49 lifetime will likely be amortized across 66 months -- $0.74/mo. From a company perspective this turns a box that was producing zero revenue into something that is positive, reduces churn, opens up the advertising possibilities, and allows for additional revenue from On Demand, etc.


That makes sense.

I called today and they let me do both Tivo boxes, Premiere and an HD for 49/each lifetime.

Awesome!


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## overFEDEXed (Nov 11, 2002)

davezatz said:


> I spoke to a CSR who said the promo should be good for 30 days and only valid on deactivated units. Do I tempt fate and cancel service on the Premiere I was hoping to replace with a Mini and then try to get it?


I was thinking the same thing.

I called and the rep said that none of my units showed any offers. I did have one Premiere, that had been activated under the 30 day trial, and then cancelled. The rep said that it didn't qualify either. Not even my deactivated Toshiba SD-H400 qualified!

Now this is the weird part. I have a Premier on the old $6.95. I asked him if I could transfer it to an Elite. He said yes. I didn't buy the Elite from Tivo, so I don't know how they could do it.

Guess what? I only have the one Elite and I just bought Lifetime on it, a short time ago.

Darn, If I only had another Elite, I'd like to see if they would really do it. Oh well.


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## jcondon (Jul 9, 2003)

tgrim1 said:


> I called today and they let me do both Tivo boxes, Premiere and an HD for 49/each lifetime.


I just called and got this on my Premiere. Going through the guided setup (different provider then I had before).


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## overFEDEXed (Nov 11, 2002)

jcondon said:


> I just called and got this on my Premiere. Going through the guided setup (different provider then I had before).


Did you get the email?


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## jcondon (Jul 9, 2003)

Yes. I had service for a bit shy of 2 years. Turned it off 2+ months ago. Got the email today. Checked here to see a few other people got the same. So I call a bit ago and took them up on it.


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## S3-2501 (Jun 2, 2007)

overFEDEXed said:


> I did have one Premiere, that had been activated under the 30 day trial, and then cancelled. The rep said that it didn't qualify.


 I also have a Premiere that was deactivated within the 30-day window. I called yesterday after seeing an "upgrade to Premiere and get $50 PLS" offer on the Tivo Central screen of my TivoHD. The rep said the offer was only as part of a package deal with a full-price 4-tuner Premiere. She wouldn't offer me $99 Lifetime either, stating that heavily discounted Lifetime is usually only offered on older Series 3 boxes. My Series 3 already has lifetime, so it was a no go.


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## billbillw (Aug 15, 2005)

So, for the few that have received this offer on a Premiere, were you completely cancelled from any Tivo service or did you still have some active Tivo boxes?


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## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

billbillw said:


> So, for the few that have received this offer on a Premiere, were you completely cancelled from any Tivo service or did you still have some active Tivo boxes?


I have 3 that have no service on them right now. Cancelled them all the end of December so they wouldnt be billed again in January. Two of them I paid on for a year and then one was just a few months. I got the offer for the two boxes that I paid the year on, but not the one that I paid just a couple of months. I'm thinking I might just get the offer for the two and then sell them on Ebay and make some money off them.


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## jcondon (Jul 9, 2003)

billbillw said:


> So, for the few that have received this offer on a Premiere, were you completely cancelled from any Tivo service or did you still have some active Tivo boxes?


I was completely canceled (I have only the one box).


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## srauly (Apr 26, 2000)

I've gotten this email offer once or twice before, and just got it again the other day. I was an old-timer with 2-3 of the older standard-def TiVo boxes and then 2 of the TiVo HD boxes. Then one of my boxes got fried by electricity and instead of buying a replacement I decided to switch to Windows Media Center and bought a SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime 3-tuner cablecard box. It works pretty well and I stream to a couple of XBox 360's elsewhere in the house. But I really don't use the XBox's for anything else and have become more of an Apple home (the three of us have iPhones, we have a couple of iPads, 2 MacBooks, and a few Apple TV's).

I must admit that I'm somewhat tempted to switch back to the TiVo as the Stream interests me, and it just seems like they have a better integrated iOS experience. With my current setup, I run Plex Media Server on my main PC and can then stream recorded shows to my iOS devices, but it's not perfect as there are a couple of hoops you have to jump through first, and while there is a separate live TV app I can use, I can't do pause/rewind with that.

So with all of that as background, what I'm wondering is if there's any chance I could use this $50 promo in conjunction with a brand new Premiere 4-tuner purchase. It sounds like (based on what others here are saying) it only works if I use it to reactivate one of my old TiVo's and I have no interest in doing that. But the email as worded is pretty vague in that regard, as it doesn't explicitly state that I have to reactivate my old TiVo.

Update: Doh! I guess my reading skills were off today. I just reread the email and it does indeed state that it can only be used with TiVo TSN xxxxxxx. Meh.


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## ugh what (Jan 25, 2013)

I got this offer and took them up on it. I had deactivated mine in September. Went to Comcast to trade in my non-DVR box and get a CableCard yesterday, and I'm all set up and running now. So nice to have my TiVo back! Perfect timing, because my Comcast box was going to start costing me $10/month next month, and it isn't even a DVR.


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## P42 (Jan 7, 2003)

My brother-in-law got this offer, but had no interest in it, so needless to say I offered to free up some space in his basement. The CSR processed it with no issue and transferred it to my account. Of course this is going to cost me big, as I only have one TV.... but I could not let the chance of a $49 Tivo with Lifetime pass me by


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## poppagene (Dec 29, 2001)

My Dad got this email on a cancelled s2dt. Are people leveraging this into a $49 PLS on a premiere? And if yes how?


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## geeman11 (Mar 7, 2008)

P42 said:


> My brother-in-law got this offer, but had no interest in it, so needless to say I offered to free up some space in his basement. The CSR processed it with no issue and transferred it to my account. Of course this is going to cost me big, as I only have one TV.... but I could not let the chance of a $49 Tivo with Lifetime pass me by


I got this offer too. I dropped my cable and went to Sat, but my sister has TIVO and cable. Does anyone know if I could do this $49 lifetime on my mothballed TIVO HD and transfer the unit with LIFETIME to my sister ?


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## djwilso (Dec 23, 2006)

geeman11 said:


> I got this offer too. I dropped my cable and went to Sat, but my sister has TIVO and cable. Does anyone know if I could do this $49 lifetime on my mothballed TIVO HD and transfer the unit with LIFETIME to my sister ?


I'm pretty sure that once a unit has Lifetime on it, you can sell or give it to anyone you want and when they add it on their account, it will retain the Lifetime service since that is tied to the box and not the subscriber.


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## srauly (Apr 26, 2000)

I was thinking before that since it was locked to my old TiVo HD that I really don't care to use, that I'd pass on the deal, but now I'm thinking that maybe I should go ahead and do it, since it looks like I might be able to eBay it for $200 or more.


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## P42 (Jan 7, 2003)

geeman11 & srauly,
Lifetime is for the life of the Tivo, as djwilso has said. So if you got the $49 offer email from Tivo, they've turned that unwanted Tivo into a $200 to $300 asset. You sister or wallet will appreciate it


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## GoEagles (Dec 2, 2006)

I would love to get $49 Lifetime service on this unused Premiere box of mine.


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## Tobashadow (Nov 11, 2006)

Just great, I was going to use part of our tax return to buy a couple used TivoHd boxes to replace our two multi times a day rebooting S2's and now the price will be jacked up on ebay. 

If the offer for $49 for lifetime on one of your old HD boxes don't interest you then give me a message with a offer.


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## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

Hrm - I wonder if I can use it to move my old series 2 to lifetime...? The only thing is it's still subbed, but i haven't plugged it in for over a year (yeah, TiVo's been paid while it's been off, I know I know).


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## pmiranda (Feb 12, 2003)

lessd said:


> I will bet that you would need at least 2 years at the monthly rate, some TPs were sold for $0 and a 2 year commitment at about $20/month, so that would $480+$49 for a Lifetime TP, you could get the TP for about $60 or so some years ago + $400 for Lifetime, not much difference in total price.
> 
> I don't think you can take a TP for a few months at some monthly rate than get a $49 Lifetime offer.


Thank you for making feel better about buying lifetime years ago


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## Joey Bagadonuts (Mar 13, 2006)

Just an FYI- I just spoke with Veronica at TiVo Customer Support and she said the $49 offer only applies to DVR's whose service was discontinue prior to October 2012. So if you're thinking of discontinuing your TiVo service now in anticipation of receiving an email saying you can reactivate it under a lifetime subscription for $49, you might want to reconsider.


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## Loach (Jan 11, 2013)

Tobashadow said:


> Just great, I was going to use part of our tax return to buy a couple used TivoHd boxes to replace our two multi times a day rebooting S2's and now the price will be jacked up on ebay.
> 
> If the offer for $49 for lifetime on one of your old HD boxes don't interest you then give me a message with a offer.


How would a larger potential supply of these boxes on ebay cause the prices to be jacked up?


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## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

Joey Bagadonuts said:


> Just an FYI- I just spoke with Veronica at TiVo Customer Support and she said the $49 offer only applies to DVR's whose service was discontinue prior to October 2012. So if you're thinking of discontinuing your TiVo service now in anticipation of receiving an email saying you can reactivate it under a lifetime subscription for $49, you might want to reconsider.


Sounds like yet another Tivo service rep that doesnt know what they are talking about . . . . again. I cancelled 2 of mine in December 2012 and got the $49 lifetime on both of them. I paid a full years contract on both. I cancelled a 3rd at the same time but only paid a few months on it. I wasnt offered the $49 lifetime deal on that one for some reason. We will probably never know what their criteria is on that deal. Seems like some are getting it and some are not.


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## aridon (Aug 31, 2006)

Guys how much has the software speed been improved over the last year? Thinking of coming back but the HD guide I found slow and a mess about a year ago and not sure if its improved any.

I know SD guide is an option but not my first choice.


Also I called today for this and they said it expired on the 30th of Jan.


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## srauly (Apr 26, 2000)

Well, I decided to take advantage of the offer, but then I was out of the office last week, and I realized that the offer expired on 1/30. I had two TiVo HD's at the time that I cancelled my service. One of those had gotten fried by electricity, and the offer I got in my email listed only one ESN that it was good for. The TiVo was buried away in a storage area that I knew my wife wouldn't find, so I figured I'd probably be out of luck, but would try to give them a call once I got back into town, just in case.

Anyone else here happen to call *after* the expiration date of the offer expired?

In the process of digging through my storage room, I was amused to find a brand-new, never opened TiVo HD. I had totally forgotten about that one. I had actually gotten it from Blockbuster (I think for $99) back when Blockbuster was dumping their inventory. It would have been my 3rd TiVo at the time (my other electrocuted one hadn't been electrocuted yet), but I was still debating whether or not to bother, so it just sat in its box in my closet forever. Anyway, that got me to wondering if I might be able to swing a $50 lifetime deal on that one, too.

Anyways, right now I'm waiting for the Guided Setup to complete. I figured I should make sure everything's working OK before bothering to call. The deactivated one previously had a cablecard in it (which is now in my SiliconDust HDHomeRun Prime) and I didn't want to try swapping that in (not sure if that might screw things up), so I plugged in an antenna and am going that route. Not sure if I can even tune in any/many channels at my location.


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## srauly (Apr 26, 2000)

Well, that was a waste of my afternoon. After waiting [forever] for the Guided Setup to complete and verifying that everything was working OK, I called the number and was told that the offer expired and was no longer in their system. Out of luck.


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