# Is it REALLY "Nearly Impossible" to cancel TiVo service?



## Silverback67 (Mar 15, 2010)

Recently, my hard drive failed on our Tivo. I started looking at options, and went with a PVR from our cable service provider.

I now need to cancel my Tivo service, but noticed that I can't do it online (which is understandable, as TiVo will want to know why it's being cancelled, and if there's anything they can do to keep you as a customer).

I did a quick Goggle search for "how do i cancel tivo" and found a LOT of complaints from people, ranging from annoying, to nearly fraudulent on TiVo's part.

Needless to say, I had concerns that things would not run smoothly.

I checked with the Better Business Bureau, and TiVo has a good rating now. 

Maybe things have become better at Tivo. 

That's why I've started this thread. I want to find out what the process of cancelling TiVo is like, and want others to find out what my experience is like.

Some people say that TiVo only suspends their account for a few months, then starts billing again, sending collection agencies after the money when it's not paid. Other's say there is a long string of suspicious "disconnects" when they call to cancel. There are a ton of horror stories.

I'm about to call TiVo Customer Service now. I'll follow up, if necessary, with a certified letter to Tivo, a call to the Better Business Bureau, and a call to my credit card company (I am paying monthly, and not under a long term contract with TiVo).

Stay Tuned here for my results.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

I've cancelled several Tivo subscriptions w/o any problems or hassles.
It only takes a wee tiny bit of assertiveness to interrupt them and tell them to just cancel the subscription. The people that complain about are the spineless people that allow the cs rep to go on and on with suggestions and offers to retain the customer.


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## Silverback67 (Mar 15, 2010)

At 9:22 I called TiVo Customer Service. I was on hold for only 7 minutes, when Tim answered the phone. Tim was knowledgeable and polite.

He explained some of the options I had, as far as getting other Tivo boxes, or continuing service with TiVo.

I explained that I'd looked at all options, and I wanted my service cancelled immediately, and permanently. I also asked for a case # for my call, which he provided. I also mentioned that I was going to be blogging my experience on the TiVo forum (which may skew the results).

He said, sure, and put me on hold for 2 minutes, and came back and explained that my service was now cancelled. 

I thanked him, and took a short online survey about my Customer Service experience, which was great.

This was really quick and painless. Now I will continue to watch my credit card, to make sure nothing gets billed from TiVo.

Assuming nothing will get billed, I'd have to say that all of the complaints from people about not being able to cancel their TiVo service were the exceptions, and not the norm, or maybe TiVo has changed their policies to be much better for cancellations.

I will post follow ups to my experience here...


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## chicagobrownblue (May 29, 2008)

Also, check online to make sure it reflects the correct status of your account.


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## Bai Shen (Dec 17, 2004)

I was able to cancel mine with no problems.


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## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

A year or two ago, my S2ST died. It was just before summer, when there isn't much to watch, so I called Tivo to cancel my service. They asked why. I explained. They ended up offering me a S2DT (whohoo, two tuners!) for $49. Couldn't pass that up. So their customer retention efforts worked on me. Heck, now I've got two Tivos and four tuners.

It wasn't a hard sell, and I had planned on getting Tivo again after summer was over, so I was an easy mark to begin with.


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## LifeIsABeach (Feb 28, 2001)

I called to cancel one of my TiVos. They started the retention spiel and I told them I had sold the unit on eBay and was waiting for them to cancel it so that I can send it out and have the new owner subscribe it. They couldn't cancel it fast enough. YMMV


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

It's always a good idea to complain about how hard it is to do something before even trying to do it.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

I also had a situation where I wanted to cancel, the rep on the other end was easy to deal with and understood when I shut him down about retention, took all of 15 minutes including all hold times.

Diane


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## Mike-Mike (Mar 2, 2010)

Kablemodem said:


> It's always a good idea to complain about how hard it is to do something before even trying to do it.


this cracked me up:up:


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

Mike-Mike said:


> this cracked me up:up:


Creating a Tivo Community Forum account to complain in advance about what Tivo might do was the piece de resistance.

And then the Emily Littela, always a favorite.

Premo stuff!


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

Ah, give the guy a break. It' can't hurt to find out if there's particular information he should be aware of or have handy when he calls to cancel.

I just wonder how many of those who reportedly found it "nearly impossible" were still in their 12 month commitment.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

nrc said:


> Ah, give the guy a break. It' can't hurt to find out if there's particular information he should be aware of or have handy when he calls to cancel.


Agreed. I was out of line.

Of course, before I responded to you, I thought I should check you out, thus my thread "Is nrc REALLY a shoplifter, a hit and run killer, an ex-convict, an informer, a little child molester and an alcoholic?"

Extra points for the errata on the above, BTW.


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## Silverback67 (Mar 15, 2010)

Kablemodem said:


> It's always a good idea to complain about how hard it is to do something before even trying to do it.


In my defense, I didn't complain about ANYTHING. I merely stated that there were a LOT of complaints (from OTHERS) all over the internet about TiVo's cancellation processes.

I wanted people to know about my experience, so in the future, when someone searches the net about it, they've got more info.

In this case, it seems that TiVo is not really as bad as some people say, and I think it's important for people to know TiVo has perhaps been given a bad rap...

I loved my Tivo. I may get one again some day. And so far, TiVo Customer Service has been really good.

So to shoot your quote back at you (modified):
It's always a good idea to blame someone for something they didn't do...


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

I'm glad it worked out for you. There have been lots of new accounts here lately started by people who have an anti-TiVo agenda.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

I canceled in November. They didn't offer me anything or try to keep me at all, which was a little disappointing. I would've stayed if they had offered the $99 lifetime after my 3 year prepay expired for example...


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## rlc1 (Sep 15, 2003)

Hey, nice knowing ya, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

Wil said:


> Agreed. I was out of line.
> 
> Of course, before I responded to you, I thought I should check you out, thus my thread "Is nrc REALLY a shoplifter, a hit and run killer, an ex-convict, an informer, a little child molester and an alcoholic?"
> 
> Extra points for the errata on the above, BTW.


Well, you're never really a an "ex-convict" and my wife was under age when we started dating...


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

scandia101 said:


> I've cancelled several Tivo subscriptions w/o any problems or hassles.
> It only takes a wee tiny bit of assertiveness to interrupt them and tell them to just cancel the subscription. The people that complain about are the spineless people that allow the cs rep to go on and on with suggestions and offers to retain the customer.


Moxi has no monthly fees so this would not be a problem with Moxi


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## Sapphire (Sep 10, 2002)

It's not difficult at all, although I did get cut off by one CSR. But I called back and was able to cancel without issue. They did try to give me the whole marketing spiel about the Premiere DVRs but I simply said no and they canceled my DVR that I wanted to cancel.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

rlc1 said:


> Hey, nice knowing ya, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out


Interesting response from someone that gets whiny/pissy when people don't hold your hand and coddle you.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

scandia101 said:


> Interesting response from someone that gets whiny/pissy when people don't hold your hand and coddle you.


Moxi folks will hold your hand and coddle you - just check out the AVS forum


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## HiDefGator (Oct 12, 2004)

How hard can it be to cancel if several thousand people manage to do it every month?


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## Mr. Broflovski (Mar 2, 2010)

HiDefGator said:


> How hard can it be to cancel if several thousand people manage to do it every month?


ding ding ding

we have a winna!


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## HazelW (Dec 6, 2007)

So if you have a prepaid plan and cancel, does the service continue until the end of the term of the prepay? I assume they will not refund your money.


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## shawngreg (Jun 29, 2010)

Good lord it is difficult to cancel this TiVo. I never get mad on the phone and the guy was starting to make me mad. He didn't get that I wanted to cancel. Why don't we charge you month to month. Argh...Good luck to all in the future!


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

goodby.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

The one thing I always found funny was when I've called to cancel old/replaced Tivos, they tried to sell me another one. Err... That's not just the opposite of cancel, that's trying to make me spend more (to buy it) when I wanted to spend nothing.

They're funny like that.


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## Phantom Gremlin (Jun 20, 2002)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> They're funny like that.


Pretty much all companies that bill you every month are like that. Including DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, Comcast, etc. But to greater or lesser degree, depending on how the company is doing financially at the time.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I had a weird situation once where my father had canceled the credit card that was attached to a TiVo which he had been paying yearly service on. When the service came due he was no longer using that TiVo so he just did nothing. Well the TiVo was attached to my account* and when he didn't pay they locked down the whole account so I couldn't do anything until it was taken care of. I called and canceled the TiVo but after a few days it still didn't take. I called back and it turns out they can't cancel a TiVo which is not current on payments. So I ended up having to pay for 1 month of service on the box to get it "current" then they were able to cancel it. So it cost me $10 to cancel his TiVo.

Dan

* It was attached to my account because I bought it as a gift many years ago and paid the first year of service on my card.


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## calguy4498 (Oct 20, 2010)

The people at Tivo are pretty ruthless in trying to keep you as a customer. I have tried to cancel twice because my Tivo was not working. First they lowered my monthly rate, then they sent me a free upgrade. 

Now most recently, I called back because this is the third Tivo that ultimately broke down and does not work, and they got me again. I told them I either want to cancel unless you give me a free NEW tivo. They put me on hold, came back and said its approved - but first transfered me to tech support to do some diagnostic tests. Before I knew it I was off the phone with no new tivo. 

Also, the questions they ask are pretty forward. Such as, "oh no, what are you going to do without tivo?", "how are you going to watch your shows" and "how else will you watch netflix." 

They must get demoted for every customer they allow to cancel.


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## TolloNodre (Nov 3, 2007)

calguy4498 said:


> The people at Tivo are pretty ruthless in trying to keep you as a customer. I have tried to cancel twice because my Tivo was not working. *First they lowered my monthly rate*, then they sent me a free upgrade.


Wow - they got you to _renew_ at a lower rate on a _broken_ Tivo?

You call that 'ruthless' - I'd call that very clever...:up:


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

I tried to cancel my old Series 2 monthly fee and they added a free month to it and gave me a confirmation number of some sort to give to anyone I sell it. The number gives them a discount on a Premiere and let's them keep my same $7 monthly rate or something.


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## orbops (Mar 18, 2007)

I just canceled my Tivo today (and my Cox Cable) and was disappointed that Tivo won't prorate for my existing month. I told them that I bought a PC Tuner and rabbit ears, and now get free OTA HD which looks much better than my cable HD channels. 

They first tried offering me 2 months free to stick around. I told them that with a Series 2, I would need a digital to analog converter box - and my video quality would not be as good as OTA. They then tried to convince me that I shouldn't buy the converter box, but buy a Premiere instead because that has a built in digital tuner! I told them I just wanted to cancel.

They then upped the offer to 4 free months. I told them that if they upped it to lifetime free, I would consider it since OTA hooked up to a PC is free vs. $12.95/month. After about 20 minutes, he finally relented and let me cancel. 

Future savings = $55/month for Cox + $12.95/month for Tivo and the PC tuner works great ($90 at Best Buy), streaming works great, and still can get Amazon on Demand. Now I'm wondering why I waited so long to cancel Tivo & Cox Cable!!!


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

orbops said:


> I just canceled my Tivo today
> 
> They first tried offering...
> 
> ...


You could have easily gotten the job done with a < 2 minute conversation.


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## orbops (Mar 18, 2007)

scandia101 said:


> You could have easily gotten the job done with a < 2 minute conversation.


So how would I have done it when he kept going on and on?


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## avalanche (Jan 23, 2013)

I have had TIVO for approximately 2 years. I was under a 2 year contract which ended on October 24, 2012. At which time I cancelled my service and unplugged the TIVO box. Unfortunately TIVO has "no record of my call" and kept billing my credit card for 2 additional months. They then said that I called but I never cancelled. I called TIVO and after waiting 36 minutes and speaking to 1 representative and 1 supervisor they offered to take one month off and I would have to pay for the other month. I informed the supervisor that I was not happy and he said arrogantly that is the "way it is". I will never use this product again and a strongly recommend against this company. Before buying this product make sure you check out all of the reviews online they are mostly negative


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

I would dispute it with your credit card company.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

avalanche said:


> I have had TIVO for approximately 2 years. I was under a 2 year contract which ended on October 24, 2012. At which time I cancelled my service and unplugged the TIVO box. Unfortunately TIVO has "no record of my call" and kept billing my credit card for 2 additional months. They then said that I called but I never cancelled. I called TIVO and after waiting 36 minutes and speaking to 1 representative and 1 supervisor they offered to take one month off and I would have to pay for the other month. I informed the supervisor that I was not happy and he said arrogantly that is the "way it is". I will never use this product again and a strongly recommend against this company. Before buying this product make sure you check out all of the reviews online they are mostly negative


Get Lifetime and there is no problem. When you call to cancel monthly you *MUST* get a case number, this happened (over billing) to a friend of mine and the case number saved the day.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

I cancelled month-to-month service on one of my Series 1 TiVos recently. The customer service rep gave me a date on which my service would end, so I would know when the charges should stop on my credit card. 

My service ended as predicted, and the changes are reflected on the website, exactly as the customer service rep said they would be. 

In short: everything worked exactly as it should, with no problems whatsoever.


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## makohund (Mar 12, 2005)

I've been a loyal Tivo customer for about 9 years.

First got a Series 2 in 2003, added another in 2006. Added a Premiere in 2010. All three month-to-month. While very aware that lifetime service options would have cost me less overall, I was happy to support the company that way. I've always recommended them without reservation, over all available options. The equipment has been good, the service has been good, and customer service has always treated me well. I've never felt they were an organization I needed to treat with suspicion, or should "watch my back" with. Nothing but praise and money from me, for nearly a decade.

Today is a little different. I'm somewhat angry, but more saddened and disappointed than anything else. Not sure how I wish to proceed, but I feel I've been taken advantage of for no good reason. And what was offered in "amends" doesn't come close to what was taken.

In July 2011 I called to cancel both of my Series 2 Tivos. One had been replaced by my Premiere, and the other had barely been used at all since my second child arrived in 2008. It'd become perfectly clear to us that we were a single TV household, and we were content to continue with only the Premiere.

I listened to the pitches to keep the service, and the various offers. Didn't mind doing that, and gave them consideration. Actually told them I would talk to my wife about one of them... upgrading one of them to lifetime for $99. I did talk to her, we decided against it, and I told them we just wanted to cancel. They offered some free months to think about it more. I told them I just wanted to cancel. They relented, and "canceled". Case closed, right?

Now, I don't pore over every bank transaction I have like a hawk. I had checked after cancelling, and noted that they had stopped charging for the ones I cancelled... all was well. I fully expected to see Tivo charges after that, as I still subscribed to the service. I had absolutely no reason to believe they didn't do what they said they were going to do, or that there should be any cause for concern.

The other day, while investigating something else, I happened to notice there were three charges for Tivo in the month I was looking at, rather than one... even though it was after my cancellation. That didn't make any sense, so I checked another month. And another, and... got a sinking feeling. Sure enough, after digging into it, it appears that they never cancelled the service. Rather, they gave me "free months" that I didn't want, and then the charges kicked back in.

I've been paying $26 a month for service on two machines that had been sitting gathering dust for about a year and a half. To date, the charges for service on my "cancelled" machines total $440. The customer service person at Tivo was friendly, understanding, and sympathetic. He said it seemed very clear to him from whatever he was looking at that my intentions and directions were to cancel. Also that those units had indeed not connected to the service since then. But the most he could offer was to actually cancel them (finally), and offer 6 months free service for my Premiere. That comes to about $120 compensation... hardly something to get excited about.

Now I see that I'm not the only one something like this has happened to, though I may be a candidate for "worst case example". I also see that this is common enough that things like "check your accounts to make sure" and "get the ticket number, call back and verify" are considered standard practice, or even duties I am expected to perform, else be considered negligent.

Perhaps true from a legal standpoint. I failed to "cover my own ass", so can be expected to suffer some consequences. But that doesn't make it right, or ethical. I've never had any reputable company I've ever dealt with do something like this to me previously, so please excuse any naivete. Apparently trusting Tivo to treat me and my account as a valued customer was a mistake.

Now what to do... call my bank/card company? Doubt they can do anything that far back. Call a lawyer? That'd cost more than I lost, for at best a pyrrhic victory, and more likely nothing at all. BBB? Ha! Pull the other one. Cancel my existing service? I would, and don't really want to give Tivo my money anymore, but... what other good option is there for an OTA DVR? (I have no cable or satellite.)

I don't feel like doing any of that at the moment anyway. Or anything at all. Except maybe puke.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

TiVo should have cancelled the service when you asked.

But you should have noticed them charging you for *18 months*.


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## makohund (Mar 12, 2005)

Arcady said:


> TiVo should have cancelled the service when you asked.
> 
> But you should have noticed them charging you for *18 months*.


Granted, yes. I did notice them charging me for 18 months, and it didn't raise alarm bells as I expected them to be charging me the entire time.

The part I didn't notice was how often, and how much. Of course now I've put a little thought into how that could be.

I do all my banking online, and rarely see (or look for) an entire month at once. The timing of the bills was spaced apart enough for two not to appear at once in my transaction list, and one of them actually bounced back and forth between the first and last days of months, confusing matters more. Lastly, when I am looking, I'm usually looking for specific things, big ticket items/bills, etc. Often with a filter, to see just those. A relatively small autopay bill that has been no trouble at all for years and years, and didn't have a particular reason to check on? Yeah, easy to miss based on my habits/patterns. Lesson learned.

Yes, I should have caught it sooner. But I didn't. I can't go back and change that, so just have to figure out what to do from here.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

makohund said:


> To date, the charges for service on my "cancelled" machines total $440. The customer service person at Tivo was friendly, understanding, and sympathetic. He said it seemed very clear to him from whatever he was looking at that my intentions and directions were to cancel. Also that those units had indeed not connected to the service since then. But the most he could offer was to actually cancel them (finally), and offer 6 months free service for my Premiere. That comes to about $120 compensation... hardly something to get excited about.


First-line customer service reps are only allowed to do so much. You can take what they offer you, or ask for your case to be escalated, and try to get more.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Never, NEVER give any company permission to have direct billing access to your checking account. Credit card, perhaps, at least there is some protection. With bank access, when its gone its gone. You gave them permission to access. Getting anything back will be at the whim of whatever company took the funds. Error, theft, or somewhere in between.

There is NO company and NO person outside my wife and myself that has access to my bank accounts.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

jcthorne said:


> Never, NEVER give any company permission to have direct billing access to your checking account. Credit card, perhaps, at least there is some protection. With bank access, when its gone its gone. You gave them permission to access. Getting anything back will be at the whim of whatever company took the funds. Error, theft, or somewhere in between.
> 
> There is NO company and NO person outside my wife and myself that has access to my bank accounts.


In general I totally agree with you *BUT* my health insurance plan gives $5/month off by bank direct (from $40 to $35) so I do that, it worth $60/year and I know the state regulates insurance co.s


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I would escalate for the full amount, and settle on moving the premiere to lifetime service combined with an acceptable refund amount (and maybe even a remote or other toy).


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## makohund (Mar 12, 2005)

jcthorne said:


> Never, NEVER give any company permission to have direct billing access to your checking account. Credit card, perhaps, at least there is some protection.


It was credit card access in the sense that it was a credit/VISA transaction.

It was "direct billing access" in the sense that it was a credit/debit card for the checking account.

The protections one gets with a credit card transaction are there, but it is still more or less direct access. If I had an actual credit card, I would have used that instead. But I don't and prefer not to.


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## makohund (Mar 12, 2005)

murgatroyd said:


> First-line customer service reps are only allowed to do so much. You can take what they offer you, or ask for your case to be escalated, and try to get more.





jrtroo said:


> I would escalate for the full amount, and settle on moving the premiere to lifetime service combined with an acceptable refund amount (and maybe even a remote or other toy).


Thanks.

That sounds reasonable. It crossed my mind to try to get lifetime service on the premiere, maybe the other boxes too, or something like that. Wouldn't cost them anything up front out of pocket. Might allow me the ability to recoup what I can by selling old units, or use them as outlets in the future. At least it'd give me (based on $99 per unit deals sometimes offered) something much closer in monetary value to what they took.

And I'd be a happy customer again. More likely to buy another product/service in the future, if they ever offer anything for OTA again. Less inclined to ditch them and go DIY, which is looking pretty attractive at the moment.


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## micro66 (Feb 13, 2013)

I recognize this thread is very old; however, it still shows up near the top on Google searches and was helpful to me when I called to cancel my Tivo service. I called the number to cancel and got a recording that they were in Support Overload and I should leave a message. After about 20 calls, I finally left them a message. Called back another 20 times without leaving a message, and the voicemail box was full. From then on, the system would announce that fact and hang up. I went back to the website and found how to activate a "Chat" session. It says plainly that you cannot cancel the account by Chat (or any other way than a phone call). I answered their questions so that they could verify I was a customer, and I told them the problem. There was a pause, and they confirmed I had to call. Then they said that the phones had been restored. While still in the Chat session, I called again and got into the normal menu system. From that point forward, it went smoothly. A little bit of customer retention selling but not unpleasant. They then cancelled my account, sent me a confirmation e-mail, and gave me the cancellation code (at my request). I then asked if the billing was going to start up again in a few months, and she said no it was completely cancelled. So, if you run into problems getting through on the phone, try Chat to get the phones opened up again.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

micro66 said:


> I recognize this thread is very old; however, it still shows up near the top on Google searches and was helpful to me when I called to cancel my Tivo service. I called the number to cancel and got a recording that they were in Support Overload and I should leave a message. After about 20 calls, I finally left them a message. Called back another 20 times without leaving a message, and the voicemail box was full. From then on, the system would announce that fact and hang up. I went back to the website and found how to activate a "Chat" session. It says plainly that you cannot cancel the account by Chat (or any other way than a phone call). I answered their questions so that they could verify I was a customer, and I told them the problem. There was a pause, and they confirmed I had to call. Then they said that the phones had been restored. While still in the Chat session, I called again and got into the normal menu system. From that point forward, it went smoothly. A little bit of customer retention selling but not unpleasant. They then cancelled my account, sent me a confirmation e-mail, and gave me the cancellation code (at my request). I then asked if the billing was going to start up again in a few months, and she said no it was completely cancelled. So, if you run into problems getting through on the phone, try Chat to get the phones opened up again.


What number did you call ? I never had a problem with 877 367-8486. You were smart to get the cancellation code, with that if TiVo ever tries to charge you (I doubt that will happen) your CC co. can use that code to reverse any incorrect charges for that TiVo.


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## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

I had prepared when I cancelled mine back in December. The month before I cancelled I called and requested an additional card which was free to me with my bank. After I cancelled my Tivos, I called the bank and cancelled that card that Tivo had on file. It might seem like a lot to go thru but it was really easy.


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## Hank Castello (Jun 19, 2017)

BEWARE - Tivo won't allow me to cancel my account. They don't allow online cancellations and they give the runaround when you call them to cancel. Here's a copy of an email I sent them -

You people will not let me CANCEL this account. I am posting compaints on the Consumer Affairs website, and as many feedback forums as I can find and am writing to the Florida Attorney General.

I called (recorded) at 14:44 this afternoon and spoke with "Ann" who refused to give any further identifying information and refused (3 times) to let me speak to a supervisor. She pretended not to be able to find my account and said therefore she couldn't help me cancel it, even though I was LOGGED INTO my Tivo account at the time and gave her every bit of info available there.

It is NOT LEGAL to prevent customers from cancelling an account where you are attempting to withdraw money each month. It is not legal to not allow online cancellations when you allow online registrations and I am going to make sure I cost you as much business as is possible.

NOW CANCEL MY ACCOUNT!


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

I don't think your account can be cancelled. Your subscription on your tivo, however, can be cancelled. Call back and ask them to cancel your subscription.


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## schatham (Mar 17, 2007)

Did you give them your Tivo service number? I canceled in 3 minutes no problem a few weeks ago.


Hank Castello said:


> BEWARE - Tivo won't allow me to cancel my account. They don't allow online cancellations and they give the runaround when you call them to cancel. Here's a copy of an email I sent them -
> 
> You people will not let me CANCEL this account. I am posting compaints on the Consumer Affairs website, and as many feedback forums as I can find and am writing to the Florida Attorney General.
> 
> ...


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## Hank Castello (Jun 19, 2017)

scandia101 said:


> I don't think your account can be cancelled. Your subscription on your tivo, however, can be cancelled. Call back and ask them to cancel your subscription.


Sorry if using the term "account" confused anyone here. I was definitely discussing my "subscription" with "Ann" and we were definitely both aware that the issue was the monthly fee they were charging me.


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## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

hang up and call back, it's not that unusual to occasionally find a csr that doesn't realize they need to ask for help when they cannot complete a customer request - sad, but true.


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

Hank Castello said:


> Sorry if using the term "account" confused anyone here. I was definitely discussing my "subscription" with "Ann" and we were definitely both aware that the issue was the monthly fee they were charging me.


I am sure you will eventually find someone at TiVo to cancel your subcription. If they don't cancel in time, dispute the charge with your credit card company. In the worst case, report your card as compromised with improper charges and they will send you a new card and invalidate the old one.

Like I said though, I am sure you will find a person to cancel, just try again.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Hank Castello said:


> Sorry if using the term "account" confused anyone here. I was definitely discussing my "subscription" with "Ann" and we were definitely both aware that the issue was the monthly fee they were charging me.


Just to be sure, you've already fulfilled any type of full year commitments so you are free to cancel?

Scott


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

sfhub said:


> I am sure you will eventually find someone at TiVo to cancel your subcription. If they don't cancel in time, dispute the charge with your credit card company. In the worst case, report your card as compromised with improper charges and they will send you a new card and invalidate the old one.
> 
> Like I said though, I am sure you will find a person to cancel, just try again.


Somebody here on TCF did that recently and said he wound up with dings for unpaid service on his credit report.

My impression is that the call center in the Philippines has a high turnover rate, and they don't do much training. The CSRs I've chatted with said they've only worked there a few months.


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

HerronScott said:


> Just to be sure, you've already fulfilled any type of full year commitments so you are free to cancel?


That is an important question to answer, but he seems to say TiVo can't locate his account at all, so they haven't even gotten to the point where they could be trying to deny him on those grounds


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

ej42137 said:


> Somebody here on TCF did that recently and said he wound up with dings for unpaid service on his credit report.


They had satisfied their commitment and this is over $14.99 that tivo wouldn't cancel when asked, and could have mitigated by deactivating his service, or this was over the remainder of a yearly commit?

I'd be worried if I was a month-to-month TiVo customer because credit cards get stolen and compromised all the time and people forget to update all their auto-bill accounts.


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

So it seems TiVo really is one of those companies that goes to collections over paltry amounts dating all the way back to 2011:

Tivo sends me to collections in 60 days

60 days and they go to collections. Never had anything but lifetime so I didn't pay attention to those threads.

I still can't believe TiVo can't cancel his service and firmly believe if he calls back enough times, they will cancel his service.

If they didn't cancel, I would try the dispute resolution process described here:
Tivo Unresponsive to Fixing Issues - Try Dispute Resolution

If they still didn't cancel, my new strategy (if I were in OP shoes) would be to pay and keep protesting/canceling (documented like Comey) and if it gets beyond a month, go to small claims. I wouldn't care if it would cost me more time and money to go to small claims, it would cost TiVo even more money to send a lawyer and they should learn their lesson and cancel when people ask to be canceled. What choice do you have, keep paying a bogus charge you already tried canceling many times just to avoid collections. That really feels like extortion to me.


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