# Lifetime for $399 - can I buy from Best Buy or Amazon?



## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

I have 2 Premiere 4's and 2 Mini's (all with Lifetime service on them) and am looking into getting a Roamio Plus. If I were to buy the Roamio from Best Buy or Amazon, can I still get the $399 Lifetime pricing? Or am I required to buy the box directly from TiVo to get that price? Thanks!


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

dmk1974 said:


> I have 2 Premiere 4's and 2 Mini's (all with Lifetime service on them) and am looking into getting a Roamio Plus. If I were to buy the Roamio from Best Buy or Amazon, can I still get the $399 Lifetime pricing? Or am I required to buy the box directly from TiVo to get that price? Thanks!


Yes you can buy from BB or Amazon. When you activate them online at TiVo just put in the "PLSR" discount code for the $399 pricing.


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## Bwatford141 (Jan 5, 2012)

Agreed, I bought mine from BB and was not eligible for the multi service discount when I called tivo. I then went online and used the promo code PLSR to get lifetime for $399.


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## frombhto323 (Jan 24, 2002)

A Tivo CSR told me that it is not about where you buy it (as long as it's an authorized dealer), but about the status of your account and whether or not you are eligible for the discount.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Bwatford141 said:


> Agreed, I bought mine from BB and was not eligible for the multi service discount when I called tivo. I then went online and used the promo code PLSR to get lifetime for $399.


Even if you are eligible for MSD pricing you should always use the PLSR code. Since those TiVos can still be used as a qualifier for MSD pricing. While a TiVo that purchased lifetime with MSD pricing is not a qualifier for other TiVos..


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

Thank you for the info!

Also, I am thinking of getting my Dad the 4-tuner Roamio for Christmas. Can I buy the lifetime for $399 and then transfer the entire box to a new account for him? He's going to use it with an OTA antenna so unfortunately I can't just pass my Premiere 4 box to him.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

dmk1974 said:


> Thank you for the info!
> 
> Also, I am thinking of getting my Dad the 4-tuner Roamio for Christmas. Can I buy the lifetime for $399 and then transfer the entire box to a new account for him?


Yes. Once the Tivo has the lifetime subscription, you are free to do with it as you please. 
Only drawback would be whether or not your dad would be eligible for future MSD purchases.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

dmk1974 said:


> Thank you for the info! Also, I am thinking of getting my Dad the 4-tuner Roamio for Christmas. Can I buy the lifetime for $399 and then transfer the entire box to a new account for him? He's going to use it with an OTA antenna so unfortunately I can't just pass my Premiere 4 box to him.


You're better off buying the Roamio and creating his own account then using the PLSR code on his as well.


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

HarperVision said:


> You're better off buying the Roamio and creating his own account then using the PLSR code on his as well.


Would I be able to use that PLSR code even if he, at this moment, does not have a TiVo account?


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## WRX09MD (Aug 25, 2013)

HarperVision said:


> Yes you can buy from BB or Amazon. When you activate them online at TiVo just put in the "PLSR" discount code for the $399 pricing.


Is that code still working? I just tried it signed in and out of tivo.com and it didnt work.


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## ThreeSoFar'sBro (Oct 10, 2004)

I have a lifetimed Premiere. If I get a Roamio and get the discounted lifetime due to this, do I lose the lifetime on the Premiere?


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## Mr. Toad (Nov 24, 2013)

WRX09MD said:


> Is that code still working? I just tried it signed in and out of tivo.com and it didnt work.


It worked for me on 11/21/13. I purchased a unit from abt.com.


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## mrizzo80 (Apr 17, 2012)

ThreeSoFar'sBro said:


> I have a lifetimed Premiere. If I get a Roamio and get the discounted lifetime due to this, do I lose the lifetime on the Premiere?


No. Your Premiere box will retain its lifetime service.


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## flar (Mar 18, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> Even if you are eligible for MSD pricing you should always use the PLSR code. Since those TiVos can still be used as a qualifier for MSD pricing. While a TiVo that purchased lifetime with MSD pricing is not a qualifier for other TiVos..


Where is this mentioned? In the terms for MSD it simply says that a prior lifetime TiVo must have connected within the last 180 days.

http://www.tivo.com/legal/terms


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## jhirsche (Mar 2, 2009)

Used the code to purchase lifetime on a new roamio basic Friday night. Worked fine, but $399 lifetime price was offered without code too. Migrating from a premiere Xl with lifetime... Anyone interested in that unit? Shouldn't have much trouble moving it on eBay...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

flar said:


> Where is this mentioned? In the terms for MSD it simply says that a prior lifetime TiVo must have connected within the last 180 days.
> 
> http://www.tivo.com/legal/terms


This is based on what I've been told. I've been told by multiple CSRs in the past that the only box I had that was not a MSD qualifier was my $6.95 monthly box. All the other lifetime boxes were qualifiers and they had lifetime purchased with the PSLR code or from other means like the Premiere launch.

Although now that I switched that $6.95 Premiere to a Roamio Basic and got $99 lifetime on the Premiere, I don't expect that lifetime Premiere to be a qualifier for MSD like my other lifetime boxes are.


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

I dont remember using the plsr code i paid $499.99 lifetime for 1st premiere and the second premiere i bought on the same day they charged me $399.99 for lifetime. But i bought them from a tivo csr over the telephone.


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## Coffee (Feb 15, 2013)

ThreeSoFar'sBro said:


> I have a lifetimed Premiere. If I get a Roamio and get the discounted lifetime due to this, do I lose the lifetime on the Premiere?


A service that you purchase applies to only one box at a time. A lifetime service can't be transferred to another unit. You can, however, sell the unit and the lifetime service. The lifetime service will follow the unit. You can use that money to help you buy the service on your next one.


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## flar (Mar 18, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> This is based on what I've been told. I've been told by multiple CSRs in the past that the only box I had that was not a MSD qualifier was my $6.95 monthly box. All the other lifetime boxes were qualifiers and they had lifetime purchased with the PSLR code or from other means like the Premiere launch.
> 
> Although now that I switched that $6.95 Premiere to a Roamio Basic and got $99 lifetime on the Premiere, I don't expect that lifetime Premiere to be a qualifier for MSD like my other lifetime boxes are.


Not having any boxes that weren't purchased with the code doesn't mean that the code was required. The $6.95 monthly box didn't qualify because it wasn't a full-price subscription. At least one box on the account needs to be "full price" for the rest to get the discount.

The only wording about eligibility refers to either the lifetime, saying it has to have dialed in within 180 days, or a full-price subscription box, that if it disappears then the oldest subscription box loses the MSD and starts paying the full monthly fee. There is no text there that mentions anything about an MSD lifetime being charged any more money or being disqualified from enabling MSD on future boxes other than if it stops dialing in.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

flar said:


> Not having any boxes that weren't purchased with the code doesn't mean that the code was required. The $6.95 monthly box didn't qualify because it wasn't a full-price subscription. At least one box on the account needs to be "full price" for the rest to get the discount.
> 
> The only wording about eligibility refers to either the lifetime, saying it has to have dialed in within 180 days, or a full-price subscription box, that if it disappears then the oldest subscription box loses the MSD and starts paying the full monthly fee. There is no text there that mentions anything about an MSD lifetime being charged any more money or being disqualified from enabling MSD on future boxes other than if it stops dialing in.


Here is the user agreement

https://www.tivo.com/legal/terms

It mentions a full price subscription.



> Multi-Service Discount
> We offer discounted TiVo service fees when you have more than one TiVo DVR on the same account. Call customer service at 1-877-367-8486 or log into your account on tivo.com for current offers.
> 
> Some restrictions that apply to the multi-service discount:
> ...


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## flar (Mar 18, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> Here is the user agreement
> 
> https://www.tivo.com/legal/terms
> 
> It mentions a full price subscription.


I posted that same URL above and have been referring to that same paragraph in all of my replies as well. I read it a bit differently than you do.

Is there anybody with any corroborating evidence of having been turned down for MSD lifetime because the other boxes on the account were also MSD lifetime (even if they've dialed in within 180 days)?

The reason I ask is that I've never used the code you mention on any of my boxes and yet I continue to receive MSD pricing on lifetime subscriptions. From my experience, the code that you assert is required, does not actually seem to be required.

And, with respect to your explanation, even if all of your boxes were purchased with the code and all of them qualify, that does not prove that the code is required for qualifying. At best it indicates that the code is compatible with them qualifying, but the actual sufficiency requirement may be unrelated. I believe, from reading those terms, and from my own experience, that having a lifetime subscription (on an active box) would be sufficient and the last line of the terms governs their qualification - mentioning that the only condition is that they must have dialed in within 180 days and mentioning no condition based on how you obtained the lifetime subscription.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

flar said:


> I posted that same URL above and have been referring to that same paragraph in all of my replies as well. I read it a bit differently than you do.
> 
> Is there anybody with any corroborating evidence of having been turned down for MSD lifetime because the other boxes on the account were also MSD lifetime (even if they've dialed in within 180 days)?
> 
> ...


I can only go by what multiple CSRs have told me over the years. I certainly don't want to test it out. But I've owned close to thirty TiVos during the last ten years. Except when I was with DirecTV, I've always had a lifetime qualifier on my account when lifetime was available.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

frombhto323 said:


> A Tivo CSR told me that it is not about where you buy it (as long as it's an authorized dealer), but about the status of your account and whether or not you are eligible for the discount.


What do you mean by "*as long as it's an authorized dealer*" ? When you go to activate a TiVo on the web sight TiVo does not ask you where you made the purchase of the TiVo your activating, if TiVo only sells to authorized dealers and some TiVos leak out to non authorized dealers how would TiVo know (or care)?


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## Devx (Jun 1, 2006)

flar said:


> Is there anybody with any corroborating evidence of having been turned down for MSD lifetime because the other boxes on the account were also MSD lifetime (even if they've dialed in within 180 days)?
> 
> And, with respect to your explanation, even if all of your boxes were purchased with the code and all of them qualify, that does not prove that the code is required for qualifying. At best it indicates that the code is compatible with them qualifying, but the actual sufficiency requirement may be unrelated. I believe, from reading those terms, and from my own experience, that having a lifetime subscription (on an active box) would be sufficient and the last line of the terms governs their qualification - mentioning that the only condition is that they must have dialed in within 180 days and mentioning no condition based on how you obtained the lifetime subscription.





aaronwt said:


> I can only go by what multiple CSRs have told me over the years. I certainly don't want to test it out. But I've owned close to thirty TiVos during the last ten years. Except when I was with DirecTV, I've always had a lifetime qualifier on my account when lifetime was available.


A bit of anecdotal evidence to add here. When I called Tivo a few months ago to ask a few questions I inquired about my account as well. I was told the lifetime S2 on my account previously qualified me for MSD but does not any longer as its been longer than 180 days since the service has seen the box. There was also a mention that a full price subscription only qualifies a certain number of Tivos (I forgot how many) for MSD and then a new full price subscription is required to obtain MSD on additional Tivos. The Tivo HDs on my account also do not qualify me, as they were purchased with lifetime MSD (this was from the CSR). However my new Pro does qualify me (I used the PLSR code on this one) for MSD on new Tivos. As Aaron suggested, I used the code again on my Plus since it otherwise didn't make sense to sabotage or back myself into a corner in the future should the Pro fail.

I posted about it a while back.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9803220#post9803220

The question here then is, if the Tivo with the full price lifetime sub was sold or went 6 months w/o connection, would a new Tivo qualify for MSD if all the other Tivos on the account were purchased with MSD lifetime subs? Based on what the CSR told me, that answer would be no, and the code would be required to receive the discount lifetime price.

Most are probably aware of CSR roulette and it's possible my CSR was incorrect and completely off base but she was spot on about everything else while reviewing my account.


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