# No other plans for existing Roamio OTA customers???



## Mr Tony (Dec 20, 2012)

I've got a Roamio OTA that is out of contract (bought it the day they became available) that is on monthly and a Series 3 with Lifetime

So I called to see if there were any other options. The lady was way over her head
-she first told me lifetime IS available for 199.00. But you need to have had the unit for 2 years before getting it????
-she then offered me 9.95 but "couldn't get the computer to put it in there and to call back"

Called back tonight and the guy checked and said there were NO other options for existing Roamio OTA customers...then tells me "Tivo did have a sale with lifetime" (no sh*t....I knew that but had no money at the time plus I was in contract)

When I asked why NEW subs could get lifetime but EXISTING couldn't he had no answer.

So I guess existing Roamio subs are screwed and only can have monthly?


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## MikeBear (May 21, 2015)

unclehonkey said:


> I've got a Roamio OTA that is out of contract (bought it the day they became available) that is on monthly and a Series 3 with Lifetime
> 
> So I called to see if there were any other options. The lady was way over her head
> -she first told me lifetime IS available for 199.00. But you need to have had the unit for 2 years before getting it????
> ...


So, why didn't you sell your $50 Roamio OTA unit, and buy one of the $300 lifetime Roamio's when they were available?

Tivo had blow-out sales from MAY until mid-December. Wasn't that time enough? How much longer did you really think they'd last?

You'd have been far better off not waiting.

You snooze, you lose.


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## Mr Tony (Dec 20, 2012)

MikeBear said:


> So, why didn't you sell your $50 Roamio OTA unit, and buy one of the $300 lifetime Roamio's when they were available?


because I was still in contract until October...and at the time didnt have $300 laying around



> Tivo had blow-out sales from MAY until mid-December. Wasn't that time enough? How much longer did you really think they'd last?


again I was in a contract and didn't have $300 laying around at the time



> You snooze, you lose.


I asked a simple question...hoping someone else with a Roamio OTA might have some info as to if they got other options offered and instead I get the belittling treatment.

Why should I drop $300 on a new unit and lose my recordings when Tivo could just offer Lifetime to current subs who fulfill their agreement. They already got $180 from me for year 1. Its asinine that the Roamio OTA is "the red headed stepchild" according to Tivo.

Screw it. Maybe I'll just cancel it and keep the Series 3. After all....that has lifetime


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

TiVo CSRs seem to be all over the place. Yeah, I'd call back and try again and see if you're offered anything. Let them know how long you've been a TiVo customer (including your Series 3) and that now that you're out of contract on the OTA that you'll cancel service if you don't get a better deal. Seems like I've read of someone in a similar situation who was offered $9.99 monthly service. Or demand $199 lifetime if that's what you want. All they can say is no. Good luck!


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Based on what I've been reading here it seems the recent changes to their service plans have tied the hands of CSRs. They can't be as free with the discounts as they once were. 

You should ask about a yearly plan. It's $150 for the year rather then $15/mo, so it'll save you $30/year.


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## MikeBear (May 21, 2015)

unclehonkey said:


> because I was still in contract until October...and at the time didnt have $300 laying around
> 
> again I was in a contract and didn't have $300 laying around at the time
> 
> ...


Wasn't trying to belittle you, if you meant my comments, many people dumped their $50 unit bought the $300. I bought in May, and have been reading comments and threads here since. From what I can gather NOBODY but NOBODY has been offered anything special on an OTA unit, with the exception of paying 1 full year in advance, and getting two months free.

Tivo will NOT under any circumstances allow the older OTA units to be converted to lifetime, even if you are willing to pay for it.

They are certainly "talk to the hand" jerks when you ask for things like that also.

When I bought my Roamio Basic, I paid the $399/w lifetime. Two weeks later, they dropped them to $299/w lifetime! I called and asked for a $100 refund. I got nothing but attitude, and "explained to" about how I got "such a great deal in the first place".


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## Photo_guy (Mar 12, 2015)

MikeBear said:


> Wasn't trying to belittle you, if you meant my comments, many people dumped their $50 unit bought the $300. I bought in May, and have been reading comments and threads here since. From what I can gather NOBODY but NOBODY has been offered anything special on an OTA unit, with the exception of paying 1 full year in advance, and getting two months free.


There are some deals offered, but not LT, so far.

I was recently offered a $10/mo option when I called to cancel my $50 OTA that was ending it's 1 year service contract. They also gave me 2 months credit which appeared as a credit card refund(surprised me - I expected an account credit).

I was in the same position as the OP (but apparently with a bit more disposable income available) so I purchased the $300 OTA with lifetime a few months ago - put the monthly plan unit aside but kept paying the fees since the cancellation charge was about the same as the remaining fees.

I would prefer getting a LT offer on this OTA unit, especially since I was screwed out of buying a new $300 OTA with LT in the great Amazon/Tivo debacle. I may put the unit in the closet and cancel but the $10/ month is not terrible. I likely will call and see what they will offer once again.


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## Mr Tony (Dec 20, 2012)

NashGuy said:


> TiVo CSRs seem to be all over the place. Yeah, I'd call back and try again and see if you're offered anything. Let them know how long you've been a TiVo customer (including your Series 3) and that now that you're out of contract on the OTA that you'll cancel service if you don't get a better deal.


Might try it again to see (the Series 3 has been activated since 09)



> Seems like I've read of someone in a similar situation who was offered $9.99 monthly service. Or demand $199 lifetime if that's what you want. All they can say is no. Good luck!


The 9.99 deal would be fine to me honestly. What is frustrating is they DID offer me that only to say "oh I cant add it" and call back later (only to be told no)


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## Mr Tony (Dec 20, 2012)

MikeBear said:


> From what I can gather NOBODY but NOBODY has been offered anything special on an OTA unit, with the exception of paying 1 full year in advance, and getting two months free.


you just contradicted yourself there 
If I could get the 1 year option or 9.99 I'd do it in a heartbeat.



> They are certainly "talk to the hand" jerks when you ask for things like that also.


The thing is I'm not calling them saying "Give me lifetime or I'll cancel". I politely explain that I have lifetime on the Series 3 and was "seeing if there were other options on the OTA besides 14.99 a month"


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## Mr Tony (Dec 20, 2012)

Photo_guy said:


> I was recently offered a $10/mo option when I called to cancel my $50 OTA that was ending it's 1 year service contract. They also gave me 2 months credit which appeared as a credit card refund(surprised me - I expected an account credit).


I might just try that and see what happens. Its not like I honestly need the OTA. The Series 3 would suit me just fine as it had previously (and ironically gets me 2 extra channels as they are still analog).



> I was in the same position as the OP (but apparently with a bit more disposable income available) so I purchased the $300 OTA with lifetime a few months ago - put the monthly plan unit aside but kept paying the fees since the cancellation charge was about the same as the remaining fees.


Don't get me wrong. If I had the $300 a couple months ago I would have snatched one up. But at the time money was extremely tight so I just used the existing one. I figured after the 1 yr contract they would offer me _something_ different than the stock option of 14.99


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## JBDragon (Jan 4, 2004)

unclehonkey said:


> I've got a Roamio OTA that is out of contract (bought it the day they became available) that is on monthly and a Series 3 with Lifetime
> 
> So I called to see if there were any other options. The lady was way over her head
> -she first told me lifetime IS available for 199.00. But you need to have had the unit for 2 years before getting it????
> ...


You were a existing customer. You were already a TIVO user. They didn't have to give you some special deal to buy the system. The deal was for NEW people to buy a TIVO. When I saw that $299 deal, I jumped on it!!!
Now Lifetime is $599. Which is just ridiculous!!! As a cable cutter, there's no way in hell I would pay that. Let long pay $15 a month. That's what Comcast and others charge to rent a Box from them and TIVO is charging the same for a Box you paid for? No thanks. But for $299 with Lifetime, far more reasonable and so I jumped.

When I got my first Tivo Back in 1999, Lifetime was $199 and I got it. $599 now for what is just a program guide? I was getting that for FREE when I was using Windows Media Center for a number of years.

I get where you're coming from, but this was a promotional deal to get NEW Tivo users, not current Tivo users!!! I rushed to get one. But the deal lasted far, far longer then I thought it would. Anyone who wanted one has more then enough time to buy one. Not having the money is a weak excuse. Maybe if you're that broke, Tivo should be a low, low priority for you. Maybe less TV would be a good thing and more working or going to school would be a better option. I'm just saying,...

You may want to look at other options. There's a Tablo Box and a SimpleTV Box. Service fee's are much lower, $4.95 a month, $49.99 a year or $149.99 for lifetime. Tablo has a 2 or 4 tuner Box and SimpleTV just as a 2 Tuner Box. There are other Costs like needing a External HDD to plug in for the DVR storage, and they don't plug directly into a TV, which I think is a good thing because you have greatly flexibility to put the box anywhere. So you need some way to watch on a TV. Like a ROKU or a Chromecast, and you control with a Smartphone or a tablet.

Channel Master has their Channel Master DVR+, you can find it on Amazon for example for $299. There's NO subscription fee's!!! I don't know how good any of these boxes are. So do some research. but TIVO is no longer the only option. Check out the features as they very and the requirements carefully!!! To me, TIVO is trying to price themselves out of the market. Maybe out of businesses if they keep this up. These were the things I were looking at before TIVO came out with the $299 deal and I jumped on that. of course a 3TB HDD upgrade and 2 Tivo Mini's and Tivo stream later, I'm good, but spent a bunch more money. But I have no monthly fee's. The Tivo hardware works with my harmony remotes. I think TIVO has been around longer and is more refined in their interfaces. So Pro's and Con's!!!

I see your point, but I see TIVO's also. It was to get NEW subscribers, not current subscribers. Might have been a smarter move to sell the Box for $5 and have someone else take over the monthly payment and gotten a new one for $299. Not you're out of luck. Maybe when the BOLT is getting to the point of being replaced, TIVO will have a great deal for one of those. It'll be a few years.


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## L David Matheny (Jan 29, 2011)

JBDragon said:


> You were a existing customer. You were already a TIVO user. They didn't have to give you some special deal to buy the system. The deal was for NEW people to buy a TIVO. When I saw that $299 deal, I jumped on it!!!
> Now Lifetime is $599. Which is just ridiculous!!! As a cable cutter, there's no way in hell I would pay that.
> <snip>
> I see your point, but I see TIVO's also. It was to get NEW subscribers, not current subscribers. Might have been a smarter move to sell the Box for $5 and have someone else take over the monthly payment and gotten a new one for $299. Not you're out of luck. Maybe when the BOLT is getting to the point of being replaced, TIVO will have a great deal for one of those. It'll be a few years.


New customers are great, but you don't want your old customers to say "never again" because they feel mistreated. Repeat business is great too.


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## Mr Tony (Dec 20, 2012)

JBDragon said:


> I get where you're coming from, but this was a promotional deal to get NEW Tivo users, not current Tivo users!!!


yet the Roamio basics they were doing $199 Lifetime to CURRENT SUBS until recently. I called during that time and was told "no"
So because my Roamio doesnt have a cable card slot active and is OTA I guess we're the red headed stepchild of Tivo then.



> I rushed to get one. But the deal lasted far, far longer then I thought it would. Anyone who wanted one has more then enough time to buy one. Not having the money is a weak excuse. Maybe if you're that broke, Tivo should be a low, low priority for you. Maybe less TV would be a good thing and more working or going to school would be a better option. I'm just saying,...


I always find it fascinating that people who have no clue who I am or my situation are sitting here trying to tell me what decisions I should make in my life. I guess it must be nice to have money flowing like water so you can afford $300 at one shot. Well got news for ya
NOT EVERYONE IS LIKE THAT!!

Little hard when you lose your job and live in a rural area where jobs arent "a plenty". At the time I could spring for $15 a month because I was in contract. Now that I am out of contract I figured Tivo would like to keep a customer.

Maybe I will just cancel the Roamio. I'm sure my old Series 3 that has lifetime will just work fine. 



> Channel Master has their Channel Master DVR+, you can find it on Amazon for example for $299. There's NO subscription fee's!!! I don't know how good any of these boxes are. So do some research. but TIVO is no longer the only option.


I have done my research...plenty of it
I had a DishPal DVR when they first came out....but that crapped out
Have had some of the single tuner units (Homeworx etc) but they are limited on options.
Tivo works the best for me
I have read the CM+ thread at AVS (and even participated in it) and for all the bugs in it the Tivo works the best for me.
About the only ones who have those are the suckers and the Tivo haters



> I see your point, but I see TIVO's also. It was to get NEW subscribers, not current subscribers. Might have been a smarter move to sell the Box for $5 and have someone else take over the monthly payment and gotten a new one for $299.


yeah because $295 is better than $300


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## Mr Tony (Dec 20, 2012)

L David Matheny said:


> New customers are great, but you don't want your old customers to say "never again" because they feel mistreated. Repeat business is great too.


exactly


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

L David Matheny said:


> New customers are great, but you don't want your old customers to say "never again" because they feel mistreated. Repeat business is great too.





unclehonkey said:


> exactly


If offered a limited time promotion and you turn it down, I don't get the whining about not being able to get the deal after it has expired. I always understand a limited time offer is just, I take it or leave it but would never complain about not getting it after it has expired and certainly wouldn't feel mistreated.

There were some great deals on TiVo Roamios and TiVo Roamio OTAs available this year but most are no longer available.


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## Mr Tony (Dec 20, 2012)

But the issue is Tivo is STILL offering the $199 Lifetime on all Roamios EXCEPT the OTA model apparently

So even though I am trying to get something during "the limited time promotion"...I still can't get it.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

unclehonkey said:


> But the issue is Tivo is STILL offering the $199 Lifetime on all Roamios EXCEPT the OTA model apparently
> 
> So even though I am trying to get something during "the limited time promotion"...I still can't get it.


As far as I know, it is only being offered now on the Roamio Pro, not the Roamio Plus, not the Roamio OTA and not the base Roamio.

There were great offers on the Roamio OTA and base Roamio, neither deal is available now, I sure don't see how it is TiVo's fault that you didn't act when the offer was available.


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## Mr Tony (Dec 20, 2012)

Boy I can tell some of you people have never been in customer service 

I asked a simple question.....if anybody had heard of another payment option for the OTA....and instead of helping...I get belittled and the "its not Tivo's fault" line and "you should have done this".....There was one person who gave some advice.

Funny how the one rep I spoke to offered me options...but then "couldn't get the computer to take it" and to call back...only to call back and be told "nope nothing".

Oh well......


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## Eddie501 (Jun 4, 2004)

Yes, I too find it ridiculous that Tivo could not offer another option besides trashing my current Roamio and buying the new $299 w/lifetime for a limited time. I didn't hop on this because I'm under contract till Feb 2016 & now it's gone. But I would have been all over being able to upgrade my current one for the same price & been a satisfied customer for many a year. 

As it is, I'm not feeling much value in $15/mo to record a small handful of channels. Plus the apps for Amazon and Hulu are old & buggy. And Onepass is a confusing mess. Still $300 would have been a good price point to keep me, but having to navigate 'deals' instead of simply having fair & consistent pricing has me seeking other options.


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## Time_Lord (Jun 4, 2012)

...and to think I have two OTA Roamio's sitting here that have never been activated or even plugged in. I did cannibalize the units for the remotes and the 500GB disks 

Now I have to figure if they are even worth putting up on eBay....


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Time_Lord said:


> ...and to think I have two OTA Roamio's sitting here that have never been activated or even plugged in. I did cannibalize the units for the remotes and the 500GB disks
> 
> Now I have to figure if they are even worth putting up on eBay....


I did what you did on my $25 OTA and got $20 + $14 to ship on E-Bay part # 231758073974


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