# Not all TiVo Minis have lifetime?



## Saturn (Apr 10, 2001)

I haven't been paying attention to TiVo's recent offerings until I decided to jump back on with a Bolt. I'm looking to get a couple TiVo minis, and found that things are a bit of a mess:
1. There are two versions of the TiVo mini, which vary only in what remote they use - IR vs RF, though v2 also has an IR sensor so it can be used with a universal remote. And the V1 can be used with an RF remote but it needs a USB dongle. Otherwise there were a few minor changes to the board but nothing substantial. There are guesses that v2 may be faster but I can't find any confirmation of that.
2. Early versions of the v1 mini did not come with lifetime service. At some point a "promotion" ran that bumped the price from $100 to $150 but included lifetime service. That promotion apparently never ended.
3. All v2 minis sold to date have included lifetime service.

My questions loom around picking up a used Mini from Ebay, and I'm afraid I'll end up with an early Mini v1 that doesn't have lifetime. I found this thread indicating that ANY Mini can be added to an account and it will get lifetime from that point forward - only the original purchaser (at $99) may not do so.

Can someone set the record straight here? Anything I got wrong above?


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I don't see any mess?

Initially the mini had a fee, but that went away long ago. If you get a box without lifetime call tivo and have it moved. The seller probably never had it subscribed.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

Saturn said:


> I haven't been paying attention to TiVo's recent offerings until I decided to jump back on with a Bolt. I'm looking to get a couple TiVo minis, and found that things are a bit of a mess:
> 1. There are two versions of the TiVo mini, which vary only in what remote they use - IR vs RF, though v2 also has an IR sensor so it can be used with a universal remote. And the V1 can be used with an RF remote but it needs a USB dongle. Otherwise there were a few minor changes to the board but nothing substantial. There are guesses that v2 may be faster but I can't find any confirmation of that.
> 2. Early versions of the v1 mini did not come with lifetime service. At some point a "promotion" ran that bumped the price from $100 to $150 but included lifetime service. That promotion apparently never ended.
> 3. All v2 minis sold to date have included lifetime service.
> ...


If my memory serves, it's best not to call Tivo at all. Main thing is there cannot be any current/active subscription on the mini within the last 30? days. If that is the case, then the best thing to do is simply go online and activate it on your account. 
If you call Tivo and speak to them, I think they will want to charge you like $50 or so to activate it with lifetime. If you are not sure of the current subscription, I would keep it for a month or so, and then do the online activation.
But, the number of minis still paying a subscription fee should be getting very few and far between. Simply ask the seller if it lifetimed or when it was last using a paid subscription.


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## Saturn (Apr 10, 2001)

Why the 30 day waiting period? Is TiVo still accepting money for TiVo Mini subscriptions and they don't want that trickle of a gravy train to run out? Why do Minis need to be registered / subbed at all?


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

Saturn said:


> Why the 30 day waiting period? Is TiVo still accepting money for TiVo Mini subscriptions and they don't want that trickle of a gravy train to run out? Why do Minis need to be registered / subbed at all?


And why not just ask the gd seller??? Why not just buy one that specifically states "lifetime service" included????


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## hytekjosh (Dec 4, 2010)

I got my minis for $80 and change. Paid a few months for service, canceled, and boom got free lifetime.


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## i2k (Apr 3, 2008)

Even existing minis you can cancel and then re add them to the account a few weeks later and get the free lifetime subs


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## schatham (Mar 17, 2007)

I recently bought a V1 mini and it had lifetime. If you want the V2 buy the V2. Look for the model number in the add. If it's not listed, ask.


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## mt3gr1ty (Apr 27, 2006)

Has anyone recently cancelled their V1 mini and re-activated it for the lifetime? I was just on the phone with tivo support and they were pushing hard for me to pay $50 to make it lifetime. I told them no. Since I have 3 (with one of them not being used currently), I can afford to cancel one of them and try re-activating once the cancellation has taken affect to see if I can get the lifetime sub.

For what it is worth, they weren't interested in finding a resolution that I liked. The nice lady from India was insistent that I pay $50 to upgrade to lifetime. She said that when I try to register this again, it will show up as being on the monthly plan. If this turns out to be true, it will be incredibly lame, especially for someone who has been paying the monthly fee since 2014 (been a tivo customer since 2001). Not a good way to repay folks who helped keep Tivo afloat during their bad years!

Stephen


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Good question. Let us know the answer after you try it!


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## OpenSkyz (Dec 6, 2006)

So I just did this last week. I called and cancelled the $5.99 monthly on my Mini (that I have been paying on since January 2014 by the way), waited a couple days till it showed inactive on my account.

After it was "inactive" I used the "Activate a Tivo Link" web page, typed in the TSN, the page skipped all the steps on the page, never prompted for CC, never told me there would be any charge, it just went right to finished. 

Today I get an email saying I had an outstanding balance of $49.99 on my account and I needed to add a credit card to the device.

I contacted Tivo, they gave me the run around for over 30 minutes, in the end they would not take off the $49.99 charge, even though the site never told me it would charge it to me. The only options were, pay the $49.99 or cancel the lifetime on the mini and they would reverse the charge.

I tried escalating to Customer Care, and then a manager, telling them I had paid almost 4 years of $5.99 a month, and over two years of that was while they were not charging monthly fees on any new Mini's, they didn't care in the least bit, just kept saying it was a monthly device and it cost $49.99 to get to Lifetime on it.

In the end I cancelled the Mini lifetime, and also a premiere I don't use much.

I told them that was horrible customer service to rip off existing customers like that. I have been a Tivo subscriber since 2001, have had about 12 different boxes, in fact I just got two Bolt's last week. They didn't give a #%%! they just wanted their additional $49.99.

Now, not sure if it tried to add the $49.99 because it was only "inactive" a couple days or what. I may try again to use the web page after a month or so, and see if it tries to add the $49.99 again or not.

Maybe mt3gr1ty and I should swap Mini's so they would be activated on different accounts?


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

OpenSkyz said:


> So I just did this last week. I called and cancelled the $5.99 monthly on my Mini (that I have been paying on since January 2014 by the way), waited a couple days till it showed inactive on my account.
> 
> After it was "inactive" I used the "Activate a Tivo Link" web page, typed in the TSN, the page skipped all the steps on the page, never prompted for CC, never told me there would be any charge, it just went right to finished.
> 
> ...


I don't know if Tivo has caught on to this trick or you simply didn't wait long enough to "clear" your account after deactivating it. I recall similar posts where folks had trouble because of the way Tivo billed, i.e., monthly and if you cancelled service and then tried to reactivate before the billing cycle was complete which could be a full 30 days.
At this point, it is kind of impossible to tell exactly what is going on, but Tivo automatically billing you seems slimy to say the least until or unless someone else posts a similar result, after being sure that the billing cycle has certainly expired.


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## mt3gr1ty (Apr 27, 2006)

OpenSkyz said:


> So I just did this last week. I called and cancelled the $5.99 monthly on my Mini (that I have been paying on since January 2014 by the way), waited a couple days till it showed inactive on my account.
> 
> After it was "inactive" I used the "Activate a Tivo Link" web page, typed in the TSN, the page skipped all the steps on the page, never prompted for CC, never told me there would be any charge, it just went right to finished.
> 
> ...


You know what - we may have to do that! From what I'm reading on the other posts, people are waiting a month before activating. Let's touch base again at the end of December


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## videobruce (Nov 30, 2012)

Ok, it's past December.
It's still not clear if you buy a used Mini, does it matter if it had 'service' on it when there was still a 'service' requirement.
TiVo's FAQ's about transferring 'service' do not include Mini's. I also see a reference to a 30 day time limit as to transfer ownership. Is this something new also?



> Product Lifetime Service is valid only for the life of the TiVo DVR for which it was originally purchased and can be transferred to another DVR only in one of the following situations:
> 
> You activated the TiVo DVR with Product Lifetime Service less than 30 days ago.


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## hytekjosh (Dec 4, 2010)

videobruce said:


> Ok, it's past December.
> It's still not clear if you buy a used Mini, does it matter if it had 'service' on it when there was still a 'service' requirement.


Mine had service, I called to cancel, then re-activated with no problem. cost me nothing.


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## videobruce (Nov 30, 2012)

Then is is better to look for one that didn't have 'service' listed?
How many years ago did they drop the 'service' deal?


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## hytekjosh (Dec 4, 2010)

videobruce said:


> Then is is better to look for one that didn't have 'service' listed?
> How many years ago did they drop the 'service' deal?


I don't see what it matters unless they changed something recently.


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## videobruce (Nov 30, 2012)

I was basing my concern on reading the posts in this thread. It seems as they are "changing things" every time you turn around.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

videobruce said:


> How many years ago did they drop the 'service' deal?


At least four years. Any Mini activated will have lifetime.

The A93 Mini has RF remote ability.


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## robla64 (Mar 25, 2008)

I just activated an old version 1 that I bought on CL which I had in storage for over a year. They sent me an automated invoice, but I don't have credit card on file. Looks like it going to be fine.


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## rdrrepair (Nov 24, 2006)

robla64 said:


> I just activated an old version 1 that I bought on CL which I had in storage for over a year. They sent me an automated invoice, but I don't have credit card on file. Looks like it going to be fine.


 An invoice for what?


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## robla64 (Mar 25, 2008)

Sorry, It was an email activation summary for $49.99 plus tax
But I didn't actually pay anything.


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## robla64 (Mar 25, 2008)

robla64 said:


> Sorry, It was an email activation summary for $49.99 plus tax
> But I didn't actually pay anything.


Update:
It now says "There is an open balance on your account" 
and "We're still processing your activation. Try again in 24 hours."

Do you think I will have to Pay $50 for "all-in" on this used mini?


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## swechsler (Nov 15, 2007)

robla64 said:


> Update:
> It now says "There is an open balance on your account"
> and "We're still processing your activation. Try again in 24 hours."
> 
> Do you think I will have to Pay $50 for "all-in" on this used mini?


So what happened? Don't leave us hanging.


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## robla64 (Mar 25, 2008)

I did end up paying the $50. I had bought 2 used mini's a few years back and had to pay for both. I think the original owner was month to month on them,


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