# Interesting Multi Service Discount (MSD) scenario



## justinmiller621 (Feb 19, 2010)

I looked around the forum but didn't see an answer to this. My situation is that I have an annual subscription on a TivoHD that is about to be up in July. However, the tivo website tells me I'm eligible for the MSD on a Tivo Premiere. 

Now, I only need one Tivo, and I guess that it's my current TivoHD that's making me eligible for the MSD. So, can I buy the Tivo Premier + the lifetime for the MSD price of $399, then cancel my TivoHD subscription? 

It sounds like if you decide to pay the monthly MSD rate that you'll bump up to the regular rate if you no longer qualify for the MSD, but does that apply if you got the lifetime at the MSD rate? Can they actually charge you the additional $100 if you no longer qualify for the MSD?

Would I still be able to get the MSD if I buy the Tivo from Amazon?

Thanks,
Justin


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Yes, you can do this. You may well get a $99 lifetime offer on your old unit as well (which more than makes up the difference if you sell it on ebay).

In that scenario, your new TiVo, however, will not qualify for any additional MSDs in the future. That is, to get MSD you need a full-price unit on your account.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

jrtroo said:


> Yes, you can do this. You may well get a $99 lifetime offer on your old unit as well (which more than makes up the difference if you sell it on ebay).
> 
> In that scenario, your new TiVo, however, will not qualify for any additional MSDs in the future. That is, to get MSD you need a full-price unit on your account.


Does a TiVo lifetime subscription purchased using the PLSR code qualify as a full-price unit for MSD?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

jrtroo said:


> Yes, you can do this. You may well get a $99 lifetime offer on your old unit as well (which more than makes up the difference if you sell it on ebay).
> 
> In that scenario, your new TiVo, however, will not qualify for any additional MSDs in the future. That is, to get MSD you need a full-price unit on your account.


That is supposedly the case, but I've had more than one CSR tell me that all my boxes I've owned over the last few years(Except for my $6.95 a month Premiere) can be qualifiers for MSD pricing. Even though I have never paid full price for service on any box.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

aaronwt said:


> That is supposedly the case, but I've had more than one CSR tell me that all my boxes I've owned over the last few years(Except for my $6.95 a month Premiere) can be qualifiers for MSD pricing. Even though I have never paid full price for service on any box.


Of course TiVo is going to treat you good. Multiple Tivos over the years, always unpgrading when new Tivos come out...

Are you chomping at the bit for the release of the Tivo Stream?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

justinmiller621 said:


> I looked around the forum but didn't see an answer to this. My situation is that I have an annual subscription on a TivoHD that is about to be up in July. However, the tivo website tells me I'm eligible for the MSD on a Tivo Premiere.
> 
> Now, I only need one Tivo, and I guess that it's my current TivoHD that's making me eligible for the MSD. So, can I buy the Tivo Premier + the lifetime for the MSD price of $399, then cancel my TivoHD subscription?
> 
> ...


Go read both $99 lifetime threads.

The thing to do is make noises like you're going to dump the HD when the contract is up to get them to offer you $99 lifetime.

You may have to call several times before you get someone who'll do the deal.

We call that Customer Service Roulette.

Once it's lifetimed, it's lifetimed, and since it's currently your only TiVo, it's not an MSD discount, so that's a full price sub for MSD purposes.

Then you should be able to get MSD lifetime on an S4.

You could even pick up a cheap used one.

Once it's lifetimed, it's lifetimed, however if you then take advantage of your HD's newly higher resale value and no longer own it, the lifetime on the Premiere will not count as a full price sub entitling you to MSD, monthly or lifetime, if you add another TiVo after that.

Of course you could pick up a cheap lifetimed S1 somewhere and let it call in every month or so, and that would serve as an MSD anchor.


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## cruiserandmax (Apr 7, 2008)

jrtroo said:


> your new TiVo, however, will not qualify for any additional MSDs in the future. That is, to get MSD you need a full-price unit on your account.


This is an interesting point. I was going to get a Premiere with MSD LTS based on my existing Seriers 2 LTS box, then get rid of the S2 box. But seeing as though that old S2 box is basically worthless at this point, maybe I should just hang onto it forever as "MSD insurance" for any future upgrades


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

cruiserandmax said:


> This is an interesting point. I was going to get a Premiere with MSD LTS based on my existing Seriers 2 LTS box, then get rid of the S2 box. But seeing as though that old S2 box is basically worthless at this point, maybe I should just hand onto it forever as "MSD insurance" for any future upgrades


That is what I am doing with my Series 2 (Humax) with lifetime. It is the only Tivo that I paid full price (at the time of purchase) for lifetime. I plug it in every few months let it download guide data for a few days then pull the plug again.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

cruiserandmax said:


> This is an interesting point. I was going to get a Premiere with MSD LTS based on my existing Seriers 2 LTS box, then get rid of the S2 box. But seeing as though that old S2 box is basically worthless at this point, maybe I should just hang onto it forever as "MSD insurance" for any future upgrades


It's not LTS, it's PLS (Product Lifetime Service), at least that's the "official" title, and if you have to talk to TiVo they might not know what LTS means.

What's the model number of that PLSed S2?


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## cruiserandmax (Apr 7, 2008)

[ duplicate post - please delete ]


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## cruiserandmax (Apr 7, 2008)

unitron said:


> It's not LTS, it's PLS (Product Lifetime Service), at least that's the "official" title, and if you have to talk to TiVo they might not know what LTS means.
> 
> What's the model number of that PLSed S2?


I don't know off hand- it was the Series2 80hr model directly from TiVo when they first introduced it.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

cruiserandmax said:


> I don't know off hand- it was the Series2 80hr model directly from TiVo when they first introduced it.


So, a single tuner model?


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## cruiserandmax (Apr 7, 2008)

unitron said:


> So, a single tuner model?


Yeah, actually I had my terminology all screwed up- it was an 80GB model (I forget how many hours it was advertised to hold with that).

This is it:
http://www.tivopedia.com/model-tivo-tcd240080.php


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

cruiserandmax said:


> Yeah, actually I had my terminology all screwed up- it was an 80GB model (I forget how many hours it was advertised to hold with that).
> 
> This is it:
> http://www.tivopedia.com/model-tivo-tcd240080.php


I'm pretty sure they called that an 80 hour model, they always specified hours and not GB.


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