# Buy.com Premiere $70.99 TCD746320



## bud8man (Feb 13, 2004)

http://www.buy.com/prod/tivo-tcd746...ecard-400-hour-black/q/loc/111/215493017.html


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

Just a comment that Buy.com seems to have gotten somewhat sleazy with this German(?) company that bought them, whoever they are.

I just got my 2TB WD AV drive from them. When you check out you see that they indicate that if you insist on "FREE SHIPPING" they'll sit on your order for 15 days - which they may have always said and as with Amazon, probably isn't true.

My hard drive came a inner box that was *flopping around * inside a larger box that had one deflated piece of air padding in it. The tape had been peeled back and the box had obviously been opened. I guess the UPS guys wanted something more marketable.

I will try the drive today to see if it survived.

I'd choose Buy.com over some random Brooklyn seller but it looks to me like they're no longer up there with Amazon.


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## bud8man (Feb 13, 2004)

And the only service available for this unit appears to be $19.99 a month for a year.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

This would be an economical source of spare parts for someone who owns a premiere with lifetime service.


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

At this point, I'm gonna wait until they hit $50 for my parts Tivo! 

(and no, I don't think they will, but I didn't think they'd drop below $90 either...)


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

bud8man said:


> http://www.buy.com/prod/tivo-tcd746...ecard-400-hour-black/q/loc/111/215493017.html


Try to purchase the TiVo at that price, it come up to about $94 when i tried.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

bud8man said:


> And the only service available for this unit appears to be $19.99 a month for a year.


That might not be the case - Tivo's service terms clearly say that 3rd-party boxes bought for *$99.99 *are only eligible for monthly, and these are way cheaper than that. Plus buy.com makes no mention of the required service terms. The consumer has no way of knowing that this is the SRP vs. the actual purchase price, and it would be interesting to see if anyone presses the issue with Tivo with any success (I doubt it would work, but the price is in the policy). Tivo should have said '$99.99 or less' but they didn't think this through.

I agree with previous poster that buy.com is a shady company now, however.


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## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

bud8man said:


> And the only service available for this unit appears to be $19.99 a month for a year.


Unless you bought it and activated it how do you know that?

I recently bought a Premiere through Amazon (97.99 - $30.00 CC offer- $15.00 Amazon F/U credit, the Premiere ended up costing me $52.99 w/ discounts), MSD @ $99 prepaid for the year.


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## efisal (Dec 4, 2010)

slowbiscuit said:


> That might not be the case - Tivo's service terms clearly say that 3rd-party boxes bought for *$99.99 *are only eligible for monthly, and these are way cheaper than that. Plus buy.com makes no mention of the required service terms. The consumer has no way of knowing that this is the SRP vs. the actual purchase price, and it would be interesting to see if anyone presses the issue with Tivo with any success (I doubt it would work, but the price is in the policy). Tivo should have said '$99.99 or less' but they didn't think this through.
> 
> I agree with previous poster that buy.com is a shady company now, however.


Got my Tivo from buy.com and called in to day to activate it and i beet told by tivo rep that my monthly will be 19.99 with 1 year contract... and the best part is that after 1 year i STILL will pay 19.99/M...THAT is ...

( the was not information about it on buy.com.. they let you believe that you buy it and activated it with regular monthly fee of 12.99!!! )

so i complain and he offer me as one time offer to get the life time service for $399, and i got it on the spot.


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## ebf (Mar 21, 2005)

back up to $97 now.


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## reubanks (Feb 19, 2006)

It's at $71.30 after shipping right now. ($57.81 for the Premiere and $13.49 for shipping)

Randy


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

ebf said:


> back up to $97 now.


That where it is now!!


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## ebf (Mar 21, 2005)

reubanks said:


> It's at $71.30 after shipping right now. ($57.81 for the Premiere and $13.49 for shipping)
> 
> Randy


Where are you seeing that? Is buy.com doing like amazon and floating the price or changing it per visitor?


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## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

Saw them at Costco for 80 something yesterday. I don't remember what the something is but it's in the 80s.


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## bobs4911 (Mar 15, 2010)

I purchased Premiere XL from Best Buy for$299 and TIVO will not transfer service plan.
They said that it is a promotional price and would have to be activated on new plan for $19.99 per month. The only way to transfer my plan was buy direct from them.

Not a happy customer


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## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

bobs4911 said:


> I purchased Premiere XL from Best Buy for$299 and TIVO will not transfer service plan.
> They said that it is a promotional price and would have to be activated on new plan for $19.99 per month. The only way to transfer my plan was buy direct from them.
> 
> Not a happy customer


How does TiVo know what you paid for the Premiere? How does TiVo know you paid for it at all? It could have been a gift, you might have found it in the forrest. They only way TiVo would know what you paid for it is if you bought it from Tivo or you tell them. Its none of their business what you paid. Next they will be asking you what your mortgage is basing what they charge you on how much you make. B/S! If you are getting a CSR asking you what you paid for it or telling you to fax him or her your receipt hang up, wait a minute and call back or call during a different time of day. $19.99 might be the new tier for by the month subscribers new to tivo or those returning that do not have current tivo service but I'm doubting highly its the only tier they have.

Besides, if you have one TiVo why not just activtae the new one prepaid with a MSD, 1 Tivo is good, 2 TiVo's are better!

1:30pm on the east coast, Buy.com price $96.99


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

bobs4911 said:


> I purchased Premiere XL from Best Buy for$299 and TIVO will not transfer service plan.
> They said that it is a promotional price and would have to be activated on new plan for $19.99 per month. The only way to transfer my plan was buy direct from them.
> 
> Not a happy customer


When did you make this purchase, if it was in the last 30 days return it as the TiVos are now $99 + $20/month for one year.


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

lessd said:


> When did you make this purchase, if it was in the last 30 days return it as the TiVos are now $99 + $20/month for one year.


Not the XL.


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## NYHeel (Oct 7, 2003)

Joe01880 said:


> How does TiVo know what you paid for the Premiere? How does TiVo know you paid for it at all? It could have been a gift, you might have found it in the forrest. They only way TiVo would know what you paid for it is if you bought it from Tivo or you tell them. Its none of their business what you paid. Next they will be asking you what your mortgage is basing what they charge you on how much you make. B/S! If you are getting a CSR asking you what you paid for it or telling you to fax him or her your receipt hang up, wait a minute and call back or call during a different time of day. $19.99 might be the new tier for by the month subscribers new to tivo or those returning that do not have current tivo service but I'm doubting highly its the only tier they have.
> 
> Besides, if you have one TiVo why not just activtae the new one prepaid with a MSD, 1 Tivo is good, 2 TiVo's are better!
> 
> 1:30pm on the east coast, Buy.com price $96.99


As long as you're ok with lying and basically committing fraud. It's very clear on the websites (like amazon) what the "deal" is. You get a reduced price on the box and a higher than normal monthly price. What you're advocating is simply lying to Tivo. It is relevant what you paid for the box since they provided a subsidy to the price of the box. It has nothing to do with your mortgage or your salary. Again, you may be ok with lying and that's fine. But perhaps others aren't.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

I disagree, it's not clear at all on some of the websites. Amazon mentions 'monthly sub required' buried in the details with no cost shown. Buy.com mentions nothing at all.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

It appears some people are getting the discounted TiVo and not having to accept the terms as required, $19.99/month. I know every offer at <$100 is part of that promotion regardless of retailer and won't buy it because I think it is a terrible deal. I won't try to whine or complain after purchasing the deal to get TiVo to violate the terms and get a better deal for the simple reason, I understand the terms as offered. If Buy.com doesn't do a good job of making the terms clear, maybe somebody that doesn't understand the deal or is willing to lie can get a great deal with enough whining.

The change to this pricing model isn't going smoothly is how I would describe it so far. What a mess it appears to be based on all of the threads here.


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## sgip2000 (Jun 19, 2009)

The company that bought Buy.com is actually from Japan. I would concider this to be even worse that if it had been a German company.


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

slowbiscuit said:


> I disagree, it's not clear at all on some of the websites. Amazon mentions 'monthly sub required' buried in the details with no cost shown. Buy.com mentions nothing at all.


Amazon does have a 'product alert' on the top of the page relatively close to where the price information and it does clearly disclose the $19.99 monthly fee. Ideally, it'd be right next to the price information, but at least it's something.

I have some sympathy for people who purchase the unit not knowing the new terms (either due to an obscured notice on the website or no notice at all), but my sympathy runs out for those who are well aware of the new price by visiting this forum, and still advocate lying about it (Joe01880 is one example). It's a sad time we live in when someone's honesty can be so easily bought for $240.



Chris Gerhard said:


> The change to this pricing model isn't going smoothly is how I would describe it so far. What a mess it appears to be based on all of the threads here.


It was a terrible execution of a terrible idea, serving only to further muddle a confusing price structure and build customer dissatisfaction.

I wonder if some ulterior motive isn't behind it, such as a need to get the Premiere into more hands to satisfy some partner that Tivo is working with. For example, maybe the HULUs of the world want to see more market penetration of the new platform.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

smbaker said:


> Amazon does have a 'product alert' on the top of the page relatively close to where the price information and it does clearly disclose the $19.99 monthly fee. Ideally, it'd be right next to the price information, but at least it's something.
> 
> I have some sympathy for people who purchase the unit not knowing the new terms (either due to an obscured notice on the website or no notice at all), but my sympathy runs out for those who are well aware of the new price by visiting this forum, and still advocate lying about it (Joe01880 is one example). It's a sad time we live in when someone's honesty can be so easily bought for $240.
> 
> ...


I guess TiVos other option was a $200 rebate check after you activated the unit for $20/month. People hated the rebate idea when TiVo it had for the Series 2. I don't know how the retailers are being compensated for the TP stock they had on hand when TiVo changed the price. Retail markup is normally 50% from their price to the full list price, if that were so they would be paying about $67/ TiVo now and were paying about $200/TiVo before, so is TiVo giving back the $133 for every TiVo in stock before the price change ?? and could retailers be lying about how much they had on hand when the price changed ?, Places like Best Buy have a 30 day price protection so if you purchased the TiVo on say 10/17/2010 for $299 and activated it under the old TiVo pricing plan, than went to Best Buy on 11/15/2010 to get back your $200 under price protection, well very messy.

*It's a sad time we live in when someones honesty can be so easily bought for $240*

You make it sound like that lying for $2400 would be OK or is your price $24,000
TiVo had to know that this would happen, it too predictable, nobody would run a bank (without books and low overhead) with the customers telling the bank how much money thay had in the bank, you and I may not lie about what we had in the bank, but that bank would out of business *FAST*.


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## JPA2825 (May 15, 2000)

I assume from reading this and other threads you can no longer activate a new box by simply changing the TSN at www.TiVo.com to keep the same rate (currently $6.95/mo. on 2 HDs + 1 HD at lifetime).


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## smbaker (May 24, 2003)

lessd said:


> I guess TiVos other option was a $200 rebate check after you activated the unit for $20/month.


If I was doing it, I would have applied a credit to the account. Something along the lines of "Purchase a Tivo and receive 6 months free service, service continues at $19.95 afterward". That could have been done entirely within the accounting system at Tivo, applying the credit at activation time.

I agree with you on rebates, I find them rather uninspiring and generally avoid them.



lessd said:


> You make it sound like that lying for $2400 would be OK or is your price $24,000


My point wasn't that it's alright to lie about larger sums of money. It just seems that if one is willing to lie to defraud a company out of a mere $240 then they're really willing to lie about just about anything. It strikes me that people will openly advocate and admit to committing fraud. The openness implies that they find nothing wrong with committing the fraud (even bragging about it on the SD forums), which is a form of theft. There was a time when if people stole, they at least had the common sense not to openly brag about being a crook.

The special is what it is. If someone doesn't like the pricing then don't buy. There's no entitlement to receive a product at a given price. At least not yet.



JPA2825 said:


> I assume from reading this and other threads you can no longer activate a new box by simply changing the TSN at www.TiVo.com to keep the same rate (currently $6.95/mo. on 2 HDs + 1 HD at lifetime).


From what I understand, that option no longer exists on the website. You have to call in for it, and they'll tell you that you can only TSN transfer to a non-promotional-price Tivo.


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## daveak (Mar 23, 2009)

This is beginning to sound more like an 'Is This Stealing Thread' Sheeesh.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

smbaker said:


> Amazon does have a 'product alert' on the top of the page relatively close to where the price information and it does clearly disclose the $19.99 monthly fee. Ideally, it'd be right next to the price information, but at least it's something.


Heh yeah, I went back and looked again. Had to look hard, because it's in very small type (intentionally, I would presume) at the bottom of the pricing section. Easy to miss.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

They couldn't give the Premier away and have me pay $19.99 a month for service. Oh wait, tivo.com is already doing that with a 2 year committment. Still trying to figure out how they thought this would be a good idea.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

brettatk said:


> They couldn't give the Premier away and have me pay $19.99 a month for service. Oh wait, tivo.com is already doing that with a 2 year committment. Still trying to figure out how they thought this would be a good idea.


You may not like that plan but that just what the cable co.s do with their DVRs, and TiVo gives you the same full no cost replacement on your TP for those two years, just like the cable co.s does. It just a new strategy TiVo is trying. I don't know the cable DVR pricing as compared to the $20/month + cable card but in my Comcast area if i wanted the cable DVR its about $17/month + another $3/month for the TiVo interface to be loaded into the Comcast DVR. The last tech at my home about two weeks ago said that there is only one Comcast customer that's using the TiVo interface on the Comcast DVR in this area.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

I've never owned a cable/satellite DVR before, but I guess that's true about the monthly fees. I think that these days most people will just go with their cable/sat DVR rather than getting a Tivo. I really do hope they succeed though.


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## whm (Jul 30, 2010)

I saw the Premiere at Costco last weekend for $84, and Amazon is selling the Premiere for $96 and the XL for $297. I assumed that you could just buy these, activate, then select a yearly or lifetime plan. It would have been a better deal that what Tivo was offering on their site. I didn't look the service options available, I was just concerned that they were available at such deep discounts so soon after coming out... especially since I paid much more for my XL. It sounds like though with these units you have to go with a $20/month plan... that would explain the low price.. it's really just like a payment plan with a low down and payments over 2 years to make up for the cheap initial price.


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