# Lifetime Service Promo?



## magnumis (Jan 6, 2005)

Are there any current promotions to add lifetime service? I see listings on ebay for Tivo buying service to get a lifetime at a discount. 

Is Tivo offering discounts for current subscribers?


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

If you use the coupon code PLSR you can get $100 off lifetime.


----------



## magnumis (Jan 6, 2005)

Dan203 said:


> If you use the coupon code PLSR you can get $100 off lifetime.


Does this only work if you purchase the Tivo from another seller instead of Tivo.com? When I add a Tivo to cart on Tivo.com and try the promo code it says invalid. (I am signed into my Tivo account when I try it.)

Thanks


----------



## magnumis (Jan 6, 2005)

This is an example of one of the "promo" auctions on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SALE-TiVo-P...964?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338b0f0af4

Is Tivo offering promos for current subscribers?


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I think you might need to be a current TiVo owner to use PLSR. If you are then log into your account then try applying it.

That auction is for a coupon offered to employees of certain retailers (i.e. BestBuy, etc...) who complete a TiVo training "course" and then pass a test at the end. Some knowledgable employees are gathering them up from their co-workers, or using their co-workers names/credentials, and then selling them for $$$ on ebay.


----------



## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

magnumis said:


> Does this only work if you purchase the Tivo from another seller instead of Tivo.com? When I add a Tivo to cart on Tivo.com and try the promo code it says invalid. (I am signed into my Tivo account when I try it.)
> 
> Thanks


IIRC at this time, TiVo is only selling new Roamios with the service. I believe this is what invalidates the promo code.

If you buy a Roamio from a 3rd party, it will work.


----------



## Loach (Jan 11, 2013)

magnumis said:


> Does this only work if you purchase the Tivo from another seller instead of Tivo.com? When I add a Tivo to cart on Tivo.com and try the promo code it says invalid. (I am signed into my Tivo account when I try it.)
> 
> Thanks


Yes. The appropriate code field isn't there when you buy it from Tivo.com


----------



## Loach (Jan 11, 2013)

magnumis said:


> This is an example of one of the "promo" auctions on ebay:
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/SALE-TiVo-P...964?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338b0f0af4
> 
> Is Tivo offering promos for current subscribers?


No. Those codes come from a training program for Tivo resellers. See sellmoretivo.com. FWIW, I did win an auction for one of these codes from spherular and it worked great. All in I ended up doing a little better than the recent Advisory Panel offer for my Roamio Pro with lifetime.


----------



## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Dan203 said:


> I think you might need to be a current TiVo owner to use PLSR. If you are then log into your account then try applying it.
> 
> That auction is for a coupon offered to employees of certain retailers (i.e. BestBuy, etc...) who complete a TiVo training "course" and then pass a test at the end. Some knowledgable employees are gathering them up from their co-workers, or using their co-workers names/credentials, and then selling them for $$$ on ebay.


Not so as I just tested this: to test I open a new TiVo account with an TiVo that had no service on it, lifetime was $499, I put in the PLSR code and the price dropped to $399, so it works for* anybody!! *now.


----------



## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

They're two different things, lessd:

1. Code for 100 off lifetime (which you referenced), and
2. Auction for code that was given to some retail employees which enables reduced price on Roamios and Minis with service


----------



## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

lessd said:


> Not so as I just tested this: to test I open a new TiVo account with an TiVo that had no service on it, lifetime was $499, I put in the PLSR code and the price dropped to $399, so it works for* anybody!! *now.


So is $399 the cheapest price for lifetime on the Roamio? When I go to my Tivo account it shows $399 being the price for lifetime however that is without using the PLSR code, I haven't tried it but if I apply the code will it lower it to $299? Right now I have my Roamio on a grandfathered $6.95 monthly fee as I retired my Tivo HD which previously had the lower monthly fee.

In a related question, I have to opportunity to buy two series 2 Tivos that have lifetime for a decent price, if I buy them is there anyway to transfer their lifetime service to my existing Roamio cheaper than using the PLSR code? Do the older lifetime series 2 lifetime units have any value other than of course having lifetime service, towards upgrading service on newer models?


----------



## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

eboydog said:


> So is $399 the cheapest price for lifetime on the Roamio? When I go to my Tivo account it shows $399 being the price for lifetime however that is without using the PLSR code, I haven't tried it but if I apply the code will it lower it to $299? Right now I have my Roamio on a grandfathered $6.95 monthly fee as I retired my Tivo HD which previously had the lower monthly fee.
> 
> In a related question, I have to opportunity to buy two series 2 Tivos that have lifetime for a decent price, if I buy them is there anyway to transfer their lifetime service to my existing Roamio cheaper than using the PLSR code? Do the older lifetime series 2 lifetime units have any value other than of course having lifetime service, towards upgrading service on newer models?


The lowest on-line price at TiVo.com is $399 the code will not give you anything off from that price. The only way to get a lower price for Lifetime for some older TiVos is by calling TiVo and hoping.


----------



## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

Actually I think I answered my own question in a sense, I tried the PLSR code and it just added an addtional line for lifetime service for the same price of $399 so I guess I already have the preferred price in that sense. 

I guess too I'm getting caught up in the idea of having lifetime service for my Roamio since it's basically $85 a year right now and will take longer than 4 years before I see any savings if I buy lifetime for it. 

I'm not sure if I understand TiVo's long term price structure business plan, seems it should be cheaper to buy lifetime service and see real savings in a shorter time. How can I justify buying lifetime service unless they double the monthly service fees?


----------



## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

eboydog said:


> How can I justify buying lifetime service unless they double the monthly service fees?


Resale of your TiVo, as it sits, without Lifetime Service it really has very little resale value.

Lets say you have Lifetime service on it and a few years down the road TiVo comes out with the next best thing, you can sell your Lifetime TiVo to recover some of the cost of a new TiVo. Check out what some older TiVo's are selling for on eBay and how many without Lifetime service that are not selling at all.


----------



## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

Joe01880 said:


> Resale of your TiVo, as it sits, without Lifetime Service it really has very little resale value.
> 
> Lets say you have Lifetime service on it and a few years down the road TiVo comes out with the next best thing, you can sell your Lifetime TiVo to recover some of the cost of a new TiVo. Check out what some older TiVo's are selling for on eBay and how many without Lifetime service that are not selling at all.


True, hadn't really thought about that aspect.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The PLSR code is better the using the Multi-Service Discount. When you buy lifetime with MSD that unit can never be used to qualify another TiVo for MSD. So it can not be used as an MSD anchor even though it has lifetime. If you use the PLSR code that TiVo can be used as an anchor for future MSD discounts.

It may not seem important now, but it could be in the future so I'd recommend using PLSR if you can.

P.S. Amazon has slightly cheaper prices on units and you can still use the PLSR code if you buy lifetime for a box bought from a 3rd party.


----------



## kbmb (Jun 22, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> The PLSR code is better the using the Multi-Service Discount. When you buy lifetime with MSD that unit can never be used to qualify another TiVo for MSD. So it can not be used as an MSD anchor even though it has lifetime. If you use the PLSR code that TiVo can be used as an anchor for future MSD discounts.
> 
> It may not seem important now, but it could be in the future so I'd recommend using PLSR if you can.
> 
> P.S. Amazon has slightly cheaper prices on units and you can still use the PLSR code if you buy lifetime for a box bought from a 3rd party.


Agree 100%....that's what I did. Even though I was offered $399 for MSD, I still used the PLSR code to save the MSD discount.

I used the PLSR 4 times in the last few months (2 for me, 2 for my parents).

-Kevin


----------



## CinciDVR (May 24, 2014)

lessd said:


> Not so as I just tested this: to test I open a new TiVo account with an TiVo that had no service on it, lifetime was $499, I put in the PLSR code and the price dropped to $399, so it works for* anybody!! *now.


I just bought my very first Tivo (from BB) and registered it at tivo.com. During the registration, when it presented me with service options, I chose "lifetime" and the price was $499. After clicking "Have a promo code" and entering PLSR, the price was reduced to $399. So as lessd says, it definitely still works for new Tivo customers.


----------



## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

How does the "anchor" work for MSD?

I had a TiVo CSR yesterday try to tell me that my lifetime Premiere was my anchor for my MSD as if I sold it, I would lose my MSD yet they then stated that to qualify for MSD you had to have at least one TiVo on your account at full price which due to the fact that in my case I do as a year and half ago I took advantage of a "free" Premiere at a $19 a month fee. 

I fail to understand that if I sell my other Premiere that has lifetime service, how that will make me lose my MSD which will result in my monthly boxes going up to full regular monthly fee. The kicker is the premiere of mine that has lifetime was one I added on a monthly fee rate for less than one month and when I went to cancel it before 30 days were up, they offered me the $99 lifetime deal which my only use for the box is to sell it. (I bought it used with a few other Tivo's, added it to my account just to confirm the hard drive upgrade I did was good and had called to cancel it before the first 30 days were up)

Despite my signature I have a plevna of Tivos on my account, 1 Roamio Plus, 2 Roamio basics, 2 Premiere (one of which is lifetime) and 3 mini's. My oldest activated Tivo goes back to 2007 which was a HD which got converted into a Roamio basic which has a $7.95 monthly fee which while I hate to lose, they wouldn't/couldn't convert that to the Plus I just added. My goal is to sell all my premieres and my two Roamio basic's and buy lifetime on my new Plus (I bought a second used Roamio when I found that 4 tuners just wasn't hacking it only to find having two basics was a pain to manage!).

On a somewhat separate question, On one of my Roamio basic's which has the $7.95 plan, I plan to sell that. Will Tivo allow the new owner to assume that old rate plan as long as it's service doesn't end?


----------



## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

eboydog said:


> How does the "anchor" work for MSD?
> 
> I had a TiVo CSR yesterday try to tell me that my lifetime Premiere was my anchor for my MSD as if I sold it, I would lose my MSD yet they then stated that to qualify for MSD you had to have at least one TiVo on your account at full price which due to the fact that in my case I do as a year and half ago I took advantage of a "free" Premiere at a $19 a month fee.
> 
> ...


The monthly system (MSD) TiVo uses if different than the Lifetime system (MSD). The PLSR code does not work on the monthly as far as I know. I only have lifetime TiVos so I no expert on TiVo monthly service planes.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The anchor is a TiVo that you paid full price for service for. So even if you have a bunch of lifetime TiVos on your account if they were all purchased with MSD then none would qualify as an anchor. The PLSR code is a bit of a mystery. I'm not sure if it qualifies as an anchor or not.


----------

