Be Careful If You Buy A Used TiVo
Dave Zatz recently sent me a link to a post on TiVoCommunity in which the author (lessd) talks about why you should be cautious about buying a used TiVo. According to lessd, a friend of his (I assume Les is a guys name) purchased a used TiVo at a yard sale only to find out that the TiVo could not be activated since the previous owner owed back service charges. A TiVo CSR is looking into getting the problem resolved but according to lessd, the rep doesn’t know if the situation can in fact be take care of. No matter how this situation turns out, you might want to consider this problem before you go ahead and buy a used TiVo.
Has anybody else encountered this problem?
July 20th, 2007 at 12:04 pm |
Confirmed - I just bought a used DirecTV Tivo unit over ebay. When I called for activation, the first thing they did after getting the serial number was to check for “back service charges.” I’ve bought other used units before and never heard of this, so perhaps this is something recent. I question whether this is really enforcable, since financial contracts are with people, not equipment - fortunately, the unit I have had a clean record.
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:19 pm |
I had the same thing happen though oddly it took DirecTV awhile. Bought a DirecTV Tivo off eBay, had it activated with my service, eventually had to move and cancel DirecTV (paid in full). Sent the unit to my dad, he tried to activate it, and they wouldn’t do it because of back charges from an owner one person behind me (so I was the third owner, my father the fourth).
I had the threaten them on the phone for a good hour before they just cried uncle and did what I told them.