WARNING WARNING WARNING BigLots Deal May In Fact Not Be A Deal
MegaZone has posted a great post about the recent Big Lots deal that I thought was a great deal. According to TiVoPony (a TiVo employee), this deal isn’t eligible for the $150 rebate! Like MegaZone, I can’t figure out why this would be the case but I thought I would post this on the site so that you’re aware of the situation. I plan on looking into this more but, right now I need to get to work. In any case, you might want to hold off on activating your Big Lots TiVo until we figure this out……
October 5th, 2007 at 6:12 pm |
I chose not to buy one because when I went to the Tivo site and read the requirements for the rebate it said very clearly: “Valid only for new, TiVo Series2 Digital Video Recorders purchased from an authorized TiVo retailer”.
I figured there was no way Big Lots was an authorized TiVo retailer.
Always read the fine print.
October 5th, 2007 at 6:43 pm |
I did read the fine print. How do you know that Big Lots isn’t an authorized reseller? Is Best Buy or Circuit City an authorized reseller? The fine print is just too vague and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to recommend another TiVo deal if I have no way of knowing if it is going to be legitimate…
October 8th, 2007 at 3:29 am |
I bought the $69.99 Tivo from Big Lots! I don’t believe it is eligible for the $150 rebate. However, as compared to the TIVO website ($99) Ebay ($99+Ship or more) or any other retailer, it is still a deal. However, I couldn’t process my rebate. I emailed customer service to inquire.
October 8th, 2007 at 12:13 pm |
The Big Lots website has been updated. The graphic has a little red banner across it saying “Selling Fast!” and the description has a sentence at the end that states “Manufacturer’s rebate does not apply to this offer.”
http://www.biglots.com/Specials/item.aspx?cid=15&scid=49&iid=2521
October 8th, 2007 at 1:04 pm |
[...] Updated: Take a look at this post for more information… [...]
October 8th, 2007 at 2:15 pm |
I tried to submit my information via tivorebates.com, but received a no rewards available error. I contacted customer service via email and they told me to submit the rebate via snail mail. I opened the rebate form online and it says the rebate applies to TIVO service numbers starting with 264, 275, 565, 590, 595, 649.
My unit starts with 649. Therefore, I don’t see how TIVO can justify not giving customers the rebate, because the only that could possibly exclude the customer is this policy “Not valid for pre-owned, second party, demo, or display DVRs.”
Big Lots is a “second party” retailer, but since this information isn’t published by TIVO and it would be a very bad customer service practice to deny the rebate.
When I first got TIVO and found the rebate I was stoked, and only because I know the inner workings of Big Lots did I know that they were a second party retailer, but in the store there was no indication that it was ineligible for the rebate, nor does TIVO publish a list of authorized retailers and/or possible second party retailers.
Raise hell if they deny you. As consumers we can’t let corporations get away with bad business practices.
October 8th, 2007 at 6:12 pm |
Are people really this stupid to think that Tivo will honor a 150.00 rebate on a 69.00 Tivo unit. Its a great deal at 69.00
wopr21
October 9th, 2007 at 7:18 pm |
And now if you sign up at Big Lots website you can get a 20% off your entire purchase coupon for the next few days.
I decided to get the dual with or without the rebate… using the coupon my Tivo only cost $54 + tax.
October 10th, 2007 at 11:59 am |
Got one with the biglots coupon today, total bill 61.03$ with NY sales tax. Great deal, go get one!! has anyone found any deals on 1 year prepaid subscriptions?
October 19th, 2007 at 6:09 pm |
[...] also has a great deal on a 80 hr. Series 2 dual tuner TiVo. Unlike the last dual tuner deal that I blogged about this deal is legit. Essentially the deal will allow you to get a Series 2 TiVo plus $100 worth of [...]