The WeaKnees blog recently alerted me to the fact that TiVo has a “CableCARD hotline”.  The hotline is available Monday-Sunday from 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM Pacific.  According to TiVo’s website, the hotline is answered by TiVo support representatives who have been trained on how to troubleshoot CableCARD issues.

We have set up a hotline to help you with CableCARD installation, troubleshooting, and with any communications with your cable provider. This hotline is answered by agents who are specially trained in troubleshooting CableCARD issues. If the information in this article does not solve your issue, please give them a call.

Needless to say, this sounds like a great resource if you’re having a problem with your TiVo HD or Series 3.  I recently had a M-card installed in my TiVo HD however, unlike my Series 3, it was actually a good experience.

Let me know if you call the hotline and how it works out for you…

Recently I went ahead and added my local Fox affiliate (33-1) to my Series 3 as a new OTA (over the air) channel. Right away, I noticed that my TiVo didn’t have guide data for Fox 33-1. Instead, my S3 would display “To be announced” whenever I accessed the guide data for this channel.

After doing some research I stumbled upon a form on TiVo.com where you can request a change to the guide data. Within two hours of submitting the form, I received an email from TiVo letting me know that the problem was being worked and that it should be resolved shortly. Once I got home from work, I noticed that my TiVo had received a new message. Sure enough, the message indicated that Fox 33-1 had been added as a new channel! Thanks to TiVo’s excellent customer service, I am now able to view the guide data for Fox 33-1 and ultimately schedule recordings on this channel.

I don’t know about you but, I’ve never seen customer service like this in my life… Great job 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?

On June 12th I blogged about how my Series 3 TiVo was making a lot of noise and how it had me worried. Well, after receiving several great comments, I decided to call TiVo in order to see if I could get a replacement. Getting a replacement S3 was surprisingly easy. The tech that I worked with agreed that there was probably an issue with my Series 3 and that it shouldn’t be making as much noise as it was. Within a couple of days I received a brand new Series 3 TiVo on my doorstep.

As soon as my Series 3 arrived I called Time Warner Cable (TWC) to see if I could get the CableCARDs that I was using with my broken TiVo paired up with my new S3. The customer service rep that I spoke with told me that since the cards were going to be installed in a new S3, they had to send out an installer. I tried to explain to the rep that all she needed from me was the CableCARD id from each of the CableCARDs as well as the host id from my TiVo. The rep seemed totally confused and she insisted that I needed to setup an appointment for an installer to come out to my house.

Needless to say, I wasn’t happy with having to have an installer sent out to my house. I’ve been extremely busy as of late and the last time I had TWC come out to my house it wasn’t a good experience. Because of this, I decided to call TiVo to see if there was something they could do for me. The TiVo rep that I talked to offered to three way call TWC to see if we could get the cards paired over the phone.

Even with the TiVo rep on the phone, I was unable to convince TWC that they didn’t need to send out an installer. Since I wasn’t able to get TWC to agree to simply take the required information, I decided to setup an appointment to have the cards “installed” in my replacement S3.

The appointment that I setup took place yesterday (6/27). The TWC installer showed up at my house around 11:15 to install two CableCARDs in my S3. The tech was extremely knowledgeable and he seemed a little irritated that TWC couldn’t simply take the necessary information over the phone. Along with installing both CableCARDs, the tech also provided me with some information about switched digital which has me a bit concerned (more about this in a future post).

In conclusion, I am extremely happy with the quality of TiVo’s customer service. Returning my broken Series 3 was extremely easy. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that TiVo was willing to three way call TWC to see if we could get the CableCARDs paired over the phone without having to send out an installer. As far as TWC is concerned, I am once again irritated by how difficult they make it to get two CableCARDs. Hopefully I never have to call Time Warner again :).

Have you had a similar experience with TWC or your cable company?

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Thanks for the TiVo rewards referral Alexander & Rafael! I really do appreciate it. As always, you can send me a referral by entering my email address (raianoat AT gmail DOT com) when you activate your TiVo.

Yet another person thinks that TiVo customer service is great…..

Long story short: I’m sticking with TiVo for a while. They’ve treated me right and I totally adore their product, so I’m pretty much a complete mouthpiece for their service.

I wrote about my experience with TiVo customer service back in December.