Service Charges Irk ReplayTV Customers

Stamford Advocate ^ | 12/31/03 | May Wong (A.P.)

[Holly_P]

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- People who gleefully treated themselves or others to a shiny new ReplayTV digital video recorder this Christmas may not be as happy anymore.

DVRs are the latest alternative to VCRs, and an untold number of customers recently took advantage of ReplayTV's dramatic price drop to $149 for its lowest-end 40-hour model, thinking the deal included three years of service, which is needed for the devices to work.

Now, some are furious, after their service was disconnected and they were told they must pay additional fees to reactivate it.

"It's almost like buying a car and having the car later stop working, saying you can't drive it anymore unless you give us more money," said Eric Maur, 26, of Kaneohe, Hawaii.

Officials with Santa Clara, Calif.-based ReplayTV could not be reached for comment late Wednesday. But in a statement about the consumer complaints, the company said it is assessing the situation "to find the best possible solution."

DVRs, pioneered by TiVo and ReplayTV, allow users to automatically record television programming onto a hard disk instead of videotape. Users can also pause live TV, watch instant replays or skip commercials.

Maur was among those whose eyes popped on Dec. 17 when several retailers, including Amazon.com and Circuit City, began advertising the reduced price, saying it included three years of free service. That's how it was labeled on the product itself, inside and outside, Maur said.

Before the price change, the 40-hour ReplayTV models cost $499 including the three years of service. The required service handles the television programming information that's needed to make the recording features work.

Angry postings started to emerge on

[taxcontrol]

Blood in the water for Lawyers.

[jimtorr]

Here's the rest of the article:


Before the price change, the 40-hour ReplayTV models cost $499 including the three years of service. The required service handles the television programming information that's needed to make the recording features work.

Angry postings started to emerge on Web sites on Dec. 22 after ReplayTV announced that the new $149 price did not include the service subscription. Instead, customers would have to pay a $12.95 a month or a one-time payment of $299 for the service.

ReplayTV responded to the outrage the next day, posting on its Web site an apology for the confusion but told customers they should resolve the matter with their retailer, or return the product.

But frustrations only mounted this week as new customers like Maur found their ReplayTV service cut off, making their new DVRs useless.

[Ken522]

Crybabies!

[Holly_P]

I guess what you did was OK. Articles from the Stamford Advocate must be excerpted is why I didn't post the entire article.

[Usa Ghost]

I feel sorry for those customers. Ive been using replaytv since last year,and its literally changed the way me and my girlfriend watch tv. I hope they get reimbursed or something to calm their anger.

[freedom44]

What exactly is meant by '40-hour model'. So basically DVR's are just VCR's with the ability to pause TV, and record programming onto a Disc. One would have to pay separately for cable service, etc.?

[jimtorr]

I saw that price on Replay at a Costco here in Maryland last summer.

$150 plus $12.95 per month sounds like a good deal, but that monthly fee ends up costing $466 over a 36 month period. Not such a good deal. It's actually cheaper to pay the full price, in the long run.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Install this $47 (with shipping) PVR card into your PC, and in combination with a $32 PC graphics card with TV-out you have your own TIVO.

[hunter112]

Never, ever, ever, buy anything that needs monthly fees to the manufacturer/seller of the device, who is in a monopoly position with regard to selling you the service that the device needs to work properly. If we stop buying crap that there is no competitive service for, then maybe they'll stop making it.

You'd think that the satellite radio people would have learned something from all the computer gear that required a sole provider of services, and subsequently went belly up in the tech bust. Especially when there are viable alternatives. The Tivo and Replay people are nuts to try to compete with their monthly fee model, with technologies that are buy one, use it till it breaks.

[SamAdams76]

Got TIVO for my son for Christmas. Had I know it was so good, I'd have bought it for myself a long time ago! I don't watch much TV but I do like my NFL football.

So last Saturday, I recorded the Patriots/Bills game as I had things to do that afternoon. Later that night, I saw the entire game in less than two hours (skipping past the commercials and halftime show). After I was done, I zapped the program off the hard drive and that was that. I no longer have to schedule my weekends around football games ever again. I've got my Sunday afternoons back again! Next fall, I can get my yard work done and zip through the games at my own convenience (doing my own replays as I see fit).

The product is just amazing.

[jimtorr]

The Stamford Advocate is owned by the Post or Times? Who knew? The excerpt probably should be much shorter, in that case.

[Holly_P]

I can't find any info about how short an excerpt must be. Where did you find it?

Also I posted in the past and I have forgotten the source but I wasn't warned when I posted but the thread was later pulled because articles from that particular source must be excerpted.

Any information would be helpful.

[Ozone34]

I paid $500 earlier this year for my 2nd ReplayTV unit which included 3 years service. If the same unit can be had for $150, and an additional $300 buys unlimited service, that's a much better deal.

Even without the listing service, the units are not worthless, since you can still pause live tv. Whenever I watch sports, I hit pause as soon as a game starts, go do something for an hour, come back and watch the game, blasting my way through commercials, timeouts, etc. (This of course is not possible with TiVo!)

My original unit was a Panasonic showstopper with a 30 meg drive good for 30 h. They're no longer produced. When my hard drive began to malfunction, I was able to swap out a bigger drive using a hack utility from a ReplayTV website. Long Live ReplayTV!

[jimtorr]

One would have to pay separately for cable service, etc.?

DVR's record the video on a hard disk, rather than tape, like a VCR. They use some pretty hefty compression technology to get 40 hours ov video on a disk that really isn't that large.

The DVR will not work without input from the vendor.

[nhoward14]

Just remember to extend all football recordings by an hour in case the game goes into OT.

[nhoward14]

I did exactly that with my Showstopper. I swapped it to a 160GB drive so now I can either get 160 hours in highest compression or 33 hours in highest quality.

[lewislynn]

Did I miss something?...Did your Tivo do what a $60.00 VCR can't?...

I used to do exactly what you described, only on a VCR 20 yrs ago.

[freedom44]

If that's the case why do you have to pay monthly as if it's a service instead of a recording device?

[Hank Rearden]

I no longer have to schedule my weekends around football games ever again. I've got my Sunday afternoons back again! Next fall, I can get my yard work done and zip through the games at my own convenience (doing my own replays as I see fit).

You may have heard of VCRs, right? 50 bucks. Been available for a few years now.