TiVo Throws Cold Water on Hot Deal?
On Wednesday, I wrote about the Hot Deal I’d just picked up on a Series 2, Dual-Tuner TiVo at Big Lots. I had learned about it from the Unofficial TiVo Blog. Word was spreading like wildfire around the blogiverse about the opportunity to spend $69.99 on a TiVo unit, then cash in a rebate for $150 - making an $80.01 profit.
Today, an even faster fire is spreading - flames against the TiVo company. Seems that a paid staff member of TiVo’s marketing division posted to a discussion thread about this bargain at the TiVoCommunity Forums, with a simple one-line comment intended to squelch the enthusiasm: ” To be very clear…these boxes thru Big Lots do NOT qualify for rebates.”
No explanation. Nothing to say why these units, which appear to be an authorised retailer selling brand-new, mint-in-the-box units, might be refused the rebate.
Studying the fine-print on the rebate form reveals nothing that would suggest these purchases aren’t eligible. The only vague area is a stipulation that the TiVo’s must be purchased from an “authorised retailer”. But TiVo doesn’t offer anywhere a list of those authorised retailers, and Big Lots did nothing to suggest that they weren’t an authorised retailer.
It’s reported, too, that people who use TiVo’s online Rebate Center and enter a Service Number associated with a Big Lots purchased TiVo aren’t being turned away - their registration of the rebate goes through, with no hint of trouble.
Only time will tell if this one little statement from a Marketing guy at TiVo is true. The Big Lots deal is too new to see any rebates come back - your service must be activated for a full month before you qualify. So unless someone digs up some details soon, we may have to wait to see if TiVo will be turning down these rebates or not.
Meanwhile, the price of $69.99 for an 80-hr, Series 2, Dual-Tuner TiVo is still not a bad one, especially when you can walk out of a store with it that day and hook it up immediately. Last time I looked at TiVo’s online store, the best deal I found to get the same unit required $119.99 up front, including the first month’s service. Even after discounting for the one month service, though, that’s still over $100 for the same TiVo.
If TiVo denies this rebate for me, I’ll push back. But I have to confess, I still got a good price, and likely would have gone for the purchase even without the promise of a rebate.
Posted: October 5th, 2007 under Hot Deals.
Comments: 1
