… this call may be monitored
February 8th, 2008 | by Tony Steidler-Dennison |Debbie: [chomping gum] Thanks for calling TiVo. This is Debbie. Can I have the primary phone number on your account, please?
Tony: 555-555-5555.
Debbie: Is this Anthony?
Tony: Yes.
Debbie: How can I help you this evening Anthony? [more chomping]
Tony: I need to cancel my service, please.
Debbie: [5 second silence] Alright. [more silence] Will this be for both TiVos?
Tony: Yes, please.
Debbie: [silence] [more chomping] Can I ask why you’re cancelling?
Tony: Well, we just had DirecTV installed, with an HD DVD and a standard DVD. I did want to say that we’ve loved the service for almost four years. Really enjoyed having the TiVos, and the service has been great.
Debbie: [chomp, chomp] And you’re cancelling?
Tony: Yes. The DirecTV equipment is installed and working, so we won’t need the TiVos.
Debbie: Are they TiVo DirecTV DVRs?
Tony: [thinking Man, that chomping is annoying. It’s starting to bug me.] No. They’re provided by DirecTV.
Debbie: Okay. [chomp … chomp, chomp] [silence] I need to tell you that the pricing is going up. If you decide to come back to TiVo, we won’t be able to give you the $12.95 and $6.95 pricing.
Tony: [thinking Uh, oh … here it comes.] That’s fine. Thanks.
Debbie: Okay. I just have to tell you because we’ve had a lot of customers go to DirecTV and hate the DVRs. You just need to know that when you come back, the pricing won’t be the same.
Tony: [thinking Boom! There it is.] Debbie, I’ve had a great experience with TiVo for almost four years. I really don’t want to end it on a sour note. If we decide to come back to TiVo, we’ll pay the new pricing. That is what, by the way?
Debbie: [chomp] [silence] Well, the $6.95 is definitely going away. That’ll be $9.95.
Tony: And the price for the first DVR service?
Debbie: [silence] I’m not really sure, but it’ll be more than $12.99.
Tony: [thinking Hmm … can’t tell me the pricing?] That’s fine. If we come back, we’ll pay it.
Debbie: [chompchmompchompchomp] You’re sure.
Tony: [thinking This is starting to suck.] Yes. As I said, the DirecTV equipment is already installed. And, I don’t want to end a good relationship with TiVo with a bad feeling about the company. Can we move on?
Debbie: Sure. Let me see. You just paid the $6.95 - several days ago - and we took the $12.95 within the last 24 hours. We’ll cancel the service effective immediately, but we don’t offer any pro-rated refunds.
Tony: [thinking Alright, now this really sucks.] Seriously? Nothing at all? That’s ridiculous. I’m going to pay for another month of service, even though the cancellation is effective immediately? Pay for service I’m not getting?
Debbie: [chomp] [silence] Well, since we took the $6.95 more than 5 days ago, we can’t refund that. Since we took the $12.95 within the past 24 hours, we can refund that.
Tony: [thinking Why didn’t she just tell me that to begin with?] Yes, please do that.
Debbie: Okay. I need to put you on hold for three to five minutes to cancel. Can you hold?
Tony: [thinking Hold for three to five minutes to cancel? Really? Alright … ] Yes.
Debbie: [cho …] [hold music]
Nine minutes later.
Debbie: Okay. We’ve cancelled the service and started a refund to your account. That’ll take about fourteen days.
Tony: [thinking Fourteen days?! Jesus, it’s a lot harder to give the money back than to take it, huh?] Fourteen days? Really? [silence] Okay.
Debbie: Let me give you your cancellation numbers. 000000 and 111111. Thanks for calling TiVo. [chomp] [click]
So, the four-year relationship with TiVo ends on that note - utter complacency on the part of a customer service rep, an “our competition sucks” sales pitch, and a bad taste in my mouth, at the very end, about a service I’ve truly loved having.
What a shame.
