Tivo: the pricing plan of horror

I know I'm a little late to the party when it comes to bashing Tivo for changing their pricing plans. I heard about the pricing plans change last year, but didn't really think much about it since I was the happy owner of a replayTV (which was a much better value than any Tivo's at the time). Now, though, the replayTV doesn't work with the Dish receiver I have, thanks to dish's sneaky screen saver coming on regularly, which can only be deactivated by a button on the dish receiver remote... (intentionally) making it very tricky for Replay to turn off the screensaver and start recording a scheduled show.

I started looking around at the Tivo site to see what the new pricing model was all about. I'm finding the new prices to be pretty confusing, at least initially... though after a little mathletics, they may be slightly lower. So some explanation may be in order for what's really going on here with the pricing.

The Good Old Days
Previously, you could buy an 80 hour Tivo unit for about $100 at Best Buy or wherever and pay $12.95 each month (billed monthly instead of pre-paid). $100 (after rebate) + (12 months x $12.95) = $255.40. That would've been the usual cost of having a Tivo for a year. You could also buy a Tivo (again $100 being the normal cost) and buy a lifetime subscription for $299.00.

Todays Pricing Structure
Here are the pricing choices:

• The price for a TiVo box and a one-year service commitment is $19.95 a month, or $224 prepaid.


• The price for a TiVo box and a two-year service commitment is $18.95 a month, or $369 prepaid.


• The price for a TiVo box and a three-year service commitment is $16.95 a month, or $469 prepaid.

After that 1, 2 or 3 year commitment (yuck) is up you'll be charged at your current rate until you call and tell them to switch you to a "service-only rate" $12.95/mo (which will require a year commitment from you).

With this pricing structure, you could get a Tivo 80 hour unit with service for a year for $224, which is obviously cheaper than the previous plan... especially considering the $100 purchase price above would have to include a $150 rebate (frequently available). However, there are no lifetime plans anymore, and you're not eligible for the low, commitment free price of $12.95/month.

Cancelling before the commitment period is up will cause you to pay the remaining money on your plan if you owe less than $200. If you owe more than $200, you'll just pay $200.

Conclusion

It's evident that Tivo has gone to commitment based business model at the expense of simplicity. It took me a few minutes of reading to figure out exactly what the pricing structure is, and I'd already heard about the changes. Although it does seem less expensive over a short period (a good thing), the loss of the lifetime subscription was a heavy loss.

Additionally, I hate being bound to a service... it's ridiculous that so many services now require commitments like these and I won't be buying a Tivo because of it. It's not even a service... it's a product, that they've tried to convince everyone is actually a service because of the guide information. Cell phones have that necessity aspect to them to where they can require commitments, but I don't need a Tivo... it's nice... but has become an inconvenience with its commitments and higher total cost. I'll take a replayTV or mythTV box.