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Office of Fair Trading eyes TiVo complaints

The NSW Office of Fair Trading may investigate claims against TiVo which offered a $199 upgrade it originally said would cost "tens of dollars."

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tivo2The PR game for new technology continues as TiVo users demand refunds after being charging $199 for a basic upgrade it promised would cost “tens of dollars”.

A key home networking feature that allows users to transfer content between their PC and TiVo, previusly disabled for Australians, was finally made available this month at a cost of $199, prompting an outcry among TiVo users. In the US, where TiVo is a subscription service, it was free with the hardware.

The NSW Office of Fair Trading said it was “interested in investigating” claims the move breached fair trading laws but said it would need TiVo users to file a complaint by calling 13 32 20 or visiting its website.

In response to the outcry, TiVo slashed the price of the upgrade pack to $99 for existing TiVo owners who fill out a short form on the TiVo website. But the price of the upgrade will return to $199 from April 1st.

Robbee Minicola, CEO of the Seven-owned Hybrid Television Services, told the Sydney Morning Herald it was “ridiculous” to compare the Australian pricing model to the US pricing model as the product is sold in Australia for $699 whereas the US version is sold on a subscription basis.

Source: smh.com.au

24 Responses

  1. channel 7 owns tivo channel seven programs consistently run over there scheduled time. Channel 7 know this. My laptop running windows 7 media player seems to be able to record shows using windows wmc”s EPG . Wish I never bought a tivo great machine but channel sevens erratic epg is the problem. channel 7 are idiots .

  2. I’m with Rocket’s post. I’ve had my TiVo for 3 months and it works perfectly. Set up correctly first time, can access the guide and create season passes from my iPhone. Forgot to tape part 2 to a doco and the TiVo picked it up and recorded it.

    I’m happy with the price I paid. $699 isn’t allot if you consider 2 HD recorders, internet enabled (it sits next to my ADSL modem so no need for me to get the wireless adaptor), automatic extended recording for all shows when they always go over, and the guide access, together with remote programming, and websites that tell you what hardware you can buy on the cheap to upgrade drive space without the need to pay the company. Then there’s the Blockbuster and Caspa service, there goes my need to go to the video shop, and they are $2 cheaper from the site compared to my local Civic.

    If it goes down within the warranty, back it goes to Harvey Norman for a replacement.

    The only thing I don’t like is the proprietary player when you transfer files from the box to the PC, and lack of inbuilt editing to cut the lead in and lead out from a show which you’ve been able to do for years on DVR’s, but you can download freeware to do that for you.

  3. dont know much about tivo or what it does but it sounds like the australian version of it and ceo is ripping australian public off… thats a no no here in australia….

  4. Come on for god sake, I suspect most people on here have never seen or used a TiVo. We have two, they work perfectly. There have even been occasions where we have thought ‘oh no, we forgot to set up…x y or z program” only to get home and find that one of our TiVo’s has remembered that we watched it before and has recorded it automatically as a TiVo suggestion.
    I also balked at the 199 price but was quite satisfied when TiVo sent me an email and said OK, existing users can have this for 99 dollars. I bought it straight away. And for all the so-called experts on here, yes, with the Network Package and TiVoToGo you can export and burn or do whatever you want – the only thing I’m aware of that you can’t export is the free downloaded movies each week as they are provided free of charge by TiVo through Blockbuster with restrictions. I mean a video library doesn’t say here’s a free rental DVD make sure you make a copy when you get home.
    I have looked at and tried the other PVRs and the only one that is worth the money is the Beyonwiz but it is nearly double the price and requires the LIDIC, at extra cost, to fully integrate it with Foxtel. In addition, I have had instances where TiVo has moved the guide when a program has run late so that it was fully recorded so I don’t see what all the fuss is about, a fully integrated system for about half the cost of the Beyonwiz and without a fee every month to access the guide. BTW Andrew B, 36 months x 20 bucks is 720 dollars. Remember you need to keep paying beyond the three years though. Every year you have the TiVo it incrementally gets cheaper.

  6. Does anyone know if Victorian TiVo owners have to lodge their complaint with the NSW Office of Fair Trading, or with the Victorian equivalent?

  7. grunta,
    You’d guess wrong. You can back up your TiVo content to DVD.
    VideoReDo accepts TiVo files, then saves in the format you want (vob, mpg) for DVD backup, without any encryption.

  9. @Craig yep you are sure right there another bonus of having a pvr DVD recorder of tivo is that it has the time on the front unlike tivo which has stupid littlie lights

  11. saw one of these in dick smith the other day, they’re bloody big and quite ugly.

    Not that that’s the important part.

    My general opinion is, TiVo just isn’t compatible with the Australian market. Especially with such a limited cable tv operation.

  14. Dan that is why I just got a LG DVD/HDD for $299 in Target, does 99% of what the Tivo does plus you can record what you want to save to DVDs and another neat trick you can PLAY DVDs without the need for a 2nd device.

  15. If the rip off price of tivo wasn’t bad enough now they are expecting people to fork out more I am so glad that I decided to buy my Panasonic HDD DVD recorder it leaves the tivo for dead and I cam record to DVD unlike tivo

  16. Ben, it’s a software upgrade. “Robbee Minicola, CEO of the Seven-owned Hybrid Television Services, told the Sydney Morning Herald it was “ridiculous” to compare the Australian pricing model to the US pricing model as the product is sold in Australia for $699 whereas the US version is sold on a subscription basis.” In the US you can purchase a lifetime subscription – which is what Australian TiVo purchasers (like myself) have done. The US customers purchase the software which allows TiVo users to do all the networking stuff.

    HTS (aka Seven) has sold Australians models that not only don’t allow the networking at all on the PVR (they have disabled it), you also need to purchase the software to allow the networking stuff. The enabling of the networking on the TiVo itself shouldn’t cost anything at all (it’s just updating the software on the TiVo). The software for the pc does cost money but not $199. It is around US$30.

    When announcing features to consumers, companies need to ensure they are giving correct information every time, so that they don’t get into this situation of Fair Trading coming down on them. I know, looking back 6 months or so, if I were to think of getting a TiVo again – based on this ridiculous $199 upgrade to get it to the standard that most US TiVo users have, I would definitely pass.

  19. Wonder if we will see this business ripping off customers on Today Tonight – Me thinks No, but I do think we will see it on ACA with lots of reference to Seven owned TIVO

  23. They’d have better success if they offered both subscription (pay as you go say) or upfront as a choice. $699 upfront is alot of money. $20 a month over 3 years sounds less.

    As for the upgrade, $199 is alot to pay, but it depends how you value the feature of being able to connect to your computer. I’m sure it would give you alot more flexibility, especially if you want to keep or back up recordings or play video from your computer onto you large TV.

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