The Further Adventures of Sergon in Tivoland

Well just when I thought my experience with tivo could not get any worse. I was wrong.

So anyway I pick up my unit yesterday at 4 pm and like any kid on christmas I was really excited. I got home tore open the box and got to work setting the thing up. The physical set up is very easy.

I fire it up and get to the set up screen. It tells me to go activate my software online. This is a little confusing since they send you a gift cetificatewith a number on it and it says enter this number in at tivo.com/activate. I thought it was a bit odd that the number was shorter than the boxes provided for it. Of course it doesnt work. I come back out to the room the box is in and figure out that ther service number is actually on the screen in the settings area.

I put the number in and began my transaction. ok so at the bottom of the form there is actually a place where my certifcate number goes in. Well the site tells me that the number is not valid. So Im a little pissed.

I call customer service and the guy tries to key the number as well. It does not work. I tell him that Im already fucking mad as hell and if he does not resolve this issue Im packing the fucker back up and sending it back. He puts me on hold for 10 minutes comes back and makes me dig through the box and get an order number. Puts me back on hold. Comes back and says they have to put me on a temporary password while they resolve the problem with the voucher. I have to call them back on tuesday. So I was like ok at least the service will work.

I was wrong there as well. Fast forward to 9 pm last night. The machine is still not working. The options for the cable providers in my areas for downloading the channels are not named right and Again im on hold working with the useless tivo reps.

Well at 1030 pm I finally got someone on the line that knew thier ass froma hole in the ground. Im up and running.

I go to thier website this morning and look the network cards that are approved for tivo use. I go to thier online store write the numbers down for one of the cards and head out to best buy. I pick the card up head home and start trying to get it hooked up. The lights oon the card were on but it was not connecting. I fiddled with it for an hour and then decided to test it on my laptop. Worked like charm. I get on thier website and a single sentence in the support section says if you have Version 2 of this card it would not work.

So I write the number of the second card and head back to best buy. I get that one and have to update my software on my tivo to make it work. Its been downloading for 45 minutes now. I should be able to use it some time this year.

The moral of this story. Dont fucking buy Tivo.

S