£3 TiVo charge
 

There is a thread on the Community Forum regarding the £3 monthly TiVo fee. Apparently it is due to change to £3 per box from the 1st November for any boxes ordered after that date. Current subscriptions will remain £3 per account.

Can anyone confirm if this is true? I did try and check out the VM Facebook page but couldn't find the relevant thread.

I thought this might be interesting if anyone was thinking of getting a box. If it is true of course!

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...er/td-p/791791

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Yes it is true

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Thanks for the quick response Ben :)

Is this true for VIP50 too? I have two 1TB TiVo boxes at the moment, if I added a third after this date would it apply?

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Wish they make up there mind on off on :-)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Based on what I've been told so far, yes it applies to everyone for all TiVo boxes added after 1st November

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Hmmm, that might tempt me to add a third TiVo box then. We did have a VHD in the kids room but removed it because it was rarely watched but with recording we'd b able to record all their favourite shows. Hmmm, time to get thinking!

Thanks Ben, as always.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Just ordered my 2nd Tivo before the extra charge kicks in and got it for £49.95 with no activation fee.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Did you have to negotiate or was that the flat rate?

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

The pricing is now per install not per the number of boxes you already have, so you always pay the lowest price available for the box you want

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

2nd TiVo ordered to replace my TV Drive. £49.95 for install, multi-room discount maintained.

Let the streaming begin! :erm::)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Yes l am looking forward to that.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Currently we have one TiVo, one Vhd and one v+. If I wanted to update the two non TiVo boxes to tivos am I right that I would only pay 1 49.95 fee and no extra £3 per box? All as part of a VIP 50 deal.

Seems like it might be a good time to upgrade if so before the per box charge comes in if I've got this right.

Thanks in advance for any clarification anyone can provide.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

If you wanted two 500GB TiVo boxes you would pay £0 activation for one box and £49.95 for the second box

You would also have to pay £49.95 installation

If you ordered before 1st November your monthly fee would not increase

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Thanks for the info - I'll have to see if I can convince my wife now! The fact that reminders are on the way to Tivo might help me win this one. I don't want to start of that argument again - I know some people regard them as pointless with Tivo, but I can guarantee that they will NEVER convionce my wife of that one!

Thanks again.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Just point out the wireless streaming then she can still watch her recorded programs elsewhere when you have a barney. :D

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I might be brave but I ain't suicidal!!:shocked:

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Although they are being considered they aren't in the next update so it may be a while before TiVo can do reminders

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

When you say they are being considered then thats quite obvious to me that they are unsure about adding them when in my mind its a no brainer.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I would think that after all the comments made about them everywhere Virgin will be seriously considering it

Personally though, it would be more a case of how well you can add them into a system that for 10 years hasn't been designed for the concept

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

How easy would it be to add them to the tivo system as looking at it it would seem quite easy to do but there again l am no expert like you and some others on this matter.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I'm no expert but there is a difference between the surface aspect i.e 'Press X to set a reminder' and build it into the logic of the system e.g. how do reminders interact with the recommendation system, suggestions etc

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I suspect a reminder would have to be treated as a recording, with the extra functionality of switching the channel you're viewing to that channel.

One thing is for sure, if adding reminders makes the tivo act like the V+ with 2 recordable tuners and one non recordable tuner, just to implement reminders, there will be some very angry people.

People moaned about non global padding and look how badly that got implemented, so I'm concerned about how they will implement reminders.

I don't understand why people are so hung up on redundant functionality that has been bettered.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Has it? If I'm waiting for the live football and watch another show in the meantime and forget to switch over I can no longer watch that game live (which is the only way sports should be watched). Reminders solve that problem as they have for me for years.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Ditto , I frequently get engrossed in the programme I'm watching and find a reminder an easy way to alert me to Live Sport.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

i was going to upgrade my v+box and multiroom boxes after xmas ! dont look like i will bother now !

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Could someone confirm for me please, is streaming actually up and running now, or is it part of the update which is being rolled out at the moment?

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

The latter.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Another request, I have been looking every where for details on this and have only seen a couple of comments, can some one give me the details or point me in the correct direction regarding streaming from a tivo box to another room.

I have not been bothered with multi room as I don't see the point considering if I want to watch any thing from bed it will likely be recorded and multi room don't help there.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

A video sender may be what you are looking for? use the search function on this forum for more info and start a new thread if you need more help as otherwise it will take this thread off topic ;)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I was asking more for clarification and directions to the quote made originally by Jameseh

It seems to be something that is common knowledge and hence not wanting to start a new thread if it was.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

You'll still need another TiVo (Multi-room) for streaming if that's what you mean?

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Well part of it firstly I wanted confirmation of what "wireless streaming" is I sort of think I can guess but my search fu is failing looking for specfics

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

It will end up been something like this?

http://www.cisco.com/assets/cdc_cont...ome/index.html

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

l agree 100%.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Do you know if multi room streaming is enabled with the update?.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I don't understand why there's a charge at all nevermind per box when you've already paid £99(?) to have it installed! Does it cost them anymore to provide a tivo service than V+ that would warrant £3pm, if anything?

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Would also like to know that.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Well this price change has forced my hand. Just ordered a 500Gb TIVO to replace the V+ in the bedroom, before the November 1st cut off date. Seems to be a lot of TIVO's flying off the shelf at the moment, the first available install was not until December 2nd! Gives plenty of time for the software update to be rolled out, and hopefully it will be all ready for multiroom streaming once it arrives!

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Considering there is a seperate 10Mbit connection to each TiVo box, possibly ;)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I am currently on the VIP50 package with the main box being a 1TB Tivo and the extra box is a V+ box, which I have in my bedroom but it one of the first V+ boxes and is very noisy and keeps me awake at night. I phoned up just now to see if I could swap the V+ box for a 500gb Tivo but was told that I couldn't do that on the VIP package, I have to keep the V+ box but can get a 3rd box which can be another Tivo box. Can someone from Virgin confirm this is the case? I'm sure I've read somewhere on here, that other people on this forum have VIP packages but have all Tivo Boxes and not V+ boxes, or have I imagined that?! Thank you.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I have exactly the same as you at present. I rang up this morning and was charged £49.95 to replace the V+ box with a 500Gb TIVO. I'd try again if you were you! If you ring up around 8.30 in the morning you usually get through to a UK call centre which can help ;)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

OK, great thanks. The person I spoke to was called "Alan" but he didn't sound like he was from a UK call centre! I'll try again tomorrow morning! :)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Yes I can confirm that Multi Room Streaming is in the V15.2 update. I had a short play with it but didn't get very far in the menues, since it correctly stated it couldn't detect a second TiVo!

--John

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Thats not why the £3 charge is there though is it, its because Virginmedia have to pay "TiVo" to keep the epg up to date and licence the software/brand.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I phoned up earlier this morning and spoke to someone in the UK Call centre. Was again told that on my package I couldn't swap my V+ for the 500gb Tivo, but could move the V+ to another room and have the 500gb Tivo put in my bedroom and only pay a £49.95 activation fee and no increase in my monthly premium! Don't know how that works as thought I would have to pay a £6.50 multi-room subscription to have a 3rd box, so i'm not complaining. :D

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

There is a current offer to add a Tivo and keep your V+ box moved to another room the offer waives the £6.50 multiroom cost and adds the £3 Tivo charge. Not sure how it works if you have multiroom already (you state 3rd box) but I expect you would just not have the second multiroom charge.

I was speaking to VM CS yesterday about getting my V+ moved and a tivo in its place then getting the V+ upgraded, from what she was saying it seems that I would be able to work it to get the 2 Tivo's and only pay the £49.50 for the second box and £49.50 installation charge and the £3 monthly Tivo charge.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Oh right. That explains it, thanks. I'm on VIP50 so already have two boxes (currently have 1TB Tivo and V+ box) that are included in the package so having a 3rd box which will be the 500gb Tivo and no multiroom cost, so only paying activation fee and no increase in monthly charge.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

i'm thinking of upgrading my current package, but not sure if Tivo (£49 activation/ installation and the £3 a month) is worth going up to, i cant justify getting it.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

From what I have seen right now regarding the Tivo box compared to V+ there is absolutely no comparison the favourite option alone (this is what I have been wishing tv was like since the advent of torrents), the only down side that I can see is it is limited to 1TB (or 500Mb) for a family of differing tastes may cause difficulties. Hmm user quotas? and differentiated favourites?

£3 a month is considerably less than V+ started off at and £50 for over 2 years of use (for me 3 years now on V+) can easily be justified.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

i might pop into the local shop and try it out and see what the fuss is all about lol. my wife is the one that will need convincing too, then again she is away this week...... :angel:

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

On the phone with someone at Virgin who is insisting I have to pay a second £3 charge for a second box. He says it's because I got the first one discounted and the system can't cope. Is this true? I said that it is the same system that coped, under similar circumstances, with the per account Premium HD charge changes.

---------- Post added at 11:56 ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 ----------

Now he says I can have it but i have to be tied into a further 12 months on all my services and I loose my initial Tivo for life discount I received when I got my initial 1tb box. How can making any changes result in a lossof a for life discount :mad:

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

It's been posted in here that the £3 per box is coming in Novmeber 1st. Not sure about the life time discounts. If you're not on with a UK call centre it may be worth calling back around 8.30am and you usually get through to UK.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Can you get through to UK call centres after 8pm at night ? because india are 4 hrs and 30mins ahead of us or 5 hrs and 30mins ahead of us when the clocks go back.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Not sure. I've always seen morning as the advice given on the forums. Tried it Sunday and got straight through to Scotland :D

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

If i tried at 8.30PM at night it is 1.00am in india so i surely must have good chance in getting through to a UK Call centre.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

The Indian centres stay open overnight as far as I know

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Bad news :td:

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Hmm just had several calls with virgin trying to replicate the price I was offered on Sunday (V+ upgrade to 1TB tivo and then replace the V+ with another 1TB Tivo and she would waive the 49.95 installation charge, with only £3pm tivo costs) and was expecting a call back about on Monday as I wanted to compare the price to a vip50 package and that office was not open. However no call back and I only just got the chance to call in tonight no record of the offer on the system and the chap I spoke to was unable to replicate the previous offer (+£49.95 for installation). So tried talking to customer retentions and while the were able to waive the installation she was unaware of the upgrade to tivo from V+ offer and also stated that the monthly fee was to be £3 per box.

Has any one else found them selves unable to order new Tivo's with the current (until 1st dec) £3 per account charge?

Sorry for the initial ramble (felt I should cover the whole situation) real question is the second para.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

The £3 per box for tivo is actually from 1st Nov
http://virgintivo.blogspot.com/2011/...or-virgin.html

and someone has ordered a 2nd Tivo recently
http://virgintivo.blogspot.com/2011/...-about-to.html

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I've ordered a second tivo to replace the V+ in the bedroom for £49 nothing else.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Darn yea meant nov not dec ie. next week was strange that the lady from retentions was extremely adamant that it would be £6 per month (£3 per box) even if i ordered it today. She eventually said that it was because my installation date would be after the 1st though (I think that was in response to me trying to get across the current £3 per acct fee not per box).

Was I unlucky or has the offer that CS / retentions see actually been changed allready?

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Based on everything I've seen as long as you order the box before 1st November it'll be per account

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Similar scenario to me. Although the lady in retentions did tell me that actually because I was getting rid of the V+ and adding a second Tivo, even with the extra £3 my bill will be £2.50 cheaper. I will believe it when I see it ;)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

It is a bit odd as the upgrade V+ page says "Monthly fee (per account)". I guess it hinges on what defines a Tivo account.
A bit late now to look at this will try again tomorrow evening.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I have recently inceased my services with Mates Rates which I understand is a discount on the Triple XL package (plus Int and mobile pack, which I didn't need but is apparently compulsory - unless someone knows that you could remove these without losing the Mates Rates discount?). The price is £38.01 including V+ and extra VHD. If you keep V+ (move to another room) and get a TiVo, does this add £3 and remove the multiroom charge (£6.50), or just add another £3 on top? If just adding another £3 on, could you keep all three boxes for the same price? I asked about just changing to 2xTivo before install but they said it woud be another £6 (£3 Tivo charge per box) which didn't sound right so didn't proceed.

I am asking here as people keep reporting adding Tivo brings the price of their multiroom down by £3.50 so thought you may know as it seems from above people are getting different answers to the same question (yes, I know I can get hold of the person who put you on Mates rates, who can contact the Mates Rates team who can call me back ... or I can ask here and hope for the best first!).

Many thanks

MrB

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Mates Rates is half price XL Plus not Triple XL http://shop.virginmedia.com/bundles/...s/xl-plus.html which is basically the VIP bundle without the Sky Premium channels

So the same TiVo rules apply. If you have an older XL Plus with 20 or 30Mbit, V+HD and V HD then swapping one of them to TiVo adds £3 a month on to your existing price. If you have 50 or 100Mbit the new bundle price will include the TiVo monthly fee

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Thank you Ben and apologies, only had this recently and I said Triple XL as it is XL TV/XL BB/XL Phone, not XXL BB plus the other two as XL indicated in XL Plus (though price is cheaper as well, so not complaining!)?

MrB

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Looks like the £3 per acct is actually based not on order date but on installation date, good luck to any one hoping to receive that offer as advertised.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Oh crud :(

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I've ordered my second Tivo to replace the V+ upstairs and install date is 10th Nov. We came to an agreement on the phone that it will be a £3 flat fee for both Tivos and a one off £49. If that changes I'll be well annoyed and if Virgin won't budge I'm off. An agreement is an agreement. The phone conversation has been recorded I'm sure.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Same here, I wouldn't think they'd be in their rights to charge more just because they cannot install the box quick enough! I'm sure Ben is correct and it can only be done on order date.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I ordered my 2nd Tivo (500gb to replace the v+) on the 21st october, install date the 5th november, told it would be £3 per account.

Rang up today to ask how much it would be to keep the v+ as a third box. The lady then told me i would be charged £3 per tivo box, even though i ordered before november. I told her i had my new contract come through with me being charged per account, yet she was still adamant I would be charged per box!

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

It is looking very confusing, Made my order last night tvo and move the V+ (free multiroom) then replace the v+ with tivo (both 1TB) it as going to be £3 per but the nice lady (indian CS) went away and came back a few mins later and said it would be £3 total, so it is still possible for them to do. However they could not honour the waiving of the installation fee that retentions told me they would record on my account (it was not there).
But I am happy enough with the £50 off the first tivo and £6.50 multi room savings as well as the £3 second charge saving that she did for me, over the 2+ years that I have been between my previous upgrades that seems to be a little enough cost.

Now holding out for multi rooms streaming, and deciding between homeplug, Wifi(N) or a cable winding through rooms and halls and stairs.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

So if I add 2 TiVo and remove the other two boxes (order before 1st November) it should be £3 for both Tivos - could I lose the multiroom element of the charge? Or keep V+ as 3rd box for no extra charge?

Are many existing customers managing to get the install/activation fees waived?

Many thanks

MrB

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Up to last week I had two Tivos and one V+. Last week the V+ decided to misbehave and I called up and arranged an engineer to visit. He pronounced the V+ to be dead and was about to replace it with another V+ when I casually asked if I could have another Tivo instead. He was able to give me a third Tivo (500GB) there and then for £49 which would go on my next bill. Up to now the charge for my existing two Tivos was £3 pm but having read this thread I decided to check my account and lo and behold another £3 charge had appeared. I called customer service where the young lady informed that the Tivo charge was £3 per box and not per account. I was quite firm and insisted that she was wrong and after arguing for 5 minutes or so she reluctantly agreed to check with a higher authority. She was away a long time but eventually came back and apologised for the mixup and confirmed that the charge for Tivo is £3 per Account and not per box!!!:)

No mention was made of any change from November 1st and needless to say I did not mention it!

So I now have three Tivos for one monthly charge of £3.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

You were correct to challenge that, the charge per box is only orders after Nov 1st.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Are UK call centres open on Sundays? If they're still doing per account I'd be more than happy to upgrade now.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Very limited UK support on a Sunday from late afternoon. 8am Monday morning is your best bet or try now ;)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

There is very little publicity about the change to £3 per box. The website still says £3 per account. See below!

http://shop.virginmedia.com/digital-...ox-prices.html

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

That's because it doesn't apply until the 1st November, so the website is completely correct

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Has anyone tried to upgrade their 'shifted' V+HD that they keep for free?

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

In a sense that is what I did after the "Free" V+ gave up the ghost and refused to work. The Engineer stopped it there and then for a TiVo.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

It's a shame that VM are more or less getting rid of one of their pluses against Sky, far cheaper multiroom costs. What used to be £6.50 per month will shortly be £9.50 per month for an extra TiVo. At that price its less than a pound or so cheaper than Sky, not quite as appealing is it???

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I'd say its to be expected really. I'm sure I used to pay £5 on top of £6.50 for 'V+ rental charge' on top of the £99 for the box. There is always VHD if you want to pay £6.50.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

If we are being really technical about things, at one point not too long ago an extra box used to cost £9.50 (before that it used to be £15). And if you had more than one V+HD box on M/M+ or L there would be the £5 per box as well

Then Virgin reduced it to £6.50 if you had an HD box activated (excluding any V+HD fee)

Even with an extra TiVo box costing £9.50 a month, it's still cheaper than Sky and you get a lot more for the money ;)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I don't think any potential new customers would give two hoots what the price was yesterday/last month/last year, they are only interested in what the price is now.

My point was that at only 75p per month cheaper than Sky it is not as attractive anymore when comparing costs with Sky which is a real shame.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Someone at VM have pushed the button early and it's now wanting to add the £3pm for extra TiVos. They do know that's wrong and are sorting it out by putting refunds on accounts.

SO if you want that extra TiVo to take advantage of and unannounced Multi-Room Streaming features that may come about nows the time!!

---------- Post added at 14:04 ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 ----------

Yes just done it, it's still free after the upgrade.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

For anyone that hasn't jumped ship yet and got tivo, I gather there may be a new offer coming around Christmas time. Not entirely sure on the details, but if you miss the free tivo upgrade this time round, it won't be too long until it returns and perhaps with a better offer.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I would love to get a TiVo box,but certainly not until sky sports red button is on and reminders (yes its a feature i well use),but when those are on there i wll take another look.:)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Same here, would be lost without NFL Red Zone.

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Same here, already have a TIVO box, but need to keep my V HD for these functions, and won't be replacing it if its going to cost me an extra £3 a month for the second box whereas people who currently have 2 TIVOs for just £3 a month

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Well, it is the 1st November now and the website still says £3 per account.:confused:

http://shop.virginmedia.com/digital-...ox-prices.html

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

It does, but then if you add anything to the ordering basket, the second box is charged £9.50 now (£6.50 multiroom, £3 Tivo) - that only showed as £6.50 yesterday.

MrB

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Well, isn't that slightly underhand? Surely the pricing structure should be made available and be crystal clear before you to get to the stage of actually ordering things, don't you think?

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I wonder if you ring now that could be used as leverage over them?

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Hi,

I did what it sounds like your trying to do (bear in mind I did this before the charge went from £3 per account to £3 per box.

Essentailly, I was entitled to the Mates Rates deal at £38.01 per month, stated as coming with V+HD and a second VHD Box.

When I got my call back I asked the lady if I could add Tivo to the order and was told, Yes I could for £3.

I then asked, If I add Tivo, can I choose to forgo the VHD box, so end up with V+HD & Tivo for £41 per month and she said Yes I could.

Then asked, can I be cheeky - if the Tivo charge is £3 per account, can I have 2 Tivo's instead of a Tivo and a V+HD and still only pay £41 per month - she said 'Yes you can' - so thats what I did, and thats what I've got :)

I never asked about adding 2 Tivos's and keeping the V+HD - I think would be pushing it a bit and I'd fully have expected to have been asked for an extra £6.50 to do that.

Does that help?

Cheers
Tony

Edit - the above doesn't mention my install costs - which I had to pay in full (ie £50 for each Tivo and a £40 Install fee)

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Seems business as usual for Virgin Media looking at threads on here and other discussion boards, which is a shame really - given Virgin have 100% control of their website then you would think that they could be consistent with their pricing messages (and explicit if it only applies to new customers).

MrB

---------- Post added at 23:14 ---------- Previous post was at 23:11 ----------

Thank you Tony - I know that I am on a reasonably good deal but always looking to get the best possible price when I am renegotiating my deal/setting my contract price for another 12/18 months ;).

Many thanks

MrB

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

That doesn't sound like a company treating customers, or more importantly potentially new customers fairly. When and if Virgin bank launches, I will be keeping my distance:D

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

Doesn't any more

Re: £3 TiVo charge
 

I got my Tivo installed today, it's a great box! When I spoke to retentions the other week about adding Tivo, the CS rep told me that there was no £3 charge for me, so I reluctantly accepted! I then asked how much per month it would be to move my V+ HD box upstairs...Free the CS rep responded. Okaaaay I said, so now I've got Tivo for free and a second V+HD box for err free? Is that usual?