upgraded to tivo-7 day cooling off option? help.

ekwk · 26-05-2011, 00:06

so i'm an idiot and would like some advise please. i've been with virgin for about 4/5 years and have tv, phone and broadband and was not under a current 12 month contract with them, was just a rolling one if you get what i mean (so i could cancel anytime if i wished). anyway i decided to go with tivo and had it installed today (wednesday) so entered i new 12 month contract, i would like some clarification before i ring them on going about cancelling under the 7 day cooling off period that i've been reading about.

1) am i entitled to it seeing as i've technically only upgraded i think and so not had a new service, have read conflicting things about this only being available if you are a new customer or have had a new service.

2) if i can cancel it and go back to v+ like i had then is my contract back to a rolling one or will then stick me on a 12 month one?

3) could i cancel everything if i wanted to?

basically the tivo's picture quality is dreadful for me, a significant step down from the v+ box and having done abit of research online i've found its a common problem and the fix (something to do with the upscaling iirc) isn't due for a few months. add the lack of red button which i've since found out is not being rolled out fully until early next year (unbelievably later than even normal v+ boxes) and general sluggishness of it all and i'm really disappointed even though i've only had it a short time. the poor picture is the kicker for me tbh, could kinda live with the rest.

muchas gracias to anyone who can help with my queries as i'm terrible at contract/customer rights stuff so any info i can arm myself with before i ring them is much appreciated.

26-05-2011, 08:38

Hi your not alone with this problem

,

I had TiVo installed 3 weeks ago and my initial reaction was the same as yours with PQ being my main gripe,

I do believe VM will fix it and they have been very positive about the problem

I decided to stick with it as the TiVo features are fantastic, my PQ as improved after, adjusting my TV settings

my engineer left my picture settings to stretch (full screen) on all programmes, I found this distorted the SD picture on programmes shot in 4.3 format

I changed this setting to Panel, (in Settings Video) this really improved my SD PQ, HD for me was alway good

You will make your own mind up but for me I would stick with it, because as you use the box more you will see its brilliance

The suggested recording have introduced me to TV I didn't know existed, I would not go back now, but did feel like you directly after my installation

Good Luck

26-05-2011, 08:47

I dont think you'll have any problem cancelling the whole lot since you weren't contracted prior to having Tivo fitted - they'll have to treat you like a new contract for a dis-satisfied customer

you might struggle to get anyone to deal with it - cant see customer service wanting to talk to you at all, and retentions will prolly just try to sell it to you

P.S. make sure you record name, date & time of the person that you eventually deal with just in case

ekwk · 26-05-2011, 10:14

thanks for the advise. have decided to cancel and reassess around xmas time when hopefully the little niggles and bugs have been sorted and it actually feels like i'm paying for a better product than v+ rather than an inferior one. atm it certainly feels like a product thats not quite ready and is relying on new customers to test it out so they can fix it further in the year. i'll maybe come back then.

ken- have tried different settings including the ones you've suggested to no luck unfortunately, both sd and hd are still poor. was reading your thread yesterday actually (well i think it was yours) about your misgivings about the picture and found it helpful. stuff like this i just wish worked well and i didn't need to mess about with

, i mean we all pay enough to not have these kind of problems.

cnewton2k · 26-05-2011, 10:31

i had my box for about 5 weeks and in that time had 2 replacements and an 3 engineer visits!

Call yesterday and cancel my entire TV package!

Box was locking up, PQ not very good, on Demand didnt work!

Guttted TBH as been looking forward to!

ekwk · 26-05-2011, 11:36

so just an update incase anyone is interested.

rang them and spoke to a cool guy who dealt with it very well (was expecting to get the run around from department to department never getting a clear answer tbh). told him i'd like to cancel under the 7 day cooling off period that i'm entitled to and he was fully upto speed with it and after i few questions of why i'm not satisfied and offering to send an engineer round and give me a free month he proceeded to cancel my account with the minimum of fuss which is great.

had to ask about the full refund of the installation fee and cost of the box and he wasn't sure so went and confirmed with his boss (i knew they had to refund me this) which was all good.

so now have full refund and an email confirming this along with the cancellation.

muppetman11 · 26-05-2011, 11:42

I thought this TIVO was meant to help control Churn at VM :-)

**Hugh** · 26-05-2011, 11:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11

I thought this TIVO was meant to help control Churn at VM :-)

One (or a few) cases do not make a trend....

muppetman11 · 26-05-2011, 11:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh

One (or a few) cases do not make a trend....

Agreed still not great though Hugh

**Hugh** · 26-05-2011, 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Agreed still not great PR though Hugh

One person (or a couple of people) in an Internet forum not great?

Methinks a sense of proportion may be required.....

muppetman11 · 26-05-2011, 11:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh

One person (or a couple of people) in an Internet forum not great?

Methinks a sense of proportion may be required.....

You may well be right Hugh , I guess only time will tell, to be fair the PQ Issue I suppose is a subjective one as I've seen many on here saying they think the PQ is as good if not better than V+.

26-05-2011, 12:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11

You may well be right Hugh , I guess only time will tell, to be fair the PQ Issue I suppose is a subjective one as I've seen many on here saying they think the PQ is as good if not better than V+.

And one person who complained about it said that to be fair it was still better than Sky sd picture quality. The main saving grace though is that it is apparently fixable and going out for beta testing soon.

LondonRoad · 26-05-2011, 12:38

I just got TiVo on Tuesday and can't say I've noticed much difference in picture quality from the V+.

muppetman11 · 26-05-2011, 12:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahardie

And one person who complained about it said that to be fair it was still better than Sky sd picture quality. The main saving grace though is that it is apparently fixable and going out for beta testing soon.

To be fair I've never had poor SD with both V+ or Sky+HD however V+ probably just shaded it , its no issue now as I don't have any SL that are in SD.

26-05-2011, 12:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by LondonRoad

I just got TiVo on Tuesday and can't say I've noticed much difference in picture quality from the V+.

That is the surprising thing, that although VM have admitted there is a problem, most people haven't noticed it. I think the sd pq looks fine. It must either vary with different tv's or people have different tolerance of the issue. Some people say the pq gets better after a few days which is IMO just that people get used to the difference between the picture on the new box.