No service or replacements for failed units in NZ

[waynekm]

I bought a Tivo in May and it went into the reboot thing last week. I bought it at Bond & Bond and they don't have any replacements or anywhere to send it for repair. Whats going on? Telecom tell me they stopped selling them a week ago and as I bought somewhere else its not their problem. I can get the store credit, but really i want a Tivo. The option I have been given is to put the money towards a freeview PVR which is double the price.
Is this because of the rollout of a new model?
I see them on Trademe, but would be reluctant to buy one without a warrantee, especially after the problem I have had

Wayne

[Islander]

Unless anyone can confirm otherwise I suspect it means that TiVo is on the way out in NZ.
TVNZ is in bed with Sky via Igloo and as you have found out Telecom is not selling them either. You could try Darren King, in Australia, to see if he can repair your faulty one however after shipping costs the cheapest option is probably to purchase one off TradeMe. I have heard of a new model but I don't think it will be seen here (or Australia).
Again if anyone can prove me wrong .......

[Darren King]

Sad to see that service is bad both sides of the ditch. Rebooting is usually hard disk related and can be fixed rather easily your end if you want to give it a shot. Probably only a software glitch and not a hard disk failure unless you are extremely unlucky given the age of the unit. Anyway give me a shout if you want the instructions.

As for a new model in Aus/NZ? I highly doubt it. TiVo has been an abject failure on the whole not selling anywhere near enough units to even consider them sinking more money into developing the software/hardware to make a new model work over here. Very poor after sales support has not helped either.

[Skolink]

Hi Wayne,
That is the exact situation my parents were in - purchased in May from B&B ($199 special). Then it started rebooting and after a few times went to GSoD. My sister took it back to B&B and after a week or so got a replacement, about a week ago. They did say that it was the 'last one in the country'.
If you are in Christchurch (or willing to pay shipping) I can replace the drive for you, it's quite easy. I can even test if that is the issue before I put a new drive in.
Perhaps B&B would give you a partial refund to cover the cost of the 'repairs'.
Cheers,
John

[CheshireCat]

I am constantly amazed at how Tivos abysmal marketing policy manages to sink an incredible product. They failed in the UK by letting Sky (who have the competing product) control their sales, and seem to be failing in NZ/Au due to similar foolish decisions. Why let Sky control your sales? Why give exclusive sales rights to Telecom, who are not normally associated with this sort of thing? Why do so little advertising... Why have such poor after-sales support?
Sigh.
At least I managed to get 3 of them before they became unavailable, and can likely pick up (and fix) some old ones on trademe
I wonder how long it will be before the guide data disappears and they become doorstops, and we're forced to pay Sky a couple of hundred dollars a month for less functionality ...?

[waynekm]

Well, I contacted Hybrid via the TiVo support page and I have had success. I recieved a call today from Noel Leeming Group and they are sending me a new machine in the next 7 days, at no cost to me. Aparently they are getting new stock in as they have been sold out. So TiVo is not dead in NZ. I think from the support I received that there may be a new push on sales and service here in NZ anyway:)