BIG price drops for 55xx replays - Page 3  

That's what they said about the $22 200GB drives from Dell.

I'll take these odds anyday. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.
But there are gonna be a TON of angry new Replay buyers (a la fatwallet).

What are you trying to say? That two weeks from now CC is going to pony up $299 to all purchasers so that everyone can get their advertised "free service"? Or that DNNA is going to eat an extra $299 per unit (in addition to probably losing money on the $150 hardware) due to a retailer's mistake?

The big problem is that REPLAYTV customer service is telling people that the service IS included. No wonder FatWallet people are going crazy...

I'll bet it's the call center in India giving out the wrong info. Has anyone spoken with a customer serivce rep in the US? Where's Lyndon?

This is such a classic Replay f-up, it's almost like SonicBlue is back in charge.

So what's the official word on this $149 deal?? Does it include service or not? We just got a refurb. 5504 from ReplayTVOutlet for $350 (incl. service), and we're feeling ripped off.... but if the $149 deal has no service, then forget it :)

Which is why I jokingly posted if Sonic Blue owns ReplayTV again. This is so much like their old screw up's...... jeez :rolleyes:

I just read that someone called ReplayTV was told that the customer service managers are finally sending the emails around to their employees telling them that the service is NOT included.

This was too good a deal to pass up. I ordered one through Amazon and saved the page the states "3 years activation included".

Worse case scenario, return it if they give me a hassle.

I really don't expect this to go through, but every once in a while I get lucky with these 'deals'.

I was wondering how long it would take before someone made a "we're feeling ripped off" post. You bought what the price was when you bought it.
I bought an Refurbish 5040 with L/T for $320 4 or 5 months ago. Should I feel ripped off also ? Now if you are just joking........Never mind :p

I checked the CC web site, they say that service is $12.95/month or $299 for lifetime of unit. I also just came back from a CC store and the sign said that service was additional and the sticker on the top of the box saying 3 years service include had been pulled off.

ACtually this is incorrect. The DirecTV/Tivo combo pricing is different from the standalone Tivo pricing.

There are actually 3 different "pricing schemes" for Tivos now:

1) DirecTV: $4.99 a month per HOUSEHOLD. Free if you subscribe to the Premiere channel lineup. No additional charges for multile DirecTV/Tivo boxes, however additional boxes still require the standard $4.99 mirror fee that DirecTV charges for ALL additional receivers. No lifetime available anymore. Only works with DirecTV. YOu must subscribe to DirecTV locals in order to record local channels. Will not record cable, OTA, Dish. Has 2 tuners (can record 2 shows on different channels at the same time). Records 5.1 DD (If sent on the channel). Has optical audio output. Guide data is about 10 days (sent via the satellite from DirecTV).

2) Tivo branded boxes: YOu MUST Purchase a Tivo Plus membership. No Tivo basic offered. $12.95 a month or $299 lifetime. A seperate membership is required for EACH BOX. HMO Features (Remote scheduling, MP3, Photo, and File sharing) are available for $99 on the first Tivo in the house, $50 each additional Tivo. YOu must have Tivo Plus in order to purchase HMO. ALthough the Remote Scheduleing feature will be available free to Tivo Plus subscribers who are also AOL subscribers. No optical audio output. Single tuner. 14 days of guide data.

3) The DVD Tivos (Toshiba, Pioneer) also include a FREE (no monthly fee ever) Tivo Basic service. Tivo Basic drops many features: (Season Pass and wishlist, suggestions). You only get 3 days of guide data. These are all upgradeable to Tivo plus, with the same pricing as #2. Have progressive scan output. Optical audio output (Tivo recordings are always output as PCM). Single tuner.

The DirecTV product is really the best. It also has the best video quality, the most hours per GB (of best quality video), and 2 tuners! It can also be found for < $100!

Not that I am trying to sway anyone. I have 2 RTVs myself, along with my 4 tivos. However I think the RTVs are about to become X-mas gifts.

LOL :D

?? not on the Circuit City web page I am getting.
Still says free service included.

I own two TiVo's, but have always wanted to try a Replay, and at this price, I couldn't pass it up.
Hope it works out, if not I'll just return the unit to CC. No big deal.

Someone at Fatwallet posted that they picked one up at Circuit City and it had a sticker saying it included 3 years of service, though the signs in the store said that would be $299

I ordered 2 from Circuit City and will probably go pick them up tonight. I ordered one from Amazon, but it got cancelled. The email said my credit card didn't go through. Either I made a typo or they are just cancelling the orders.

People that have picked theirs up this morning/afternoon say it has a big green sticker on the box that says 3 yr service included.

Going pick mine up now.

Amazon changed the price to $454.99.

Who knows what'll happen next.

This is the link I'm looking at: http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.js...rk_3&oid=80075 and nowhere do I see free service mentioned. Down in the product specs section there's a line called SERVICE CHARGES and it says $19.95 per month or $299.99 lifetime of unit. Maybe you need to clear your browsers cache and you're showing an old page?

I took the chance too... I bought the last 5040 at the RadioShack here just in case. And yes, RadioShack's web page still says the same old thing about 3 year subscription included.

So, worse case scenario, I take it back I guess. I'm not going to open it for a few days to see how this pans out. (So it is resellable - wouldn't want to "injure" DNNA if possible. :) )

I'd been eyeing the thing for a while, so this sort of sealed the deal.

Oh, and a question I haven't seen answered here... What happens if you bought one of these for Christmas and didn't activate it until after Christmas? How can they tell when it was purchased?

Hi, I'm newly registered to the forum (although I've lurked for a while) and I have a question - how does ReplayTV monitor who should get the 3 free years or not? I mean, the webpage to activate wants a serial number. Since this change in policy (from including the service fee to not including it) is recent, isn't it possible that people who got "old stock" that was around from before the change will "slip through" and get the free activation? How would they prevent that? Just curious for people's thoughts ...

Also, is the serial number on the outside of the box or only on the inside on the unit itself?

Thanks for obliging a newbie.

Hmm, I show what you show, but that link is for the 80 hour model. The 40 hour is still showing free service.
Try this link

A couple of days ago, Circuit City was selling 5504's with 3yr activation included. Some of those same units are now sitting on their shelves and now selling for $150. Logistically speaking, how could ReplayTV have removed the included service activation from only the units that were not sold prior to a certain date. Is their communication with retailers good enough to know exactly which serial numbers were sold for what price?

I do not understand exactly how Replay activates units, so this may be a naive question.

That is exactly my question, thanks.

[edit: DOH! Just realized that everyone had the same question simultaneously...oh well, I'll leave this here anyway.]

I'm now trying to figure out why some of these (the folks who acted quickly) wouldn't go through and I can't think of any good reason. In terms of activation, how is DNNA going to know whether my unit was purchased yesterday at $400 or today at $150?

How did the activation work on these 5500's anyway? Was there a coupon included in the box that you plug into the "coupon code" box on the activation page? Or is it somehow driven by serial#? I don't see how it could be, but then again I'm not too smart :)

Was this one time screw-up a calculated move by DNNA? By "calculated" I mean was it decided that the losses caused by a brief pricing overlap on product already in the distribution chain would be the least expensive way to switch from the old pricing & activation model to the new one?

Ah, I see what you see. All I can say is the 5504's in the CC store had the green lable that said service included torn off (you could still see some of it) and the price card said that additional service fee was required. I guess I'll see what happens this afternoon when I get home and try to activate it.

I was thinking it was calculated until Amazon pulled the deal so quickly, now I'm not so sure. But it still seems possible to me that this wasn't a screw up and they just decided to take the loss on the old stock. They do get the benefit of a lot of new customers, I don't think it would be a good move for them to fight this .

I just came back from C.C. with two 5504's. Paid $149.00 each and both have 3 year service. Here's the deal. When C.C. runs out of old in store stock the service have will have to be paided for. There is a sticker on the box that states what service comes with the unit. So get then while there hot.

There's a serial number on the unit isn't there. Can anyone who picked one up try activating it before they get a chance to plug it in? I gotta wait til I get off work to pick mine up.

Old in store stock still comes with 3 year service. If it is in the store now it has that service only. They are not looking up store stock and changing the service. They wiil sell out the old before the new is put up for sale. My son works at C.C.. This is the best deal around folks. Get on the wagon.

PS. I took the last two in the Poughkeepsie, Ny store.