TiVo’s managed to alienate quite a few of its most hard-core cathode-ray acolytes with their Series3 “special offer” debacle.

The special offer in question was ostensibly a great deal, a nice little reward for years of customer loyalty: customers with a lifetime subscription were offered the Series3 units earlier than they were released to retail. It was also stated that ordering one of the early units was the only way to transfer a lifetime subscription. Eagerly, TiVo customers waited for their box.

And waited. And waited. And watched retail stores start selling them, along with free transfers of that supposedly-exclusive lifetime subscription. Not only that, but those who purchased their TiVo’s at stores like Best Buy were often able to get discounts on the unit completely unavailable to TiVo’s loyalists.

Meanwhile, not a single CSR seems to know what’s going on, or is capable of telling TiVo Series3 customers when their boxes are going to ship. The TiVo community sees black helicopters in the air: dark murmurs of their pre-ordered boxes being stealthily flown through the moonless sky to reinforce supply at Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

Really, the only chance of getting good service from a company seems to be a new customer. Loyalty never pays.

TiVo Lying To VIP Customers About Series3 Orders [Gearlive]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.