Tara says she’s stumbled upon a gem of a deal for those who’ve subscribed to TiVo for three years or more: Get the normally $300 TiVo Premiere box for $162 with free shipping. She says you have to ask for the un-advertised promotion.

She writes:

Last month I called TiVo and asked them to cancel the service on the single-tuner TiVo, which I was no longer using. It seemed like a fairly simple request, and they refunded me in advance the monthly fee for it since I’d called too late in the billing cycle for them to stop the billing from hitting my credit card.

Today I noticed I was charged for this same TiVo box. I called to find out what was going on, and the representative told me the previous representative had noted my cancellation request but hadn’t processed it. I was fine with that and just wanted the situation rectified. The new representative and I started talking about why I was canceling that particular box, and I mentioned that down the line I would like to get a Premiere box, but I’ve been hesitant to purchase one because of the cost. I told him I’m unhappy with the Comcast HD DVR I’m currently using but got it as something to use until I was ready to buy the Premiere.

He then informed me that they are currently offering the Premiere boxes (normally $300) for $162 with the payments spread over the length of a two-year agreement so that in essence you pay the regular monthly service plus $6. They were also providing free shipping, so my out of pocket today for the Premiere box would have been $0. I had never seen this advertised, but he said they only offer it to folks who have subscribed to TiVo for more than 3 years. I ended up not taking the deal, simply because I’m going with satellite for the new house, and the Premiere box isn’t compatible with Dish or DirecTV. Otherwise, I would have taken the deal.

Tara’s math doesn’t quite check out because $6 a month for two years equals $144, but regardless it seems like a good deal. Has anyone taken TiVo up on this secret offer?

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