TiVo Problems and Controversies

Privacy and the "Green Screen of Death"

As with any piece of technology, popular or not, TiVo has its fair share of problems. Aside from the poor Canucks who can't receive the full-fledged service and warranty, there are a number of issues that irk TiVo owners. We'll lay out a few of them here; if you're new to the service, then you'll benefit from the heads-up.

The "Green Screen of Death" (or perhaps, "Intensive Care")

The "Green Screen of Death" is a bit misleading. Many TiVo experts instead call it the "Green Screen of Intensive Care," since it does not exclusively mean that the system is about to explode, sending shards of metal and plastic all over your living room. No, the green screen is generally an indicator that something is in need of repair with the service. That's not outlandish or incredibly rare, and most experts warn users to restrain themselves from launching their angry voices over the customer care lines.

On the green screen, you'll receive the following message:

A severe error has occurred.

Please leave the Receiver plugged in and connected

to the phone line for the next three hours while the

Receiver attempts to repair itself.

DO NOT UNPLUG OR RESTART THE RECEIVER.

If, after three hours, the Receiver does not restart

itself, call Customer Care.

There are a variety of reasons why a user might receive this message, but what's happening is that TiVo is actually working hard to repair itself. That means you can leave the operators alone for at least a few hours, despite your intentions of watching that local sports team's next match.

Privacy Controversies

TiVo engages in marketing practices. That shouldn't be much of a surprise, but unlike the typical cable or satellite provider, they try some research techniques that have left consumers a bit annoyed. You see, TiVo can collect detailed information on the average user's viewing habits, and will relay that data back to its HQ via the telephone line. The TiVo knows exactly what you've watched, including time and channel, and that research can be used to hit you hardest with marketing, such as TiVo's infamous pop-up advertisements. In addition, Nielson and TiVo have worked together to best exploit your viewing habits. Feel dirty yet?

Pop-Ups

Did you think your PC web browser was the only place where you'd be annoyed by "Click for free wallpaper" pop-ups? Think again. TiVo has explored the option of including mandatory and automatic pop-up advertising every time a user decides they'd like to fast-forward through commercials while watching live television. Many consumers believe this frustratingly defeats the purpose of TiVo, by removing the advantage you wanted when you subscribed to the service in the first place.

A more serious problem might be the buggy nature of the pop-ups while they progressed through beta testing. And that's essentially where pop-ups stand right now - undecided, still in testing.

Service Contracts and Rebates

Effective September, 2005, TiVo initiated a plan that would require one-year service contracts from each of its subscribers. That meant that any customer interested in cancelling the service would have to pay a hefty $200 fee, a plan that has not been well-received by many.

TiVo also receives some heat for its heavy use of mail-in rebates, which are attractive ways for the consumer to save money, but are often time-consuming. TiVo counts on users being attracted to the deal but not actually going through with the annoying mail-in process, since it can often take months for the rebate to reach the consumer. TiVo certainly isn't the only tech retailer to use mail-in rebates for this purpose, but nevertheless the practice won't win over many new customers.