ReplayTV Price Cut Prompts Confusion

Some customers who took advantage of a significant price drop for a ReplayTV Inc. digital video recorder, thinking it included three years of the required service, are furious because their service has been disconnected and they may have to pay to reactivate it.

“It’s almost like buying a car and having the car later stop working, saying you can’t drive it anymore unless you give us more money,” said Eric Maur, 26, of Kaneohe, Hawaii.

Representatives of ReplayTV could not be reached for comment but issued a statement responding to the complaints.

“ReplayTV acknowledges that there was miscommunication at several levels concerning the price reduction rollout on the 5500 Series DVRs,” the company said.

“However, ReplayTV did not intend to confuse any of our valued customers.... We are currently assessing the situation to find the best possible solution.”

Maur was among those whose eyes popped Dec. 17, when several retailers, including Amazon.com Inc. and Circuit City Stores Inc., began advertising a price of $149 for the DVR, saying it included three years of free service.

That’s also how it was labeled on the product itself, inside and outside, upon purchase, Maur said.

Before the price change, the 40-hour ReplayTV models cost $499 including the three years of service. DVRs are a digital alternative to VCRs.

The required service essentially pipes in the TV programming information that’s needed to make the recording features work.

Angry postings started to emerge on websites Dec. 22 after ReplayTV announced that the $149 price did not include the service subscription.

Instead, customers would have to pay $12.95 a month or a one-time payment of $299 for the service.

ReplayTV apologized for the confusion on its website the next day but told customers they should resolve the matter with their retailer or return the product.

But frustrations only mounted this week as new customers such as Maur found their service cut off, making their DVRs useless.