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Tivo and Tissue Paper

January 15, 2007

Kleenex logoHow many times have you called tissue paper, of any brand, Kleenex?  For me and most Americans Kleenex, the Kimberly-Clark brand, is a genericized trademark.  I had an experience with DirectTV that makes me think TIVO is headed for the same fate. 

Two weeks ago my original TIVO unit died and I called DirectTV to order a two-tuner DirectTV TIVO turner.  After twenty or thirty minutes I had successfully ordered the unit and waited patiently for the unit to arrive.  I talked to the installer and asked how long it would take to install the TIVO and he said it would only take ten minutes or so.  This evening I arrived at home to check out the new install only to learn it was a DirectTV branded DVR.  

TiVo's logo, a smiling television set.I called DirectTV and learned they no longer sold TIVO DVR units.  The customer service reprentative evidently knew this, but as the representative I talked to this evening explained, TIVO is used internally as a genericized term for DVR.  I am send the DVR back, I am just too attached to the TIVO interface to let it go.  I sure hope TIVO makes it, TV watching just wouldn’t be the same without it… 

Written by Alexander Muse · Filed Under Blog 

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  1. George Daye on January 17th, 2007 11:44 pm

    I couldn’t agree more! I had to part ways with my TiVO box in order to get HD at home and have used my DirecTV HD DVR for about 2 months now. Can’t stand it… Poor interfaces, bug-ridden, non-logical navigation, poor performance, it’s a nightmare. I tried to order a TiVO HD-DVR, but they don’t make one for DirecTV service, only cable. My blog talks all about customer service and I think I need to dedicate some space about this in more detail. Long live TiVO!

  2. TiVo Blog » Blog Archive » Has TiVo Become The Kleenex Of The DVR Market? on January 31st, 2007 9:43 pm

    [...] Earlier today I was browsing through my TiVo RSS feeds when I stumbled upon this post. In the post, the author talks about an experience he had with a DirecTV customer service rep. Essentially the rep told him that he was going to be shipped a new TiVo however, when the “TiVo” arrived it was actually a DirecTV DVR. According to another customer service reps, DirecTV actually uses the term “TiVo” as a generic term for a DVR. After twenty or thirty minutes I had successfully ordered the unit and waited patiently for the unit to arrive. I talked to the installer and asked how long it would take to install the TIVO and he said it would only take ten minutes or so. This evening I arrived at home to check out the new install only to learn it was a DirectTV branded DVR. [...]

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