Very surprised when I turned the TV on today and was greeted with a message from TiVO saying that they hoped I had enjoyed my "free" service, but that it was set to expire on 7/23/10. Say what? I purchased this Series 3 box not quite 2 years ago and it included a Lifetime service. Now granted, I got it on ebay, but there wasn't any trouble transferring the service at the time - and no indication that there would be any problems in the future. And yes, I paid a premium thinking that I would never have to pay for a subscription.

Called TiVO, the support rep put me on hold a few times & finally said what I have is an "evaluation" box and sure enough, although it came with "Lifetime" service, that service actually does end. Ummmm ... I would think "Lifetime" would only have one meaning? Nothing they can do, he says, on the date in question I will have to start a new subscription.

When I log on to my TiVO account, they still show that I have "Lifetime" service on this box (and it in fact says I *cannot* purchase a subscription as a consequence).

Can anyone give me a little help understanding exactly what is going on here? Did I get taken on eBay, or is it possible (as TiVO claims) that the seller didn't in fact have this information either? It says the subscription was activated only 3 months before I bought the box, if that helps at all. Any suggestions for how to proceed? Thanks all -