RIP Tivo

We have suffered a great tragedy in this house - the Tivo died a sudden death last night! I had quite a few things recorded on there that I haven't seen yet either - things like 3 0r 4 weeks worth of Brothers and Sisters (including the finale) and the Grey's Anatomy finale! UGH!!!! Fortunately I had managed to catch up on Lost and had seen that finale. Now I am going to have to watch all of them on the computer - stupid Tivo! I don't have a clue what happened to the thing, it just kicked off. I had watched Good Morning America yesterday morning while I drank my coffee and then turned the TV off as usual, and when I went to turn it back in the afternoon to watch the world news there was nothing! After Scott and I both tried to fix it and decided that there was no reviving it, Scott pulled the plug - literally! We bought the system (DirecTV) at Best Buy (almost 4 years ago) and have a service plan on it so I was just going to take it in today and leave it to be repaired. I should have known that it wasn't going to go well when the Geek Squad guy immediately called someone from the electronics department over to ask what to do about this particular unit. Apparently DirecTV and Tivo have gotten a divorce so the DVR like we had is no longer available - to be repaired or replaced. The guy said I have no problem replacing the thing with one of the new DVRs, but it just doesn't have Tivo. Fine, we didn't really use the Tivo features anyway, just recorded what we wanted. So the guy passes on to the girl at the return desk what the problem is and tells her just to ring it as a service plan replacement. So she goes to do this - now mind you we bought the system almost 4 years ago and their service plans have changed since then - not my problem, but it showed up in the register that I now owed almost $200 for a new DVR that only cost $99 if I were to buy it outright. When we went to get the Tivo we were already DirecTV customers under Scott's name - well apparently in order to use the Tivo with the dual tuner we needed a new dish as well. They just happened to be running a rebate for a free 3 room system for new customers when we were in there so I signed up in my name which made us new customers so we got the thing for free after the mail in rebates. So the way the computer saw it when the girl put it in was that I was returning an item I had gotten for free and was charging me for it. I told the girl I was not paying a penny much less $200 for this new DVR that only cost $99 - she agreed that I shouldn't be so she called the manager over. He looked at how it was rung up, said it was correct (never looking at me and speaking very low to her) and then walked off. The poor girl looks at me and tells me what he had said and that I owed $200. I again repeated that I would not be paying a penny since I did have a service plan on the item and it is their duty to honor the plan and either repair my current unit or replace it. I told her she could get the manager back over there to deal with me or to push whatever buttons he needed to push on the computer to make it an even exchange. I was not ugly to her - you know it's not her fault, I used to work retail so I am never ugly to the cashiers - but I was about to be with that manager. He obviously had absolutely no idea who was dealing with - I am the cheapest person on the face of the earth - okay actually my dad holds that title, but I do come by it honestly! She tried several things but couldn't figure out how to make it work so she had to get the manager back over there at which point he did actually speak to me to see what the problem was - I told him and he was obviously pissed, but he overrode the $200 it was trying to charge me and told me what he had done (like he had just done me some huge favor) but that there was still $21 I owed because when I bought the Tivo 4 years ago it was $80 and this new receiver is $99 so I owed the difference + tax. Again, WRONG! I once again stated that I would not be paying a penny for this. He could either figure out how to fix my unit or exchange it for what is now available at no cost, I paid for a service plan that is still current and they will take care of this. At this point I was really considering pinching Maisie so she would start screaming just to make sure he was in hell - I also considered releasing Hunter on him! I guess the guy FINALLY figured out that I was not going to pay for it and just overrode the entire charge and stormed off. I hope I gave him a raging case of heart burn that no amount of Tums will cure! I am not looking to screw anybody or get something that I am not entitled to - I am looking to get what I paid for and am therefor entitled to and will not back down until that happens. As I was putting my new DVR in the cart the man in line behind me said "good for you". I never raised my voice or jumped and and down or anything like that, but I was really considering reaching across the counter and slapping that manager - it sure would have felt good! Scott called not long after we left Best Buy and I told him I thought he was possibly going to have to come and bail me out of jail for assaulting the store manager - all he could do was laugh (because he could picture it happening)! But it is now all good - I have my new DVR so we can once again watch TV in the living room - if I can figure out how to hook the thing back up that is!