Discussions

[ronnie5150]

im getting a new roku tv and im replacing my smaller tv with a bigger one! my question is in the reviews for the tv its saying to activate the roku service there is a 100+dollar fee is this true?? its a 40" hisense tv. this will be my 3rd roku tv and the other 2 i did not have this issue

[AvsGunnar]

That is a fraudulent website selling that TV.  Roku never charges for activation or support.

https://support.roku.com/article/235180868

I misread that OP was reading a review, not purchasing the TV from that site.  Still same though...There is never an activation fee with Roku.

[Strega · Accepted solution]

One of my favorite one-star reviews on Amazon consisted of: "UPS left it on my porch!  UPS had no right to come on to my property and should have left it at the curb!"

Many user reviews on legit websites have all kinds of inaccuracies, odd opinions, or are written by confused people.  Roku, doesn't charge to activate.  But some people do get scammed.  And it takes a lot of people a lot of time to understand that they got scammed and that the company they thought they were dealing with was really not involved at all.

[ronnie5150]

thank you for the reply!!! i kinda figure as such! i ordered the tv from amazon and i have never had a problem with any thing ive ordered from them!! "knock on wood" but i was reading the reviews and i could take 1 or maybe 3 people saying something but not care,but this time it was like 6 and counting saying the same **bleep** thing so i had to inquire about it!!! like i said this will be my 3rd tv that has roku and the other 2 were simple to activate,but i fell victim to the **bleep** saying there was a fee!!! again thank for the reply! i wonder why people even say such non sense??!!

[Iona-D]

Actually, the only surefire way of defeating scammers going after the newest users is STOP requiring registering a debit/credit card's 16 digit number at the initial registration sign up. 

If there is no numbers listed online, no scammers. And if It is not required at all, no one will ask for payment as the new user is not forced to  sign up in the first place.   

It is as simple as that.

[Strega]

Well, the option to register without a CC has existed for a long time:

https://my.roku.com/signup/nocc

However, I don't see how that applies to scams.  When you get a scam website, the scammer tells you you need to pay to register your Roku.  If you argue, he insists.  Or he comes up with some other "service" to charge you for. Some of the people who have called these numbers have let scammers run-amuck in their PCs removing non-existent viruses.

[demsd]

I don't understand why people are having this issue. If you already have a Roku account, all you need to do is use that login when setting up your new Roku, regardless of what it is.

[demsd]

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@Iona-D wrote:

Actually, the only surefire way of defeating scammers going after the newest users is STOP requiring registering a debit/credit card's 16 digit number at the initial registration sign up. 

If there is no numbers listed online, no scammers. And if It is not required at all, no one will ask for payment as the new user is not forced to  sign up in the first place.   

It is as simple as that.

---

I've never been asked to provide a card number when setting up any of my Roku's.

[Williamt100]

Like demsd mentioned, I've set up my 3 ROKU devices without ever needing to provide a credit card number.

[Iona-D]

Ah, so all of you did not experienced wonky behaviour by the apps and/or devices' hardware.  That's nice.  It is true you don't need to register a debit/credit card upfront.  But, you will most likely experience less than stable performance with your own devices listed on your account.

Roku, much like most other info gathering corporations absolutely hate blank spots.  For 'punishment of "digit denial," the offender's devices get wonkiness until the requested numbers are entered. 

So for years, I actually use a current "dummy" reloadable card with nothing ever loaded on it just for that irritating problem with online sign ups, especially supposedly "free" ones like Roku's.  

Remember the old often quoted adage  about "free" lunches, don't you?