XM Rant!!!!!!!

[rush2112]

Just got off the phone dealing with XM Satellite. I have the Zumo 550 on the Connie and quite enjoy it with the XM antennae (or used too...). Seems that the "what I thought" was a three year plan I purchased after buying the Connie turned out to be a two year plan.

Got a call from XM saying that my subscription had ended and that they already billed me for an additional 2 years at a cost of $440!!!!! I told him that was ridiculous and said that I would cancel if there wasn't a better priced plan. He told me that I had already been billed for this and he needed a credit card number. I said this wasn't happening and for him to cancel it now! He told me that he would still need the card number so he could make my account $0 balance, then he would work on canceling it!

The call got quite nasty, and he finally transferred me to customer support. After 30 minutes wait, a support guy came on and said he would fix it and cancel it for me. He said the collection division of XM really makes their jobs harder and they lose many customers because of it.

So now I have decorative XM antennae on the "faster-color for 09" Candy Red Connie!!!!! At least the antennae cover has sparkles on it!!!!!! 

Any one else using XM? What kind of price do you pay?

Sad thing is, I have two other Sirius radios and even though XM and Sirius are the same company, they are separate when it comes to service. So no multi-radio discounts... 

Rant done...

[Taff]

Just got off the phone dealing with XM Satellite. I have the Zumo 550 on the Connie and quite enjoy it with the XM antennae (or used too...). Seems that the "what I thought" was a three year plan I purchased after buying the Connie turned out to be a two year plan.

Got a call from XM saying that my subscription had ended and that they already billed me for an additional 2 years at a cost of $440!!!!! I told him that was ridiculous and said that I would cancel if there wasn't a better priced plan. He told me that I had already been billed for this and he needed a credit card number. I said this wasn't happening and for him to cancel it now! He told me that he would still need the card number so he could make my account $0 balance, then he would work on canceling it!

The call got quite nasty, and he finally transferred me to customer support. After 30 minutes wait, a support guy came on and said he would fix it and cancel it for me. He said the collection division of XM really makes their jobs harder and they lose many customers because of it.

So now I have decorative XM antennae on the "faster-color for 09" Candy Red Connie!!!!! At least the antennae cover has sparkles on it!!!!!! 

Any one else using XM? What kind of price do you pay?

Sad thing is, I have two other Sirius radios and even though XM and Sirius are the same company, they are separate when it comes to service. So no multi-radio discounts... 

Rant done...

Wasn't there some lawsuit regarding subscriptions with XM?
I too had what I thought was a 3 year plan (last September) and told them that I didn't want to pay a bunch of money to listen to the same stuff over and over again. Much like Comcast and the extra channels on your TV, who wants to watch the same movie month after month.

It is a pity that there is no real competiton in the XM/Sirius world of satellite comms. You would have thought that the FCC wouldn't allow this stuff to happen!

[EmptyG]

When I bought my truck (used), XM came with it "free" for the first 6 months.  When it was time to renew, I didn't like the plan they sent me in the mail, so I waited for the marketing phone calls to start.  Eventually, they offered me $6/mth, 3 mth plan.  I waited till that plan expired, waited for the phone calls to start again, and again was able to get them to set me up with a 3mth, $6/mth plan.  I'll see how long I can keep the routine working. :-)

good luck

Mark

[SteveJ.]

I dropped one of my radios with xm, I keep getting offers of $25 for 6 months, plus two week free periods. The other radio I have, I bought the lifetime service, just before the asset acquisition by Sirius.

I listen to it a lot, four to eight hours every day at work. No complaints. Terrestrial radio really does suck, for the most part.

[Outback_Jon]

It is a pity that there is no real competiton in the XM/Sirius world of satellite comms. You would have thought that the FCC wouldn't allow this stuff to happen!

What do you expect the FCC to do?  I don't think there are any other companies that want to get into the market, so there isn't going to be any competition.  And with various apps for smartphones out there, it isn't likely that satellite radio is going to gain in popularity any time soon.

[stevewfl]

Interesting thread. Just last week I looked into hardwiring a satellite receiver on my bike and it was going to cost over $200 a year.

WTF!?  No thank you, I'll continue to use all my free phone apps such as Pandora, iHeart radio, and Slacker

[Rhino]

I b paying $99/year per radio

[Conrad]

When I bought my truck (used), XM came with it "free" for the first 6 months.  When it was time to renew, I didn't like the plan they sent me in the mail, so I waited for the marketing phone calls to start.  Eventually, they offered me $6/mth, 3 mth plan.  I waited till that plan expired, waited for the phone calls to start again, and again was able to get them to set me up with a 3mth, $6/mth plan.  I'll see how long I can keep the routine working. :-)

good luck

Mark

This is my experience too. My Jetta came with a 3 month free trial. When the calls started I told them that I really wasn't that interested and that I only wanted to listen to music, none of that talk radio crap for me. The offered me a 3 month plan, music only, for $11 total for the 3 months. The rep told me that when the 3 months is almost up to call them again and get the same deal. It's almost time to give them another call.

[Taff]

What do you expect the FCC to do?  I don't think there are any other companies that want to get into the market, so there isn't going to be any competition.  And with various apps for smartphones out there, it isn't likely that satellite radio is going to gain in popularity any time soon.

You make a good point about the FCC, but I would have thought some sort of price capping would have been initiated. With XM and Sirius merging ths really put custmers new and old even worse off relating to pricing etc.

[Outback_Jon]

You make a good point about the FCC, but I would have thought some sort of price capping would have been initiated. With XM and Sirius merging ths really put custmers new and old even worse off relating to pricing etc.

Price capping wouldn't work.  How would they pay Howard Stern's salary? 
But really, it wouldn't.  They'd wind up cutting back on stations, thus hurting their existing customers, and eventually they'd have none.  Smartphones/MP3 players, etc. are a cheaper, easier alternative.  Heck, even some not-quite-smart phones will stream from Pandora, etc.  And an unlimited data plan for a non-smart phone on AT&T is about $10/month.

[BackInTheSaddle]

I have XM with my Zumo 665 and pay by the month because we layup for 4 or 5 months of winter.  I also have it in my car on a 90 day subscription.  I like jazz and comedy that I can not find on broadcast radio so it's about my only option, along with 2,000 songs on my iPod.  My only complaint is their AGGRESSIVE billing group - they call me before the invoice is even due each month to "remind" me and they make it sound like it's past due when it was just cut one or two days before and then say the will "take care of it right now" if I want to give them my credit card.  No thanks.  So I just keep good records of invoice date, due date, and electronic payment date so that they can never hit me with a real past due.

[redzgrider]

Nitpicking -- but it comes with my career territory:
Inanimate objects have an antenna, or, if multiple, antennas. Insects have antennae.

[Scaffolder]

I have a lifetime account with Sirius since 2005. I changed to a newer radio at the end of last year. I believe you can change 3 radios times. I paid $420 I think.

[Conrad]

Nitpicking -- but it comes with my career territory:
Inanimate objects have an antenna, or, if multiple, antennas. Insects have antennae.

Maybe that's why they wanted to charge him $220/year?

Are you an Entomologist?

[rush2112]

Nitpicking -- but it comes with my career territory:
Inanimate objects have an antenna, or, if multiple, antennas. Insects have antennae.

Here's a picture of my XM antennae. Who's right now?!!!!!! 

[rush2112]

Sirius just sent me a questionaire asking me why I dropped my XM account. This could be fun!!

Haven't had the call-backs yet with any special pricing.
Now the original guy said he could authorize $3.00 off that $440 after I said their prices were ridiculous! How generous of him!!!!!

[Conrad]

Here's a picture of my XM antennae. Who's right now?!!!!!! 

 

[sherob]

I sold my Zumo Hockey puck a few years ago... I had that thing for 4 years.  After the merger, rocketing prices... I dropped it on 3 vehicles, just couldn't justify the cost anymore.  I now listen to Slacker... cache stations, songs, albums, playlists.  It's only ~$38 a year.

[Conrad]

Sirius just sent me a questionaire asking me why I dropped my XM account. This could be fun!!

Haven't had the call-backs yet with any special pricing.
Now the original guy said he could authorize $3.00 off that $440 after I said their prices were ridiculous! How generous of him!!!!!

Wow, don't spend ALL that savings in one place man, spread it around a bit!

As Scaffolder said, he paid $420 (nice number BTW) for a lifetime sub, I've seen numbers like that before. Your $440 for two years is outrageous!

[rush2112]

When I bought my truck (used), XM came with it "free" for the first 6 months.  When it was time to renew, I didn't like the plan they sent me in the mail, so I waited for the marketing phone calls to start.  Eventually, they offered me $6/mth, 3 mth plan.  I waited till that plan expired, waited for the phone calls to start again, and again was able to get them to set me up with a 3mth, $6/mth plan.  I'll see how long I can keep the routine working. :-)

good luck

Mark

Ha! Just got the first marketing call! They now want to give me a 6 month plan for $24! Looks like I might follow your lead Mark!