How the heck does Sirius stay in business?

[ernie]

This is not a whine, just an observation. My initial free 6 months were up last week, started getting nightly calls from Sirius to renew (fortunately I wasn't home when they were calling). No way was I going to renew at the standard rates when all of my forum readings indicated that deals were to be had. So I waited until the last minute, got a call from Sirius the same day I received the same offer in the mail........$29 and change for 6 months for the Select plan (+ music fee and taxes). I asked about other options available with a discount.....he must have went back and forth to his manager 3 times....I finally said just do the $29 dollar deal....well, there were problems with my account...seems they thought I also had internet radio (never had, never will).......so the guy says he'll put it through with the internet radio and the extra charge, then transfer me to cust service to fix the account. WTF? Just give me customer service before I give you a c/c number....so I get to cust serv.....this chick (no offense meant to female board members) can't even find my account!! Conversation ended.

I called the next day, spoke a different rep.....added Traffic (I know, my phone does it, but it's convenient on the NAV) for 6 months at $20, brings my total (w/all fees) to $53 and change. Give him the c/c number....whoops, I'm sorry sir, I forgot to add taxes.....now the total is $61 and change. Fine, just do it. The c/c number expires in 3 months (one of those you generate for a dollar/time you specify), so good luck with your auto-renew.

What a total cluster$&$* of an operation....and what's the point of having standard rates when (it seems) a lot of folks just play the game of waiting until the last minute and/or other means (like calling to cancel) of receiving discounted rates?

Just askin'

enrie

 

[Nacho]

You know. I only got to use my Sirius for a week before It expired (was stationed in Germany when I got the truck). I believe there are better cheaper services out there. You can program Pandora (Free) to play any kind of music you like. You can also do the same with Spotify (9.99 a mo for mobile). Spotify has an even larger library. Sirius is nice and all, but I don't foresee myself shelling out the 13 bucks /mo NOR 200 bucks / year for the service. But anyways.

 

[Ms. MI Raptor]

Sirius just activated my radio for 3 months free. I've had the truck since July and always had XM but since you can't transfer the subscription I just cancelled and never got around to reactivating. Last week I received a notice my radio will be active for 3 months free. Ok - I'll take it. Been meaning to activate anyway so now I can procrastinate for another 3 months.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[TheJoker]

I never answered the onslaught of phone calls. The subscription ended. I received the same offer as mentioned above. Bought the prepaid visa as mentioned above. I tried to activate it on line, no luck. After a week the Sirius w/travel link was semi working (no premium channels/no buttons on the radio screen work) I hope I don't jinks this. The travel link is extra with the previously mentioned deal and I have it 100% for free. SUCK IT SIRIUS!

 

[MagicMtnDan]

I have a really long story about a number of calls I made just a couple weeks ago to SiriusXM. I won't bother sharing it with you as it's almost too hard to believe just how incompetent that company is.

To describe what SiriusXM provides as "customer service" would be like calling ear-splitting, ultra-high decibel jet engine noise "music".

Their incompetence knows no bounds. Do not be surprised at anything they say, do, or don't do. No matter what they tell you don't expect them to put the notes from your discussion with them in your account file. No matter what they say they'll do, don't expect them to do it (like turn on the service(s) you just ordered). And if you gave them your credit card information don't expect them to (A) bill you or (B) not double-bill you.

By the way, their rates are going up in Q1 2012. No matter what you can expect to pay the new rates the next time your service is up.

 

[f16YODA]

To describe what SiriusXM provides as "customer service" would be like calling ear-splitting, ultra-high decibel jet engine noise "music".

Sound of Freedom, baby! Music to my ears!!!

I'm wondering what kinda deal I'm going to get since we don't get Sirius coverage up here in Alaska.

 

[puddle hunter]

I hate incompetent customer service, that's why I activated my subscription after the free trial, on-line. Sure, I may not have gotten the best rate by waiting it out and making 'em sweat... but I got what I wanted, how I wanted it, without some "my name Peggy" numbskull on the other end of the line.

FWIW, my renewal online took all of 5 minutes... and that was with debating over internet/iPhone listening... which I didn't get.

 

[ernie]

I hate incompetent customer service, that's why I activated my subscription after the free trial, on-line.

Actually, that's how I started out....and I would likely have gone that way (although there were no discounts) IF I could have signed up for the music only plan with traffic; however, once I clicked the music only plan, the options to add traffic and/or travel link disappeared from the screen!

ernie

 

[xBX]

Sirius is ******* awesome.

Howard Stern is ******* awesome.

Sirius makes money because they have a niche market and are the only provider especially because they acquired XM. Think about how many people have SIRIUS-XM already installed in their cars from the dealer... ALOT. Then they renew it because they see the options.

Personally, I have Spotify Premium too which allows for specific songs but when I leave in the morning, Howard Stern is ALWAYS on.

They make money because they provide to a huge audience including homes, restaurants, offices, etc....


We have atleast 6 vehicles and all have Sirius-XM.

They had a deal at one time for 300$ for LIFETIME. That was a good deal and that got a lot of good feedback.

 

[ruffstuff]

I hate incompetent customer service, that's why I activated my subscription after the free trial, on-line.

When my subscription expired, they kept sending me letters to re-activate. I kept trying to resubscribe on-line, but it would always end with a "please call customer service" message. No way was I going to do that and be subjected to the up selling tactics. Well last week, almost a year after expiration, I get another letter, 5 months for $29.95. Figure I would try on-line again, and this time it worked! BUT ... the on line deal is 6 months for $29.95. They really need to get their act together.