Please don't pay full price for XM Radio

[brymolmom]

We have XM radio in one of our cars. Have had it for 3 years - first 6 months or so got a great introductory rate. Anyway - after 1 year I called to cancel...They gave it to me for $77 for the year.

Got my invoice 2 days ago and called today to cancel. Compared to all the other companies I've tried to negotiate lower rates, this one is EASY. They send you to a supervisor. I told her that I would be canceling unless I could ge the same deal as last year. She put me on hold for 2 minutes came back and said fine. The original invoice amount was almost $180 (for a year of service). I ended up paying $96 total for the same service.

So please PLEASE do not pay that invoice amount when you get it.

Now, even though I got a good deal I am about at my last nerve with these guys. The supervisor explained to me that they INTENTIONALLY invoice you AFTER your contract expires (wouldn't it make more sense to notify you that you owe money BEFORE it's actually due). That way, she tried to charge me for 1 week at the higher price because the contract actually has been expired for a week. I wasn't happy and made her waive the $3.50 or so that it was going to be. I then tried to come up with a way to find out BEFORE it expired next year. I asked for monthly invoicing (not allowed). Then, this is the one that got me - when she finished charging me for my service, she followed up with a request to charge my card a $2 invoicing fee. So they charge you $2 to send you and invoice AFTER your contract is up. The only way to get out of this is to keep your cc# on file and be auto-charged (thus never actually seeing that they raised the price $100 from last year). These guys are GOOD....They know how to get you. Please make sure you're not paying more than $100 a year for this type of service.

 

[aimeeinohio]

Thanks for this info! I have a free trial that will be expiring soon and I'm thinking about keeping it.

 

[holycow]

LOL you must have felt my embarrassment!

I've told my DH, I've sent him a copy of the thread.

He just called and got 116. for the year. ugh...

I would do it but he's the one who set it up so his name is on it.

I do love XM radio though!

 

[goofyredraider]

My husband works for Ford and every 6mos we do this dance. He hates dealing with them and so do I. We have two cars with it (both purchased within a month of each other) so it's always funny to see the deal we get on one being different from the other...lol

 

[CuppieCake04]

let it expire and listen to the radio or ipod/smartphone for a few months!!!

I got an offer of $25 for 6 months!

I quickly accepted that offer...LOL Since I am driving to Disney in 2 weeks. and when it expires, i will go back to my smartphone...LOL

And when i get another 25 offer i will take it.

I can NOT see paying "rack rate" for something i can get for free.

Especially since you still have commercials on satellite radio...

 

[cjnix29]

They have the worst customer service. I usually end up having to call them about 4 times to get anything right. DH loves his XM, even though I could do without it. So, we continue to have it, but have to deal with their horrible customer service at least once a year. But definitely you have to negotiate with them!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

We have it on our calendar when XMRadio expires. We always let it expire. They send us a bill. We call. They may or may not negotiate. If the rate isn't acceptable to us, we don't pay it. We wait a week. They call back. We get the rate we wanted.

What a painful dance to play EVERY SINGLE YEAR X3!

 

[pooh17]

I cancelled and every time they call to offer me the $24 / 5 month renewal I tell them that I will renew if they can assure me it will not auto-renew at a higher rate. They can't, so I tell them that until they change their billing practices I will not be a customer. More people need to do this or they will not change. Listen to the FREE radio for a while folks!

 

[ssawka]

I really do not think Sirius/XM has long for this world. I just renewed my Pandora One subscription for $36 for the year. With so many cheaper online services, there is no way Sirius/XM can continue to pay their high operating costs. On top of that, car manufactures are beginning to build Internet access into their vehicles with support for online services like Pandora.

 

[elgerber]

I never pay more than $5 a month. Every 5-6 months depending on the last offer, I call to cancel, and they bring it down down down, until it's at that level. It's pretty ridiculous actually.

 

[njsweetP]

Make sure you're getting the 'full' XM service, not the 'select' service, which only gives you so many channels. I've had XM for over seven years before the call and negotiate price didn't work, so I cancelled. I just bought a new car in March with XM service that expires this weekend. I"ve gotten offers thru the mail to continue service (select service, not full) and I just throw them out. Unless they offer the full line of channels at a decent price, I will just let the service expire. I can't stand to pay to listen to commercials. Might have to look into Pandora.

 

[cruisers5]

We cancelled our subscriptions on both cars. I figured we would get an offer from them to come back, but didn't. I called to renew it for one of our cars (we were doing a driving vacation and I wanted a good radio station!). I explained that we had had it for a while and I would like to renew. I was quoted a price of $118 a year. I said no, I had gotten it for $25 for 5 months. I was told that was a special offer and couldn't get it. I asked to talk to a supervisor. He told me the same thing, there were no "specials" being offered for my radio ID. I went online "googled" SIRRUX Coupon codes" - came up with one for $25 for 6 months service. Called back and was able to get it at that price. My husband then decided for that price we'd reconnect the second car. He called, told the woman who answered he had a code for 6 months for $25 - she said no he didn't and hung up on him! He called again and got another person and they said fine, and gave him the deal - didn't even ask for the code!

 

[OklahomaTourist]

I really do not think Sirius/XM has long for this world. I just renewed my Pandora One subscription for $36 for the year. With so many cheaper online services, there is no way Sirius/XM can continue to pay their high operating costs. On top of that, car manufactures are beginning to build Internet access into their vehicles with support for online services like Pandora.

This * 1000. I can't believe they've lasted this long. I listen to my car radio perhaps 15, 20 minutes a day on weekdays, had XM when the car was new and for some promotional period for a time thereafter, then cancelled it. I've got my cell with whatever I like to listen to there, so I just can't rationalize paying still more for XM. To each his own, I s'pose.

 

[JB2K]

Lifetime subscriber, here.

As I have been with XM in one capacity or another for the past 10+ years, that initial investment has paid for itself, several times over.

As for Pandora and other internet radio services, do be aware that the data required to "move" these internet radio providers hinges on the ability of your mobile phone.

Even more so for the Budget Board, since many here use prepaid/no-contract services. Most of those providers have "hidden caps" on data usage (typically, anywhere between 1.5 and 2.5 GB), which can be easily reached if you are streaming Pandora on a 1,000+ miles road trip to WDW.

Just a thought...

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

We have three vehicles and a handheld on Sirius. We live in a rural area, and travel a lot through rural areas, so hanging on to a "regular" radio station is impossible. We actually can get TWO (yes 2) radio stations at our home.

We don't play the cancel/renew game, but also do not pay rack rate. I guess it all depends on how much you want to dicker with them.... but whatever you do, do not give them a credit card!

 

[ssawka]

Lifetime subscriber, here.

As I have been with XM in one capacity or another for the past 10+ years, that initial investment has paid for itself, several times over.

As for Pandora and other internet radio services, do be aware that the data required to "move" these internet radio providers hinges on the ability of your mobile phone.

Even more so for the Budget Board, since many here use prepaid/no-contract services. Most of those providers have "hidden caps" on data usage (typically, anywhere between 1.5 and 2.5 GB), which can be easily reached if you are streaming Pandora on a 1,000+ miles road trip to WDW.

Just a thought...

Actually, Pandora does not use all that much capacity. The paid version of Pandora streams at 192 kbps so even with your example of 1.5 GB per month, that is still over 17 hours [(1500000 * 8) / 192 / 60 / 60 = 17.36 ] of music. Now, I agree you may go over that on a rather long car ride, but I'd be willing to bet that most people would not. Fortunately, I am grandfathered into my unlimited data plan and have yet to be "throttled".

 

[OhMari]

My son just got a renewal notice in the mail for $4.00 a month for a year. I am keeping that for when I renew next month. I purposely gave them my Disney Card with the expiration date that ended this past June so it cannot get renewed.

Do I want XM Radio-Yes.
Do I need XM Radio-No-but I sure would miss Madison on All Nation Radio-she talks very little, but love her comments.

I also do not have any "talk" radio-I hate listening to talk radio.
-Howard Stern-Bleh!

 

[beansmom]

am i the only one who thinks they SHOULD pay for the service they get???

 

[OklahomaTourist]

am i the only one who thinks they SHOULD pay for the service they get???

Who here has suggested they shouldn't?

Huge difference between getting something for nothing and driving a good bargain.

 

[angierae]

Who here has suggested they shouldn't?

Huge difference between getting something for nothing and driving a good bargain.

Exactly. I know they're willing to go to that price, so why should I pay more? Just like if I reserve a room at Disney, and a discount comes up, I'm going to take it.