[ 2012 ] Sirius XM discount

[mishpat]

I have had XM for about two years and will cancel it , unless I find a savings over the approx $170/yr fees. I listen to Fox,MSNBC and an occasional music station. Any ideas?

 

[Hophop4]

Try this

Ya, call them up the few days before it expires and ask them how much to renew. If they give you the high price tell them you can't afford that and if they can give you a better price. Most times they will refer you over to another depatment that will give you better deals. The usual price I have been getting is $88/yr used to be $77. or around $25 for 5 months I think. If they don't give you a better offer hang up and make another call again later. Eventually you should get a better deal. This has been going on for some time now.

You can read the discussion on this forum:http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=767676&page=18

 

[PigsDad]

Go ahead and call to cancel, and one of two things will happen. First, they may offer you a much better deal to resubscribe now. If that is not suitable, go ahead and cancel and usually within 30 days they will extend a highly-discounted subscription rate for you to come back. Repeat as needed.

Kurt

 

[csxjohn]

Go ahead and call to cancel, and one of two things will happen. First, they may offer you a much better deal to resubscribe now. If that is not suitable, go ahead and cancel and usually within 30 days they will extend a highly-discounted subscription rate for you to come back. Repeat as needed.

Kurt

I called to cancel a few years ago and they gave me a price on a lifetime membership that I couldn't turn down. I have now gone past the time to make up what a yearly membership would have cost so from here on out it is free.

I get to change radios 3 times and have not changed once so I feel I'm way ahead of the game. I listen to about 6 music stations, mlb games and nfl games Well worth the money.

BTW I did pay $100 to get the best of Sirius so I get the NFL also and can follow any team I want.

I'm still ahead of a yearly subscription or a 3 year one and am glad I did it. My radio has a home kit and auto kit so I can use it anywhere I travel.

 

[DaveNV]

I just got a new (to me) BMW, and it has Sirius pre-installed. I used to subscribe with my old car, but didn't renew because I felt it was just too expensive. I may try this again, just to see what sort of a deal I can get.

The stereo also has an Ipod interface, and that works pretty well for me. But I'd still like to get the live channels from time to time. I'll let you know what I can do with them.

Dave

 

[l2trade]

I've got an offer from them $25 total for 6 months. I am tempted to do it, but I've read too many horror stories about auto renewal and failed attempts to cancel with continuing charges despite calling in. Am I right to not trust xm business practices?

 

[Ken555]

The $77 deal is now about $100 or 105 (I forget exactly). I renewed a few months ago and also got their traffic updates (my nav shows traffic...very nice integration) - I think it was ~$140 for both for a year.

 

[Passepartout]

My new truck came with XM. I let it expire, and soon got the '$25 for 6 months' offer. I took them up on it, paid by card with the understanding that it would be billed at the current rate at the and of the 6 mo. They never billed me for a year! Finally last month my CC was tapped for $95.46. At $8/mo, I'll keep it.

Jim

 

[hvacrsteve]

I have had three vehicles with it, I have never subscribed.
I hit too many overpasses and it goes out!
They have no fix for it!

Free is fair! Otherwise I am not buying, love my Talk radio, Mark L and my IPOD!

 

[JPD]

Just got the $25., $29. with tax and fees, for 6 months.This is my second $29. deal. so make that almost $60 bucks for a year. Just told them I don't use it that much, and it was not cost effective for me. They tried hard to get me into a higher a higher plan, but I told them I would cancel, so they gave me the $25. both times. Good luck

 

[pagosajim]

I've got an offer from them $25 total for 6 months. I am tempted to do it, but I've read too many horror stories about auto renewal and failed attempts to cancel with continuing charges despite calling in. Am I right to not trust xm business practices?

I just signed up for the $25, 6-month deal. When they asked for a CC, I told them to bill me. Wrote 'em a check and now I don't have to worry about auto-renewal at the high rate.

Even at $50/year, I'm probably going to cancel for good and just stick with using the iPod and Pandora once my renewal time comes.

 

[dioxide45]

We call back every five months when our current terms is set to expire. When we last called they were still offering five months for $25. Sounds like a better deal now with the six month offer. I will have to call again in early November to play the game again. Seems silly, I guess some people pay full price, but if you are willing to work a little for it you can get it fairly cheap.

 

[MichaelColey]

I've called to cancel several times and got offers in the neighborhood of $25 for 5 months (which I consider reasonable). The one time I didn't, I cancelled. (No problems with continued billing.) A couple months later, I got a good offer. We were out of town a lot right then, but I set it aside and called and took advantage of it several months later when we were going to be around much more.

I always just set a reminder in my calendar to call and cancel a few days before it expires.

We don't use it anywhere near enough to justify the full price, and are perfectly happy living without it when/if we don't have it.

 

[dioxide45]

The one thing we like about it is when we are on a long road trip, we always have the same radio channels. No needing to search for stations when others fade out.

 

[Hophop4]

After reading all these posts I just realized my xm was expiring today and they just charged my credit card so I just called them up and he offered me 6 months for $25 for one car and 2 months free on my other car which we might be trading it in soon. He is going to adjust my credit card.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I actually just want traffic. I had Sirius for 3 months with the new car, but it has just expired. I guess I should wait for a cheap offer then. Perhaps then I would consider it.

I have an hour drive, but I like Kidd Nation in the morning. I make phone calls all the way home, and never listen to the radio on the way home.

 

[Ken555]

I actually just want traffic. I had Sirius for 3 months with the new car, but it has just expired. I guess I should wait for a cheap offer then. Perhaps then I would consider it.

I have an hour drive, but I like Kidd Nation in the morning. I make phone calls all the way home, and never listen to the radio on the way home.

I think I paid ~$40 for a year of traffic. Definitely worthwhile for the convenience if you use it a lot, and it sounds like you do. I don't think they have many promos on the traffic service, though. You might just want to call and pay for a year at once to get the best price and limit the time you spend on the phone with them (that's why I won't do the five or six month subscriptions...).

 

[vacationhopeful]

I have had the car with Sirius radio now for just over 3 years. 6 month free, notices in mail for the next 2 months and then dead air.

Read the prior threads on this and got a deal for 6 more months. Did the dead air again and got a good deal for another 6 months.

So about 1/2 of my ownership, I had the good play. But whoever stated getting a YEAR at the time to lessen your talk time to them is RIGHT ON. I have spoken to just about every continent on the planet EXCEPT North America. And that is one reason I will got without their service - not to deal with their customer service.

 

[pgnewarkboy]

I've got an offer from them $25 total for 6 months. I am tempted to do it, but I've read too many horror stories about auto renewal and failed attempts to cancel with continuing charges despite calling in. Am I right to not trust xm business practices?

Should you trust them? That is up to you.I have been a subscriber for around 6 years and have had no problems with them. They have honored their agreements with me.

I like their commercial free music programming and don't spend much time listening to anything else. I love having no ads. Internet listening is terrific. It is particulary great when travelling and you are in a hotel with free wifi. I Just listen on my smartphone.

 

[dioxide45]

I think I paid ~$40 for a year of traffic. Definitely worthwhile for the convenience if you use it a lot, and it sounds like you do. I don't think they have many promos on the traffic service, though. You might just want to call and pay for a year at once to get the best price and limit the time you spend on the phone with them (that's why I won't do the five or six month subscriptions...).

We have never had an issue with their customer service. Calling twice a year to get two 6 months subscriptions vs calling once for a 12 month really isn't that difficult. It seems that it could save you about $50 also.

 

[SmithOp]

I like their commercial free music programming and don't spend much time listening to anything else. I love having no ads. Internet listening is terrific. It is particulary great when travelling and you are in a hotel with free wifi. I Just listen on my smartphone.

That's interesting, I canceled because it used to be no ads and gradually they started adding DJs that gab a lot and ads for other channels on Sirius. Sure, no commercial ads for third parties, but plenty of their own ads that are annoying because they run the same one over and over. They went from 60 min an hour of music to 45 min with 15 min of gabbing and the same 2 ads.

I just plug in my iPhone and listen to my own play lists now.

 

[caribbeansun]

When it was time to turn in my leased vehicle I called to cancel the subscription which ran out a month or two later - they wanted to charge me a cancellation fee - needless to say the discussion became rather heated given that I had paid for more than I was using.

I've got an offer from them $25 total for 6 months. I am tempted to do it, but I've read too many horror stories about auto renewal and failed attempts to cancel with continuing charges despite calling in. Am I right to not trust xm business practices?

 

[csxjohn]

When it was time to turn in my leased vehicle I called to cancel the subscription which ran out a month or two later - they wanted to charge me a cancellation fee - needless to say the discussion became rather heated given that I had paid for more than I was using.

Keep in mind that when you signed up, you agreed to pay an early cancellation fee. How can you complain when they want to enforce the contract?

 

[bogey21]

......but I've read too many horror stories about auto renewal and failed attempts to cancel with continuing charges despite calling in.

The way I avoid this problem is to go into my account on the Sirius/XM Website and remove the Credit Card Number from my record. That way they can't automatically renew.

George

 

[Ken555]

We have never had an issue with their customer service. Calling twice a year to get two 6 months subscriptions vs calling once for a 12 month really isn't that difficult. It seems that it could save you about $50 also.

I like saving money. I really do. But my time is worth a heck of a lot more than the time required to deal with their 'customer service'. I've had xm/Sirius for years, and their support has been mediocre at best. For instance:

My new car last year required three calls to get the radio working (this, with their free service with a new car). Total time: 1.5 hours

I was verbally told they would extend my trial with the new car due to the excessive time required to activate, due to their errors. Unfortunately, after the written trial period that wasn't the case, and the notes in my 'file' that the rep spent minutes (oh, many minutes!) typing up during those 1.5 hrs weren't available when I called to inquire why my service stopped when I was told it would continue for a while longer.

I waited to renew this year until I started a long drive to Arizona, since I knew it would take more than five minutes based on past experiences. Yup, an hour to renew. Amazing. So, while I would like to save I just don't think it's worth the time. In fact, if it didn't just irritate me to no end I would have simply paid full rate on their website instead since I knew they couldn't get it done quickly no matter what I tried.

Of course, I'm sure others have a perfect experience with them. As with all things, YMMV.

Of course, I very much enjoy the product. I just think their customer service and tech support is horrible. FWIW, I'm a stockholder (one of my many mistakes) and it disturbs me when 'my' company acts like this.