Satellite radio is an interesting business model.
They have extremely high overhead (satellites definitely aren’t cheap), but the marginal cost of additional customers is basically zero. Their satellites are already up there beaming signals down to earth; if the signal hits one receiver or a million, it’s all the same to them.
In December, mom gifted me an old XM radio receiver, and I signed up for the special they were running: 5 months for $20.
During my set-up call, I specifically asked not to be put on any sort of auto-renewal plan.
Fast forward 5 months. I check my credit card statement this week, and notice a $34 charge from XM. No email, no opt-in, no nothing.
That’s nice.
I like XM/Sirius. It just seems like an unnecessary luxury in a “rebuilding year” for the biz. I’ll miss my Radio Margaritaville but obviously I’ll survive.
I go to their website, create an account, and find out I’ve been auto-charged for a 3 month extension. Like any good company, there is no way to correct this online; you have to call them.
So I do.
I give the XM representative all my account information and verify my identity. She’s not a native English speaker but that’s fine; we’re communicating OK.
At some point I swear she says, “OK I’ve cancelled your account.” But then she explains she does not have the authority to cancel my account and must transfer me to someone higher up the food chain.
Fine.
I prepare myself for the imminent sales pitch by the higher-paid, escalated XM phone representative.
She is a native English speaker, although with a certain dialect and attitude. If you’ve called them you know what I’m talking about. I ask her to cancel my account, and she counters with the familiar 5 months for $20 deal.
I say, “No, it’s fine, please just cancel my account.”
No rebuttal, just a standard, “Thanks for calling XM, have a nice day sir.”
That’s it? Before I can get any sort of confirmation from her, she hangs up.
Seeking closure, I call back. I give all my information again to a new entry-level rep. I explain that his friendly co-worker had hung up on me before I could verify the account had been canceled, and he now informs me I am the proud owner of a new 5-month subscription.
Shady!
She must have had selective hearing: “No, it’s fine, please just cancel my account.”
And while I guess “it’s fine” is technically an affirmative, everyone knows it still means “no thanks.”
The new rep doesn’t have the authority to correct this mistake (surprise!) so he transfers me upstairs. Different escalated rep than before. Promises to have canceled the account for real this time and to have the money refunded to my credit card.
I ask for and receive a confirmation number. No email. By putting nothing in writing, XM always leaves themselves an out.
Reminds me of an email signature from an old Ford engineer: “Never write what you can say, and never say what you can imply.”
I’ll have to keep a close eye on my statement to see what happens.
But the moral of the story is if you want to save money on your XM satellite radio subscription, all you have to is call and try and cancel. Since the incremental cost of keeping you as a customer is essentially $0, use that fact to negotiate a lower rate. Even if you paid just a dollar a year, XM would probably be better off than if you canceled. If their first offer was to go from $11/month to $4/month — a 60% discount — I wonder how low they would go if you pushed back!
UPDATE 6/2/10: XM has called me 12 times in the past week trying to win me back. They never leave a message. If you get a call from 888-245-4396, it’s XM! So desperate!
UPDATE 7/15/10: On July 2nd, XM sent me a “Last Chance Offer” via email for a 3 month, $4.99/mo subscription. Since then they’ve called me 13 times and never left a message. Why even pretend “Last chance” when we both know it isn’t true?
UPDATE 7/25/10: Today I received a “Very last chance!” email from XM. The offer remains the same; $4.99/mo for 3 months or $4/mo for 5 months. Thankfully the phone calls have stopped though. Knock on wood.
Related: You might like the free Trim app, which helps identify (and cancel) subscriptions on your behalf.
Sorry about the hassle.
“XM Radio Cancellation Scam”
Great post, I am about to cancell my XM radio because they did away with the only station I listen to (The Strobe) actually I joined XM just for that one station and now it is gone but your post has given me inside information on what to expect and how to deal with it.
Thanks
What is funny is how people are talking bad about XMon various boards. I have worked for them since 2008 and if you look online people are talking about how they were “tricked’ into a new contract. I know that isn’t legit as we never hold anyone to a contract, if you want to cancel all you have to do is call 1800xmradio and we are more than happy to cancel the service for anyone. All you have to do is take the couple mins. to ask.
XM is the best co. BY A LONG SHOT that I have ever worked for, they are fair for their customers and to employees as well.
Also, if anyone wants a promo all you do is ask us for one..that simple. Right now we offer 6 months for only 25.00 plus tax!! Seriously..what else is that cheap nowadays?
I called up four times to cancel. All four times, I was told that the subscription was cancelled. But, they kept charging me. So I got a lawyer and sued the fuck out of them. The company paid me $5000 in settlement to drop the case. My word of advice, i think everyone should start suing them and maybe doing more to the company. Just to force the company to comply to what the customers want.
Could you please give the contact info of the attorney that you used? I just lately traded in my car and started receiving messages(call, email) telling me that I signed up for SiriusXM. I told them not to bother me, and that I did not sign up for any trial, but they continue pushing it. I might use your attorney, or will find mine myself.
Omg im not ready for this!! :( same thing is happening to me , $h!t!! Lol
Well Danny, you are entitled to your opinion. I bought my new eep Grand Cherokee on Feb 5, 2018. If anyone mentioned the XM radio, I never took notice. When I drove home, I noticed the XM. It was on some kind of ad only channel (channel 1). I turned the dial, but it was stuck on 1, so I paid it no mind. I listed to FM.
About three weeks later, I received the “welcome” letter that informed me that I had a free year subscription. I was not happy because I do not like my name and address passed to third parties.
I only drive on weekends, and my Jeep gets parked underground. I had to call “listener care” every Saturday to “refresh” the radio or it would not get anything except channel 1. I kept this up for about a month before I had enough, and just started listening to FM only.
I read about XM harassment, so I pulled the dash apart and disconnected the XM antenna. I deleted the radio from the account. I changed the account info to a fake address, phone, and name, to make it go away for good.
Furthermore, I contacted Chrysler about removing the module from the radio, but they never called back.
I would like my VIN number removed from the XM database. I do not trust them with my info. They can look up my name and address.
I have been on the phone for an hour and a half hung up call back again and online for another hour and a half this is not the best company this
I had the same issue. Were you ever able to get through? I have been trying to cancel my subscription for over a month and every time I call I have sat on the phone for over 3 hours before I finally give up. I still have not been able to get though.
I had the same issue they won’t answer the phone an I tried chat but was told I had to call. They kept billing after it was canceled
My message to SIRIUS?XM Management:
“Dear SIRIUS/XM Management to the issue of why I shall never return as a customer and will shout from virtual web mountaintops to warn others of your sales/billing scam tactics.
When starting service, I expressly stated that I wanted NO automatic billing to occur without my approval, requested that statements be submitted and I would decide at the end of my trial period if I would extend the service.
This is why I did not provide billing information with no credit card on file.
Imagine my surprise when a bill arrived reflecting a prior balance along with a proposed charge for future charges. I then went to my online account to cancel my subscription and found there is no option to do so. I then searched the FAQ and found a 800 number which was required to call in order to cancel my account.
I suspected this was a strategic requirement so that SIRIUS/XM retention staff could convince me to remain a subscriber.
First, I was submitted to an automated attendant interrogation which required authentication and responses to questions as to why I was calling.
Upon processing my response to cancel my subscription, I found myself defending my cancelation decision to a computer voice that challenges my requests, asks why I am making the request, whether I have sold my vehicle and if I would be receptive to a better offer. Once I made it clear with my responses to the computer, I was passed to a live agent. This agent started the entire inquest all over again and had NO transfer of my prior responses and required that I answer the same questions all over again.
Then the agent did a truly alarming act by offering a price that amounted to a 75% discount. Do you not see the insult embedded in this offer to customers who pay full price? Then I’m told that the agent lacks the ability to cancel my account and I was transferred to yet another agent and the entire explanation was required…again! The entire matter represents a scam and is shameful behavior. Goodbye SIRIUS/XM.”
Common practice with these types of vultures . Thats why they ask for cards , they will hold your card hostage and damage your banking account if you decide to quit paying .
No they charged my card without telling me and when I called to cancel they would only refund me 21$ not the full $ 26.70 that the got to charge me. Then here we go with all the last ditch effort to keep me with all the lower prices lol I said NO just cancel me. Finally after I had to just be rude and tell her do not offer me anything JUST CANCEL ME!!! They did. Now that I have read some of these reviews I’m going to call back and make sure I’ve been canceled.
Get real! I have talked at length to XM reps. They are instructed to “baffle the customer with bullshit”.
Absolutely the worst customer service I’ve ever dealt with,bar none.
Lies. Couple minutes. I just spent 2 hours. They argue for 20 to 30 minutes, then pass you to the next rep and it all starts over. Told me it can’t be done online for security reasons. I said netflix does it. They said, we just want to talk to you first. So they literally admitted to lying. “happy to cancel”!? Now I’m starting to think Siriusxm is worse than a bad business, it’s a cult.
I’ve been on the phone for an hour trying to cancel this terrible service and I keep getting the run-around. Good thing I’m patient and never give up. What a pile of crap this company is!!! I’m putting a Stop Payment on this account as backup since it’s such a shady company. Thanks for a heap of aggravation I didn’t need and a terrible experience with Sirius Radio.
Thats not ture. I have called them and canceled multiple times. This is the third month I just received another charge that I will have to claim fraud because your company will not cancel my subscription.
…plus tax and FEES!!! YES FEES!!!
So, what are the FEES???? Oh well it’s another $5-$10. See what’s going on here…
I have tried to cancel 4 times . And haven’t listened to xm in almost 3 yrs . Yet they continue billing me monthly.
I switched my bank card and got a phone msg saying my payment is due.
Then Dec statement comes an XM is still into my acct.
If xm gets ambushed I applaud the person who does it. I’m about to lawyer up and sue.
Hmm. Obviously, I haven’t gotten you on my 5 calls to cancel this service. I even cancelled my credit card. Sirius may not be a scam, but they certainly run their business like they are one.
Went through the same thing when I cancelled by xmradio…. took 4 calls to them, on the first 3 I was disconnected when they kicked me to someone who could help me to cancel. Really the most difficult thing I went though…… Note to Danni above, a great company would just allow you to cancel online as part of your account settings. You can activate a radio this way, seems to me that you should be able to de-activate the same way…. I will never do business with xm, I still get mailings from them 2 years later trying to get me back.
I bought a used car in early December with an XM radio. The dealer told me I would need to subscribe as the original owner had used the free 3 month account. I signed up and now one month later I don’t find much use for XM radio and contacted SiriusXM to cancel. The first thing I see is that I was never charged the correct amount for service. I signed up for the $14.99 per month service, but I was billed 24.06 once, 48.99 another time, and then a credit for 24.99? Rather than get into the whole mess I just decided to go ahead with the cancellation. The guy tells me he can’t cancel my account because its a free trial activate4d by the dealer. I told him the car was 4 yeas old and that the original owner used the free trial SiriusXM offered through the dealership – I’m placed on hold for 5 minutes. Guy come back says he needs my card#. I give it to him and go on hold for another 5 minutes. Guy comes back again and says the account I started was cancelled by SiriusXM because there was a free trial available. I asked why they saw fit to cancel a standing account without contacting the account owner… on hold again. My good friend comes back on the line and says nothing about the account I consider to be my account. Only he can’t cancel a free trial. At this point I tell him I have been billed for my free trial, and that I want a credit. On hold again, after 5 minutes I put my phone on speaker and went about my day 10 minutes later the call disconnects. Call back, repeat… Very shady business practices. I will try having an attorney friend write a letter. If it works I’ll let everyone know.
Well let me tell you my story with Sirius XM radio I was completely treated rude drowned it out they wouldn’t listen to me saying