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CONVERSION FROM XM TO SIRIUS (APRIL 2009)
I found your site searching for help from Sirius and found your site. I would like to share my problem with you and maybe ask your feelings.
I
have been a loyal XM radio
subscriber. I love XM radio; I love channels 15-19 which are music from the 50s-90s and many other channels. I know there
doesn't seem to be much difference betweeen XM and Sirius but my XM hardware box broke and I had to get a new one. The stereo
shop praised Sirius as being better with better reception and channels. I had the Sirius box installed and had it activated.
the Sirius guy wanted me to sign up for a longer subscription but I chose a 1 year and was told he would bill my credit card
30.00 then and I would get a bill for the remainder of the account within a couple weeks and I would be required to pay it
or my radio would be turned off. After the radio started working I listened to Sirius and within ten minutes I was sure I
hated it compared to XM and I told the stereo shop to to install an XM box instead knowing I could not return the Sirius box.
My mail is forwarded because I am forced to travel and after a couple months I got my mail forwarded. I got at least two bills
from Sirius so I thought I'd offer them a courtesy call to explain to them to stop sending me bills because I didn't like
the service. They told me they did stop the service after not receiving my check but I was also told there would be a 90 dollar
cancellation fee. I said that is ridiculous and after talking to a manager I said I would pay 50.00 if they would let it go
and I told them I would contest the bill if sent to a collection agency.
My position was that I was told if they didn't get the remainder of
the payment they would stop the service which they didn't and they didn't. But still, they want more money.
They said
there is a contract and I told them I signed nothing and the contract was never in force because they didn't get the remainder
of the payment. They insist they still have a contract and rules for cancellation.
I think at this time I am going
to research this, find out if 98 dollars is enough of a bill to be sent to collections, I may get a lawyer out of spite rather
than pay the bill, and finally, I may decide to contest the bill with collections and forget about it because I don't think
it will hurt my credit.
PRAISE FOR THE SIRIUS CANCELLATION PROCESS! (APRIL 2009)
I just want to report my very positive experience I had when cancelling my Sirius subscription
this week. I have read a lot the negative things on the internet about cancelling Sirius, so I was prepared for the worst
when I cancelled this week (I cancelled not because I've ever had any problems with Sirius, but because Bank of America just doubled my interest
rate on my credit card, and in the process of switching recurring charges to another credit card, I decided I wasn't getting
enough use of my radio to justify my subscription).
The process was very simple. I called the number on their website. The first person I spoke
to answered promptly but did speak with a heavy Spanish accent so it was hard to understand her, but she seemed nice
and transferred me to the cancellation department and the guy who answered the phone (promptly, no holding, no wait) spoke
English. This guy asked me why I was cancelling, and asked me if I wanted to just put the account on hold instead. I
told him, no, just cancel it. He then asked if I wanted to cancel it that very day or wait until my current quarterly plan
expired (on May 5). I told him to cancel it right then. He wanted to know if I wanted him to put the refund for the unused
days ($11.28) back on the credit card I had on file. I told him yes, and he said in 3-5 days I should see a refund on
my credit card. Today (4 days later) I checked my credit card account and
the credit has been received. The whole process to cancel took less than 5 minutes.
Since I cancelled I have received a customer service survey, and also an
offer to reactivate my subscriptions for 3 months for the price of 1. The Sirius I dealt with
this week is nothing like the Sirius I have been reading about on the internet. Yes, they could still make some improvements
(e.g., provide a way to cancel online, employ customer service reps who speak
English enough for English-speaking customers to understand clearly), but overall I was satisfied with the outcome: my account
was cancelled with no problems. I still have access to my online account and can see that my subscription was
indeed cancelled.
I wrote back and asked, "Could you please let me know whether you or any member of your family (spouse, children,
parents or siblings) are affiliated with Sirius in any way, other than as a customer?" and got the following response:
No, neither I nor any of my family members (or friends) are affiliated with Sirius in any way. I just read all the negatives about them
and was expecting to have a negative experience, but it turned out to be no problem at all. Maybe they are truly trying to
improve the way they do business. Or maybe I just got lucky. I agree that it would be easier to be able to cancel online,
but then again, I'm not sure I could cancel my internet, telephone, cell phone, electricity, or gas bills online either. Also,
one difference between me and some of the other people who reported negative experiences was that I was calling a month before
my current subscription ended. I was not calling to get a refund for days I had already used. Since I was not in the middle
of a one-year subscription (I was on the quarterly plan), I didn't have to pay an early termination fee
either.
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