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XM Satellite Radio Consumer Reviews - Page 4

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Deplorable Customer Service Rep
By -

Each time you call to cancel they've got another pitch. I liked the Blue Collar Radio and thought for $4.99 a month I'd take it. One renewal left me agreeing a "home radio"... but with no speakers when it arrived? I complained and they sent me a docking station but my speakers didn't work with it. I hated the auto bill, called and the representative removed my account info. Thought the account would cancel after the promo period and it did not. I received an invoice I thought was marketing materials. I finally answered a call to say, "Stop calling me. I'm not purchasing another promo." I was met with you owe $31.22.

Pressed the option for billing. Told the representative I didn't agree to a renewal in fact when I called last time I specifically told the representative I did not want an auto renewal. I was met with "we're an auto renewal company"... WTF!! I asked for a supervisor and my call was transferred to "Katie". 1st class **!!! I can't believe this "Katie" is the last line of customer communication or any for that matter. Katie assured me there was nothing that could be done. Not even if the president of the company was standing right there with her.

I asked "Katie" for her manager and was told, "No. Go to the website and write us." I told "Katie" she could pull my last call where the representative from the Philippines assured me there was no auto renewal/bill. Katie informed me only a court subpoena could get the call pulled which is located at "corporate". Katie then proceeded to tell me again, "No" to a manager request, "No" to a call back from a manager then said "We're just going around in circles. Is there anything else I can help you with? If not we're done." Before she could disconnect me I said, "I'll call back and get someone else."

I got transferred to Mike when I called back. Not the warmest fella but he got down to business. I explained my experience with Katie and what was explained to me when I renewed the service. He read the notes on my account. BAM!!! He resolved the issue. Oh FYI, when they place your radio on "inactive" or "deactivate" it doesn't mean the account is closed. Who'd know that?

Sell me a "portable home radio" with no speakers. Don't mention it doesn't have speakers. Ugghhh. Worst of all "Katie". In this economy I don't want to wish anyone to lose their job, however Katie should lose her job - utterly useless, rude, unyielding, and unbending. My company notwithstanding, its people like Katie that we don't want on our front lines representing the firm. We all have work to do...

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My Story
By -

Like most people I signed up online and I took a two-year subscription. Never read the details, just wanted to get the receiver up and going. And of course they took my Credit Card info for a two year lump sum payment. Two years pass and I start to get phone calls telling me to call them because my Credit Card cannot be processed (got a new card and number during that two years). Thinking I really did not want to subscribe anymore I just ignored the calls by using call display and not picking up the voice messages. The few messages I would actually listen to became threatening; like sending me to a Collections Company.

So I finally did some research and found out that I had accepted a third year subscription that I was obliged to say NO to before a certain date. I didn't do what most others on this site did, which was try to call and cancel. As it turns out that wouldn't have helped anyway; not from the runaround that people were describing. Anyway they DID send it to a collections agency which started to call daily and badger and bully me.

So I called the Collections agency and asked them what was up. They said I owed XM about $175 or so for the additional one-year service. So I told them that the LAW required the Collections agency to provide me, in writing, the contract that I signed as proof I owed, AND the contract that they signed with XM that gave them the authority to collect. They countered that it was a verbal agreement that I entered into which makes no sense to me at all because verbal agreements are NOT binding. Don't know if they wear bluffing. Interestingly enough they have not called now for almost 8 months and counting. Just FYI if that helps anyone.

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Bait and Switch
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- I will never in the future do business with XM Satellite Radio or the SIRIUS Corporation for any product. XM Satellite Radio is trying to steal my money and their customer service can't or won't resolve the problem. They are very good a letting someone else deal with the problem by dropping my calls. My 2010 Prius has a Satellite Radio & Navigation System. On December 2, 2009, before the trial period of the Satellite Radio expired I logged onto the XM Satellite Radio website and signed up for 3 years of traffic data service for $91.96.

In January I noticed that I was no longer getting traffic data on my navigation system. My wife and I are very busy so it was not until February 8, 2010 that my wife called XM Satellite customer service. We eventually got through to Jeffery (confirmation # **) who said he fixed the problem, extended our 3 years to April 9, 2013 and gave my wife step by step instructions to get the system working again in my car. But still no service. I called tech support 2 days later. He found Jeffery's work in the computer, fixed an error and 20 minutes later my car has traffic data.

The only problem was when I got my credit card bill. On Feb. 8, the day we talked to Jeffery, my original $91.96 payment was refunded. On Feb 10, the day the techie actually turned on the service, I was charged $253.79. I called XM Satellite customer service 4 times. The first time the computer hung up before I got a person. The next 3 calls ended with “I need to transfer you”. After 10-30 minutes on hold their system hung up on me. I have disputed the charges with my credit card company but it will be up to 60 days before I get a response. To add insult to injury, the data Sirius provides is a small subset of what my I-phone receives as part of the AT&T basic data plan.

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XM Radio the Worst 3 Days of Hell
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My wife recently got a new Honda and it came with a FREE 3 months trail of XM. I called to get the service and after thinking I had set up the account the nightmare began. I had to call back several time the first day of service because the radio was not getting the service. I was on US95 in a wide open area and it still never worked. Customer service was terrible. But it gets worse. After many calls over the next 2 days with no help and spending more time with XM than my family I decided to cancel the free trail service. Then I found out they had put me in for a year of service with prem and started to charge me but they didn't give me any service at all.

I was transferred 3 times to try to cancel service and the customer service people were nothing but rude. The 3rd person was nice except she really tried to just keep adding a 1 yr of service for 109 for the prem package. But I had to explain over and over I wanted nothing to do with XM after just 3 days. It was like trying to leave a cult. A consumer should be able simply call and cancel service after they verify their info, not be forced to be harassed to keep something they don't want. I am send complaints to Honda to let them know what is going on and to the Better Business Bureau for a company charging for services they didn't render.

I was told Sirius bought XM but the XM rep's and service is nothing like Sirius. I never had an issue with Sirius or their service. So even though they may be the same company I wouldn't ever think about XM again. I would rather rip the radio out of my Honda pilot and put a little Sirius receiver in. I haven't talked to Sirius about this issue but I hope these customer service rep's are not working from them. It was a nightmare and in the end after many times on hold I have been told I will receive a refund of the charges they took out for my Free service. So far not here yet.

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XM Satellite Radio Will Steal Your Hard-Earned Money
By -

Beware of XM Satellite radio. They are total **, and they will steal your hard-earned money. I received a 3-month free trial period for XM Satellite Radio in my new 2010 Toyota Prius. I never used the XM. At the end of the free period, XM telephoned my husband and gave him a hard sell. They told him that we could have another month for free. I don't know why he agreed to another free month b/c I never used it (I'm the primary driver of the vehicle), but he did. After that free month was up, I got a $38 bill in the mail for the next month, so I called to complain.

XM's customer service department is absolutely terrible. The first lady I spoke to could barely speak English, and she hung up on me after I was on hold for over 30 minutes. The second person I spoke to cancelled the account but refused to cancel the $38 service fee. I demanded to speak w/ a supervisor, and it took over an hour to finally speak to a supervisor. He also refused to cancel the $38 fee for a service I didn't want and never used. He said that they had a record that we called them in Nov and asked them to extend the XM. I told him his records were wrong b/c his statement was a complete lie. The entire process took over 2 hrs.

I would advise all any person interested in satellite radio to never do business w/ this company. For any person buying a new car, don't buy a car that has XM loaded on it. Make the car company take it off before you drive off the lot b/c the individuals at XM satellite radio are complete ** and will think nothing about stealing your hard earned money from you.

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XM Billing Cheats
By -

I purchased a GM car in October 2008. As a function of the purchase you receive an XM radio trial, which the dealer insisted be set up prior to leaving with the car. In December, XM contacted me about renewing my usage. I spoke with them from my car, and "re-upped" for 3 months. They asked me about a longer term, but I expressly told them I wanted the 3 months (which I put on my credit card), and would decide later, whether to keep it. With the economy in the state that it is, I felt it was a guilty pleasure, not worth renewing, and elected to let it expire. Yes, I received advertisements asking me to renew from XM, but I threw them in the circular file.

Then, in August, 2009, I received a collection letter. XM RADIO had put me into collection for 3 months, worth of air time - the 3 months following my expired time. When I contacted their customer service, they said, "You signed a contract that renews every three months, so you owe us." I shared with the helpless customer service, I did not sign any contract, but rather had a conversation on the car phone. Stunned, she was silent for a moment, and then returned with, "Well you did not call us to cancel." I reiterated, " That's because I purchased my 3 months of air time, received it, and did not want anymore, so I did not renew it."

Essentially, XM Radio is trying to make the consumer pay for their service, whether you want it or not. That is ridiculous, and unethical. They hope that if you are threatened with collection, most consumers will just pay, rather than have a black mark on their record. My complaint went to the Attorney General in the State of Illinois.

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XM Radio Is Dishonest and Deceitful
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A year ago, I bought a new Hyundai from Vancouver Ford. Nothing was said by the salesman or the finance person (who tries to sell you the extras) about XM radio. But the car had a button marked XM on the radio and that ugly antennae thing on the roof- I asked and was told not to worry, it was a free 3-month trial, no obligation, just tell them at 3-months that you do not want it. After the 3 months- during which my daughter used the XM one time for about ½ hour- we started to get bills. I called, tried to cancel, was told I had signed up for it and I either paid or they would go to the credit bureaus and sue me.

Last week, we bought a new Toyota Venza- no obvious XM radio antennae that I could see, no XM button on the radio- though the dash and the radio are extremely complicated but we just got the letter in the mail with the information from XM telling us we had a 3-month trial membership. I tried to cancel by Internet and their site froze each time I entered our ID number (from their letter).

I called and called and called back for an hour. I was either transferred to a “customer service” number that never answered, or I was read a script and ignored when I tried to talk, or I was told it was a trial period and I was unable to cancel, or I was told not to worry, no bill would be sent. I feel the whole approach is deceptive and dishonest, the billing and their attempts to make me pay are dishonest and threatening, their “customer service” is a joke and designed to discourage or prohibit a cancellation.

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Unauthorized Payments Taken From Credit Card
By -

In December I purchased a XM Radio after several weeks of research. I chose XM over Sirius as the line-up seemed better and the sales person I spoke to at XM seemed helpful at the time. I purchased the radio through XM over the telephone as I had specific questions regarding my purchase. My questions included: Would I be tied into any contract? Could I choose when the account was activated? Would I be able to change my subscription through the year?

I chose to order over the telephone so I could have these questions answered specifically as they were important considerations when making my purchase. I was assured that yes, I would only be tied into a 3-month contract and yes, I would have to call to have my account activated. Imagine my surprise when I checked my credit card bill to find that an additional $38.85 was taken out on 13 March for a subscription that I had not even activated. Imagine my even greater surprise when I call to inquire why this is and find out that and am told I'm tied into a year-long contract.

I asked for a guarantee that at the end of the year I wouldn't be charged for a 10-year subscription, but just received a wry laugh in reply. There is NO way I would have tied myself into a year-long contract. My husband was overseas and could not use his radio immediately and I was made redundant just before Christmas. The very reason I called and checked I wouldn't be tied to a contract was that I did not want to be. Unfortunately the company has my credit card now and can do whatever they like with it, it seems! So now I find I'm tied to this terrible service for a year!

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Avoiding Bankruptcy by Extortion?
By -

Like other posters I bought a new car that had XM service. After the 3 month period I charged 1 year's service using my checking linked credit card. Soon after XM became Sirius XM I decided that I didn't like or need the satellite radio service as they changed my favorite stations, so after the year's subscription ran out I did not plan on extending it. Lucky me, XM had other ideas. I had closed the checking account that the card was linked to a month or so before the service was due to expire.

Imagine my surprise when my back received an automatic debit (unauthorized) and being a concerned banking partner, honored it and notified me, thinking I had mistakenly not transferred the debit to my new account. Dealing with the bank was easy, virtually pain free and in a way, nice to know that they did it because they were trying to save me a problem, not be the problem.

I digress. The bank charged XM back for the un-authorized debit and credited my account and flagged it so they could not do it again. XM radio turned off my service in January - fine with me. 60 days later I received a bill from XM for 48 dollars or so. The bill did not contain any subscription information (term of service) or any other relevant details, so I tossed it.

Yesterday, a full 90 days later, I receive a notice from their collections department saying I owe them $29.75, with no explanation as to why. I called three times and could not get an English speaker on the phone. Today I called again and finally got someone who could understand me and asked to talk to a supervisor. Total wait time? Over an hour!

I finally got a supervisor on the phone, who said that I had to pay for the service until it was disconnected which she said was on March 4! Today is March 6 and I got the bill on the 5th. Yeah right!! I then asked to speak to a member of Management - and was told that a 'Juliet **' would return my call within 3 days. I can't imagine they are using their real names - and I'm not holding my breath. This is extortion! Either pay what they say you owe or they ruin your credit rating?? Isn't there a law somewhere??

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Fraud on Contracts
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METTER, GEORGIA -- I renewed my XM radio in Dec. 07 for a full year. While doing so the representative told me about a free radio that I could carry ANYWHERE. All I had to do was agree to a 3 month trial subscription. When I received the XM radio that I could carry anywhere it need a car with a cassette player so I could use it. Imagine a radio you can CARRY along with a CAR ANYWHERE! Anyway I called them the day after I received it and told them I wanted to return it because it was not what I was led to believe it was. They told me I could not return it because it was free.

So I told them please cancel the service for it, I was told it would cost $100 to cancel it. No way, they told me to let it run out in 3 months was my only option. I decided to put it in another car and at least get some service for my money. The only problem was the car we have would have to be cut on to mount the antenna. I took it to a Best Buy and they told me it basically impossible to put it in the car. That it would be cheaper to buy a radio to go in the dash that has XM capability. Okay we are getting somewhere.

I call XM with the new radio ID to change the service to a radio that works and they told me I could not change the sportscaster service to the radio in the car. They told the Best Buy installer that he could have installed the sportscaster if he was not an idiot. Then the XM rep told me that I was an idiot for going to Best Buy to get the sportscaster installed because in his words it was a piece of ** to begin with.

That was it, I told them to cancel both radios and refund my money. Of course they did not. They still to this day try to charge my credit card, send threatening letters to my home. And by the way I did manage to find a cassette player and power the sportscaster radio that you can take anywhere, IT DID NOT WORK. So think twice before giving your money to these people, they are pirates even in this day and age.

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XM Satellite Radio Rating:
Star Empty star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.0 out of 5, based on 1 ratings and
120 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
XM Satellite Radio
1500 Eckington Place NE
Washington, DC 20002-2194
866-962-2557 (ph)
202-380-4500 (fax)
www.xmradio.com
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