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XM Satellite Radio Complaint - How to Cancel XM Radio
Complaint
So, you've decided XM and you just don't get along anymore, eh? Time to move on. Perhaps you've received a notice in the mail from XM, letting you know that your contract is about to end. Perhaps your account is set to auto-renew. Time to cancel it before they charge your credit card.
So you log onto the XM website, and go into Online Account Management. You should be able to just un-check a box or something, and that should take care of it, right? You click on the Radio(s) and Subscriptions tab, and a little message appears: "We are in the process of updating your account. Certain features will be inaccessible for the next 10 minutes. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." Sounds reasonable. They must be doing some system maintenance.
You'll find, though, that this message appears not only ten minutes later, but ten hours later. The fact is, you're not going to be able to access that check box and cancel your account. So you try to use the venerable online contact form. It's not easy to find, but there is one.
You fill it out, stating clearly "Here is my account number, my radio id, my name, my address, my phone number. Please cancel my account right now."
If you walk away now, thinking you've accomplished your task, you're making a big mistake. XM has an unstated policy that cancellations must be done OVER the PHONE. Letters? Nope, not good enough. Email? It's ignored. And as you found out, the online account management doesn't work.
So you call 1-800-967-2346. A computer answers and insists that you speak your responses. You state "Account Management" as prompted, and then provide your zip code. The computer already knows your phone number, using caller id. It tells you it is accessing your account. It gives you a list of choices, one of which is "Cancel". You say "Cancel" and the computer says please hold, while it goes off to find a human being to talk to you. At this point, you may find yourself on hold for a very long time. There will be no intermittent message, such as, "Thank you for holding, we'll be right with you". You'll possibly think they have hung up, prompting you to do the same. You may give up at this point. Don't. There is a way to cancel, I promise. Just hang in there.
Or, instead of being put on hold, a person answers, asks you to identify yourself (the computer hasn't shared this information with him, sadly), and asks what he/she can do for you. You say, Cancel my account. A few seconds later, the line goes dead. (This happened to me twice. Coincidence? You decide.)
So finally it dawns on you that your account has been flagged, somewhere in the bowels of the XM customer service system. A little flag has been set to alert XM that you are trying to cancel your account. It's possible that the flag was set as your contract termination date approached. Any attempt you make to contact XM will be thwarted, due to this flag. They know what you're trying to do, and they're not going to make it easy.
All right, you say, so how DO I cancel XM radio?? Try this: call the 800 number. AS SOON AS THE COMPUTER BEGINS TO TALK, hit the zero key on your phone. The computer goes off to find a human being. At this point, XM does not know who you are. (They could, since they do have your phone number, but you haven't "logged in" by giving it your zip code, so you are anonymous at this point.) You get a customer service rep. His/her job is to figure out just what you're up to. Once you tell him/her you're trying to cancel, he/she connects you with someone in a faraway land, who seems to be having dinner with manner noisy people at the table. It's very hard to hear her, but hang in there. You're almost done.
When she asks why you're canceling, say you don't listen to XM much, so it's not worth paying for. She will try to sell you on various discounted plans. Say, "No, I want to cancel." She will say, okay, we will let you have XM for free for three months, but you'll have to call us back to cancel in three months. You say, "No, I want to cancel right now."
Just keep repeating the "I want to cancel" mantra, and eventually they will cancel your account.
Are you done? Not yet! This is where we separate the men from the boys. You will need to make sure they turn your access off. VERY important. If you are still receiving XM's signal, even if you don't want it, they have the right to claim you are using the service and they can bill you for it. But they can't do that, I hear you say. I told them to cancel the account! Oh really? Did you get that in writing? Of course not - they forced you to communicate via phone. They ignored your emails. They don't accept letters.
So what do you do now? Call them back and hope that they finally cancel, is all. I've kind of misled you. There really is no sure-fire way to cancel XM radio. Once you've signed up, you are at their mercy, until THEY decide to let YOU go.
So you log onto the XM website, and go into Online Account Management. You should be able to just un-check a box or something, and that should take care of it, right? You click on the Radio(s) and Subscriptions tab, and a little message appears: "We are in the process of updating your account. Certain features will be inaccessible for the next 10 minutes. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." Sounds reasonable. They must be doing some system maintenance.
You'll find, though, that this message appears not only ten minutes later, but ten hours later. The fact is, you're not going to be able to access that check box and cancel your account. So you try to use the venerable online contact form. It's not easy to find, but there is one.
You fill it out, stating clearly "Here is my account number, my radio id, my name, my address, my phone number. Please cancel my account right now."
If you walk away now, thinking you've accomplished your task, you're making a big mistake. XM has an unstated policy that cancellations must be done OVER the PHONE. Letters? Nope, not good enough. Email? It's ignored. And as you found out, the online account management doesn't work.
So you call 1-800-967-2346. A computer answers and insists that you speak your responses. You state "Account Management" as prompted, and then provide your zip code. The computer already knows your phone number, using caller id. It tells you it is accessing your account. It gives you a list of choices, one of which is "Cancel". You say "Cancel" and the computer says please hold, while it goes off to find a human being to talk to you. At this point, you may find yourself on hold for a very long time. There will be no intermittent message, such as, "Thank you for holding, we'll be right with you". You'll possibly think they have hung up, prompting you to do the same. You may give up at this point. Don't. There is a way to cancel, I promise. Just hang in there.
Or, instead of being put on hold, a person answers, asks you to identify yourself (the computer hasn't shared this information with him, sadly), and asks what he/she can do for you. You say, Cancel my account. A few seconds later, the line goes dead. (This happened to me twice. Coincidence? You decide.)
So finally it dawns on you that your account has been flagged, somewhere in the bowels of the XM customer service system. A little flag has been set to alert XM that you are trying to cancel your account. It's possible that the flag was set as your contract termination date approached. Any attempt you make to contact XM will be thwarted, due to this flag. They know what you're trying to do, and they're not going to make it easy.
All right, you say, so how DO I cancel XM radio?? Try this: call the 800 number. AS SOON AS THE COMPUTER BEGINS TO TALK, hit the zero key on your phone. The computer goes off to find a human being. At this point, XM does not know who you are. (They could, since they do have your phone number, but you haven't "logged in" by giving it your zip code, so you are anonymous at this point.) You get a customer service rep. His/her job is to figure out just what you're up to. Once you tell him/her you're trying to cancel, he/she connects you with someone in a faraway land, who seems to be having dinner with manner noisy people at the table. It's very hard to hear her, but hang in there. You're almost done.
When she asks why you're canceling, say you don't listen to XM much, so it's not worth paying for. She will try to sell you on various discounted plans. Say, "No, I want to cancel." She will say, okay, we will let you have XM for free for three months, but you'll have to call us back to cancel in three months. You say, "No, I want to cancel right now."
Just keep repeating the "I want to cancel" mantra, and eventually they will cancel your account.
Are you done? Not yet! This is where we separate the men from the boys. You will need to make sure they turn your access off. VERY important. If you are still receiving XM's signal, even if you don't want it, they have the right to claim you are using the service and they can bill you for it. But they can't do that, I hear you say. I told them to cancel the account! Oh really? Did you get that in writing? Of course not - they forced you to communicate via phone. They ignored your emails. They don't accept letters.
So what do you do now? Call them back and hope that they finally cancel, is all. I've kind of misled you. There really is no sure-fire way to cancel XM radio. Once you've signed up, you are at their mercy, until THEY decide to let YOU go.
Comments:
Posted by Sparticus on 2007-11-22:
Then after successfully cancelling.... Sign-up for Sirius... =)
Signed
Happy Sirius Subscriber
Signed
Happy Sirius Subscriber
Posted by KenPopcorn on 2007-11-22:
Good post, very interesting. Why would anyone pay for radio in the first place? From what I have heard, it isn't anything that you can't already get for free.
Posted by PassingBy on 2007-11-22:
According to the contract a subscriber can cancel by email, regular mail or telephone. Another way would be to access the account management online and remove the credit card information. They also say that if the account is not paid they will cancel service after a 'grace period', but they don't say how long that is.
Posted by jktshff1 on 2007-11-22:
KenP: I, like Sparticus am a happy Sirius user.
I put 250 800 mile a week on my car, traveling my territory.
Having a radio that has a variety of stations to listen to that I am familiar with and have programmed, no matter where you are, helps the time go by.
I put 250 800 mile a week on my car, traveling my territory.
Having a radio that has a variety of stations to listen to that I am familiar with and have programmed, no matter where you are, helps the time go by.
Posted by superbowl on 2007-11-22:
Sirius came free for 36 months with our new car. We like Sirius, once and awhile it will say lost signal but it's back within seconds most of the time.
Posted by Captain Video on 2007-11-22:
PassingBy - I would go online and remove the credit card information, if I could. As I said in my write-up, I can't get to that information. The page is "being updated" - apparently forever!
KenPopcorn - The lack of commercials makes paid radio worthwhile, for many people. Some of the channels play some great stuff. Some content is exclusive to XM. There are reasons. However, I am finding places online (Pandora, for example) with great variety, at no cost. I work at my Mac all day long, so online works for me. If I were a commuter, I'd have stayed with XM.
KenPopcorn - The lack of commercials makes paid radio worthwhile, for many people. Some of the channels play some great stuff. Some content is exclusive to XM. There are reasons. However, I am finding places online (Pandora, for example) with great variety, at no cost. I work at my Mac all day long, so online works for me. If I were a commuter, I'd have stayed with XM.
Posted by Captain Video on 2007-11-22:
Quick update: though I called to cancel yesterday, I am still receiving XM service. This leads me to think I haven't really been cancelled. Today I called (they work on Thanksgiving, I guess) (it's not a holiday overseas) and was reassured that the account was closed. The reason I'm still "receiving service" is due to a two-week free promotion. In two weeks, it will turn itself off, and I won't be charged a penny. Hmm. This is a cause for concern, since I just sold my Polk XM unit online. I would hate to be paying bills for service for some guy in Illinois, ya know?
Posted by PassingBy on 2007-11-22:
Maybe they can send an email stating the service has been canceled. Then at least you would have something in writing. Anything they say over the phone is worthless.
Posted by Captain Video on 2007-11-22:
I asked if they could send me an email or a letter confirming that the account was closed, but the rep said they didn't do that. Nothing in writing. Confirming a closed account is just standard business practice, but XM doesn't do it. I was able to get an invoice printed off the account management page, showing an account balance of -.39. They owe me thiry-nine cents. The invoice makes no mention of the account being closed, however.
This whole experience has been completely unexpected. I thought XM was a class outfit, until I tried to part company with them. Very surprising.
This whole experience has been completely unexpected. I thought XM was a class outfit, until I tried to part company with them. Very surprising.
Posted by geather-c on 2007-11-23:
Just purchased a new car it came with xm sat radio and from what I have read you can be sure I will either send a payment(6 months or wait for them to send a discounted plan)then pay by money order then if I decide to cancel call them and send a certified letter with a copy sent to the attorney generals office in my state and a copy to the federal trade commission and go from there.plus send a letter of dispute to the big 3 credit reporting agencies.remember be on top and cover your A _ _
Posted by LarryDan on 2007-11-23:
Happy XM subscriber here, the cancelation stories are horrible, but have no plans to cancel in the foreseeable future. I am in the market for home kit for my roady xt tho...anyone know of good deal?
Posted by 2Snoopy2 on 2008-02-09:
I had similar problems trying to cancel my XM service, so after going back and forth with them I finally told my credit card company that charges from XM were not authorized and to be declined. This took care of the problem for me.
Posted by salvadorbriancastro on 2008-02-25:
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO ME.
MY LAWYER RECORDED THE ENTIRE PROCESS.
YOU DOCUMENTED IT VERY WELL.
SAME NUMBER OF HANG UPS, SAME DISCOUNT OFFERS AND SAME B.S.
MY LAWYER RECORDED THE ENTIRE PROCESS.
YOU DOCUMENTED IT VERY WELL.
SAME NUMBER OF HANG UPS, SAME DISCOUNT OFFERS AND SAME B.S.
Posted by trilamdiver on 2008-06-03:
XM is not the only Sat. company that does this. Sirius does the same thing except it doesn't even have an online option to cancel. My wife was on the phone for over 2.5 hours with 5 different customer service reps before we got one from the cancellation dept. to actually cancel the account. While she was on the phone I had her cancel mine at the same time. We both had lease vehicles. So the try to talk her into a home unit. No thanks. Get away and get away fast The wife is writing the attorney general to complain about this deceitful practice. Hopefully people in the future will not have to put up with this B.S.
Posted by Tarik824 on 2008-10-06:
We went through this same crap last weekend. Maybe this will help some others.
First, try to do the online stuff. After that works or doesn't work, though, send a CERTIFIED LETTER WITH RETURN RECEIPT - this is going to cost you $6.00+, and you'll end up sending two of them - that's still cheaper than spending hours on the phone for most people.
Send the letter to the following individuals (as of 10/06/2008):
Ms. Dara F. Altman, CEO
Sirius XM Radio Inc.
1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th Floor
New York, New York 10020
RL&F Service Corp.
Registered Agent, Sirius XM Radio, Inc.
P.O. Box 551
Wilmington, DE 19801
Sending this letter certified mail to these people is LEGAL SERVICE on them, and you aren't obligated to do anything more. You'll still have to watch your credit card statements to make sure that you don't get charged again, but this should be sufficient to terminate the agreement.
Here's a sample letter you can use, as well:
STREET ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP
Telephone (123) 456-7890
e-mail XXX@ABC.NET
CURRENT DATE
Ms. Dara F. Altman, CEO
Sirius XM Radio Inc.
1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th Floor
New York, New York 10020
CERTIFIED MAIL NO. (THIS IS A 20 DIGIT NUMBER ON THE STICKER THAT GOES ON THE ENVELOPE)
RE: Your Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Account No. IF YOU CAN FIND IT; IF NOT, PUT YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER
Dear Ms. Altman
This letter is to confirm the telephone conversation that I had with one of your representatives on Saturday, October 4, 2008. On that date, I spent over an hour and a half on the telephone attempting to cancel my account. I had to make a total of four (4) telephone calls to your organization. After I told the first person that I wished to cancel the service, I was put on hold and eventually was cut off with a fast busy signal. After I called back and re-input my information, this happened twice more.
On the fourth occasion, I followed the instructions for cancelling that I found on the internet; specifically not to input any identifying information, but rather to go directly to the operator. I told the woman who answered the telephone that I did not want to be put on hold, but rather wanted her to stay on the line until I was successfully able to terminate my account with your company.
Eventually, I was connected to a person who attempted to cajole, entice and eventually coerce me into retaining service. I was firm in my resolve that I wanted to cancel my subscription IMMEDIATELY and receive a refund for any unpaid subscription that may remain. I was advised that it would occur “soon”, and that no written confirmation of this could occur. She declined to provide a name, employee number or any other identifying information to me.
This letter is to confirm that I want my account cancelled immediately. Based upon my experience and that reported on a number of internet web sites, I have little faith that the telephone call that I made will accomplish this result. As a result, this letter is being sent to you and to the Registered Agent for your company as notice of my desire. Any future attempts to charge services to my credit card will be reported as consumer fraud.
Please confirm in writing and within ten (10) days of your receipt of this letter that this account has been cancelled.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
Cc: RL&F Service Corp., Certified Mail No. THIS IS A DIFFERENT NUMBER THAN ABOVE
P.O. Box 551
Wilmington, DE 19801
NOTE -- DON'T BE STUPID -- YOU HAVE TO MODIFY THE DETAILS ABOVE TO FIT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION.
Make sure you keep a copy of the letter, keep the mailing receipt, and then keep the green postcard that's proof of your mailing (or you can do the web printout, which is a little cheaper). If you can't find these things later, then IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.
Good luck. You'll need it to get rid of them.
Incidentally - you can almost always find contact information in SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings about who the corporate officers are, their office address, etc. Also, you can always serve a "Registered Agent" with any legal notice. When in doubt, go online to the Secretary of State in Deleware and look for the corporate name.
First, try to do the online stuff. After that works or doesn't work, though, send a CERTIFIED LETTER WITH RETURN RECEIPT - this is going to cost you $6.00+, and you'll end up sending two of them - that's still cheaper than spending hours on the phone for most people.
Send the letter to the following individuals (as of 10/06/2008):
Ms. Dara F. Altman, CEO
Sirius XM Radio Inc.
1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th Floor
New York, New York 10020
RL&F Service Corp.
Registered Agent, Sirius XM Radio, Inc.
P.O. Box 551
Wilmington, DE 19801
Sending this letter certified mail to these people is LEGAL SERVICE on them, and you aren't obligated to do anything more. You'll still have to watch your credit card statements to make sure that you don't get charged again, but this should be sufficient to terminate the agreement.
Here's a sample letter you can use, as well:
STREET ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP
Telephone (123) 456-7890
e-mail XXX@ABC.NET
CURRENT DATE
Ms. Dara F. Altman, CEO
Sirius XM Radio Inc.
1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th Floor
New York, New York 10020
CERTIFIED MAIL NO. (THIS IS A 20 DIGIT NUMBER ON THE STICKER THAT GOES ON THE ENVELOPE)
RE: Your Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Account No. IF YOU CAN FIND IT; IF NOT, PUT YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER
Dear Ms. Altman
This letter is to confirm the telephone conversation that I had with one of your representatives on Saturday, October 4, 2008. On that date, I spent over an hour and a half on the telephone attempting to cancel my account. I had to make a total of four (4) telephone calls to your organization. After I told the first person that I wished to cancel the service, I was put on hold and eventually was cut off with a fast busy signal. After I called back and re-input my information, this happened twice more.
On the fourth occasion, I followed the instructions for cancelling that I found on the internet; specifically not to input any identifying information, but rather to go directly to the operator. I told the woman who answered the telephone that I did not want to be put on hold, but rather wanted her to stay on the line until I was successfully able to terminate my account with your company.
Eventually, I was connected to a person who attempted to cajole, entice and eventually coerce me into retaining service. I was firm in my resolve that I wanted to cancel my subscription IMMEDIATELY and receive a refund for any unpaid subscription that may remain. I was advised that it would occur “soon”, and that no written confirmation of this could occur. She declined to provide a name, employee number or any other identifying information to me.
This letter is to confirm that I want my account cancelled immediately. Based upon my experience and that reported on a number of internet web sites, I have little faith that the telephone call that I made will accomplish this result. As a result, this letter is being sent to you and to the Registered Agent for your company as notice of my desire. Any future attempts to charge services to my credit card will be reported as consumer fraud.
Please confirm in writing and within ten (10) days of your receipt of this letter that this account has been cancelled.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
Cc: RL&F Service Corp., Certified Mail No. THIS IS A DIFFERENT NUMBER THAN ABOVE
P.O. Box 551
Wilmington, DE 19801
NOTE -- DON'T BE STUPID -- YOU HAVE TO MODIFY THE DETAILS ABOVE TO FIT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION.
Make sure you keep a copy of the letter, keep the mailing receipt, and then keep the green postcard that's proof of your mailing (or you can do the web printout, which is a little cheaper). If you can't find these things later, then IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.
Good luck. You'll need it to get rid of them.
Incidentally - you can almost always find contact information in SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings about who the corporate officers are, their office address, etc. Also, you can always serve a "Registered Agent" with any legal notice. When in doubt, go online to the Secretary of State in Deleware and look for the corporate name.
Posted by stuckwithxm on 2008-11-13:
Here's a way around the "10 minute" BS:
1. log in to your account and click "Radio(s) & Subscription"
2. you'll get the 10 min notice box, just hit ok
3. the link in your browser should be this:
https://xmro-secure.xmradio.com/listenercare/checkPermission.xm?forwardto=/listenercare/radioandsub.xm
4. change it to this instead:
https://xmro-secure.xmradio.com/listenercare/radioandsub.xm
That will get you past the box and into the acct management area. I dropped down to the $9.99/mo plan and hit submit. Unfortunately, it still didn't go through. I got another BS error instead: "Manage services operation was not processed." I bet if I was selecting a higher tier it would have worked perfectly!
1. log in to your account and click "Radio(s) & Subscription"
2. you'll get the 10 min notice box, just hit ok
3. the link in your browser should be this:
https://xmro-secure.xmradio.com/listenercare/checkPermission.xm?forwardto=/listenercare/radioandsub.xm
4. change it to this instead:
https://xmro-secure.xmradio.com/listenercare/radioandsub.xm
That will get you past the box and into the acct management area. I dropped down to the $9.99/mo plan and hit submit. Unfortunately, it still didn't go through. I got another BS error instead: "Manage services operation was not processed." I bet if I was selecting a higher tier it would have worked perfectly!
Posted by fishnforfive on 2008-11-13:
I called the 800# started hitting zero it went to a CSR I told them my radio was broke she transferd me and was on hold for a long time. Finnaly someone answered I told them the same thing they tried to sell me a new one I told her I was getting a new one for my birthday and would call back an reactivate my account NOT!!!
Posted by IHATEXM on 2008-12-03:
This post is out of date. It is *almost* impossible to cancel your account. I've called the 800-XM-Radio number 4 times, each time getting a fast dial tone after being transferred around, sitting on hold, repeating my information and saying I want to cancel. I think the flag in the system is accurate - They make it impossible to cancel when they refuse to take your call by auto hanging up and won't accept email or letters.
So here I am on try #5...calling from a different phone number directly to a different supposedly "cancellation" phone # 800-998-7900 that the last person gave me before transferring me....HOLDING....FOREVER HOLDING....(pressing zero doesn't do anything)....wow, still holding. I might use all my minutes on this call....OK DISCONNECTED AGAIN.
Calling that number from a different phone now. Ok that worked. Call 800-998-7900 from a different phone number than your number on the account. It still takes a long time but you don't get hung up on. Success.
However, I had two radios (one for car and one for home) I only wanted to cancel the the home radio, but XM said in order to do that I had to make the car radio primary (sounds fine but wait) and in order to do that they were going to charge me a rate of $143 for 12 months (dec. to dec.) even though my current rate is $80 from aug to aug. So they were going to give me a $60 credit and then charge $142. Bull %$@&! I cancelled the whole thing. FORGET IT!
So here I am on try #5...calling from a different phone number directly to a different supposedly "cancellation" phone # 800-998-7900 that the last person gave me before transferring me....HOLDING....FOREVER HOLDING....(pressing zero doesn't do anything)....wow, still holding. I might use all my minutes on this call....OK DISCONNECTED AGAIN.
Calling that number from a different phone now. Ok that worked. Call 800-998-7900 from a different phone number than your number on the account. It still takes a long time but you don't get hung up on. Success.
However, I had two radios (one for car and one for home) I only wanted to cancel the the home radio, but XM said in order to do that I had to make the car radio primary (sounds fine but wait) and in order to do that they were going to charge me a rate of $143 for 12 months (dec. to dec.) even though my current rate is $80 from aug to aug. So they were going to give me a $60 credit and then charge $142. Bull %$@&! I cancelled the whole thing. FORGET IT!
Posted by ricklighty on 2009-01-03:
i called 1/3/09. had the service for about 4-5 years. havent listened in a bout a year but just kept forgetting about it and getting that "updat" bs on the net. i called pressed zero, gave that broken radio and birthday story (golden btw. thank you). and the guy cancelled it for me in a 4 minute phone call. now ill just have to monitor my credit card statement for the next month. im set to get billed in a week or 2.
Posted by rsquirrel on 2009-03-03:
Unbelievably horrible customer service!
The same thing happened to me when I decided to cancel. The guy actually argued with me about cancelling. Then, after wasting all of my time on hold, etc. he hung up on me and I had to start all over.
This was only going to be temporary, until my business picked up again; but because of how badly I was treated today, they have lost me forever.
The same thing happened to me when I decided to cancel. The guy actually argued with me about cancelling. Then, after wasting all of my time on hold, etc. he hung up on me and I had to start all over.
This was only going to be temporary, until my business picked up again; but because of how badly I was treated today, they have lost me forever.
Posted by rubygal87 on 2009-04-20:
Thank you for writing this and giving me the know how and courage to persevere!!!!!! I not only got my 29.99 back that I was calling about but got a total of 71.17 back from where I tried to cancel in November and they did all the tricks on me and after over an hour I finally got hung up on!!! WOO HOO!!
Posted by ctsv on 2009-05-02:
very helpfull, try 1-800-998-7900,gets you a real person sooner. Yes,they try and try to make you change your mind. I told them i was going to sell the car and they wanted to know what new car i was buying, had to insist to CANCEL MY ACCOUNT. I was going to try to cancel on-line but this method, calling, was by far the only way to go. thanks
Posted by Teechur on 2009-07-10:
I found another way after having the same scenario two full years later. We had two broken radios (well, both were burned in a fire) and wanted to cancel those two. Both calls were disconnected. I finally sent an email (a third) to customer support and used the magic words, "Attorney General" and ta da! They canceled within 24 hours!
Posted by goebbels on 2009-07-31:
I've found that the simplest way to cancel any automatic withdrawl is to have the bank put a stop-payment on it. This works great for debit cards. I recently cancelled my xm radio using this method. Quick and easy. And no, xm will never have me as a customer again!!
Posted by BokiBean on 2009-07-31:
Its a shame you have to resort to stop payment to stop it. And doesn't that cost like 30 bucks to do?
Posted by Steve K on 2009-08-02:
It doesn't end when you finally get them to cancel your account either! My call only took 38 minutes (30 of which were on a silent hold) and 25 "No, I just want to cancel my account!"s. At that point, my plan to reactivate my service in a few months was out the door, because I never wanted to go through that cancellation process again.
A couple of days later they sent me a survey, which I was happy to answer. I vociferiously complained about the cancellation process and stated that they had lost a possible returning customer in me. Whether that really accomplishes anything, I doubt it.
About a week after the cancellation, I started receiving emails that offered deals if I would reactivate. They became so frequent that I finally clicked the unsubcribe link and removed myself from their mailing list. (Again a strange business practice to spam people that you want to do business with).
Thinking that I was finally finished dealing with this, I answered my phone a couple of days ago. I didn't recognize the number, and when I answered and they said, "This is XM satellite radio and we would like to offer you..." I told them I was not interested, not to call me again, and then I hung up.
They have moved me from a person who was slightly disappointed in their service, but considering returning, to someone who would never sign back up, and finally to someone who feels compelled to tell others to avoid them.
A couple of days later they sent me a survey, which I was happy to answer. I vociferiously complained about the cancellation process and stated that they had lost a possible returning customer in me. Whether that really accomplishes anything, I doubt it.
About a week after the cancellation, I started receiving emails that offered deals if I would reactivate. They became so frequent that I finally clicked the unsubcribe link and removed myself from their mailing list. (Again a strange business practice to spam people that you want to do business with).
Thinking that I was finally finished dealing with this, I answered my phone a couple of days ago. I didn't recognize the number, and when I answered and they said, "This is XM satellite radio and we would like to offer you..." I told them I was not interested, not to call me again, and then I hung up.
They have moved me from a person who was slightly disappointed in their service, but considering returning, to someone who would never sign back up, and finally to someone who feels compelled to tell others to avoid them.
Posted by NO-XM-BS on 2009-10-23:
Dara Altman
Chief Administrative Officer at Sirius XM Satellite Radio
You can call the Headquarters:
212-584-5100
Press 1 for the company directory then enter the first 3 letters of her last name.
Leave her a voicemail with your concerns.
Or
Send her a message on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dara-altman/11/440/732
If your in my situation it can't hurt anymore than it already has dealing with their "customer service"
Chief Administrative Officer at Sirius XM Satellite Radio
You can call the Headquarters:
212-584-5100
Press 1 for the company directory then enter the first 3 letters of her last name.
Leave her a voicemail with your concerns.
Or
Send her a message on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dara-altman/11/440/732
If your in my situation it can't hurt anymore than it already has dealing with their "customer service"
Posted by xrw on 2009-12-17:
I tried cancelling my XM by phone at first. I was repeatedly put on hold for very long periods then I woujld hang up. Since there is no way of cancelling online I wrote 3 different emails with no response. I asked my credit card company to not pay anything with their name on it and they obliged. XM then started sending me autodial phone calls, and letters stating that I owed them money. They have now sent my account to a collection agency but I will not pay. They also had the audacity to ask me to re-subscibe! Scumbags!!
Posted by Snorkel46526 on 2009-12-27:
I just attempted to cancel my 2nd radio. No way to do it online. When I called XM the first time, I was disconnected. I called back and the gentleman told me it was cancelled, but refused to send me any email confirmation that it was cancelled. So far, my 2nd radio is still showing up on my account.
How horrible is there customer service!
How horrible is there customer service!
Posted by JoSo11 on 2010-01-05:
Even if you don't sign up, you're still screwed if XM is pre-installed on a new car that you buy. Here's my story:
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 scheisters and will think nothing about stealing your hard earned money from you.
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 scheisters and will think nothing about stealing your hard earned money from you.
Posted by PepperElf on 2010-01-05:
would changing your credit card number work too?
or is this directly taken from your bank account?
or is this directly taken from your bank account?
Posted by KenPopcorn on 2010-01-05:
JoSo, I had a similar experience except that I never activated the service. Their heads practically exploded that I wouldn't want the 'free' trial, because I could always just call and cancel it at the end of six months. After the third or fourth call I had to ask them 'what part of I wouldn't take it even for free, do you not understand'? And by the way, why are you asking for my credit card for my 'free' trial?
I'm pretty sure I commute more than anyone else here, and I see no value in it.
I'm pretty sure I commute more than anyone else here, and I see no value in it.
Posted by PepperElf on 2010-01-05:
i love that phrase "what part of *whatever* don't you understand"
it's one of my fav military phrases =)
hey you can even use it for the reps!
"What part of cancel my account don't you understand?" =)
course they might hang up on you or something.
Oh... but if any of you live in NY state, you might want to know that in NY (not sure about other states) there's laws against giving employees a bonus for customer retention.
It was created in response to the AOL issues where reps would pull illegal stuff just to keep you in the sysem
it's one of my fav military phrases =)
hey you can even use it for the reps!
"What part of cancel my account don't you understand?" =)
course they might hang up on you or something.
Oh... but if any of you live in NY state, you might want to know that in NY (not sure about other states) there's laws against giving employees a bonus for customer retention.
It was created in response to the AOL issues where reps would pull illegal stuff just to keep you in the sysem
Posted by skinnysweatyman3@yahoo.com on 2010-01-14:
Here's one. I don't really listen to my radio but always forget to cancel the subscription. A couple months ago, I lost my debit card and got a new one with a different account number. Somehow, XM got a hold of my new card # and started billing my new card. How the bleep did they get my new card number? I certainly didn't give it to them. And I can't even access that part of my account to delete it. Seems illegal to me.
Posted by PepperElf on 2010-01-14:
did you ask the bank about it?
Posted by goduke on 2010-01-14:
Skinny, it's likely that your bank thought they were doing you a "favor" and linked the old card number on automatic billing accounts to the new card.
Posted by bobrobertson on 2010-03-07:
i work for the cancel department at xm and its the shadiest place you will find, they hand out bonus for saving people so people will lie and say service is shut off when really it isnt and will disconnect calls in the middle of calls so they don't get deacts, i personally hate xm and will cancel most accounts if people get ahold of me, most people will not cancel your accounts though, if you need to cancel the direct number is 18009987900 dont go threw all that transfering stuff. save yourself just don't sign up for xm. they will probably track this and fire me but what the hell, I've personally seen people f*ck up everyones life and credit scores with this sh*t. also if they offer you 3mo free dont take it they will roll you over into a 3 year plan (400+dollars).
Posted by johnsislandgirl on 2010-03-15:
Thank you to the XM employee...I called the 18009987900 ...was answered by a real person right away (Gina)...not put on hold and she cancelled my subscription. She said I should lose satellite within a couple of days and my credit card will be credited with the unused portion. It was very easy. All took about 3 minutes.
Posted by Kev_Nak on 2010-03-26:
I had three radios with XM. Called to cancel one of them when I sold the car that it was in. They ran me through the hurdles listed to try and prevent me from cancelling which made me so mad that I cancelled all three of them. I also submitted a complaint with the BBB, which you can do online, and I would suggest everyone do. The BBB will actually send them a letter and do a follow up letter with you to see if the problem was resolved. In this case, it's not so much a problem to be resolved but to let the BBB know what XM does. XM's response to the BBB was "The problem wouldn't have happened if we cancelled the service upon his first request." Yeah --instead of using unethical tactics to try and prevent the cancellation of a service I didn't want. There's another website that I found that had all of the top XM execs email addresses when someone else ran into this problem. I really miss the service though. However, I'll never do business with a company that installs this type of "profit at all costs/screw our customers" practice.
Posted by DrDestructo on 2010-04-10:
Here's another way to cancel without a problem: Tell them you are switching to a Sirius radio. Same company but different account and reps so they seem to cancel without problem.
Posted by mikeshann on 2010-10-22:
their customer service sucks so bad. I have tried 5 times to renew my service after it got cancelled because my credit card got compromised and needed to update the info. The dropped my call twice, once couldn't change my mode, once she couldn't process my CC because their system was down and the last time i was on hold for what seemed like FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRR. Finally just gave up.
Posted by ugadogg on 2010-11-20:
I've been trying to cancel 2 of my XM radios for months and keep getting billed for them. Luckily, my credit card that's on file is no longer valid, so at least they can't keep charging me. I've been through the same runaround as everyone else...hung up on, 'free' offers, etc. As soon as I mentioned my attorney getting involved and requesting the CSR's name for the legal papers, she suddenly became very attentive. I will be making a follow-up call to the 18009987900 number to confirm that it was cancelled. I've been a customer for 8+ years and will be glad to be done with them!
Posted by carpediemtor on 2010-12-02:
Just to carry on this thread, I got a letter from a collection agent in the mail today. My annual XM-Radio account expired and they cut off the service and I figured that's the end of that. Turns out they had re-actived my account and sent the charge to the A-1 collection agency! You would think before they would affect your credit rating they would do a better job of trying to contact you.
I'm going to call both companies tomorrow but I will be letting everyone know load and clear, in person and on the internets, do NOT do business with XM Radio. They are scamming people and I will not tolerate it!! In this day and age for a company with that much visibility, it's suicide to blantantly scam people in this way!!
I'm going to call both companies tomorrow but I will be letting everyone know load and clear, in person and on the internets, do NOT do business with XM Radio. They are scamming people and I will not tolerate it!! In this day and age for a company with that much visibility, it's suicide to blantantly scam people in this way!!
Posted by ROUNDSTAR on 2010-12-17:
I work for xm also and when i started i was told xm does not report delinquent accounts to any credit agency. xm also doesnt collect ssn's so any unpaid balance shouldnt appear on anyone's credit report. we know how hard it is to cancel. as employees we we were offered free service on any radioes we may have. very few people took advantage of it because it would be too hard to cancel if we ever left the company.
Posted by ktgirl on 2011-02-25:
Buyers beware!!!! I suggest you do not subscribe to SiriusXM... they are thieves! After cancelling our subscription they continued to bill us for two quarterly billing cycles and stated they had no record of our cancellation. They refuse to credit our card for the money they defrauded us.
- A concerned former subscriber
- A concerned former subscriber
Posted by eltrippe on 2011-06-09:
Currently, after you try to cancel by email, they decline to permit that form of cancellation, but say you may do so by snail mail. I have just written the letter; we shall see how it goes. At least there is a written record of my request.
Posted by Elizabeth on 2011-07-13:
We cancelled our Sirius subscription after a few years of service because we sold the car. They keep telling me I have a refund of $113 dollars but it never comes. Called several times got the corporate run around. Each time they say 8 weeks and still it never arrives. Basically once they have your hard earned money they don't want to give any of it back. Worst part is they now have lost a customer for life. The worst customer service I have ever seen. Than have the gull to keep calling our house trying to sell us a service for a radio we don't even have anymore. Imagine all the people they owe refunds to that they keep just by dragging thier feet must be in the millions. I guess they figure that folks will just give up. While they rack up free money!! My hard earned money.
Posted by 3center on 2011-10-01:
Our radio stopped working and I bought a new one ($60). Then I called XMSirius and somebody answered on a Sunday afternoon. I told her I wanted to switch our subscription to the new radio and she said it would "unfortunately cost $15 to do so." I told her it *was* unfortunate, but what choice do I have?
Posted by lucky chuck on 2011-12-30:
I tried for 2 hours to canncel..then called 800-998-7900 --in 12 minutes I got chris to canncel my account and promise me $88. refund in 8 to 10 days on my C C account..we shall see..I blocked this Company from all future charges..good luck.
Posted by Web on 2012-01-24:
I actually couldn't believe it. I called 866.635.2349 to cancel and got someone right away. They offered some deals but I declined and they were not pushy. Now, lets hope it actually canceled.
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