Sirius Satellite Radio Consumer Reviews - Page 8

We had subscribed to Sirius when it first came out. It has not only been a bad choice, but continues to get worse. The system has difficulty capturing the signals from satellite and you have to constantly change the receiving channel to get reception as you drive. Just to be clear, every channel does have frequent adds.

We have also had difficulty with the service from the company. The customer service center is rude. They have called us after we no longer wanted to subscribe. They offered us 6 months for free to continue with the product, but then sent us an bill and to collections for not paying the bill, after we cancelled the service and had not used the system. These guys are joke of a company and have shady business practices. We will never subscribe to Sirius or XM again.

When I bought a subscription and radio for Sirius a couple of years ago, they suddenly dumped SEC play-by-play games from their lineup. That was the whole reason I GOT Sirius and not XM. So, now that they merged, I decided to upgrade my subscription to "The Best of XM". In doing so, I had to buy a compatible radio too. Obviously I have sunk a lot of money into Sirius, so I asked their customer service if they would throw in a vehicle kit with my new radio and upgraded subscription. The guy agreed to do that and then I confirmed it once again before I hung up.

So a week later, the radio arrives with NO vehicle kit that he promised me! So I call and they have no record of it in their notes. So the guy scammed me in order to make a sale. I told them to go back and review the recording of the phone call I made the prior week. They said they would do that and for me to call back in 2 days (so they would have time to review it). I waited 3 days, called back, and they had no idea what I was talking about and nobody had reviewed the recording. Then the guy said he would look into it, he put me on hold, and then disconnected me a minute later. Unbelievable.

I also sent them an email after getting hung up on, and they didn't respond to that either. All 5 or 6 of the customer service reps were Indian and I could barely understand what they were saying. Even the supervisor spoke broken English. Why can't I speak to someone I can understand (and can understand me)??

I turned on Sirius radio in my command truck for 1 year only. They told me it would not be a problem. I am no longer Chief, no longer have the command truck. I can reach Sirius customer no service to BUY something but I can not close the account for that vehicle! I have waited on hold 30 minutes, 45 minutes and today 32 minutes and 26 minutes - mysteriously getting disconnected tonight. Last week I was told it would cost $75.00 to close an account I pre-paid for 1 year. When is someone going to start fining these people? They intentionally don't answer the phone or simply hang up!

NEW JERSEY -- I originally sent this message via the Sirius website. Why have I not received a response? I am currently considering cancelling my family's subscription. I am appalled by your decision to eliminate the Rumbon music channel and consolidating all Latino music programming into one channel. Doing so demonstrates your lack in understanding the Latino consumer market.

You have not taken into account the complexities of the Latino consumer's musical tastes and styles that differ from one region of Latin America to the next. You would never consolidate multiple English language music channels into one. Your listeners would not tolerate having only one channel for Rock & Roll, Blues, Jazz, Soul, 70's, 50's and Heavy Metal music. What makes you think you can get away with doing this in the Latino Market?

The musical preferences of Latinos vary by age, country of origin, ability to speak the language, etc. There's Merengue, Raggaeton, Boleros, Salsa... too many styles to list here. If you want to attract and maintain the Hispanic listener you must begin to provide a wider choice of Latino musical programming. At a time when terrestrial radio is investing in HD Radio stations, perhaps you should think about strategies for gaining ground with what will soon be the largest segment of the U.S. population.

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA -- If you like the same commercial over and over get Sirius XM Radio. Gone are the days of just music on the music channels. You will hear Sirius advertising itself after every other song. Hey I write you a check every month. I do not need you reminding me of that fact when I am trying to relax. Who thought bad DJs would be a good addition, these guys and gals suck! Get HD, buy a CD a month with the $13 they want for the service but if you want uninterrupted music DO NOT get Sirius.

With XM gone there is no competition now and it shows. They have gone way downhill. Anyone want to buy a used Stiletto 2 receiver? By the way hope you enjoy poor customer service when calling in, no additional charge. I have only had one good customer experience and that was with a supervisor.

MCKINNEY, TEXAS -- A few weeks ago as I was getting in my car to go to work, I noticed that my Sirius radio had been stolen. It was not a forced entry as I forgot to lock my car. I immediately called the police to file a report and Sirius so that they could temporarily suspend my service.

After going through their menu options, I was transferred to a customer rep, Tanya, who was extremely helpful. I told her my story and she informed me that they would be sending me a new radio and that it would take seven days. They would also be giving me a $15 credit on my account to cover the radio replacement. Today I received my new radio. All I have to do now is call them to activate it and I will be on my merry way.

DO NOT start Sirius subscription - it is nearly impossible to stop. (AOL used to do this same nonsense). Sirius auto-renews subscription enabled by the credit card they insist on having to establish the account. I tried in 2006 to cancel my 2007 subscription (yearly term). They blew off the call saying nothing was noted in my account so I let it go but pressed hard to not renew in 2008. I called several times to make sure 2008 would not renew and service stopped in Jan. Come Feb, March 2008 I get bills after a series of 'please come back' letters that look the same.

I complained (loudly) and had the $35 (for 2 months service!!!) reduced to $20 but $ wasn't really the point. I was forced into paying anything to keep a collection from my credit. I feel very betrayed and manipulated by Sirius. If you're considering the product please also know most of their programming is lame with a lot of commercials (e.g. listed to CNBC TV without the picture - that's their financial programming). An MP3 player is much cheaper and buying CDs is much less likely to haunt your credit cards. Last they denied a $50 rebate offer after the purchase of a Starmate. Sleazy business practices - stay away!

Think you have paid in advance for a year and when it's up they simply cut your service? Wrong. They take your credit card # and renew you for a year, without notification or invoice. Did you make a one-time advance payment and then decide to drop the service? Think they will just cancel you at the end of year? Wrong again. They continue the service, hound you with phone calls then say you owe them money for the continued service, THEN TURN YOU OVER TO A COLLECTION AGENCY IN TWO MONTHS TIME, even after you cancel over the phone!

The customer service people are located off-shore in the Caribbean. It is just a big scam to get more money from cancellations. NCO is the agency and if you try to leave them a message they have a special line just for Sirius, and the mailbox is FULL. That should tell you something. DO NOT subscribe to Sirius. If you are a subscriber and want to cancel, call them and make sure you are clear the terms of cancellation and never give them a CC#. If it looks like a duck and it walks like a duck THEN IT IS A DUCK. Sirius is a seedy organization. I used to rave about them to all I met. They have made a fool of me.

AKRON, OHIO -- The reason I picked Sirius over XM was that I liked the rock stations and my wife liked station 10, which was the only light rock station on Sirius. Well Sirius has decided to use that station for 24 hours per day of Bruce Springsteen. There no longer is any light rock station. I am very sorry I got Sirius instead of XM and I may spend the $200 to change over because of this. This is because my wife is now very unhappy with her satellite radio. The E Street Radio they put on 10 is just a gimmick- no one would listen to it for two hours per day.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- I have been a Sirius subscriber now for 4 months. I should have stayed with radio. If it's music you're after, you can fit more tunes onto a single CD than what most Sirius channels have on their playlist. I have listened to the same 30-40 tracks now for four months. It's like I have a CD stuck in my CD player. It's pathetic.

And don't be fooled by the "no commercials" BS. There are plenty commercials, on the news channels especially. This morning I went through 7 news channels in quick succession.... commercials on every one of them at the same time for a period of several minutes! I will NOT be renewing my subscription. Sirius is a total waste of time and money.