Cancelled Serius XM Satellite Radio

JustDave

JustDave

Well-known Member
I can't find the thread where I mentioned not looking forward to cancelling because they require a phone call, rather than just offering and easy on line cancel or reinstate option with one click like all the video streaming services. Someone here suggested using the chat option, and that's the way I went, and it's probably better than the phone call and all the hard sell that goes with it. Chatting still took around a half hour, and they did pitch cheaper options and more services, but it fell short of what I would call hard sell counter proposals.

The service was OK, but after the introductory offer, it just wasn't worth the price for as little time I spend in my car. I'll never go back to Serius XM, because the cumbersome cancellation procedure is something I won't deal with again.
 

I’ve been trying to decide on canceling mine too. For the same reason- I do very little driving since retiring. But I have the serius XM app on my tv through Roku and can listen to it that way. But rarely do.

I am able to remove my XM radio from my vehicle and use it in a docking station (not sure that’s the right name for the device) to listen to music outside as well.

But there are cheaper ways to listen to music and I’m having a hard time justifying the expense.
 
I cancelled mine a few months ago. It was a very irritating experience and I had to get very stern on the phone to get it done. They kept offering me lower prices and once it was done they kept sending emails with lower prices. I was tempted but by then I was disgusted with their business practices. If they can sell it for that price then why not do it all along?

I don't spend much time in my car and it seemed like a waste of money. Now I'm getting familiar with the local stations again and happy about it. :)
 

Myrtle said:
I cancelled mine a few months ago. It was a very irritating experience and I had to get very stern on the phone to get it done. They kept offering me lower prices and once it was done they kept sending emails with lower prices. I was tempted but by then I was disgusted with their business practices. If they can sell it for that price then why not do it all along?

I don't spend much time in my car and it seemed like a waste of money. Now I'm getting familiar with the local stations again and happy about it. :)
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That's what I was expecting on the phone with the hard sell I'd been told about. On the chat, I was polite and would thank them for the better offer, but still wanted to cancel. There were absurdly long periods of time between responses, and I pictured the chat person conferring with a supervisor on what strategy they would use to keep me subscribed. Maybe the chat person was handling 3 chats at the some time. I don't know.

As for the business practice, making it hard to get out of the contract is extremely annoying. I also doubt that it works to their advantage, as I won't return, but that's just me. It's $24 a month, but if you don't want it, they offer it for $6 a month. But that's just for another 12 months and then it defaults to $24 again, so I guess you have to threaten to leave and go through the same negotiations again each year.

Why not just make it $6? Netflix is only $15 without ads and $8 if you want to watch ads, and it seems like you get more for your money from all the movies you can watch + cancel anytime with one click, and resubscribe when you get bored with no questions or manipulations. I'd consider $6 if I didn't have to deal with the nonsense every year, but that's just me, again.
 
JustDave said:
I can't find the thread where I mentioned not looking forward to cancelling because they require a phone call, rather than just offering and easy on line cancel or reinstate option with one click like all the video streaming services. Someone here suggested using the chat option, and that's the way I went, and it's probably better than the phone call and all the hard sell that goes with it. Chatting still took around a half hour, and they did pitch cheaper options and more services, but it fell short of what I would call hard sell counter proposals.

The service was OK, but after the introductory offer, it just wasn't worth the price for as little time I spend in my car. I'll never go back to Serius XM, because the cumbersome cancellation procedure is something I won't deal with again.
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When I bought a newish used van from a dealership a few years ago, I got a piece of mail from Serius XM every freaking week. They obviously knew the van had been resold. I just kept throwing their letters away.

We grew up with free radio, so it feels stupid to pay for it. And we had some really good stations, but most of them suck now, if they still exist. The ads seem endless. So obviously, revenue is the reason radio is dying.

I don't even turn the radio on anymore. I use the CD player.
 
I have not cancelled yet as spouse drives alot and when i do take long drive to daughters it is nice... i tried the local stations but there was more ads then music and i like the option of picking channels that really focus on the type of music/ podcasts ect i am in mood for.
i have the sirius app on my phone and with headphones use workout songs to power walk with or listen to music of my choice when waiting somewhere like an airport.
 
I have subscribed to Sirius for many years. I enjoyed it when I was working and had to travel frequently but mainly listened to news channels and NPR. The music channels were horrible back then and still are it seems. I have Spotify and many playlists that I set up with music I like. I also use Apple Car Play and enjoy listening to books on longer trips. I really should cancel Sirius as I very seldom even access it anymore but it is only $5/month so I have not been very motivated to do anything about it.
 
I smiled when I read all these comments. I too bought a slightly used car and had Sirius for free (for about a month). To cancel was a nightmare. I live in Canada but ended up speaking to some "joker" in India. He wouldn't listen to me and kept trying to renew my subscription. Sure, I finally end the subscription but it cost me 1/2 hour plus of my time.

I'm not against Sirius but I hate how they sneak into new cars and hate how hard it is to cancel. Anyway, I listen to my own USB sticks. My car has 2 outlets. One little USB stick has over 860 songs and I have 6 of them.

Guess I hate it when companies try to "shove stuff down my throat."
 
When I drive I can't stand the distracting noise from the radio, whether it be mindless 'talk' blather or music. Free Serius XM would not be a selling point for me. The only thing I ever want to hear while driving is the Google Maps navigation voice telling me which way to turn, or if there's a speed trap ahead, etc. ;)
 
I like listening to news talk when I drive. I've been a news talk listener since I was a kid. Just for the company. With KGO from San Francisco now defunct, I listen to political leaning hosts and programs that are not my cuppa. But it still can be entertaining. There are 3 YouTube channels now from former KGO hosts, producers and news people that I watch and listen to.

Went way OT. But I think it's terrible when you want to cancel something and they lean on you like that. They should accept what you say and let you cancel. I so hate that hard sell. It's very, very irritating. And can be hard to stay civil. But I do.
 
Sirius XM is like the roach motel; easy and alluring to check into, nigh about impossible to check out. In my area, both new and used cars are sent out to you with a “free trial” of Sirius radio, after which time you’ll be badgered relentlessly in multiple ways to subscribe. The service costs more than most premium video streaming plans, and is worth it only if you listen to a lot of radio in your car and at home.

Having downgraded and re-negotiated with Sirius multiple times, I can tolerate and am more successful with them using the on-line chat avenue as that eliminates the foreign accents, bad connections, and fast or soft voiced speakers that I often encounter with customer service on the phone. Sirius would better retain their customers and expand their base if they would simply make their service affordable, and not require the elaborate hard-sell, song-and-dance shell game negotiations to modify or terminate services…
 
Murrmurr said:
When I bought a newish used van from a dealership a few years ago, I got a piece of mail from Serius XM every freaking week. They obviously knew the van had been resold. I just kept throwing their letters away.

We grew up with free radio, so it feels stupid to pay for it. And we had some really good stations, but most of them suck now, if they still exist. The ads seem endless. So obviously, revenue is the reason radio is dying.

I don't even turn the radio on anymore. I use the CD player.
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I had to smile when I read the part about free radio. I grew up with free TV and swore I'd never pay for TV. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
I can hear Spectrum now, saying, "And how did that work out for you?"
 
I quite like SiriusXM. When they upped the price I called and moved to a lower tier subscription that had all my go-to stations. $72.84 for the year. It's well worth $6.00 a month to me to hear music I like without commercials. Equally important, I can avoid those annoying morning show teams who suffer under the delusion that listeners find their lives interesting and hilarious.
 
Myrtle said:
I cancelled mine a few months ago. It was a very irritating experience and I had to get very stern on the phone to get it done. They kept offering me lower prices and once it was done they kept sending emails with lower prices. I was tempted but by then I was disgusted with their business practices. If they can sell it for that price then why not do it all along?

I don't spend much time in my car and it seemed like a waste of money. Now I'm getting familiar with the local stations again and happy about it. :)
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That's what I always wonder too. When you cancel suddenly they have a better deal. I've never had satellite radio but experienced this same problem with an EX cable provider.
 
Murrmurr said:
I cancelled my cable TV subscription, but I still pay for my internet connection. :(

I get a senior discount on the internet, though. (big woop)
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Ditto. I dumped cable also, who were handling wifi as well as tv and went with someone else. They're ridiculous
 

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