Sirius-XM Beware!

I have a Bank of America Visa card that has a WONDERFUL feature. I can go online and generate what they call a "Shop Safe Number." It is a one time use credit card number, with its own expiration date and CVV number. You set the allowable charge limit and the time to expiration. Give them that number, they can charge it ONE time. I use it all the time on internet purchases.

It bit me on the butt one time. I made airline reservations with it, and took out travel insurance. The airline processed the charge for the tickets then gave the number to the insurance company. The card would not work for the travel insurance because it was a second use. They had to call me for another CC number.

If you really want their product, but not their shady business practice, you can purchase a gift card and never give them your credit card info: Siriux-XM gift card We did that for many years after being burned once.

When you call to cancel, if you do renew, they are VERY careful about making sure they tell you it will be auto renew at the then going rate. If this is a surprise or a mystery, you're simply not listening to them.

I use a credit card and always tell them to take the card off file and send me a bill. They also send an e-mail when my subscription is almost up. Never had a problem with being surprised with an auto renew.

I really don't like their business practices. They should just offer the service at a reasonable price in the first place. But, frankly, if you're caught off guard by an auto renew from Sirius, it's your own fault for not listening.

I had a 5 year subscription about 15+ years ago that was priced at about $750.

They auto renewed that for another 5 years at $750. I called them and rejected that option and asked for a lesser subscription. They offered a 5 year program for $375. I said that I still wanted a lesser subscription. . . and about an hour later they called back and offered a life-time subscription for $375, which I accepted.

I'm sure that that option does not currently exist, but it was when Sirius and XM were merging and they were very cash poor.

I have an independent receiver that I move between the MH, my office, and home, with separate antennas.

I recently purchased a vehicle for my wife that offered a Sirius subscription, free for 3 months, $5 per month for 6 months and $10 per month beyond that when combined with my life-time subscription in a family package. It seems fair to me.

I got caught in that mysterious auto-renewal its in the contract BS several years ago.

Bought new car. It expired. I called them. They quoted a price. I said too high per month, do you have a one-time annual price.

Sales rep said sure, we can give you one year for $79. I said, that's great, sign me up! I put it on my Visa.

One year later ,I got charged more than $200 for an auto renewal. I called them to complain. They said its in the agreement.

I told them my next call was going to be to the state police to file a complaint for credit card fraud because if I would have been told additional years at the regular price, I would have hung up. I also told them that if they had a recording of my phone conversation they better not destroy it. It may be evidence of credit card fraud.

They told me someone else would have to credit my Visa and put me on hold for 27 minutes at which time I hung up and called VISA.

I explained all this to Visa and the charges were removed from my bill.

Funny thing is, Sirius later sent a paper bill for $29 for a month -LOL. I tore it up. Haven't given them a dime since.

They must like me. They still send promos and call me. When they call, I tell the sales rep that I will NEVER have Sirius-XM ever again and if they do away with AM/FM radio I will whistle to myself going down the highway before I give your company a dime. I get the impression they hear this often from their reaction.

Too bad they had to resort to shady sales tactics like that. I probably would use the service if they hadn't done that to me.

I do not believe you can enter into a contract by osmosis. Maybe that's why the company is really sure to explain the additional years price now. When it happened to me, they said nothing about any requirement to take anything more than the one year for $79.

Check this out:

I wasn't the only one.

BluegrassBill wrote:
I quit after a few years of "playing the game" and just got tired of it. I still get a five month $25 plus tax offer every week or so, Never again.

If you don't need or enjoy it I don't blame you one bit. Problem is that I really enjoy some of the content i.e. news and certain music. We have one vehicle without it and I must say I do miss the choices when traveling in it.

What I can't understand is that they have a good product, and if they would just offer a reasonable price without having to bargain for it, they should have good business.

Also, why alienate your customers with the auto-renewal gimmick. I honestly feel all this is because we live in times where folks are too busy to pay attention to costs, and it's easier to just pay whatever is asked and not have to mess with it.

I quit after a few years of "playing the game" and just got tired of it. I still get a five month $25 plus tax offer every week or so, Never again.

dryfly wrote:
After 5 years I've learned how to play the renewal game without a lot of talk.

I pay $30 for 5 months service. Every time I call to renew that special offer is no longer in existence. I now understand I have to let them offer me the 1 year and 6 months offer which I then refuse by simply saying "no".

Then they offer the $30 deal and I accept. If there is a problem hang up and call another off-shore rep.

I only pay by check, but fully understand the hazards of auto-renewal.

Exactly what we do. After a number of billing snafu's, we started paying by check.

After 5 years I've learned how to play the renewal game without a lot of talk.

I pay $30 for 5 months service. Every time I call to renew that special offer is no longer in existence. I now understand I have to let them offer me the 1 year and 6 months offer which I then refuse by simply saying "no".

Then they offer the $30 deal and I accept. If there is a problem hang up and call another off-shore rep.

I only pay by check, but fully understand the hazards of auto-renewal.

Gdetrailer wrote:

navybanker wrote:
We told them last year we were canceling by phone. Several years ago the person from Guatemala said you can get a paper copy and just not pay. We repeatedly said no to any auto-renewal and the person said you can do that. We haven't listened to their service since. That is what we did. Now they say from Guatemala that there is nothing but auto-renewal.They ignored our phone call last year. I asked for any signed agreement and they say it is all by phone. My real point is don't believe a word they tell you over the phone! Never give them your credit card which we didn't. There, my rant is over.

READ THEIR TOS!

Found HERE

"Your Subscription may automatically renew under this Agreement.
Your Subscription will continue for the length of the initial term you select on your plan and at the end of your prepaid Subscription, it will automatically renew for additional prepaid periods
of the same length unless you choose to cancel prior to that renewal
. In order to cancel your subscription you must call us at 1-866-
635-2349. Your account will automatically be charged (or you will be billed, as applicable) at the rates in effect at the time of renewal."

Seams extremely CLEAR and they have clearly mentioned auto renewal and the fact you MUST CALL THEM TO CANCEL..

Later on the TOS it does mention a THREE DAY WINDOW to cancel the automatic renewal for the next year of service.

It is in there, you should always READ THE TOS or FINE PRINT before agreeing or signing any legal binding agreements..

Are putting up the terms of service just as a reminder for everyone? If it is for navybanker, in the post that you quoted he says they called and cancelled.

Seems like a LOT of companies are doing "business" this way now. Everything is "automatic", and by agreeing to one thing verbally means you agree to a bunch of other things, whether or not you want to.

I certainly agree that everyone should read the Terms of Service for everything they ever buy, but it seems to be easy for companies to hide things in the ToS when deals are made verbally, and "signed" electronically. The lack of actual paperwork most times is NOT a good thing!