XM radio sub renewel at half price YMMV

cookj

Diamond Member
Feb 19, 2001
3,128
0
0
I got in on the 1/2 price XM subscribtion last january. I recieved a letter saying the would automatically renew my sub, so I called to cancel. I talked to one guy, told him I wanted to cancell because I didn't use it very much, then I was transferred to someone else(that spoke better english) , told him the same thing, then he offered me the same half price deal, $77 for a year. Just thought someone else could use this info :)
 

Richardito

Golden Member
Feb 24, 2001
1,411
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0
Originally posted by: cookj
I got in on the 1/2 price XM subscribtion last january. I recieved a letter saying the would automatically renew my sub, so I called to cancel. I talked to one guy, told him I wanted to cancell because I didn't use it very much, then I was transferred to someone else(that spoke better english) , told him the same thing, then he offered me the same half price deal, $77 for a year. Just thought someone else could use this info :)

Comments like "that spoke better english" is totally unnecessary and makes you look like a biggot. What is better english anyways? I've lived up North and now in the South and have experienced the different accents. I also travel a lot Internationally and meet a lot of people from other countries that know English. Believe me, much better English is spoken out of this country than in!
 

BBock727

Senior member
Jul 22, 2004
246
0
0

Originally posted by: Richardito

Comments like "that spoke better english" is totally unnecessary and makes you look like a biggot. What is better english anyways?


Are you nuts? Maybe the guy he spoke to couldn't speak English at all. No way for you to tell.

Anyway, I have Sirius but ive been pricing out cheaper alternatives. I will try this with my Sirius subscription and see if they want to keep me as badly. Obviously a HUGE YMMV but worth a try! Thanks
 

cookj

Diamond Member
Feb 19, 2001
3,128
0
0
Didn't mean to piss you off, but the person that I talked to first spoke english very badly and was very hard to understand(like some tech support, say for Direcway, which I have).The second person could be understood.
 

Necrosaro420

Senior member
Apr 24, 2005
576
0
0
Because XM has been going down hill the for the last year. Stern and Sirius are kicking butt and taking names. XM will be out of business in the next 2 years.
 

sintaxera

Member
Jul 8, 2005
145
0
0
Sure, Sirius is kicking butt......because they count every UNSOLD car with Sirius in it as a subscriber! But I do like a lot of their electronica, XM's isn't that great. Might tell XM I'm thinking of switching to see if I can get a discount too.
 

nc10

Member
Feb 16, 2002
33
0
0
I'm hoping both stick around to help keep pricing at least somewhat reasonable. If you like to follow MLB, XM is fantastic.
 

nealh

Diamond Member
Nov 21, 1999
7,078
1
0
Originally posted by: cookj
Didn't mean to piss you off, but the person that I talked to first spoke english very badly and was very hard to understand(like some tech support, say for Direcway, which I have).The second person could be understood.

ignore Richardito he has some real issues.....I have spoken to many tech support people and have a huge problem understanding them ... this is no fault of mine..it is becasue of outsourcing...fact of life now
 

Richardito

Golden Member
Feb 24, 2001
1,411
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Originally posted by: nealh
Originally posted by: cookj
Didn't mean to piss you off, but the person that I talked to first spoke english very badly and was very hard to understand(like some tech support, say for Direcway, which I have).The second person could be understood.

ignore Richardito he has some real issues.....I have spoken to many tech support people and have a huge problem understanding them ... this is no fault of mine..it is becasue of outsourcing...fact of life now

Excuse me, nealh, but the issue I have is that I am tired of reading posts with blatant or underlining bigotry in all kind of forums. Cookj explained in the second post and I understand now where he is coming from with that comment. That's it. Thanks.
 

nealh

Diamond Member
Nov 21, 1999
7,078
1
0
Originally posted by: Richardito
Originally posted by: nealh
Originally posted by: cookj
Didn't mean to piss you off, but the person that I talked to first spoke english very badly and was very hard to understand(like some tech support, say for Direcway, which I have).The second person could be understood.

ignore Richardito he has some real issues.....I have spoken to many tech support people and have a huge problem understanding them ... this is no fault of mine..it is becasue of outsourcing...fact of life now

Excuse me, nealh, but the issue I have is that I am tired of reading posts with blatant or underlining bigotry in all kind of forums. Cookj explained in the second post and I understand now where he is coming from with that comment. That's it. Thanks.


I guess I have thicker skin..and saw no bigotry in his comments....

Tech support is a real issue these days....first you get the can auto system, then talk to tier one person who often knows less than you..then your outsourced god knows where...the phone connections suck often...
 

Richardito

Golden Member
Feb 24, 2001
1,411
0
0
Originally posted by: nealh
Originally posted by: Richardito
Originally posted by: nealh
Originally posted by: cookj
Didn't mean to piss you off, but the person that I talked to first spoke english very badly and was very hard to understand(like some tech support, say for Direcway, which I have).The second person could be understood.

ignore Richardito he has some real issues.....I have spoken to many tech support people and have a huge problem understanding them ... this is no fault of mine..it is becasue of outsourcing...fact of life now

Excuse me, nealh, but the issue I have is that I am tired of reading posts with blatant or underlining bigotry in all kind of forums. Cookj explained in the second post and I understand now where he is coming from with that comment. That's it. Thanks.


I guess I have thicker skin..and saw no bigotry in his comments....

Tech support is a real issue these days....first you get the can auto system, then talk to tier one person who often knows less than you..then your outsourced god knows where...the phone connections suck often...

No comment on your "thicker skin" comment, and I'm glad you didn't get offended at all by the first post. But this is not about you anyways. Thanks.
 

Lopyswine

Senior member
Jul 31, 2002
214
0
0
it is perfectly legit to state that a CSR could speak "better english."

i think we have ALL had alot of problems with CSRs based off shores. I have been on the phone with Dell tech support in India and have had to go through multiple very polite people before I found someone I could understand.

Its not an issue of racism, its a matter of practicality. This forum is about saving MONEY and TIME, well to give CSR reviews of the companies DOES serve a purpose in this forum.
 

DarthRanger

Member
Sep 12, 2000
86
0
0
XM for $3 / month? Now that is something that would make me subscribe. :D

(not a bigot yet, but studying for the certification)
 

hans007

Lifer
Feb 1, 2000
20,212
17
81
I really doubt that XM will be the first one to die. If you look at their financials it is sirius that is in far more dire straits. they rae losing money faster, with less subscribers (and thats counting the unsold cars).

so yeah... i'm willing to be sirius will die first, or a merger of both.

i am an XM subscriber and love it, but i really havent compared the two as my car has XM integrated. $10 isnt THAT bad (thats the rate for 3 years at a time which is prorated if you cancel anyway) its probably easily worth it for the commute.
 

nealh

Diamond Member
Nov 21, 1999
7,078
1
0
Originally posted by: hans007
I really doubt that XM will be the first one to die. If you look at their financials it is sirius that is in far more dire straits. they rae losing money faster, with less subscribers (and thats counting the unsold cars).

so yeah... i'm willing to be sirius will die first, or a merger of both.

i am an XM subscriber and love it, but i really havent compared the two as my car has XM integrated. $10 isnt THAT bad (thats the rate for 3 years at a time which is prorated if you cancel anyway) its probably easily worth it for the commute.

Personal..I think neither is going to die..too many outside forces are betting on both..ie NFL/ MLB/NASCAR/NBA/NHL etc..

with that said..their buisness model is poor at best right now..in 5 yrs..we will look back and either see one company or 2 companies that are moderately successful

One will not trounce the other

I have never used XM but I have been a Sirius subscriber for over 3 yrs and love the service. So long as price stays at $10-13 range they should survive. IMHO if they raise the price or start charging for premium content..they will both die
 

altonb1

Diamond Member
Feb 5, 2002
6,432
0
71
I've had XM since late '03, and I don't see myself going back to regular radio. Sirius is still a few million subs behind XM, and their stock price is around a quarter of the XM price. (as of this post, XMSR is $15.34 and SIRI is $3.78)

SIRI locked into a HORRIBLE deal with Stern. While they did get a bump in subs, it was not the HUGE payoff they had expected. (Not trying to start a Stern fans vs haters discussion--just simply pointing out SIRI did not get the huge number of subs everyone expected them to get when he moved over)

Overall, though, BOTH companies are making HUGE DOLLAR deals for exclusivity that they can ill-afford. From MLB to Nascar to Stern to NFL and more, both companies are fighting each other rather than making the fight about Satellite vs. Free Radio. A merger would be the best course, in my opinion, as they would be able to consolidate and take the real fight to the technology much like cable TV did in the 80s. When cable first came to your area, you didn't have two providers fighting for business and fighting over content--you had cable TV or you had an antenna on your roof. It's only after cable dominated the market did you see alternate providers begin to appear. In my area, though, I have the choice of 1 cable company, several satellite companies or antenna.

Sat radio needs to stop fighting each other and pit the satellite vs over-the-air technologies against each other to be truly effective.
 

osiris3mc

Golden Member
Oct 23, 2001
1,514
0
71
Originally posted by: altonb1
I've had XM since late '03, and I don't see myself going back to regular radio. Sirius is still a few million subs behind XM, and their stock price is around a quarter of the XM price. (as of this post, XMSR is $15.34 and SIRI is $3.78)

SIRI locked into a HORRIBLE deal with Stern. While they did get a bump in subs, it was not the HUGE payoff they had expected. (Not trying to start a Stern fans vs haters discussion--just simply pointing out SIRI did not get the huge number of subs everyone expected them to get when he moved over)

Overall, though, BOTH companies are making HUGE DOLLAR deals for exclusivity that they can ill-afford. From MLB to Nascar to Stern to NFL and more, both companies are fighting each other rather than making the fight about Satellite vs. Free Radio. A merger would be the best course, in my opinion, as they would be able to consolidate and take the real fight to the technology much like cable TV did in the 80s. When cable first came to your area, you didn't have two providers fighting for business and fighting over content--you had cable TV or you had an antenna on your roof. It's only after cable dominated the market did you see alternate providers begin to appear. In my area, though, I have the choice of 1 cable company, several satellite companies or antenna.

Sat radio needs to stop fighting each other and pit the satellite vs over-the-air technologies against each other to be truly effective.


Clearly stock price is not indicitive of performance in any way. If you look at the market cap of the two companies, Sirius beats XM by over 1 billion. Both balance sheets look terrible right now, although Sirius's looks "less" terrible. I also read an insightful op-ed in Forbes recently discussing the impact of Stern with Sirius. He's actually done a good job of bringing in revenue. You have to think about the sheer number of contracts Sirius has gained since Stern joined, then extrapolate that out over at least a year (since these customers basically lock in at least one year).
 

cdcushman

Member
Feb 23, 2005
92
0
0
I have been getting that $77/yr deal for a while now. They always try to renew you to the higher rate, but if you call and tell them you are going to cancel, they will offer it to you.

I'd prefer Sirius (Jam On station rocks) if XM wasn't built into my car.
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,446
126
Now that I have SIRIUS, I'm hoping that XM can survive for a few more years just to give them competition! If the market ever got down to one competitor, they would raise rates so fast your head would spin. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the price went up to $29.95 a month within 3 years of one of the providers folding or being absorbed.

Monopolies are BAD, no matter what business they're in.
 

nealh

Diamond Member
Nov 21, 1999
7,078
1
0
Originally posted by: altonb1
I've had XM since late '03, and I don't see myself going back to regular radio. Sirius is still a few million subs behind XM, and their stock price is around a quarter of the XM price. (as of this post, XMSR is $15.34 and SIRI is $3.78)

SIRI locked into a HORRIBLE deal with Stern. While they did get a bump in subs, it was not the HUGE payoff they had expected. (Not trying to start a Stern fans vs haters discussion--just simply pointing out SIRI did not get the huge number of subs everyone expected them to get when he moved over)

Overall, though, BOTH companies are making HUGE DOLLAR deals for exclusivity that they can ill-afford. From MLB to Nascar to Stern to NFL and more, both companies are fighting each other rather than making the fight about Satellite vs. Free Radio. A merger would be the best course, in my opinion, as they would be able to consolidate and take the real fight to the technology much like cable TV did in the 80s. When cable first came to your area, you didn't have two providers fighting for business and fighting over content--you had cable TV or you had an antenna on your roof. It's only after cable dominated the market did you see alternate providers begin to appear. In my area, though, I have the choice of 1 cable company, several satellite companies or antenna.

Sat radio needs to stop fighting each other and pit the satellite vs over-the-air technologies against each other to be truly effective.

actually reports from XM is 7.6 million subscribers...Sirius reported 6 million

much closer than I expected and I have no idea how these number s are fudged...problem with a merger is the iisue of competition as there are no other alternatives and I am not sure it would let fly

I just love the product and could never go back to terristal radio at this point unless price was absurd....

I have no problem with XM..I got Sirius when XM had commericals on music and I said no thanks....but that is no an issue now
 

slayer202

Lifer
Nov 27, 2005
13,679
119
106
Originally posted by: Richardito
Originally posted by: cookj
I got in on the 1/2 price XM subscribtion last january. I recieved a letter saying the would automatically renew my sub, so I called to cancel. I talked to one guy, told him I wanted to cancell because I didn't use it very much, then I was transferred to someone else(that spoke better english) , told him the same thing, then he offered me the same half price deal, $77 for a year. Just thought someone else could use this info :)

Comments like "that spoke better english" is totally unnecessary and makes you look like a biggot. What is better english anyways? I've lived up North and now in the South and have experienced the different accents. I also travel a lot Internationally and meet a lot of people from other countries that know English. Believe me, much better English is spoken out of this country than in!

woahhhh, how does saying "someone that spoke better english" make you a bigot? It's not like it was an opinion. I'm sure the 2nd guy did speak better english and was easier to understand. What is wrong with saying that? Sounds like the op was trying to explain that the first guy was just some outsourced customer service guy, and then he got transfered to someone with the power to make some decisions.

to be honest, it is people like you that create more problems than solutions