SiriusXM MegaPhail

[ceagle]

Not 100% certain what is happening with satellite radio, but at the very least, they seem to be going in the direction of headdus up the buttus... at least re: pricing/plans:

Many years ago I got a portable one for my old car, and eventually got a lifetime-subscription, so that one is fine.. but they haven't offered the lifetime plan for new customers for a while.. so that's a bad sign to begin with.

Then when I got the newer car, it came with a built-in one with a temporary free subscription, so that was convenient. Then when it came time to pay, it wasn't that bad.. around $70/year, so I went for it. Gradually it went up, 80.. 85... and I would have to call in to get the good rate. So this year I called in, and suddenly the "good" rate is $153 !! ;/ screw that! That's not even the plan I had, which was more channels and now $222 !
Incidentally.. that "basic" one doesn't even include the comedy channels anymore... which... Have Commercials! That doesn't even make sense! Why NOT include channels on a basic plan that are already supported by commercials?? it's nuts...
So then after I told the phone rep to cancel, they said they had to switch me to another department (perhaps customer retention heavies)... and proceeded to put me on hold for.... 90 minutes!.... It mighta been longer, but I just hung up after that long... In the meantime I connected to their online chat, and that person was nice albeit powerless to help.

So I'm sending off a final payment and hopefully they got the picture that I'm cutting 'em off, but I'll probably have to check back once more at least to be sure. And I can just move the old old lifetime radio into the newer car.. it'll be a smidge more hassle with its own antenna, but sure beats an unnecessary $222 luxury expense to pay for an incompetent pricing system.

rarrr!

Comments

[scruff-e-coyote.livejournal.com]

I'm curious, what did that one-time lifetime subscription go for back in the day? I certainly hope yer grandfathered in with what must continue to be a steal of a deal!

[mondhasen.livejournal.com]

The Focus came with Sirius, so I continued it after the promo. It was annoying that I could pay monthly or yearly but there was no cost break for doing the latter. I think the last bill (2016) was around $153 (they add in all those musician royalty fees or some BS) and I have to consider if it is worth this anymore. I don't listen to it because the truck, with its am/fm no-line-in or CD player, is my main vehicle now: everyone else uses the Focus.

[allaboutweather.livejournal.com]

An increase from 70 dollars to 222 dollars? Are you Sirius? I wouldn't pay for that either! DX

[hastka.livejournal.com]

As far as I know it's been around $200ish for the last few years for my mom's subscription. Yeah, I don't know what the deal is with that, or with cell phones, or with cable. It seems like any of those pretty much print their own money these days. They did a little sleight of hand when I changed to a new phone at Sprint and it looks like I don't get free "really unlimited" data any more. :| And on top of that, the coverage in my area is so poor that I need to use internet calling. But I guess enough people are satisfied with the price to keep it, so why lower it?

[rustyfox.livejournal.com]

I had no idea satellite radio was subscription based! It doesn't exist over here, but I was envious of the idea... maybe not now.

We're still wedded to FM, although the powers that be wanted that shut down by now. But FM radios have existed since forever, consume so little battery power, are absolutely everywhere and most definitely FM is "good enough" through to "really quite excellent". The replacement will be DAB - horrendously bad quality (MP2!) low bitrate and often mono broadcasts. DAB+ is meant to happen (AAC / better quality) but that means throwing virtually all existing DAB radios into landfill. It's an utter balls-up. And they're all over priced and power-hungry devices. Very few "hi-fi" DAB systems around, most are mono portable radios intended to sit in the corner of a kitchen or something. I suppose appropriate given the broadcast quality is way inferior to FM.

But still, all free-to-air. Subscription radio is an alien concept. I'd certainly hope none of the subscription stations had commercials! It boggles my mind why people pay for subscription TV - with at least as many commercials as free-to-air stations.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Yowie! And I'm reluctant to go for even something like Apple Music or Netflix. =:D I keep wondering, when people grumble about the cost of the BBC - don't they realise what that paltry £14/mo or whatever makes possible? BBC 1-4, Radio 1-6, all the local studios, both TV and radio, News 24, Parliament, Alba, CBBC - and all 100% ad-free! No wonder the likes of Murdoch despise it.

I'd probably just either stream off the net on a suitable cellular plan (hmm.. how much data would that consume? If you go with just 128kbps streams while on the move, that's around 1MB/min, 60MB/hour, or 1.8GB per month for each hour, assuming the same usage every day of the week), or put my iPhone on random play on some big playlist. Or maybe record a bunch of Radio Paradise, and load those up now and then, to keep things fresh, without needing a data connection on the move. Maybe podcasts, too, for that matter.

On hold for 90 mins? Ye gods. I think the last time I had to deal with that kind of duration was with Sprint a couple times, back in the late 90s. (I was on their Pioneer Plan, which conveniently launched in San Diego, with the then-radical concept of no monthly fees, just paying for what you used)

[oldewolfe.livejournal.com]

I ditched XM back in 2013, and it was a long process back then as well. And now I still get marketing emails from them at a rate of two per week begging me to come back.

They can't seem to get a clue.