Sirius/XM Radio gets sneaky in their billing practices...

SNEAKY, SNEAKY, SNEAKY! Are you a Sirius/XM Satellite Radio Subscriber? Did you notice the "Invoicing Fee" charge of two dollars? Yes, they are now charging you two bucks to send you the bill. My bride called them and told them that was a SNEAKY thing to do. She further advised them to drop the "Invoicing Fee" or we would cancel our three cars that we always pay a year in advance. They dropped the fee.

Just think, twenty million subscribers at two bucks each equals forty million bucks in their pockets. Sirius/XM, if you need the money that bad, raise your rates and don't get SNEAKY and try to slip a phony charge by your customers. We understood the "royalty fee" increase last year, but charging us $2 to receive a bill is not good business with your faithful customers.

Bob

Bob,
I recently had a number of issues with XM Radio billing, not the least of which was the fact that they had a collection agency calling me for a bill which wasn't even due yet. After going round and round a number of times with them, I cancelled my service.
I did some online checking and, lo and behold!, I found that it wasn't out of the ordinary. I found a very large number of complaints about XM on this website, (I also posted my "tips" about them, too!).
http://gethuman.com/XM_Radio-customer-reviews_912.html

Thanks for the heads-up, Bob. We have three XM subscriptions between three cars, so I'll give my dad the heads-up. Is it a monthly or annual fee?

I'm still a huge fan of XM, but it's starting to go a bit downhill. There's still really quality programming on stations like Deep Tracks, which still makes it worth it... but if I hear another "slipped in" promo for that Paul McCartney Apollo Theater concert, I'm punching my radio into the dashboard. I'm a big McCartney fan, but not only do they promote it in the most unlikely places, his private station preempted The Bridge, the folk-rock channel!

I'm guessing the "Invoicing Fee" will appear everytime you get a bill from them. I pay once a year in advance. If you pay monthly you may be giving them an extra two bucks every month per car.

:) Bob

I haven't seen this and I have Sirius. I haven't even seen a bill. I had to be the one calling them to find out my subscription ran out in 2 days. Do you think they would let me know? Paid via credit card over the phone.

I'm getting tired of their more and more promos. Back in 2004 it was mainly music. Not so much any more. Thought about canceling until I listened to the regular radio for few days and was really tired of the commercials.

Sirius is still the lesser of the two evils but their customer service is terrible.

Very easy to hide the "invoicing fee" if you pay over the phone with a credit card. They should just fess up and say their bills are going up by $2 because they need the money rather than sneaking it in.

:) Bob

The bride isn't happy. Sirius/XM just charged out credit card for 12 months service without authorization to do so. If they snuck in the $2 invoice fee, they will be loosing our 3 vehicles. We may be back to CD's and FM soon. Personally, I like satellite radio but it is getting a bit repetitive after a couple of years. There seems to be more talk than music on some stations.

:) Bob

Even though I cancelled my service awhile ago, they have yet to shut me off. Not only that but I just got another bill from them in the mail today. These people are UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

I think they've gotten too big for their "britches". The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Maybe if a few million subscribers bail out it might get their attention.

:) Bob

Remember the idea behind cable TV? You pay for TV so there would be no commercials? That's the way it was for a while, with the emphasis on was. Now the cost of cable goes up every couple of months and the commercials are just as plentiful as regular TV. It would only stand to reason that "cable radio" would follow suit...

Mike

It seems to be heading in that direction, Mike. Free radio (pardon the pun) is beginning to sound better.

:) Bob

Sounds like the old formula of suck you in with what you want, and then start to lay on the ads and talk you don't. They do this all the time on free commercial laden TV. So once you watch a program and get involved, you're plastered with ads once you get into it near the middle to the end, even news programs. We often end up watching free Public TV without ad interruptions (except during pledge break season). Free Public Radio is often an alternative we use often too especially on the road. Presently we have no cable or satellite service, just our aerials.

I very rarely listen to radio anymore. I'm more of a CD man. And, quite frankly, sometimes I turn it off and listen to the silence.

MW

We received a special offer after cancelling one out of three Sirius/XM Radio accounts. If we renewed the one we cancelled it would only be $6.27 a month for a year. We don't like the direction they are heading. We probably won't renew the other two when they expire. The thrill of satellite radio has worn off.

:) Bob

Still dealing with these (expletive) people! Although I've tried to cancel THREE times the service is still on and I'm receiving bills still from XM Radio AND collection agencies. I've dealt with some bad companies throughout my lifetime but this one tops 'em all! If I ever dealt with my customers even remotely like they do theirs I'd be long gone out of business!

You've been pretty patient, Roland. I would file complaints against both the collection bozos and Sirius/XM with both the MA attorney general and the FTC.