Nickel and Dimed by Sirius
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As previously highlighted, I hate being nickel and dimed by any firm that I do business with. As a monthly ritual, I have noticed that I have been a victim of a low monthly fee by Siris radio for a few months that was a complete surprise costing me over $50.
About 6 months ago, I was a Sirius subscriber who barely used the service. I received this as a gift awhile ago and noticed that I wasn’t utilizing the Sirius radio subscription to warrant the price tag. So to reduce some expenses, I decided to call and cancel my yearly subscription.
While I was in the process of cancelling, I highlighted to the customer service rep that it was costing me too much for an annual subscription. She sold me a one month free time period to re-evaluate the decision and if I decide to go to a monthly plan, that I can call back and re-activate my service.
To my surprise, the customer service rep basically switched me to a monthly plan costing $12.95 per month, as this monthly charge seemed to sneak its way into the my credit card statement. I was extremely upset and was a victim of a bait and switch with Sirius. Calling the Sirius customer service line expecting to receive a full refund of these charges, I was shocked that the company would not honor any refunds to my credit card and that I would have to call my credit card company to complete a charge dispute form.
After a 30 minute conversation with the Sirius customer service rep, it was a realization that Sirius was a one way street with credit card transactions. In my opinion, this subpar customer service is a long term losing proposition for the company and I will never become a subscriber again.
Have you had the same experience? If so, please leave a comment to let me know I am not alone….
5 Comments on this post
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Sean said:
I think I’m heading in the other direction…. re-investing savings from other subscription services into XM. Basically, $12.95 for Bloomberg. Pricey for one channel, but there is nothing like it.
November 29th, 2008 at 1:26 pm -
Mike Donnelly said:
I am actually not shocked by Sirius in this case. They have basically become what AOL was 10 years ago: a technology that will not be around for much longer – and they know it. So they are reduced to ploys to keep subscribers around (I seem to remember AOL giving me free months when I tried to cancel) and “nickel & dime” people. BTW, that’s why you can get their stock for a nickel & a dime these days. (Sorry – had to do it!)
August 16th, 2009 at 9:04 pm -
Elias said:
Mike –
Thanks for the comment. Actually you were right on with your humor, back in March of 2009, SIRI was trading around 0.15 per share…I wonder what Howard Stern is thinking about with the signing deal that he struck…August 18th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
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