Sirius radio

So we bought a Town and Country last year and it came with one free year of SirisuXM. Time is up. Got several mailings offering me a "good deal" at various prices.

Ignored them all. Now they ware offering 6 months at $5 per month and it has auto-renewal at their then "current rates" unless one calls, not emails, calls them to cancel.

As a matter of principle, I have not ever agreed to auto-renewal for anything. I won't encourage a company who counts on customers forgetting to cancel so they can then be gouged.

I agree. It also galls me that you have to call to get their best prices. A few years ago, I think AT&T realized that was a real negative with customers, and encouraged a lot of company switching, so now they call me with their best prices when it's time to renew rather than me having to call them. Unfortunately, Sirius seems to have a monopoly at the moment, and as we are traveling more now that I am retired, it is nice to have something to listen to when we are out in the middle of nowhere, so I keep signing up.

Yes, both Sirius and XM claimed they could not make any money as stand alone companies. I always thought it was more about greed.

I understand the middle of nowhere.

I have 1,000+ songs on our car entertainment system. Can usually find something I like.

Bought a Subaru in August and it had Sirius free for 4 months. I probably tried it out for about 3 minutes and then never tuned to it again. I have never seen such a determined, in your face company with trying to get me to start paying for service. They emailed me, phoned me at home, in the car on my cell and every time I told them I was not interested in paying for a service I didn't like or use. I you want it, hold out, the price keeps going down...at least for the promotion period. That's the catch. They have your credit card, and you have to contact them to cancel.

I've got a very large tunes library that along with regular FM, gives me all the audio I want. Wish I could have bought the car without Sirius, but I couldn't.

Yup.....I used to be a subscriber, until PODcasts and streaming music through your phone starting catching on. I canceled the subscription probably 7-8 years ago. They hounded me relentlessly for months after that. It eventually calmed down with the phone calls, but I still got weekly fliers in the mail. Then I bought a new car last July......here we go again. Once the free trial ran out, those freakin bastards called me every single day for over a month. I just checked my cell phone. I ended up blocking 6 different numbers that were all from them. That company will never get a penny of my money.

The problem with Sirius/XM is the subscription is for one unit. Satellite TV allows multiple outlets per "subscription". Right now I have 5 vehicles that are Satellite radio equipped. None have subscriptions. I won't pay $15 per month on each unit, and honestly that price should cover a household, not one unit. I know Sirius/XM says they have to pay royalties for music now. Used to be about $8 per month. I simply HATE the 6 month teaser price policy, then the screw you price that comes after if you forget to call and cancel.

Sirius/XM needs to go to advertising to offset costs. Don't like that? They could have some premium channels with no adds. I actually like to hear some commercials, breaks up the canned effect sat radio seems to have! I would like to have sat radio....about 4 weeks out of the year. On long trips. Beyond that, MP3, FM, and music streaming is as good or better.

When XM offered a lifetime subscription, I almost did it on my 2730 GPS.

If I had, would've been a good deal.

Same w/new vehicles that others express, great offer at end w/auto renewal.

NO thank you.

Now if they would do $5/month all the time, hmmm, bet they'd get more subscribers and make up in volume, maybe not?

Also the idea of a user subscription for multiple applications (vehicles/home/device) that was reasonable...

Since mine ended, I listen to FM, we actually have multi[ple good ones, and 2 campus station that offer tremendous variety, and of course, the CD's are back, and better than ever.

I have/had good taste, apparently.

Sirius/XM needs to go to advertising to offset costs. Don't like that? They could have some premium channels with no adds. I actually like to hear some commercials, breaks up the canned effect sat radio seems to have! I would like to have sat radio....about 4 weeks out of the year. On long trips. Beyond that, MP3, FM, and music streaming is as good or better.

Yea, like Garrison Keillor, there were no real commercials on his show, so he had to make some up, like "Powdermilk Biscuits" and "The American Duct Tape Council."

Now if they would do $5/month all the time, hmmm, bet they'd get more subscribers and make up in volume, maybe not?

I would think so. AFAIK, their only variable cost is whatever it costs to bill subscribers, so one would think they could drive subscription fees pretty low and still have a contribution toward fixed costs and profit. Profits should increase as the price goes down, if the demand curve is elastic, which I'll bet it is.

I hate calling them, but do enjoy getting Jazz and Hockey in an area where we have very little of either on the radio. If I ever have to pay more than 25, I will drop the one subscription I still have. I use online streaming for all other music besides the car we travel in.

Like others, have had it on multiple new vehicles (2 at the moment) and when they expire they expire. I would pay maybe $50/year for a household of 5 devices or so. The problem with that issue for the provider is knowing who is really in your household and how many friends and relatives did you share with...so doubt they will ever go to an all you eat buffet for a fixed fee.

MotoGP is having that very issue. People are buying one subscription and sharing widely. Comcast is now facing that too with TV on any device anywhere.

All the stuff about bad customer service and constantly bugging you is true for me as well. Mines coming again as current free new vehicle demos run out in April.....Sorry nobody home. They moved.

To their credit, they used to be the only place you could hear non-mainstream music. That is becoming less and less so my $5/month deal is about to come to an end.

Yup....I used to love it and swear by it. It was the best thing going when they first started. Then technology blew past it like a top fuel dragster. I had been away from satellite radio for quite a few years, so when I bought my new car last summer I gave it another try while I had my free trial. I ended up channel surfing like the old days of TV and FM radio. No thanks. The streaming services available through Pandora, I Heart Radio, Slacker, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music all blow it out of the water now.

The only thing it still has going for it is if you want to listen somewhere without a cell signal or internet access.

To their credit, they used to be the only place you could hear non-mainstream music. That is becoming less and less so my $5/month deal is about to come to an end.

Nice thing about living in a city w/major University Radio stations (multiple), plenty of non-mainstream options.

We have every kind of music in the world on the air at some time of the day.

The "dj's" expose the audience to hundreds of artists every day.

One, on FSU, goes way off the mainstream at times, and also does oldies/bluegrass/contemporary alt/reggae/world/metal/etc.

Another, at FAMU (nation's largest HBCU) has all kinds of world music/R&B/hip hop/jazz/anything with historical association with black musicians, etc.

Then there is the classical from FSU, and another with NPR.

Those 4 FM choices rarely repeat music or content.

Then we have a "classic rock" station that has been around almost 50 years, still going strong.

Match that w/6 or 7 that have contemporary/classic /not often played rock/ etc, and if country is your thing,,,

So I can flip a channel and almost always find something old, something borrowed, something blue,

wait a minute...

So I enjoyed the "free" time, but when I went off satellite I found "more music" than the "more channels" offered.

Why?

Becasue on satellite I found too many repititions or sounds that didn't float my boat.

Do miss the comedy at times, quick look in mirror fixes that.

YMMV

They are the very worst company in the world to do business with! Once they have your credit card on file it takes an act of Congress to keep them from using it. I would listen to myself whistle before I would ever subscribe to their service again.