Sirius fraud

[arodriguez60]

I canceled my subscription to sirius approx 3 years ago. I have been getting recurring charges to my bank card . Has anyone had this problem? Is changing my whole account at the bank the only way to stop it?

[Alumaholic]

Gee. That sounds sirius.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist, Anthony. ( Just a little New Mexico humor)
I have always been treated very courteously by the customer service reps at their 1-800 number.
If they can't help, you can always ask to talk to a supervisor.
What are they telling you?

[jm2]

Originally Posted by arodriguez60

I canceled my subscription to sirius approx 3 years ago. I have been getting recurring charges to my bank card . Has anyone had this problem? Is changing my whole account at the bank the only way to stop it?

Sirius should make good on the charges if you have a confirmation message, receipt, or transaction number from your cancellation. if you don't have one of those, or some other proof, Sirius will refuse to credit your account.

if you don't get satisfaction from Sirius, report the issue to your bank card company. they may be able to help.

all should be aware that when you subscribe to Sirius or XM, they will continue charging you at the end of whatever subscription term you've agreed to. you must cancel, or they continue to charge you....

good luck!

[arodriguez60]

They just send us to another rep leaving on hold for 15 min. then the next says they can't help. No supervisor available then they hang up. try calling again and same response. Spend an hour or more each time and get the run arround from reps in India or Malashia.

[Erik Olson]

That is totally counter to my experience at Sirius. Good luck getting it sorted!

[RickDavis]

I just received a renewal notice from XM. It basically said they would continue to charge my card unless notified.. I have never had a problem with XM and have been a subscriber since shortly after they launched.
Of course I have not tried to quit either

[arodriguez60]

I just got a survey just now from them asking why we closed our account. And yet today they took 189-10 out of my Bank. I think the problem is when you try to unsubscribe. I hadn't had problems til I did that 3 years ago. On Friday I put a stop payment on the transaction and it still went through. Tamara is calling the Bank and is going to make a fraud claim. Hopefully the can do something. I just got off the phone myself . I called The Attorney Generals office and am going to file a claim.

[Bluto]

I had problems with them also and got a run around for at least a year because they owed me money. I never did get it off them.
I made lots of calls to different depts and so called supervisors and wrote letters. All unanswered.
Hope your problem gets resolved in your favor.

[arodriguez60]

Tamara just talked to a rep in the US. He says they are sending the $ back into the account. Hopefully it happens. Only time will tell.

[Denis4x4]

I have one XM and three sirius radios and my complaint is that they charge full bore for one Sirius account and discount the other two. In the mean time, I have to pay full bore for the XM account instead of it being discounted as a fourth account.

I suspect that if they combine the accounting functions, that they will have to pay Howard Stern big bucks as the subscriber base will go up along with his pay. So, even though the programing is combined, the accounting is not!

[idroba]

I have had a HUGE problem with XM/Sirius since it's inception. They are like the song "Hotel California" where you can check in any time you want, but you can never leave.

I finally got canceled out of a couple of unused radios I had only because my Credit Card had been re issued with a new expiration date, and they could not bill the old one. But I would call and they would send me to a different number and then whatever they said they would do, would not happen. In the mean while, they kept charging my card.

I would strongly recommend if you use XM/Sirius you ONLY do it with paper billing by mail. Never give them your CC number, and certainly do not use a debit card. You will never get away from them.

[TouringDan]

If you are just listening to music, I have found that Pandora works pretty well and it is free- not much advertising to listen to. If you want you can pay $36/yr and no adds.

Dan

[Jim & Susan]

Originally Posted by arodriguez60

Tamara just talked to a rep in the US.........

This is the thing that makes me insane. Sometimes the problem is simple communications--"they" can't understand what you want because they can't speak the English (or other target) language. I have asked to be transferred to an American rep in past situations. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I've always had very good service from my XM radio & account. Sorry to hear about your problems. Did you ever get a refund?

Jim

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by RickDavis

I just received a renewal notice from XM. It basically said they would continue to charge my card unless notified.. I have never had a problem with XM and have been a subscriber since shortly after they launched.
Of course I have not tried to quit either

Last year I was thinking about not renewing our XM contract. We had only had it a couple of years, the radio came with our new truck. I liked it, but we didn't use it enough to justify the cost.

When I told them I wanted to cancel rather than renew, they dropped the price quite substantially! That convinced me to renew for at least one more year.

We are now approaching renewal time again. I contacted them to see what my new fee would be - way higher than I paid last year!

When I said I wanted to cancel, they immediately dropped the price back to what I paid this year. When I said that I would still like to discontinue service, they dropped it still further!

At that point I told the woman - politely - that we were retired, onlimited income, and give the limited use we make of it, the price would have to be $50 a for me to renew!

Obviously she told me she couldn't do that and I replied that I didn't expect she could but just wanted not to waste my time or hers!

She told me she fully understood, and at my request gave me a cancellation reference number to confirm our conversation.

But you can be sure I have a note on my diary to check that the reception stops on the day she told me, and more importantly that I get no VISA charge!

Something seems a bit fishy to me with the way this company does business. I recall a few years ago, there were media items being in financial trouble and on the verge of bankruptcy. Perhaps that is still the case.

Brian.

[JBinKC]

I wear my hair high and tight now (from the top down), but I’m still a long hair tattooed hippy freak at heart. So when Sirius canceled The Village last week, I got mad as hell. I’m cancelling Sirius and using the savings to load up the iPod. Where else could you listen to Seeger, Baez, Sainte-Marie, Ochs, Guthrie, Weavers and Wolf except The Village? It was a wonderful channel, made so by music director Mary Sue Twohy. I’ll miss it but I won’t miss Sirius.

[onemanclan]

I'm super surprised at these complaints...I bought a life time subscription for my Stiletto many years ago (that sure paid off!) and couldn't live without it camping...ALWAYS have reception no matter where we camp. Never had an issue with the company (other than they're cheating Howard Stern)...our radio is on the MUST HAVE list. Pandora (which I also pay for) streams through my iPhone when we camp where there is cell reception.

[nickmeloy]

Originally Posted by TouringDan

If you are just listening to music, I have found that Pandora works pretty well and it is free- not much advertising to listen to. If you want you can pay $36/yr and no adds.

Dan

How does one use Pandora in the TV? Do you have to add another receiver?

[Rich of SCal]

I had XM for years, but when the rates went up and they wouldn't give me a decent discount any longer I tried over and over to cancel. Keep getting put on hold for a cancellation agent who never responded. Usually I was cut off while waiting. I finally told the human I last talked to that I would send a notice of cancellation, but she wouldn't give me an address, saying I had to go thru their agent.

Of course that is their rule and doesn't prohibit me from cancelling the agreement in any reasonable way, especially in writing, which is the best way, legally. So I sent a notice to the corporate address. Never got a response to that, of course. Fortunately my credit card had been stolen...and the card company spotted some illegal charges and gave me a new card. XM kept trying to get me to send them a new card number. That is the only way I was able to quit.

When I bought my new Jeep in late 2008 it came with a 3 month trial of Sirius. I refused to give them a credit card number, so that when it ran out I didn't have to quit. I have ignored all their notices begging me to renew.

These outrageous practices, I believe, have contributed to the problems XM/Sirius has had staying in business. I am surprised that no one has filed a class action (which are expensive and only benefit the lawyers monetarily) regarding these practices. It is clear that they were just trying to make it impossible to go through the cancellation process. From what I am reading here, they have not changed much in the last few years. I will never subscribe to them again, and caution all my friends re my experiences.

[aftermath]

When dealing with issues like this, I believe it is important to contact the BBB and the AG in your area. I had a problem with JC Penneys and could not get any satisfaction. I complained to the BBB and wrote the AG. The AG sent off a letter and I heard from JC Penney almost immediately.

Any large business like XM/Sirius will respond when pushed. It is in their best interest. Listening to you via India is something that is easily ignored.

Good luck.

[Safari-Rick]

My experience was that they will not even respond to emails let along a telephone call. You just might have to cancel your cc to stop billing