Ever tried to cancel Sirius/XM?

[Flavius]

I just wanted to cancel one of my radios after I had just activated another one in a new car, simple thing you would assume.

You couldn't be more wrong. Long story short, I ended up canceling all my radios. They put you on hold for half an hour or more, only to put you through to the 'Cancellation' department, and you're in for another even longer wait.

I know, other companies do that as well, but I've had with them.

 

[Saga]

lol. i use to work for XM, before the merger. but yeah, it is pretty absurd. they may send you an offer for three months free service as a way to lure you back in three months or so.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I cancelled it (I had gotten three months' service free with my car, and then stayed with it awhile, but decided it was a waste) and it went just fine. Didn't have any problems on the phone.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I had Sirius before the merger.

I had just gotten a replacement reconditioned unit from JVC since my other one had gone bad.

When I called to activate it, I got somebody from an Indian call center (aka: an idiot who didn't actually work for Sirius).

He "couldn't find the serial# in their system", which is a # created by Sirius, not JVC (or whoever manufactured the radio).

After 20 minutes of arguing with this moron, I demanded to talk to a supervisor, which I got to. Another Indian person at the same place, who also had no idea what he was doing.

I had it at this point and ended up just having Capitol One reverse the subscription charge.

Now I have Sirius in the 2010 Jeep, the first year was free and the renewal process was (mostly) done on-line, and the person I had to talk to on the phone for the navigation renewal was at least an American person who actually worked for the company.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

I came from the XM side of the house..and it seemed like service was better before the merger (no big surprise, I suppose).

Last year I got a new radio, but still have to use the old radio to receive service...because no matter how many times I tell them otherwise, they seem to be convinced that the serial number on my old radio is the one for my new radio....even though I'm reading the number to them directly FROM the radio itself.

I've given up trying to explain this to half the city of Mumbai (although it did keep me entertained for one entire morning while sitting in a government office waiting room), and can only hope they figure it out on their own before the old radio is actually non-functional.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

I had to transfer it from one radio when it went screwy under warranty to another, it took less then five minuets.

 

[23skidoo]

Actually, Sirus just cancelled ME. I was paying month to month and all was fine, then on July 1 everything was shut off. I tried calling but didn't want to stay on hold for a half hour. No big loss - I was planning to cancel anyway. But I will be keeping an eye on the bank account, just to make sure I'm still not being charged for the service (and yes I will not be surprised to find I am).

Alex

 

[Awesome Possum]

I left a few months ago. I got tired of it after the merger. I heard that they got rid of Cinemagic, which might have been the channel to bring me back, but their dead to me now.

 

[USS Triumphant]

We got a three month trial with our minivan, told them I didn't want the service when they called, and I ultimately had to threaten to lodge a complaint with the FCC to get them to quit calling me.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

The thing is that I really like a few of the stations. Two of my 3 favorite bands of all time have their own stations (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen) and I listen to those the most...plus I love Lithium, Octane, the Grateful Dead channel, 80's on 8, 60's on 6, and a few others. And finally, I hate local radio - especially during political advertising season, which never seems to go away here. It's worth a few bucks a month to me, just to not have to listen to our politicians trash-talk each other endlessly.

But I do think that customer services has gone downhill since the merger. Which is very unfortunate.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ I wasn't aware Sirius had any customer service before the merger.

It's like a misprint on paychecks I used to get working a part time job a few years ago: "providing great suctomer service".

 

[PKTrekGirl]

^ I wasn't aware Sirius had any customer service before the merger.

It's like a misprint on paychecks I used to get working a part time job a few years ago: "providing great suctomer service".

Wow...that explains a lot. On the XM side, the customer service used to be pretty decent. It's become noticeably worse since the merger.

Plus, streaming on the web used to come with your initial subscription - not at an extra cost. I used to love that feature when I was working in Japan a lot. It was nice to be able to tune in to English-speaking radio during the day at work.

 

[The Green Mushroom]

I had the free trial when I bought a new car back in January. I actually found it useful when I drove down to Florida and when I realized that they were carrying the cricket world cup. That didn't affect my plan to just let it lapse.

Then they called my house--I just ignored them and deleted voicemails. Then they sent me mailers--I just shredded them and tossed it. But then they called my office and I had no choice but to call them back--I could get in trouble for not returning phone calls. The message they left with a secretary said nothing about who they were and what they wanted I couldn't just ignore them. Forty-five minutes of being on hold later and a long angry tirade later they said they wouldn't call.

Haven't heard from them since, but I have still gotten flyers in the mail. I still have no idea why they have my office number--I don't even know my office number.

 

[Danny99]

In defense of all call center drones (I am one), please don't hate us when you call.

I work for a company that takes calls for Charter Communications, probably one of the most hated cable companies on the face of the planet. We do try hard at are jobs, but are really restricted by what we can do by the company. The people overseas (Philippines in our case) do struggle with the language, but it is not made easier with people who won't give them the chance. How many times has someone been transferred to me saying "Oh my God, finally an American agent!" (Let's remember I'm Canadian)

So on behalf of all of us call center workers, please cut us some slack when you call in. It is not our job to screw you; we are regular people too and it hurts when you get reamed out.

 

[Yoda]

Whatever. Nazis were just doing their jobs too!

Actually I'm pretty nice to call center people. Especially ones who aren't dicks. But it is often a frustrating experience even when the person on the other end of the line is nice. It's insulting how customers are treated by most companies.

Here's an idea. If you can sign up for something without calling and being on hold for 30 minutes, and you're not locked into a contract, you should be able to cancel without calling and being on hold for 30 minutes. I hate how Xbox Live (for instance) lets you do just about anything related to your account without human intervention. But god forbid you want to turn off the auto-renew 'feature'. Shady shit.

Oh, and if you work as a telemarketer you deserve any abuse you get. Some jobs you have to be evil to do.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ I'm with you. When companies farm CS out to call centers, especially ones staffed by rude, argumentative people who can't speak English very well, I consider it a slap in the face to their soon to be ex-customers.

I dumped Sirius (the first time) and 2 different credit card companies because of this kind of thing.

 

[Danny99]

Actually Yoda, it was the only job I could find after a year of trying. So not evil, just a necessity.

I'm always nice, I find it really hard to not be and do your job effectively. But imagine having someone tell you you don't know how to do your job, or that your company sucks. I'd like to see you work through that.

 

[Danny99]

^ I'm with you. When companies farm CS out to call centers, especially ones staffed by rude, argumentative people who can't speak English very well, I consider it a slap in the face to their soon to be ex-customers.

I dumped Sirius (the first time) and 2 different credit card companies because of this kind of thing.

Well I speak English fine.

95% of companies send there Customer Service to overseas for the cheaper labor. Unless you want to never want to watch TV, surf the Internet, own a Credit Card, etc. you will be forced to deal with these people.

It's great to speak with customers who will allow to do your job and try to repair things. If you call in being belligerent, you are only doing yourself a disservice. I'm not saying be a doormat, but give the person you are talking to a chance for God's sake.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I'm certain I have never been routed to Canada on one of those calls. Probably would've been a much better experience if I had.

 

[Flavius]

In defense of all call center drones (I am one), please don't hate us when you call.
..

I don't. But the guys who lie, like the one I was talking to when he told me that I would not end up up in that 30+ minutes queue for cancellations, but put me in anyway, those guys I do pity.