Did you get a Sirius/XM radio for the holidays? (I hope not)

[KirkLasVegas]

First off, let me say this disclaimer....
THIS IS MY OPINION,I AM ENTITLED TO IT.
Helps stop the lawsuits...OK..read on
If you got one of these radios (or have one now) THIS INVOLVES YOU!
I personally had enough trouble from this SH1TBA6 of a company to last me a lifetime! XM/Sirius will RIP YOU OFF if you give them ANY access to your bank account/credit card/debit card!
DO NOT under any reason give them this information! For $2.00 they will BILL YOU. Get them to send you a statement of the charges you are paying and for what.Pay them electronically thru your bank/credit union so you have a record of when/what you paid. XM/Sirius has been "Jackpotting" peoples accounts,billing errors running wild.People have been hit with charges raning from $28 to over $600, especially for lifetime subscriptions they never ordered.If your subscription runs out and you do not call on the day it does, XM ASSUMES you want to continue to use your radio.
They will show you in default and report you to "CCA". "CCA" is really a "Legbreaker" inside of XM!!! Yep...XM has it's own "Collection Agency"! XM will actually call and harass you for these BOGUS charges (if they cant rip you off).HOW can you possibly be "Late" or in default on a service you pay for in advance???
Here is what happened to us. We had been a long time customer of Xm since 2001. A few years back they tried to screw me for $202.00 I fought back, they hit my credit card for something I never ordered.I tried to get it refunded, to no avail.OK...want to play hardball...I took them on. Went to the bank and filed FRAUD charges.Now the bank was OK with this, most people dont do that.Then I told the bank manager i wanted the FBI involved since this was done "By Wire" and it crossed "State Lines".The FBI asked if this was simply a "Billing Error". NOPE this was deliberate and repeated case of FRAUD by XM. Next thing I hear is XM wants to "kiss and make up". The $202 has been put back in my bank account, will I drop the FRAUD charges? I told XM we had a problem.I have destroyed both of our radios so we can listen anymore.XM says they will replace them at a "REDUCED" price. I tell XM if they want the fraud charge to go away they will have to replace BOTH radios and issue 2 NEW accounts PREPAID for 2 years. XM balks..then says OK they will do that. I tell them NO CREDIT CARD on file! They didnt like that, but did it.Time goes on, the 2 years goes by the deal expires.I call XM and renew at 50% off the price and have them send me a bill.They do it, I pay them electronically, all is well for another year.Renewal time! I get a billing statement for 11/11/2009 on 11/19/2009 for the sum of $72. this is for a renewal for 2 radios for THREE months!!! I call them up and talk with some bimbo in India who cant understand a word I am saying, but she continues (Half English/Half Farsi) to read from her script.I tell her NO NO NO!! transfer me to a AMERICAN. No can do. I call back in and beat the call director into submission, i get customer "Rentention". I tell them no way jose.Then he says there will be a $75 charge to end my subscription!!! I was not in any contract! He says if I had called on 11/11/2009 to stop my service there would not be a $75 charge!! ASSHOLES!! I tell them to contact my lawyer and offer his contact number. XM backs down and waives the $75 charge..2 weeks later I am billed $9.20 for the time between 11/11/2009 and 11/19/2009  EIGHT FLIPPING DAYS of "service" I never wanted. I spend another hour on the phone with these pumpkin heads. I tell this IDIOT to sue me/send it to collections. She says I am buying a LOT OF TROUBLE FOR $9.20!!!! The next day my Lawyer calls them up, says we will file in court here in NEVADA for the $9.20. HAHAHAHA...XM once again caves in (smart move) and GENEROUSLY waives the $9.20. Now you might think that $9.20 is not a lot...and you are right,wouldnt kill me..but they are not entitled to it! If you have 18 million customers and you overcharge 10% of them ONE DOLLAR a month..thats 1.8 MILLION dollars in bullshit charges!
here is some "Reading Material".....
WWW.RIPOFFREPORT.COM
WWW.CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM SIXTY-SEVEN PAGES OF COMPLAINTS!!!!!!
WWW.MY3CENTS.COM 
Just do a search for XM radio.Grab a large cup of coffee and prepare for some LONG reports on this Scumbag of a company.
Personally, We sold all of our XM crap on Ebay in a one lump box. Sold ALL the radios,handhelds,antennas,carkits. We want NOTHING to do with XM ever again.
Besides ripping customers off, it's worse than terrestrial  radio as far as commercials, the audio quality SUCKS as they reduce the amount of bandwidth per channel. XM's satellite signal is usually strong, but Sirius's satellite delivery system is a LAUGH RIOT JOKE of a system, complete with dead zones and black outs for over 20 minutes here and there

[jay]

So while I agree with you pushing back on the $9.20 based on principal I am curious about waht your lawyer charged you for this letter/phone call - the one I was using to setttle an employment matter was $350/hr thats just under $6/min + dispursements + LD fees etc etc. Of course there was the little matter of the $2500 retainer..... and while I am all about principal centered leadership - the $9.20 seems like the lesser of two evils.....

[KirkLasVegas]

We have "Metlaw" provided to us at work for $32 a month. They handle ANYTHING you need them to do He literally laughed when I told him what XM was trying to pull...
Said it would be "His Pleasure" to take care of XM for me...and that he did.....

[staz]

my xm expires in end of dec i cancled my credit card that they had on file they suck anyway.....

[StatFreak]

I had a similar experience with an insurance company regarding automatic bill debiting back in the 1990's when the concept was new. Since that time I have NEVER given any company authorization to charge or debit me automatically. They either bill me and accept my manual payment or we don't do business.

Thanks for the heads up on the antics of this company KirkLasVegas. I'm glad that you had the tenacity and the resources to fight back.

[pinballmike49]

Kirt..one up for the small guy !!

[tjkeller]

Great Job Kirk and Thanks for the info.
I've not had either XM or Sirrus and don't intend to but good info to support the decision.

Also, be very aware if you ever order anything "As seen on TV" cause tons of these programs have automatic
repeat sending & billing. <<<Pain in the ass to cancel & get refund>>> this info is generally covered in the
2-second fine print you see on TV. Now I NEVER buy anything off a TV Commercial/Infomercial. Go to ebay
and get it cheaper without the hassle. OR, seems like half the stuff you can find in Wal-Mart and not pay shipping!

[KirkLasVegas]

Great Job Kirk and Thanks for the info.
I've not had either XM or Sirrus and don't intend to but good info to support the decision.

Also, be very aware if you ever order anything "As seen on TV" cause tons of these programs have automatic
repeat sending & billing. <<<Pain in the ass to cancel & get refund>>> this info is generally covered in the
2-second fine print you see on TV. Now I NEVER buy anything off a TV Commercial/Infomercial. Go to ebay
and get it cheaper without the hassle. OR, seems like half the stuff you can find in Wal-Mart and not pay shipping!

You are CORRECT! they are on the same sites I mentioned.just search for "JupiterJack","ScratchRemover" and a lot of the crapola that Billy Mayes was peddling all over TV.
besides outragious "Shipping & Handling" they too will "Slam" your credit card.
Good advice, DO NOT order this crap on TV, I too have seen this stuff at WAL*MART. Same junk but no shipping costs or creditcard ripoffs.


Kirk