What does a “lifetime” subscription mean? When it comes to a SiriusXM device, it means the lifetime of the device for your built-in car radio, and it can be transferable if you have a portable radio. However, a customer who bought his lifetime subscription to satellite radio service SiriusXM over the phone says that he wasn’t told that the subscription was for the lifetime of the device, and was led to belief that the subscription was for his lifetime. [More]
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New Car Infotainment Systems Will Cost You Once Free Trial Is Up
By 9.9.16
It used to be that your new car came with two infotainment systems: a radio and a tape or CD player. (8-tracks were briefly a thing, too, though record players in cars didn’t quite catch on.) Now even basic-model cars come with complex infotainment systems, but they also come with a catch: subscriptions to services that you’ll have to renew if you decide to keep them. [More]
Don’t Like 24/7 Billy Joel? SiriusXM Can Just Suspend Your Service
By 4.4.14
Late last month, SiriusXM took ’40s on 4, its earliest decade-themed station, off the air and replaced it with a three-month temporary station that plays only the music of Billy Joel. Earlier this week, we shared a reader’s tip to complain and get a three-month refund for the inconvenience. Well, SiriusXM is on to us. [More]
Sad About Losing SiriusXM ’40s On 4? Try Asking For A Refund
By 3.31.14
When we posted on Friday about SiriusXM temporarily bumping their station ’40s on 4 to make room for a station that’s 24/7 Billy Joel, we didn’t realize how many people enjoy rocking out Greatest Generation-style in their cars. One fan was able to get a small concession from SiriusXM, and this might work for others, too. [More]
SiriusXM Swaps ’40s Music For Billy Joel, Learns That People Really Love ’40s Music
By 3.28.14
If you’ve never had SiriusXM satellite radio, you might not be familiar with their station “’40s on 4.” It’s exactly what it sounds like: songs from the first half of this century that your grandparents or great-grandparents might sing along with. You might assume that this sort of station wouldn’t be popular enough in 2014 to prompt a public outcry when it’s taken away. You would be wrong. [More]
SiriusXM Takes Away Free Subscriptions From People Who Didn’t Win Them, Internet Is Outraged
By 10.9.12 — Updated: 1.28.13
If you get something free under false pretenses, then the company contacts you to take away your prize, have you really lost anything at all? That existential question is brought to you by SiriusXM. Back during this year’s Super Bowl, the satellite radio monolith took part in a Chevy sweepstakes, giving away 375 one-year Internet subscriptions. That winners’ link and promo code circulated on deals sites and blogs a few weeks ago, and someone forgot to turn it off, meaning that a whole lot more than 375 winners used it to get free subscriptions. [More]
Sirius XM: Two Companies With Single Mission To Confuse Customers
By 4.11.12
When satellite radio providers Sirius and XM merged almost half a decade ago, consumers and regulators feared that the combined company would begin to act like a fearsome monopoly with a stranglehold on the entire satellite radio market. Not quite. They’re still acting as separate companies working together to confuse the hell out of their customers. Emily’s family are longtime XM subscribers who bought a car with a Sirius receiver, assuming that since it’s all the same company, the services are interchangeable. No, not even close. [More]
Finally, You Can Get A Multi-Subscription Discount If You Have Both Sirius And XM
By 1.12.12
Satellite radio wonder-twins Sirius and XM have been together for three years now. Customers often whine to us: why can’t we get multi-subscription discounts when they subscribe to both Sirius and XM. It’s all the same company, isn’t it? Offering discounts would have made too much sense, and was therefore impossible. Until now! [More]
SiriusXM 'Everything' Plan Does Not, In Fact, Include Everything
By 9.21.11
If you were signing up for a plan called the “Sirius Everything Plan,” don’t you think that it would include…well, everything? At least, all of the programming that new car owners get to sample with their trial subscription. When Chris renewed his SiriusXM subscription for his new car, nothing on the paperwork led him to believe that he wasn’t selecting a different subscription from what he already had. Yet he did. Because at Sirius, “everything” isn’t everything. [More]
SiriusXM Drops BBC Radio 1, Picks Up Customer Ire
By 8.22.11
Sometimes, a group of organized and determined customers working together can affect change and make a company see things from their point of view. For North American customers annoyed that SiriusXM abruptly dropped BBC Radio 1, that tactic isn’t working. But hey, at least the outcry got SiriusXM to put BBC Radio 1 back on the PC streaming lineup. Which would be meaningful if the BBC didn’t already provide free streaming access to the station. [More]
Photos: Behind The Scenes At CES 2011
By 1.5.11
While most of the reporters here spent this day before the official launch of CES 2011 going from press conference to press conference, I managed to convince a security guard that it was perfectly okay for me to walk around taking photos of the big booths being constructed. [More]
Sirius XM May Be Preparing for Bankruptcy
By 2.11.09
According to the NYT, Sirius XM owes $175 Million by the end of February and it may not be able to pay up. Bankruptcy may very well be in the cards for the Satellite Radio super-organism. The article cites a failure to “to win over many younger listeners” and the general economic downturn.
