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SiriusXM Black Friday Offer - would you do it?

ApplePersonFreak

ApplePersonFreak

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 23, 2016
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Sirius XM is offering $5 for 12 months (billed up front) plus a free upgrade to their all access package and a free echo dot. Would you do it? I am thinking about it since it’s still cheaper than Apple Music and Spotify, but the only downfall is when the year is up, cancelling with them is a nightmare.
 
That sounds to me like a fantastic price, if you have Sirius XM in one of your vehicles and are not currently subscribed, what is the downside?

I've had XM radio service in my vehicles for years and have been able to get promotional rates when renewing each year, by making sure that I contact them within a week or so of my annual plan coming up for renewal. I feel that I could cancel without much difficulty although obviously they will attempt to get you to stay with them, by offering enticements to continue. But if you are firm in cancelling, I would expect it to be straightforward.
 
Phil77354 said:
That sounds to me like a fantastic price, if you have Sirius XM in one of your vehicles and are not currently subscribed, what is the downside?

I've had XM radio service in my vehicles for years and have been able to get promotional rates when renewing each year, by making sure that I contact them within a week or so of my annual plan coming up for renewal. I feel that I could cancel without much difficulty although obviously they will attempt to get you to stay with them, by offering enticements to continue. But if you are firm in cancelling, I would expect it to be straightforward.
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Yeah, you’re right. I was looking at their $5 a month monthly option but couldn’t beat this, as you aren’t able to get a free upgrade to the all access package like you can with the upfront option.

how long have you been a member for?
 
ApplePersonFreak said:
. . . how long have you been a member for?
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Well, I've subscribed to XM for at least a dozen years, probably quite a few more, I can't say exactly. Since I first owned a vehicle that had XM capability. I don't really consider it to be a membership!

I pay roughly half of the normal annual rate. Slightly more than the offer you are considering. I wouldn't renew if I had to pay full price, but once I figured out they would give me a heavy promotional discount if I waited until my annual subscription was about to expire, I started doing that every year. I have a reminder on my calendar to call them a week or so before the renewal date. it's worth it to me to have the XM channels available to listen to when commuting and especially whenever we drive any distance at all.
 
I'm currently on that plan. Just started it after the free listening period from my new 2020 auto was up.

It's a great deal and yes, everyone I know has remarked that cancelling after the promotion period is up is a real PITA. However, others have remarked rather than cancelling you they will offer you another deal instead.
 
Cancelling is not a problem. All you have to do is call and see you want to cancel because the renewal price is too high, and they will offer you the same service and price for what you currently have.

I don’t see the offer on their website.

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ApplePersonFreak said:
the only downfall is when the year is up, cancelling with them is a nightmare.
Click to expand...

Phil77354 said:
I figured out they would give me a heavy promotional discount if I waited until my annual subscription was about to expire,
Click to expand...

Since I wasn't driving due to Covid I had no need to renew my Sirius subscription. I pre-paid the previous subscription via a virtual credit card that expired after 30 days so they were not able to renew.

Eventually they sent me the $5 offer as well. Their traffic data (which shows up in my car GPS) also was 50% off. I prepaid with a privacy.com virtual credit card with a total limit of the two charges combined, so it will fail in a year when they try to charge the renewal. If I'm not making a long trip I'll just let it expire again as it encourages them to give me a discounted rate.
 
I can see how that would work (using a credit card that will no longer be valid when the renewal date arrives).

My approach is different. I also have not had the issues that others here seem to have had, with getting XM to cancel if that is what I want to do.

To begin with, when I begin a new 1 year term with XM, I recognize that the agreement is that it will auto renew at the anniversary date, and the promotional rate will expire at that time. The agreement also stipulates that if I want to cancel the arrangement, I will contact XM before the renewal date arrives. Those are the terms I agree to, and I think this is how all XM subscriptions work, as far as I know.

If I wait until the renewal date arrives, then I owe the higher rate beginning on that date. That is what I agreed to in the beginning. XM will consider that amount to be due, and if I don't talk to them until the renewal date has gone by, then any discussion is going to first start with an overdue amount that I have agreed to pay, based upon the arrangement I signed up for.

My approach is to contact them before the renewal date has arrived. That gives me the opportunity to either negotiate a promotional rate in order to continue the subscription, or cancel it. I have not had problems with handling XM renewals in this way, for quite a few years. It is a straightforward way to handle this, and it respects the agreement that was made in the beginning.
 
I got a special deal, $5 a month for a year for all access. Was going the 3 months free before jumping in.
 
Thanks all - going to go for it tomorrow since it’s the first of the month. That way I remember around this week next year to see what deals they can offer me.
 
MacNut said:
I got a special deal, $5 a month for a year for all access. Was going the 3 months free before jumping in.
Click to expand...
Is it monthly or yearly? I think I had that too when my 3 months was over but I didn’t jump on it. But this deal is pretty good as it gives me a free upgrade to all access.
 
This company needs to quit playing games with it's existing customers and just get a realistic pricing model already. Having to go through the "cancellation" process every year in order to get a reasonable rate is beyond annoying.
 
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I had XM for awhile when buying a Nissan gave me it free for, 3 months, 6 months, whatever, I forget. (not the full package)
I rarely even listened to it. On the odd occasion I would listen to Sports Talk shows.
I used to have the XM/Sirius app way back on an iPhone 3G? I know I used about 1 gig of data per month on my way to and from work on transit.
It seems XM is a love-hate (dislike?) thing for people. Some can't live without it and others have no interest in trying it, or had it at some point and let it lapse. I can easily forget it even exists, but have friends who have had it forever. S
 
SiriusXM is great if you're on the road all the time. Truckers, and others who spend an inordinate time driving are those who benefit the most.

I love the commercial free broadcasting, but there is no way I would pay full price to extend my subscription beyond the $5.00/Month deal I'm on now.
 
I’ve been paying $5 per month for a while now. I call each year before my promotion ends to extend the $5 promotion and they always do it.
 
I have Sirius not for the music, but for the sports and talk shows. Other than podcasts, there isn't really any other place that has All Baseball or All Hockey all the time. Most of the sports talk you hear on terrestrial radio is football or basketball. Always nice to hear some NHL news during the offseason.
 
I would never in a million years go back for any price. It was literally the hardest thing to cancel I’ve ever experienced. They are a joke.
 
When the 6 month trial in my new car was over, I logged into my account to discover I was able to the same plan at the same price for another year. It was a no brainer.

But I don’t have it for the music. I have it because I like being able to tune into a channel and be able to listen to it regardless of where I drive. While I also have Apple Music with T-Mobile, I don’t always have cellular signal in the places I drive.

I also noticed something new when I logged into my account. Has Sirius several years ago and the only option for canceling was to call, which was a nightmare. Now I see an actual option to cancel your account. May give it a try if I ever decide to leave.
 
My experience with XM, and now SiriusXM, has been very satisfactory. The auto-renewal can be turned off. It is straightforward to restart their promotional rates every year and continue service for a the special rates indefinitely, which is a very reasonable price as far as I'm concerned. Cancelling is not difficult. I don't know why others have difficulties, but this is what I have personally experienced, and I've been a customer for over 10 years, at least.

You can manage your account on their webpage and one of the options available is 'cancel my account'. How much more straightforward do you expect?
 
Canceled my sub with them the minute they fired Anthony Cumia of Opie and Anthony fame, they didn't even give him a chance to say "your mom's box". Hard pass.
 
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