Is there only one price for this service? If you don't respond to renewal requests, will they offer a better deal to keep your business. I'm on the fence about renewing.

I don't think there are any special offers. I have no doubts I will renew, I think I've listened to regular FM for a total of about an hour since I got it. It sounds terrible, but the content keeps me hooked.

I don't think there are any special offers. I have no doubts I will renew, I think I've listened to regular FM for a total of about an hour since I got it. It sounds terrible, but the content keeps me hooked.

The only thing that sounds terrible is that you've listened to FM at all :) Since i signed up for Sirius in March, I took my terrestrial antenna off my truck (so I don't have to find "in-the-clear" FM stations) and haven't changed my radio from 88.7 or put a CD in.

There are discounts for 1 year, 2 year, 3 year and lifetime commitments. The lifetime fee is $499. This plan will cover up to 3 new receivers. Each time there is a $75 charge.

The only thing that sounds terrible is that you've listened to FM at all :) Since i signed up for Sirius in March, I took my terrestrial antenna off my truck (so I don't have to find "in-the-clear" FM stations) and haven't changed my radio from 88.7 or put a CD in.


Any decently run FM station sounds much, much better than Sirius or XM. If you are using an RF modulator for Sirius, then it sounds even worse. But if you think it sounds good, well...I don't know what to say.

Any decently run FM station sounds much, much better than Sirius or XM. If you are using an RF modulator for Sirius, then it sounds even worse. But if you think it sounds good, well...I don't know what to say.

I misunderstood your first post, i read it like you were saying it was terrible that the content keeps you hooked.

I misunderstood your first post, i read it like you were saying it was terrible that the content keeps you hooked.

Oh, ok. I have a friend who insists it "sounds fantastic!" through an FM modulator, and I just don't get it. His HU is ok, but he's running the factory speakers, and....well, you know..

It is not surprising that most people find Satellite quality to be great.

These are the same people who got used to listening to music on their iPods via MP3s encoded at 128kbps or less.

I'd say satellite quality is roughly equivalent to 96kbps MP3. To people without discerning ears, who don't know what overcompression sounds like, that's more than acceptable.

I agree with the above post.

Most people who are 21 and younger(I'm 33), have no idea what somehting that sounds good actually sounds like.

There idea of what sounds good has been "dummed down", if you will by MP3's/IPod's/etc....

Quantity in a tidy little package, has definitely taken over Quality, in a little better package.

But that is the way the world goes.

I had XM for a short time a couple of years ago. When I didn't renew, I started receiving great offers. I don't know if they still do that, but I'm a Sirius customer now. I just renewed for my second year. I tried to get a deal, but the service reps don't really seem to care about customer retention. I guess the assumption right now is that the product "sells itself". This is especially true with people like me, who have been listening to Howard Stern for the past twenty years or so and spend two hours stuck in traffic every morning and evening.

I agree with the above post.

Most people who are 21 and younger(I'm 33), have no idea what somehting that sounds good actually sounds like.

There idea of what sounds good has been "dummed down", if you will by MP3's/IPod's/etc....

Quantity in a tidy little package, has definitely taken over Quality, in a little better package.

But that is the way the world goes.

Yeah, but this guy is almost 40, and only had an IPOD for maybe a year. He doesn't seem to be deaf, and says he had a normal hearing test after an ear infection a couple years ago. I could understand if his hearing was like another friend of mine who spent hours in proximity to military transports and fighter planes when he was in the Air Force, and has a serious hearing loss. Listening to his car stereo is torture as the treble is extreme. That, and the old time country music he plays make it a real long ride. His home stereo is even worse, Radio Shack supertweeters on all 5 speakers! I don't know how his wife can stand it. :eek:

Absolutely there are deals.

I know people who didn't renew who either 1) Have never been turned off because XM and Sirius want to inflate their sub numbers every quarter to Wall Street and 2) Those that have been offered $6.95 a month to renew.

Don't let anyone tell you that there are not deals out there for renewal - but you have to virtually not renew to get them.

After I failed to renew, about five days later they sent me an email with this:

Don't miss one more day of THE BEST RADIO ON RADIO.TM
Call 1-866-531-0276 and a SIRIUS Customer Care representative will turn your radio back on and help you take advantage of a remarkable offer:
3 months for only $12.95, which comes out to two months free!*

Is there only one price for this service? If you don't respond to renewal requests, will they offer a better deal to keep your business. I'm on the fence about renewing.
I'm in the same position. I just called Sirius about renewing and asked about any special deals on renewals and the answer was NO. I was a bit surprised as retention is everything to satellite broadcasters.

If anyone knows of any special offers, please let me know...

Thanks,

Frank

let it run out. They will either not cut it off (they want to count you as a sub to Wall Street - sub doesn't mean you pay - as they are doing with cars sitting in Detroit and on dealers lots) or will usually come back with cut rate offers.

let it run out. They will either not cut it off (they want to count you as a sub to Wall Street - sub doesn't mean you pay - as they are doing with cars sitting in Detroit and on dealers lots) or will usually come back with cut rate offers.
Thanks! I'll certainly take that advice as I have nothing to lose. I'll report back to this thread what happens...

I tried today and had no luck. My credit card expired last month, and they started calling me and sending me snailmail. I ignored it all for weeks, and they did finally suspend my account and turn off my radio.

What really sucks is you can't just go on the website,login and update the credit card info once your account is suspended - you have to call them to make payment and get service back on.

I tried my best to get a better rate through ignoring their pleas to fix my account and I tried for a better rate on the phone. No luck whatsoever in this area.

The experiment cost me $5, because they whacked me for a late fee for being a month behind.

What a shame that XM does not offer a lifetime Sub...

Cheers
Whit

What a shame that XM does not offer a lifetime Sub...

Cheers
Whit

The lifetime sub is not all it's cracked up to be... cancellation fees and ofcourse upgrading your radio costs $75 a pop.

Your best bet with XM is 3 years, that gets you $9.99/mo. -- and you get a full, pro-rated refund at any time.

The REAL XM deal was to get the 3 years deal a year and a half ago before they jumped up to $12.95... locked in at $7/mo til 2008... ;)

Thanks! I'll certainly take that advice as I have nothing to lose. I'll report back to this thread what happens...
Feb 2 my subscription ran out. I used the radio today (the 5th) and discovered that I didn't get any channels :(

I'll let you know if I hear back from Sirius!

The REAL XM deal was to get the 3 years deal a year and a half ago before they jumped up to $12.95... locked in at $7/mo til 2008... ;)

Yeah but....it's still XM though. They don't have Stern! :)

Yeah but....it's still XM though. They don't have Stern! :)
Stern?? Who's that?

Stern?? Who's that?


http://www.realitytvplanet.com/photos/photo3199986.jpg

Condolences to Howard Stern
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17050167/?GT1=9033

Feb 2 my subscription ran out. I used the radio today (the 5th) and discovered that I didn't get any channels :(

I'll let you know if I hear back from Sirius!
On Feb 8 Sirius sent me email offering 3 months for 12.95. Here's a clip of the text: "Don't miss one more day of THE BEST RADIO ON RADIO.TM
Call 1-866-531-0276 and a SIRIUS Customer Care representative will turn your radio back on and help you take advantage of a remarkable offer:
3 months for only $12.95, which comes out to two months free!".

When I called the salesman (he spoke broken English), he informed me that Sirius was not offering such a deal. We chatted for a few minutes while he looked for other offers. I interrupted and asked if he "ever heard of the sales tactic called bait and switch"? He started laughing and continued pushing other deals.

I said goodbye and hung up. It seems like they are getting sleazier...

F

Condolences to Howard Stern
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17050167/?GT1=9033


I think you mean Condolences to O&A-


Meanwhile, “Free FM” WCKG-FM, also owned by CBS, continues to languish after the December 2005 departure of Howard Stern. Arbitron ranked the station 30th in the marketplace, with a 0.9% share. The morning team of Gregg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia also ranked 30th among men 25 to 54, while Mr. Stern’s show had ranked first among this group on WCKG in fall 2005;)

I think you mean Condolences to O&A-


Meanwhile, “Free FM” WCKG-FM, also owned by CBS, continues to languish after the December 2005 departure of Howard Stern. Arbitron ranked the station 30th in the marketplace, with a 0.9% share. The morning team of Gregg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia also ranked 30th among men 25 to 54, while Mr. Stern’s show had ranked first among this group on WCKG in fall 2005;)
Guess you didn't get it. Let me explain, Anna Nicole Smith's husband / lawyer is Howard K. Stern and you may have heard that she died, so, it was a tie in to that. Wasn't a slam on your beloved Howie. I guess your used to fart type humor that doesn't require explanation:)

Guess you didn't get it. Let me explain, Anna Nicole Smith's husband / lawyer is Howard K. Stern and you may have heard that she died, so, it was a tie in to that. Wasn't a slam on your beloved Howie. I guess your used to fart type humor that doesn't require explanation:)

Oh no I got it....

just thought it was pretty stupid.;)

Well I prefer my XM.... and also would take O&A over Stern anyday.
They are new fresh and more entertaining than Stern.... TELL'EM FRED! WHO WHO!!

Cheers
Whit

Well I prefer my XM.... and also would take O&A over Stern anyday.
They are new fresh and more entertaining than Stern.... TELL'EM FRED! WHO WHO!!

Cheers
Whit
Oh boy ... you did that on purpose, didn't you...

Oh boy ... you did that on purpose, didn't you...

Why do you say that??? Who Who... I invented that!

Cheers
Whit

Any decently run FM station sounds much, much better than Sirius or XM. If you are using an RF modulator for Sirius, then it sounds even worse. But if you think it sounds good, well...I don't know what to say.

That's simply not true in the vast majority of cases. The only exception I can think of where FM sounds significantly better is in the case of some public broadcasting stations with critical listening formats or in the case of a live musical broadcast (very rare). I run a fairly expensive FM tuner at home with a dedicated FM Yagi on the roof. Sirius channels Pops and Symphony are as good as or very close to our local classical FM station., and is much cleaner than the Canadian Broadcasting signals coming from the north. With none of the commercials.

The fact is most broadcast FM signals are highly compressed to maintain "visability" on the dial and in many cases go through multiple AD-DA conversions (not to mention microwave feeds between studio and transmitter) before reaching your ear.

When it comes to automotive applications there is no contest; Sat is much better. The amount of phase shift (picket fencing) in automotive environments makes FM very spotty in the areas where I have lived (Rocky Mountains and Pacific NW). HD radio may chage that.

Is Sat radio "CD Quality" sound? No. Is it as good as or better than most home received FM signals? Yes. Is it better than nearly all FM signals received in an automotive environment? Hell Yes.