Sirius...are they serious???
 

So I was gonna try Sirius radio. I went to their website looking for info, and found that it's difficult to find any info unless it's their own horn tooting of their service.

Specifically I wanted to know if I could cancel the service if I decided to...after searching I finally came across their customer agreement.

One year of the SirusXM package is around $142 with taxes and fees (there is a $15 activation fee????), and this is with a two month discount for paying the entire year. But the deal breaker for me was this: if you cancel in the first year there is a $75 cancellation fee.

So, if after two months I decide I don't want it, I'll be giving them $75, which means they get the first year of fees (pretty much) whether you use it or not.

Found out some other weird stuff, like you have to verify you are still listening every 90 minutes or they stop your stream (OOOUUU!), and other quirky things.

Anybody here have Sirius service?

I have SIRIUS in the Jag and XM in the Cadillac. As I learned from the Corvette Forum if you call and play hardball they will discount. Right now I'm paying about $87 a year with XM on quarterly billing. I wasn't able to do this with SIRIUS since I just started the service. But the trick is to call and ask for the cancellation department. The folks there have the authority to offer "better" deals.

You can always make MP3's.

Tom

I already make MP3's.

I don't have Sirius currently, and so I don't have any leverage to get a deal. I just think that if they were more up front with their service and let it speak for itself rather than threatening a high cancellation fee they would have many more subscribers than they do now.

I could be wrong.

On pre-2009 models, I don't think Sirius sounds as good as a CD, but I do like the variety. I got 3 months free with my XKR and then paid for a year (commencing after the end of the 3 free months) with 2 months free if paid in full up front. So, I got 15 months for the price of 10.

To put it in perspective, Sirius costs $2.80 per week, which is less than many people pay each day at Starbucks.

I dont see the big deal on cancellations fees either. I meen $200-300 early cancel fee for cells is standard and many others do the same with their services.
Look at it this way, theyre giving you a $75 discount to not cancel in the first year:)

How do you like the programming and usage?
 

Well, the market will take care of the business stuff - just like how contracts for cell phones and cancellation fees (etc) will eventually go away.

But how is the service and programming? Do you like it?

And do they have talk stations/channels?

Id had xm and loved it when i had it. I hate all the talk and commercials on public stations...but remember when that was a big seller on cable years ago, no commercials, now theyre just as bad:)
i know, i know, think back to when there were actually music videos on mtv:)

I have the music-only subscription, but you can get talk radio and sports radio on Sirius/XM for an additional fee (it might even be free for a couple months because when you sign up they give you Sirius Everything to try to hook you). I like 10 of the channels, but those 10 make it worth it for me ($0.28 per station per week haha), especially if you drive long distances and the stations that you otherwise listen to get weak.

The only annoying thing about Sirius/XM is that reception does drop out. Although infrequent, it seems to drop out in the same areas for both my 2007 Range Rover and my XKR. Some cars have better receivers than others....

I have Sirius and I think it is great. I am a big fan of the blues and you can't find it anywhere on a regular radio station aroung here. I got my radio last September and it has been off the blues station maybe three times. The only times I have lost reception is in a tunnel (only one it town), or at the drive thru at the bank. The big selling point for me is no commercials.

@tcarby-your Sirius is commercial free? Everyone else I know that subscribes , including myself are getting kinda pi$$ed because there is an increasing amount of commercials!

We have a XM subscibtion, $9.95 a month plus $2.00 fees and taxes (basic music). It is piped through a factory Sat receiver with Bose speakers. Multiple listening adjustments always sounds a little coffee can-ish compared to the FM counterpart.

We listen to the 50's through 90's and the 2 Disney channels, <--talk about commercials try those two!!!

Everytime I receive a customer feedback, I have mentioned the commercials, the "talk over" beginning and ending of songs, and that I could really careless about the 80's has beens DJs, fire them all and play music thats what I pay for!!

I have heard commercials on the comedy channels, but the only commercials I have heard on the blues channel, is some short promotions for the blues channel itself. I don't think I have heard one commercial. So the solution seems to be to listen to the blues. BB, Buddy, Stevie Ray, you can't go wrong. I am going to see Buddy Guy for the fouth time next month and I can't wait.

LOL, the Blues seems like the way to go! Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC, BBC, NPR etc. alll hav way too many commercials. I often find myself changing the channel to avoid a commercial only to find one on the next 3 channels!

Sirius commercials
 

I have had Sirius for about 5 years, and yes, the number of commercials is definitely on the rise. As a general rule there are no commercials on the music stations but it's an open field on the others. Another thing I find annoying, is that originally, the music stations were strictly music. Now they have inserted DJs between the music. For me this is unwanted patter. However, I still feel it is better than FM and no contest with AM.

I purchased a "lifetime" subscription back in 2006 for my S4 and have not looked back since - I did one of the 3 transfers when I got my Jag. Unfortunately is seems like this is not an option anymore, but the monthly rate remains worthwhile, especially as I have a 90 mile round trip commute per day. It is to the point that I try to get Hertz rental cars with XM/ Sirius when possible. There are a few stations with commercials (XM is MUCH worse with commercials), and there is some DJ babble on others, but regular radio is so commercial laden that I cannot stand it anymore. I'm also the kind of person who records all TV shows so I can skip the ads....

Having lived with both SIRIUS and XM for a month now the only difference I've noticed is how much more frequent SIRIUS will lose its signal. I drive both cars through the same areas and businesses like my CU drive through, with XM I have a signal, SIRIUS will drop out. The same applies to sitting in my garage; XM works and SIRIUS will cut in and out.

I'm guessing XM has more land based repeaters than SIRIUS. And SIRIUS has been sounding "tinny" lately, especially noticeable on instruments like cymbals.

Tom

I recently decided to not renew the XM Radio and XM NavTraffic in my LS460 and to not buy Sirius for my XKR, as SiriusXM would not combine my accounts and apply the discounts for multiple radios (I would have had 3). Although Sirius now owns XM, they continue to operate as separate entities, and won't combine accounts. I was not pleased with XM's customer service. I had billing issues with XM when I cancelled the service on my son's Acura TL (sold) and asked to have the balance on that account credited to my LS460. They are the worst to deal with and never got it right. As for the XM NavTraffic (not available from Sirius for my XKR), I'm in suburban Atlanta and the XM NavTraffic worked(?) only on interstates, and not city streets - basically, useless and not worth the money. My HTC Droid Incredible (Verizon) has better nav traffic; it is a free app and real-time traffic covers city streets as well as interstates. Why pay for inferior XM NavTraffic? As for music, my iPod works great in my XKR (and LS460) and I have no need for a Sirius subscription. Sports, weather, news, etc., I can get on my Dinc. My advice: buy an iPod instead of a Sirius subscription.

I also bought the "lifetime" subscription to Sirius. This is good for as long as you have the car and can be transferred to another vehicle 3 times. I think it was a little over $600 and was billed to my credit card at $125/mo for 5 months.