Annual Cost Increase

[ekilgus]

This merger between Sirius and XM that was supposed to benefit the consumer was a con job from the beginning. I'm not certain if the feds were in on this con job or just incredibly stupid.

I have two cars with satellite radios that I pay for annually. Last year's bill was $256 and this year's bill is $309.

Quite an increase for something (the merger) that was supposed to lower or at least hold the line on price increases.

Whatever happened to the prospect of ala-cart subscriptions as I only regularly listen to about 6 channels?

 

[DetFan]

Its the $2.00 per radio per month increase they passed on down to its customer..The record industry hit them with a tax so instead of eating they passed it down. I cancelled both of my cars at that moment..Slacker is way better and 45 bucks per year and sounds 100 times better anyway.. I do not miss them one bit.

 

[pro96]

Cancelled mine a while back too... Satellite radio not worth it any more. Now with HD-Radio + since me and the wife have data services on our Sprint cells, internet radio roxs and its free like clubfmradio .. from cell to car radio via bluetooth and free

 

[Mr Tony]

HD radio in alot of areas is useless...here in MN it is
Public radio and a few AM stations are subchannels on FM.
(just looked and I would gain on HD...a station called deep cuts, comedy,Christian, Classic Country, New Country, Jazz, and 80's. The other 6 channels are either public radio or AM counterparts)

My year comes up in December so I'll have to look at it.

 

[goreds2]

I love satellite radio but cancelled one of my four subscriptions due to the increase.

 

[Ramy]

I am about to cancel mine.

 

[ekilgus]

Make no mistake about this. It's a thinly disguised rate increase. As acknowledged by Sirius/XM We the consumer have been paying this fee all along so what they did was essentially itemize it but conveniently neglect to remove it from the base rate. This is a rate increase pure and simple which appears to violate the merger agreement promise not to raise rates for at least 3 years but I think the Feds are unconcerned or clueless. BTW, despite the merger promises I think they are still operating at a loss, If that's true that means satellite radio has never turned one dime of profit, How long can this go on?

 

[jcrandall]

This summer I went from two radios to one, now my wife and I share depending on who is traveling farther, etc. I also dropped the car subscription, so actually 3 to 1.

I like the NFL, but could care less about Stern, so I did the family friendly with sirius for $15/mo. After NFL is done, I'll switch back to the $12/mo. Then again, I may call retention and push for the $77/yr deal again. They seem to have no problem prorating me back to the regular plan when NFL starts up.

I did upgrade to the XMP3 which is a nice radio, but kinda finiky, I think it needs some firmware improvements. I had two Innos, but one had some power problems. Sold the good one for $125 on ebay, and only paid $129 for the new XMP3 at best buy a month ago or so, and it had a free car kit. Sold my old car kits and bought new car kits for the xmp3 both on ebay, and ended up essentially breaking even.

 

[navychop]

Yep, I think they're still losing money.

The benefit to the consumer is, supposedly, that satellite radio continues to exist. They might both have gone under if they kept up as they were.

They have apparently been quite successful in cutting costs, with even more savings in the future. And subscriber numbers grew due to so many new cars being equipped with sat radio. Of course, that pipe has almost dried up. But they may see profits one day, they just need to get thru the next couple of years.

 

[jcrandall]

They cut huge overhead and talent as well, merging the platforms. They've outsourced their customer service, they can't cut many more costs without dropping programming.

I keep it for the sports coverage. When I travel, it is often a couple hour drive, and listening to baseball, football, or hockey during that time is great - it keeps me awake

 

[Mr Tony]

I just got a thing in the mail from Sirius because my year is coming up. They mention that they'll bill the cc I have on file unless I call to cancel that part...then they listed what I will pay and then sneak that $2 fee in there too. (but they do list it separately)
Sad as the website doesn't mention it when I log into my account. It shows the yearly package with one month free and its the same as what I paid last year....so they would "sneak" it in there then.

Seriously (no pun intended) thinking about canceling it. Not worth it now. Latelly I have been going days without listening to it and with NASCAR being done next week there goes one of the main channels I listen to

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Its expensive now, but its still better then FM radio.

I just wish the programming was as good as it use to be.

 

[Ramy]

I called to cancel the other day and they offered it to me for $29 total with tax for 5 months.

 

[Bobby]

I canceled one of my radios the other day. They offered me 3 free months and I turned it down. One down, two to go.

When they asked me why I was canceling I told them that I thought the increase was too much and also that I think they are circumventing their agreement with the FCC about increases.

 

[goreds2]

Its expensive now, but its still better then FM radio.

I just wish the programming was as good as it use to be.

AMEN - :

 

[HCI]

I'm thinking of doing the 399 lifetime thing. They can break it down for 5 months at 92 bucks which is around 460 which is the 399 plus the music royalty's. That will protect me from any increase in the future and I only really have to worry about them not going out of business for 33 months when it starts paying for itself. I can also change radios 3 times for $75 with it so I figure a radio will last me about 3 years as my last one did. So for 12 years that's only around $685 or about 5 bucks per month. Again I do have to worry about them going out of business but if it works out it will be a good deal in the long run.

 

[Mr Tony]

well I did it....called and canceled Sirius after 4 years. Had a couple reasons
1. the royalty fee thing....its not the fact they are billing it but the point that for 4 years I hadnt been billed it. We should be grandfathered in
2. I dont drive as much anymore. Usually its just around town
3. One of my favorite stations was The Roadhouse (classic country). This summer we got a new station that went on the air and they play just classic country. Sure its a satellite fed station but its the same one at the cabin

Actually pretty easy. Called in and gave them the account number off the mailer they sent me. Lady offered me something to stay...I forget what it was but I think it was like 7 or 8 bucks a month. I declined and just checked account now and it shows cancelled online.

Bye Bye Sirius...its been fun. I guess I'm stuck with regular radio now

 

[Mr Tony]

bummer....they nuked the reciever. Got about an hour of listening after it then "subscription updated" and only 184 & 000 are channel options

funny thing is my old receiver (the old square one with no remote...SPS1 or something like that) that hasnt been activated for 2+ years still works fine.

 

[Stargazer]

If I was doing constant traveling then I might look into getting one. I am surprised that Dish or Direct never bought into it.

 

[ercjncpr]

I have a lifetime sub on my Xmp3, so I don't care