Can't cancel XM Radio

Serendipity
Serendipity Posts: 6,975
edited June 2007 in The Clubhouse
Hi,

I've tried to cancel my XM Radio for almost a year now, but to no avail. I've stopped receiving bills for the service for more than 7 months, yet my XM Radio still works. I wonder if this is a way for XM to count me as a "subscriber" to boost their stock, etc.

So, for all of you who are XM Radio subscribers, have any of you tried to cancel your subscription? Did you get the run-around?

And for those who have cancelled your subscription, does your radio still work a year later?
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  • strider
    strider Posts: 2,568
    edited June 2007
    I don't remember having any issues...
    Wristwatch--->Crisco
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    So,

    Will I get charged (eventually) for the 7 months or so that I've been receiving free XM?
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited June 2007
    appadv wrote: »
    So,

    Will I get charged (eventually) for the 7 months or so that I've been receiving free XM?

    Worse, you've been getting charged without receiving a bill, and your past due amounts have been reported to credit agencies thus crippling your credit score.
    Never Forget
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    Weird...

    XM Customer Service says that I'm no longer in their database and I officially cancelled in December.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    strider wrote: »
    I don't remember having any issues...

    Hmm, why the heck am I still getting service then?
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited June 2007
    When I canceled for my portable it worked almost a year later when I tried it. In my case it continued to work until it happened to be turned on while they were updating the subscription list. At least this is my understanding.
    madmax
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  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,600
    edited June 2007
    I have two recievers that still work with no subscription.
    Count your blessings. They are stupid, and you have free service.
    Someday they will kill it. until then, rock on!!!!!
    "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    sucks2beme wrote: »
    I have two recievers that still work with no subscription.
    Count your blessings. They are stupid, and you have free service.
    Someday they will kill it. until then, rock on!!!!!

    How long has this been?
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  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,600
    edited June 2007
    appadv wrote: »
    How long has this been?
    One has been two years. I bought it as a demo, never had to turn it on!!!
    "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited June 2007
    sweet! I'm going to "cancel" mine.
    Never Forget
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  • Skynut
    Skynut Posts: 2,967
    edited June 2007
    A friend of mine bought a truck with an aftermarket receiver in it and it has worked for over a year so far and he has not paid them anything.

    On my home receiver we did not pay the bill and they shut it off.

    When my wife tried to add the home receiver (when it was new) XM would not let us adjust our account so all three receivers were on the same schedual for renewall so I am letting them all lapse so we can start them all at the same time.

    Eff em with customer service like that; they can loose some money from my account.
    That and they had O&A off the air for a month for B.S. reasons so they will loose more than 30 days of my subscription.
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited June 2007
    PolkThug wrote: »
    sweet! I'm going to "cancel" mine.


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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    Isn't this unethical?

    I'm just trying to cancel XM Radio for good.
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  • dudeinaroom
    dudeinaroom Posts: 3,609
    edited June 2007
    My mother-in-law had a trial subscription that she got when she bought her new civic in '05, and her xm still works and she has paid nothing for it.
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  • edbert
    edbert Posts: 1,041
    edited June 2007
    Nah, not unethical. If you call someone and ask them to cancel your account, but they forget to turn it off, that's not your fault.

    Think about this. My company deals in retirement accounts and sends out checks to our participants. We have hundreds of stale-dated checks that people haven't cashed. We have sent them their money, they just haven't officially accepted it by putting it into their checking accounts. We did our part, they just haven't done their's. Neither case really makes a whole lot of sense as to why they would do this, but it's their responsibility.
    I know just enough to be dangerous, but don't tell my wife, she thinks I'm a genius. :D

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  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,600
    edited June 2007
    How does one cancel a dead account?
    They will figure it out sooner or later.
    Then I'll make a decision. I have one radio that's legit.
    It's in the wife's car. I think I paid maybe $60 for all the XM stuff I got.
    Not to worry. I'm sure they'll get around to **** me when XM and Sirius merge.
    You know they'll jack up the rates and make all the hardware obsolete.
    No buyout ever makes prices go down. Every cable company change
    costs me big bucks. Been through four of them, each worse than the last.
    I'd kill the wife's and use one of the free ones, but she's too afraid.
    I guess she's expecting the XM rangers to show up with guns drawn??:p
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  • Bill Ayotte
    Bill Ayotte Posts: 1,860
    edited June 2007
    appadv wrote: »
    Isn't this unethical?

    I'm just trying to cancel XM Radio for good.

    I see it this way...If the company is too stupid to shut off your service after they stop charging you for it, that's their problem...
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  • dohcmark8
    dohcmark8 Posts: 229
    edited June 2007
    Well what happens is the XM receiver when it gets activated retains an activation in memory and every few months XM sends a 'refresh' signal to the receiver to let it know that the account is still active and is being paid for and to continue service. When you cancel XM they simply don't send you the refresh signal anymore, it's only supposed to work for a few months without a refresh. I'm not certain, but I am quite sure that XM has no way to send out an immediate kill signal.

    So who knows. I find it kinda stupid they don't take the time to have their hardware support a immediate kill signal to the units. I guess it could be a way to retain subscribers, ya know give people a second chance to try the service out and they may reactivate it or something.

    Same goes for Dish and DirecTV although they send out an immediate kill signal, but one could in theory unplug the receiver and wait a few weeks until they stop sending the kill signal and have a working receiver.

    Not that I condone any of these activities.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    dohcmark8 wrote: »
    When you cancel XM they simply don't send you the refresh signal anymore, it's only supposed to work for a few months without a refresh.

    Well, it's way past a few months in my case - and almost a year now.
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  • strider
    strider Posts: 2,568
    edited June 2007
    appadv wrote: »
    Hmm, why the heck am I still getting service then?

    That's what I was trying to figure out. It's been a few years since I cancelled, and IIRC, I pulled my XM system out of my car at that time. Not a very good way to make money if you run a subscription based service....
    Wristwatch--->Crisco
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  • dohcmark8
    dohcmark8 Posts: 229
    edited June 2007
    Maybe you guys are just lucky or something. :-)
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  • krabby5
    krabby5 Posts: 923
    edited June 2007
    edbert wrote: »
    Nah, not unethical. If you call someone and ask them to cancel your account, but they forget to turn it off, that's not your fault.

    Think about this. My company deals in retirement accounts and sends out checks to our participants. We have hundreds of stale-dated checks that people haven't cashed. We have sent them their money, they just haven't officially accepted it by putting it into their checking accounts. We did our part, they just haven't done their's. Neither case really makes a whole lot of sense as to why they would do this, but it's their responsibility.

    yeah..but after a certain amount of time you have to send that money to the state as unclaimed property...
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    dohcmark8 wrote: »
    Maybe you guys are just lucky or something. :-)

    Well, then there's a lot of "lucky" XM listeners around then.

    Great way for XM to lose money.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    Anybody here know how is the Polk XRt12 tuner? In terms of sound quality?

    I might continue my subscription and use the "free" radio for another room.
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited June 2007
    appadv wrote: »
    Well, then there's a lot of "lucky" XM listeners around then.

    Great way for XM to lose money.

    Im not sure, but I doubt theyre losing any money over it. Sure theyre not getting paid for it, but I doubt it actually costs them anything to have another receiver receiving it...if that makes any sense.

    I bought my g/f a used sirius tuner off ebay. Used it for 3 months without paying for it. She didnt like it as much as my XM so we ended up going with it when her Sirius quit :)
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  • hearingimpared
    hearingimpared Posts: 21,137
    edited June 2007
    appadv wrote: »
    Isn't this unethical?

    I'm just trying to cancel XM Radio for good.

    No way, it is their screw up. You did what is required plus a followup call.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    hearingimpared wrote: »
    No way, it is their screw up. You did what is required plus a followup call.

    Sure. I just want to get a Polk XRT12 tuner and continue my XM subscription now - so that I'm at least paying for one receiver.

    The "free" receiver I'll use in college since it is a portable.
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  • dohcmark8
    dohcmark8 Posts: 229
    edited June 2007
    Well, let me correct myself from yesterday. XM does infact sent an immediate deactivation signal when you cancel, but if the radio is not powered on at the time it wont deactivate. And every few months they do a mass purge and if your radio is on it will get deactivated.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    dohcmark8 wrote: »
    Well, let me correct myself from yesterday. XM does infact sent an immediate deactivation signal when you cancel, but if the radio is not powered on at the time it wont deactivate. And every few months they do a mass purge and if your radio is on it will get deactivated.

    So they DO have the ability to throw the "kill switch" then.

    Interesting.
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited June 2007
    dohcmark8,

    When I cancelled XM I was in college but the radio was at home. So since it was not powered ON XM could not deactivate the radio.

    I listen to the radio once in a blue moon, so the "mass purges" have not affected the radio yet.

    I wonder when it will eventually get purged.
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