SiriusXm Lifetime Subscription Warning

*** Read this if you have a Lifetime Music Subscription with SiriusXM ***

On June 11th I decided to move over one of my old XM Lifetime Music Subscription licenses to my LEAF. My Leaf's XM radio had stopped getting it's free service so since I had to call customer service anyway I though to do the transfer rather than ask for them to re-start my 6 month "trial". There was a $75 transfer fee (normal) and they also told me that this would be the last time I could transfer this license. In other words, the lifetime music would stay with the car even if I sold it. Fare enough, I did the transfer.

I then asked to turn on XM Traffic. I was planning on using the 3 year pre-paid subscription like I do on my 2008 Smart. The CS rep was having a problem adding this. They made a trouble ticket and told me I'd get a call within 5-7 days.

June 17 - no call back so I call to see what the problem is. The rep I get tells me it can't be done. I can't add XM Traffic to Lifetime Subscription. What? I had the CS rep look at my radio in my Smart Car that has lifetime music and 3 year XM Traffic. He didn't know how that was possible. I asked if I could move that license to my LEAF, he refused saying it would probably break. When I asked to speak with a supervisor he tells me there's no one else to talk with.

Fine, I started a CS issue on their website. Took them until 7/29 to get my first reply that completely missed the point (cut and paste of activation fees and a link to their end user license agreement). After a few back and forth emails I finally got this today...

Thanks for contacting SiriusXM regarding on adding the Navtraffic service on your Nissan vehicle. We understand your frustration and we're here to assist you.
In response to your concern, currently we do not offer subscription for Data Service like Navtraffic if radio is under the Lifetime subscription. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
We continually rely on customer feedback like yours and research to enhance your entertainment experience. As we strive to create the most diverse listening experience available, we find that the feedback we receive is crucial to our success.
We are forwarding your comments to the appropriate team. Thank you for being a loyal listener and we look forward to many more years of providing you with our service.
We hope that you will continue to enjoy our service and the 100% commercial-free music and entertainment programming. We are committed to providing you with the best in customer care. You can always manage your account 24/7 by visiting our website at http://www.siriusxm.com.
If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to send an additional email or you may contact a Listener Care Representative directly at 1-866-635-2349.

Click to expand...

They won't put it in writing but they did say over the phone that if I dump my lifetime subscription and go to a month/quarterly music subscription then they would allow me to buy XM Traffic. You won't find this detail on their website or in the terms of service. It's pretty clear they want yo sunset the lifetime subscriptions. Just wish they would be honest about it and tell you up front.

Sirius and I parted ways years ago. Broken promises and sneaky business
practices put me off.

I've had my Sirius lifetime subscription for over 6 years now (1 year before Howard Stern moved to Sirius which was 1/2006), it was $500 at the time, so my per month costs is down to around $7 so far... another 4.5 years of Howard Stern (11 years total), and my per month cost will be under $4/month. Not a bad deal.. It stinks that you can only move it twice, and they charge $75 for it each time to move it to different equipment. They are hoping your radio breaks and you've used up your 2 moves.

also, even though Sirius and XM are the same company, they won't let you move your Sirius lifetime subscription to an XM radio... why not, if they are the same company? answer, they really are NOT the same conmpany, they have never truly integrated the 2 together.

Satellite radio was supposed to be all about commercial free and no FCC restrictions on language, well since Mell Karmizon has taken over, the "commercial free" is out the window, and Howard takes more vacations than he works, and when he does work, he's on a 3 day/week schedule now (doesn't work Thursdays AND Fridays now)

I have a 2010 Prius, with XM built in, but guess what? I don't use it, my old trustee Audiovox PNP is connected to an external antenna and fed into the AUX audio mini jack. No way I am giving those thieves more money and yes, I don't get the XM NAV data, don't care they got my $500 in December of 2005 and that's all they are getting.

One more note, when Howard announced he was moving to Sirius I bought 1000 shares of the stock, sold it 6 weeks later, needless to say Sirius paid for that 5 year subscription on the profit I made anyway

After my experience with XM, I'll never let them have a credit card number again. I pre-paid for a 3 year subscription with my old Audi, sold the Audi at just about the 3 year mark. Called to cancel the 3 year renewal about 2 weeks after it had billed (they are supposed to pro-rate refunds for unused subscriptions). They tell me the typical refund in 1-2 billing cycles. After 2 billing cycles no refund so I call XM back. 'Oh so sorry, the other rep didn't do such and such. 1-2 billing cycles, you'll see a refund.' 2 billing cycles later, no refund. So I put together the paperwork for a credit card dispute. Visa tells me it's too late to dispute the charge. Bummer. So, I call XM again. 'Oh so sorry, I see what went wrong. I'll process the refund now.' 2 billing cycles later no refund.

After doing some research online I see that the AGs of at least 6 states are suing XM for this exact thing issue. So, I wrote the AZ AG, the local news consumer protection group, and found all of the '@xmradio.com' email addresses online that I could and emailed all of them as well.

30 days later I had my refund.

Funny how a letter from the AG can get things moving along.