[Roadkill401]

I can understand that the Satelite Radio services like to offer a free trial with the purchase of a new car in hopes that they can get a subscription. However, it seems that. SiriusXM are the most bottom scraping low lives with their business practices that I wonder if I'd ever get the foul taste out of my mouth after my experience with them.


I signed the purchase agreement, but it took the dealer about a week to get the car in and ready before I picked it up. I took delivery on the first of October. On the 7th, I got an email from SiriusXM that they were giving me a 3 month free trial of their service, and all I needed to do was click on a link in the email and sign up. Except for the link in the email didn't work and told me that I had to phone them. And you guessed it, by the time I called them, they were shut. So it took me until the afternoon on the 10th to get them to sign me up and get the radio inside the car running. I told them, that if they are selling this promotion as 3 months, then I would expect to get 3 whole months of free radio and then I would evaluate. They agreed and said they would set the evaluation to expire on Jan 10th.


Not even 24 hours after I get the evaluation, they have already called my cell phone 3 times trying to get my to upgrade to a full paid package. The last one the sales person was going on about how my trial is about to expire and I should sign up right away so not to get any interruption in the service. It's been a whole 24 hours that I have had it working. If they are that scummy and won't even let you try out the service before constantly hounding you.


Just curious if anyone else got the same problem?

 

[Nouseformonkeys]

Wow. I’m glad I haven’t activated mine. When I bought my precious car over 10 years ago, I did activate the Satellite Radio service and didn’t get such a hard sell. But back then, Sirius and XM were too different companies and Sat Radio was an up and coming technology. Nowadays, with streaming services, they’re probably hurting and desperate for customers.

 

[Dwag0n]

I have had Sirius for a few years. Well let me qualify that , I had the free trial in my Soul but I ripped the stock unit out within a week so I never really used it. My wife likes it so we have subscribed to it for her. I always call to cancel right as the deal they give is going to expire and every time they have just renewed the special price ( 5 months + streaming for $30 ).
They are definitely aggressive with the sales calls, but I have a spam blocker on my cell phone so I do not really care.

 

[yticolev]

I had to speak sharply to them after my three months had expired. I think their last offer was $1 a month and I told them I didn't want it if it was free. And I don't. Low bit rate means super sucky audio quality.

 

[CoffeeNiro]

I only had the original 30 day free trial, didn't sign up for anything additional, but they sure called. And called. And called. Finally able to convince them that I only have a 5-10 minute commute and don't want it. Didn't even listen to it for more than 5 minutes when I had it. For me, the worst part of the car was the Sirius thanks to the calls. I can deal with a few mailings (you will get those, too), but the pesky calls, ugh!

 

[Dave]

Would never sign up for Sirius-- as yticolev said, the sound quality is crap, not even as good as FM radio. I insist on much better sound quality, so that alone is a total dealbreaker for me. I had the free trial on my previous vehicle, and had to phone them to activate it, while in the car so that I could push whatever buttons required. I was speaking to a very nice lady in India whose accent was so strong that I simply could not understand what she was saying. After ten minutes of fruitless conversation I gave up, hung up, and resolved never to bother with them again.

 

[badyellowvette]

My SiriusXM has been turned on since I bought the Niro in February. Don't know how long that will last.

 

[judyn]

Our dealer must have started ours because we didn't have to do anything. We are enjoying it for now and signed up for a year, but probably won't continue after a year. Too many commercials. I despise commercials, which is why I watch TV only pre-recorded and skip commercials, so it's kind of a shock for me. We usually listen to audio books when traveling.

 

[judyn]

My SiriusXM has been turned on since I bought the Niro in February. Don't know how long that will last.

Sounds like I might have been stupid to sign up before it expired. The length on a Niro is supposed to be 3 months.

 

[yticolev]

badyellowvette bought a used Niro. Apparently the prior owner purchased the Sirius service. May die after a year, or not!

 

[Murkshev]

I bought my ‘17 Niro in March. My wife bought hers a week later. My Sirius has been on the whole time. I worked at a car dealer for a few years. I asked for a copy of the dealer warranty file. Found out what I bought was the dealers original test drive vehicle. So I am not mentioning any details of where I got the car. Hope the dealership blindly pays the bill year after year.

 

[Billraab]

They generally start your subscription when the trial expires. They know you are running with a trial when you give them your radio’s ID number when signing up for the subscription. Don’t know what stations you listen to but I don’t hear commercials on any that I listen to so I was surprised to read that comment. Anyway, I love Sirius XM and have subscribed for years.

 

[badyellowvette]

badyellowvette bought a used Niro. Apparently the prior owner purchased the Sirius service. May die after a year, or not!

My 2017 Niro was brand new first owner.

 

[picstart]

The KIA association with Sirius Radio is unpleasant. I called immediately after receiving the car and pleaded to have the free service cancelled. It is not possible KIA/Sirius forces you to wait 3 months to cancel. This subtracts from the value of ownership. After KIA has my money the car is mine and they have no right to insist I have a service albeit free that I don't want or ever will want.

What's next I have to transport a KIA employee in the passenger seat for 3 mths at no extra cost?

Shame on KIA!

 

[cockedandglocked]

The KIA association with Sirius Radio is unpleasant. I called immediately after receiving the car and pleaded to have the free service cancelled. It is not possible KIA/Sirius forces you to wait 3 months to cancel. This subtracts from the value of ownership. After KIA has my money the car is mine and they have no right to insist I have a service albeit free that I don't want or ever will want.

What's next I have to transport a KIA employee in the passenger seat for 3 mths at no extra cost?

Shame on KIA!

Is someone holding a gun to your head and forcing you to select Sirius as your audio source?

People complain about the weirdest crap these days.

 

[Orac]

I suppose the dealer signed me up without asking... and the calls started. I never answer my phone unless I know who is calling and I expect the call, so I just keep getting very annoying alerts on my phone.
The shitty bitrate and brainless content don't bode well for me ever wanting to subscribe, so I guess I'll just leave it until it stops working.
It's an ancient technology soon to be eclipsed by LEO satellite services that offer low-latency, high bitrate, and two-way communication.
They are milking it while they can. Sports sports sports, religion and conservative talk. The pain!

 

[yticolev]

The manufacturer has a deal with Sirius to preinstall and initiate service when the car is sold. All you have to do is overwrite the Sirius presets with radio stations. Then you cannot select it by accident.

 

[badyellowvette]

Something weird happened to my Sirius XM today. I have had the car since the 1st of February and today when driving the odometer turned over 6000 miles and the XM radio went off. This was the first I have driven it since the 1st of November so I had free service since February. The fact that it shut off when the odometer read 6000 had to just be a coincidence.

 

[fredct]

What is the negative impact of the free subscription on you? If you don’t want it, don’t use it... and when it’s over it expires and goes away?

 

[picstart]

What is the negative impact of the free subscription on you? If you don’t want it, don’t use it... and when it’s over it expires and goes away?

What if it was a free dead dog; by the above logic I should just shut up and accept it.

I person should have the right to reject free stuff.
It is unfair to just say well ignore it,
I wouldn't ignore a free dead dog in my new car but maybe I'm in the minority.