Murph Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 So my wife bought a new car in '09. We bought in after the free trial. I think it was $150.00. It came due around Christmas and I think the next year it was the same. Then the next year they wanted to creep it up and I found out you could call and threaten to cancel and they'd cut the price in half. WTF kind of a business model is that? So last year we decide the programming repeated to much, and we were paying for a bunch of garbage we'd never use, and it went up again. So I called to cancel and they kept dropping the price to try to keep me, but at that point my mind was made up and other options had been taken. If they would have just charged the price they ended up at to BEGIN with, we might have stayed, but the whole thing was very sleazy. With todays car/truck stereos having input jacks, and all of the options available I just wonder how long they will be around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I sell and install a lot of units for commercial use, because of the BMI/ASCAP rules for commercial company's you just cant hook up a ipod dock or CD player, so for businesses it works well. For home use why not stream Sirius, Its like $3.00 a month I think the real users are over the road drivers and regional salesmen that drive a lot. We had it in our new car and will be reactivating it this Spring for a road trip. $25 for 6 months or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 For home use why not stream Sirius, Its like $3.00 a month. Because their programming sucks, and their business model is sleazy.....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 We are glad we have it in rentals for cross country trips. Just back from 7 or 8 thousand miles, so it was good to have. At least you can maintain your firm conviction that radio just sucks, and you can span the genres and make sure of it. "New Country" on The Highway is about as bad as it gets today, even worse than Hits1. I suppose if you only listen to 80's or 90's or BeeBop or HickaBilly or something it is great. For us, just a reminder of why we haven't turned our car radios on in many years. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarsAnn Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I keep getting low price offers, too. I'm retired and my Explorer only takes one or two trips a year, so the XM Sirius is just not something I listen to very often. Once in a while they turn it on for a week for free, but mostly I just listen to local stuff. The only thing I ever found useful was the weather I could overlay on the GPS screen. But I can do better using my smart phone. GuitarsAnn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 I'm lucky here, we have an "oldies" radio station that is very open format and will play album stuff, rather than the same old playlist like most radio and Sirius. Even the "Deep Tracks" was very limited. I see free radio making a huge comeback in this economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jannusguy2 Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Murph, your comment about repetitive programming is dead on. That's why I dumped mine. I couldn't believe how much they played the same stuff over and over. You'd think the sky was the limit programming wise but no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaleb Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I love Sirius XM. I'm always on the Boneyard channel (or "Ozzy's Boneyard" as they call it now). They play good stuff. Even bands like Riot, old Twisted Sister, Jackyl, Overkill, AC/DC deep cuts (like "Down Payment Blues"), Motorhead, old Rush that will never get played on mainstream radio, KISS deep cuts, UFO, Thin Lizzy songs other than "Boys Are Back in Town", Ace Frehley solo stuff/Frehley's Comet, Badlands, cool Ozzy deep cuts that you don't hear everyday, Exodus, Sabbath tunes that are never played on mainstream radio ("Faries Wear Boots", stuff from lesser-known records like Never Say Die, deep cuts from the Dio era), pre-Pyromania Def Leppard, the other three of the Big 4 of thrash, all of the Iron Maiden and Priest one can dream of, etc. I can see where a guy who's into older rock n' roll and oldies might be a bit disgruntled, but as a metalhead, it's the best thing since sliced bread. My only gripes are that Sharon Osbourne moved Eddie Trunk's show over to the Hair Nation channel, and "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" by KISS (from the Lick It Up album) is played way too much.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreslauer Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I used to subscribe to XM, because I am a baseball addict and I live outside my favorite team's market. I stopped when smartphones became common and MLB started offering their own gameday audio, which i can stream to my phone, my PC, my TV, etc. A few years ago, i purchased a car with a Sirius receiver built in, and they keep emailing and calling, trying to get me to renew service. I've asked them every time "Since XM and Sirius are the same company, can I get baseball on my car radio now?" The answer is still always no, and then I tell them to call me back when I can: this has been going on for years now. That company really needs to get it all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 No doubt they are seriously messed up. I have a client that has to use multiple accounts because they still wont recognize accounts and combine them if you had them previous to the buyout/takeover. Murph My point about streaming was that if you absolutely have to have it why not stream it. Once WiFi becomes standard equipment in cars what the point. I don't see Sirius being relevant in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoreyT Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Been a subscriber to Sirius since summer of 2007 or so. I listen to mainly only two channels, Ozzy's Boneyard for classic rock, and Octane for newer metal and hard rock. Listen to them every morning on the way into work, and I usually listen to Pandora on my way home. My Droid ties into my Pioneer stereo via Bluetooth for that. I do not think Sirius repeats their music, they have a large variety on those two channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Octane, Hair Nation, Ozzy's Boneyard... all dialed in. The wife likes the country stations. I like Sirius/XM, and thanks for letting us know we can haggle when it's time to re-up. (We inherited it when the in-laws traded Bonnevilles with us.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaysEpiphone Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 So last year we decide the programming repeated to much, and we were paying for a bunch of garbage we'd never use, and it went up again. So I called to cancel and they kept dropping the price to try to keep me, but at that point my mind was made up and other options had been taken. I sure wish I could do this at the gas pump.... Haggle them down to a lower price. "A lot of Hooker's and Salesmen in middle-class night-club's, there both the same when it comes right down to it." George Carlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 My wife's car came with a lifetime subscription to Sirius/XM and I like to listen to it when I get in her car, which isn't real often. Back around the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, I would turn to the ESPN channel to try and get a non local perspective on the Ravens, but every time I tuned in there were just commercials. That surprised me on satellite radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 It came on my Mustang that I use for long road trips and I enjoy it. I have a pretty large CD collection that I always take along - but I've heard all those CDs many times over. The Sirius XM offers a lot of variety for me and almost NO COMMERCIALS. That's what makes it worth paying for to me. On "free" radio there is also a lot of variety across the dial, but in each major market they all tend to go to commercial at the same exact time. So you hear 3 or 4 tunes and then it's commercial time so you push the button to change stations and it commercial, commercial, commercial all the way across the dial. Not with XM - about the only commercial I hear from them is advertising their own station about once per half hour. I agree I don't care for the price increases - but I'll try the negotiation angle next time it comes up and see how I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heymisterk Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 I got Sirius almost when they first came out. I was so frustrated by commercial radio that I was ready to try anything. I almost always listened to the very indie/college station (Left of Center). From that, I came across some really amazing bands and singer/songwriters: Bon Iver, Real Estate, Pinback, and so on. When I got my '06 Prius, Toyota didn't offer it. I had an aftermarket unit installed, but it never really worked. So, when Pandora got big, I just began to use that instead. In addition, I only spend about an average of 30 minutes a day in my car. I do miss it on the occasional long road trip I take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Eh, just more new tech stuff I never got into. Sent packing with my last Jeep. It's hell being old fashioned, but I'm learning to just accept it! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueblooded Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I had Sirius on the Fusion I bought my wife and liked the variety and programming available, but did notice they do repeat the same stuff over and over and over. You might not notice it as much if you are one that listens to many different channels, or if your brains are fried from doing crack . I liked it enough that I bought a really cool Sirius radio and installed it in my Mustang, and bought one for my oldest son who liked the programming also. So I was up to 3 vehicles with 3 subscriptions. Then it happened... My credit card statement came and the people at Sirius decided it was ok to renew all my subscriptions at more than double the rates I was previously paying. BULLSHEET!!!! I immediately called and told them I didn't authorize them to do so and to cancel my service and refund my unused services. I now get the yellow envelopes with yellow sheet offers to subscribe for $4.95/month. They can kiss it! So, never let them have a CC # and if you do make sure there is clear understanding that they do not have authorization to automatically update your subscription at their will. If you want a good rate, let your subscription lapse and they will come crawling back to you with yellow envelope offers. As for me, I loathe the way they run their business and treat people and will never re-sign. I will smile the day they go under due to people making smarter choices like regular commercial radio or some other option like pandora. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I have it in several cars and love it between the acoustic covers in the Coffee House and the Reggae of the Joint it's all I listen to anymore. And the basic music only service is like eight bucks a month and half that for additional radios. I even put a home unit in my cabin I got lousy radio coverage of to spanish music channels and KNIX the valleys country music station that broadcast so strong you can get it almost anywhere. I love the satellite radio concept especially driving up north and in the mountains where radio cut's in and out and is almost impossible to listen too for long. As for a business they have never been a issue like I said I get a stripped out version called Music only and it's great and for eight bucks a month it's a bargain to not have to listen to the DJ's and all the adds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 8 bucks a month is $96.00 a year. They offered me the whole package for under $90.00 a year when I called to cancel. Sports, talk, music, everything. Like I said, it's a SLEAZY business model. Seems like the metal guys aren't concerned with the price and are happy with the programming. Still, it'll pay for a new Studio, SG, or Strat every 7/10 years depending on how much they stick you. I'll pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-poland Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I like sirius, esp. BB Kings bluesville! while I do like it I don't have it in a car!we have it on dish network sat. tv !so its in my programing package. and Ive got it tied in to my sound sys.!works out pretty cool actually! and there is some repitition but nowhere like on reg.radio!and I get a whole lot of new music/artists too! try that with the radio! the Ipod gets used in the car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I have been subscribing to Sirius for at least 5 years and I wouldn't be without it.I have the boombox,the car kit and the adapter kit to hook it up to my home stereo system.I spend most of my time listening to either Little Steven's Underground Garage,Deep Tracks,Classic Vinyl,Alt Nation,1st Wave,SiriusXM U,CBC Radio 1,CBC Radio3,and the comedy stations.Out of these 10 or 12 stations I get more than enough of music that I love to listen to-they also have great classical music stations. The Sirius Boombox is of extremely good quality and very sturdy with a fabulous tone,I use it with my Vox AC-30 Amplug and my Marshall MS-4 plugged into the Aux. in input using a male to male 1/8" jack cord.When I use them it actually sounds very close to the actual big amps but without the immense volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 I have been subscribing to Sirius for at least 5 years and I wouldn't be without it. But are you paying full price? Or 1/2 price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 So my wife bought a new car in '09. We bought in after the free trial. I think it was $150.00. It came due around Christmas and I think the next year it was the same. Then the next year they wanted to creep it up and I found out you could call and threaten to cancel and they'd cut the price in half. WTF kind of a business model is that? Yup. Your standard modern monopolistic "weasel" pricing system. Normal businesses always give you the best deal (the most favorable pricing arrangement) they have available at any time. Weasel businesses structure their pricing with punitive and predatory extras designed to upset the pricing arrangement in their favor. Like a ratchet wrench that wont ever go in your direction. Meanwhile they're sitting around chomping cigars and lighting them with $100.00 bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heymisterk Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 One thing I found really annoying were the DJs, especially on the '60s channel, which normally would be my favorite station to listen to: In an attempt to emulate "the good old days," the DJs always talked over half the song. Still, Sirius/XM was/is a good place to consistently discover new bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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