Complaint Review: Sirius Satellite Radio - New York New York

Ok I don't know who your talking to that say you need your Social Security Number and routing numbers and all that you don't. I've already said what we need. I've activated enough radios to know what information we need. Again we need your SID number (sirius identification number) which is on the box your radio came in, on the unit itself, and can be obtained through the menu option or on a starmate by tuning to channel 000. Next we need you to make up a username and password, then your name, address, phone number and e-mail if you'd like, then we ask you if you are using a gift card to pay for your service and if you are we ask you for that number, if not we ask you for you cc information which is required unless you are on a prepaid subscription or an activation gift card or are going on an annual plan and being invoiced rather than using a credit card. If you're paying with cc we set your account up with your cc info Name on the card and number and expiration, nothing else. If your going on invoice we dont ask you for anything else except for the signal you want. So if anyone asks ya for ur social security info and all this junk they're telling you you need I don't know why that is because it is not information that we take for an activation of a radio.

dont call us and cancel and say you didnt read the TERMS AND CONDITIONS, you have signed on to receive a service, anything, cell phones, cable tv ...all have terms and conditions, they are providing a consumer service and why should we be any different...think about it!And as far as getting social security numbers, we DONT do that, and we ONLY require a credit card to be placed on file if it is UNDER YEAR PLAN anything on annual plans or higher can be put on INVOICE, it is also clearly printed the subscription plans and costs, and there is only a cancellation fee on plans that are annual and are cancelled prior to the end of the contract chosen, if applicable this can be waived in certain circumstances. And if you call us up seeking our help in the customer care or customer satisfaction departments, we are more than happy to help you, just be patient if you are on hold, you are not the only one in America that may need assistance, we do get calls from customers just needing to ask us for their user name and passwords, or any other general inquiry, again please be patient, we will get to you as soon as we can.

I know you are an employee of Sirius and obviously you are trying to defend Sirius. Sirius DOES REQUIRE YOUR SS NUMBER, a credit check, and among other things. How do I know this? After on hold for 20 minutes, I was trying to activate Sirius and trying to get the monthly plan, the customer service person told me that I needed a "real credit card","social security number","if paying by check, the routing number", and A CREDIT CHECK. I told this customer service person about you Maria and he says that you are not correct. The management of this company better train their employees to give ACCURATE INFORMATION TO CUSTOMERS!!!! or are they trying to deceive their customers??? All these complaints about Sirius, I think it's better to stick to FM radio. Larry

I checked the website, sirius.com, and I do not see anything about the prepaid plans. Show me where it states the prices I need to pay for the subscription service. Joe

.....better than you did. The prices for various plans are clearly stated, as well as all of the terms & conditions. All the information you need to make an educated decision is clearly available on their website. You go on complaining about the "activation" fee. Many companies charge an activation fee or setup fee. It is normal. If you don't like the term for the service, take the radio back.

To Mike and Jon, If this monthly fee is too much, why did you buy the radio in the first place? You knew darn well that it is useless without the subscription fee. And prepaid is the only way they should do it. Sounds like both you guys should stay with free FM radio as that $13+ monthly fee, and commitment is putting a strain on your budget. Back to the original post, I only pay a monthly fee after the $15 activation fee and was never told I needed to pay more. Still not sure why it is Sirius Radios fault you can't prepay for the services??

To Mike and Jon, If this monthly fee is too much, why did you buy the radio in the first place? You knew darn well that it is useless without the subscription fee. And prepaid is the only way they should do it. Sounds like both you guys should stay with free FM radio as that $13+ monthly fee, and commitment is putting a strain on your budget. Back to the original post, I only pay a monthly fee after the $15 activation fee and was never told I needed to pay more. Still not sure why it is Sirius Radios fault you can't prepay for the services??

To Mike and Jon, If this monthly fee is too much, why did you buy the radio in the first place? You knew darn well that it is useless without the subscription fee. And prepaid is the only way they should do it. Sounds like both you guys should stay with free FM radio as that $13+ monthly fee, and commitment is putting a strain on your budget. Back to the original post, I only pay a monthly fee after the $15 activation fee and was never told I needed to pay more. Still not sure why it is Sirius Radios fault you can't prepay for the services??

Ok first of all I read quite a few things hear that blew me away. One, there is and always was a monthly subscription available and yes it does require a credit card or an Activation gift card, a value based gift card can be applied to the account with a credit card so that the credit card is not charged but an activation gift card is the only option for anything under an annual plan if you do not wish to have a credit card on file. The cost of a monthly plan is 12.95 plus any applicable taxes and for any receiver that is activated for the first time there is a 15 dollar activation fee. Annual plans you can pay on credit card all at once and save money or on installments on the credit card over 1 2 or 3 months depending which annual plan you chose 1 2 or 3 years. Each of those plans you get additional free months. On annual plans you can be invoiced instead if you do not wish to put a credit card on the account. You are required to make a 30 dollar payment in order to receive the signal as a payment must be received before the signal is sent so you can either purchase a 30 dollar value based gift card or make a one time credit card payment and then mail in the rest when you receive your invoice. There is no credit outsourcing and no credit necessary means we do not do a credit check on you. As far as wanting your social security number, that is totally not true, we simply need your SID# (Sirius Identification Number, also referred to as ESN #), we need you to make a username and password, we get your address, telephone number, e-mail if you so choose to include one on your account, the plan that you would like, and whether or not your paying with cc, want to be invoiced or have prepaid time with a dealership. Finally we need to know if you want the standard signal or standard playboy, any other information is not required! As far as the 75$ transfer fee, that is only on a lifetime subscription when you are no longer covered by warranty and that is often reversed or not charged if you have a reasonable explanation and did not just decide to upgrade your receiver, a receiver swap on any other plan is absolutely free you simply update you sid# and that takes over your current subscription. The 75 dollar cancellation fee is also something that circumstances will be taken into consideration for. The terms and conditions, although may be a lot to read, do state the possibilty of this and sirius is certainly not trying to rip you off like you think, we provide excellent programming and its unfortunate that you've had some bad experiences but obviously along the way you received and falsely believed some wrong information. Hope this clears a few things up for those of you who are currently sirius subscribers or for any of you who fell victim to the uneducated information.

Ok first of all I read quite a few things hear that blew me away. One, there is and always was a monthly subscription available and yes it does require a credit card or an Activation gift card, a value based gift card can be applied to the account with a credit card so that the credit card is not charged but an activation gift card is the only option for anything under an annual plan if you do not wish to have a credit card on file. The cost of a monthly plan is 12.95 plus any applicable taxes and for any receiver that is activated for the first time there is a 15 dollar activation fee. Annual plans you can pay on credit card all at once and save money or on installments on the credit card over 1 2 or 3 months depending which annual plan you chose 1 2 or 3 years. Each of those plans you get additional free months. On annual plans you can be invoiced instead if you do not wish to put a credit card on the account. You are required to make a 30 dollar payment in order to receive the signal as a payment must be received before the signal is sent so you can either purchase a 30 dollar value based gift card or make a one time credit card payment and then mail in the rest when you receive your invoice. There is no credit outsourcing and no credit necessary means we do not do a credit check on you. As far as wanting your social security number, that is totally not true, we simply need your SID# (Sirius Identification Number, also referred to as ESN #), we need you to make a username and password, we get your address, telephone number, e-mail if you so choose to include one on your account, the plan that you would like, and whether or not your paying with cc, want to be invoiced or have prepaid time with a dealership. Finally we need to know if you want the standard signal or standard playboy, any other information is not required! As far as the 75$ transfer fee, that is only on a lifetime subscription when you are no longer covered by warranty and that is often reversed or not charged if you have a reasonable explanation and did not just decide to upgrade your receiver, a receiver swap on any other plan is absolutely free you simply update you sid# and that takes over your current subscription. The 75 dollar cancellation fee is also something that circumstances will be taken into consideration for. The terms and conditions, although may be a lot to read, do state the possibilty of this and sirius is certainly not trying to rip you off like you think, we provide excellent programming and its unfortunate that you've had some bad experiences but obviously along the way you received and falsely believed some wrong information. Hope this clears a few things up for those of you who are currently sirius subscribers or for any of you who fell victim to the uneducated information.

Ok first of all I read quite a few things hear that blew me away. One, there is and always was a monthly subscription available and yes it does require a credit card or an Activation gift card, a value based gift card can be applied to the account with a credit card so that the credit card is not charged but an activation gift card is the only option for anything under an annual plan if you do not wish to have a credit card on file. The cost of a monthly plan is 12.95 plus any applicable taxes and for any receiver that is activated for the first time there is a 15 dollar activation fee. Annual plans you can pay on credit card all at once and save money or on installments on the credit card over 1 2 or 3 months depending which annual plan you chose 1 2 or 3 years. Each of those plans you get additional free months. On annual plans you can be invoiced instead if you do not wish to put a credit card on the account. You are required to make a 30 dollar payment in order to receive the signal as a payment must be received before the signal is sent so you can either purchase a 30 dollar value based gift card or make a one time credit card payment and then mail in the rest when you receive your invoice. There is no credit outsourcing and no credit necessary means we do not do a credit check on you. As far as wanting your social security number, that is totally not true, we simply need your SID# (Sirius Identification Number, also referred to as ESN #), we need you to make a username and password, we get your address, telephone number, e-mail if you so choose to include one on your account, the plan that you would like, and whether or not your paying with cc, want to be invoiced or have prepaid time with a dealership. Finally we need to know if you want the standard signal or standard playboy, any other information is not required! As far as the 75$ transfer fee, that is only on a lifetime subscription when you are no longer covered by warranty and that is often reversed or not charged if you have a reasonable explanation and did not just decide to upgrade your receiver, a receiver swap on any other plan is absolutely free you simply update you sid# and that takes over your current subscription. The 75 dollar cancellation fee is also something that circumstances will be taken into consideration for. The terms and conditions, although may be a lot to read, do state the possibilty of this and sirius is certainly not trying to rip you off like you think, we provide excellent programming and its unfortunate that you've had some bad experiences but obviously along the way you received and falsely believed some wrong information. Hope this clears a few things up for those of you who are currently sirius subscribers or for any of you who fell victim to the uneducated information.

Ok first of all I read quite a few things hear that blew me away. One, there is and always was a monthly subscription available and yes it does require a credit card or an Activation gift card, a value based gift card can be applied to the account with a credit card so that the credit card is not charged but an activation gift card is the only option for anything under an annual plan if you do not wish to have a credit card on file. The cost of a monthly plan is 12.95 plus any applicable taxes and for any receiver that is activated for the first time there is a 15 dollar activation fee. Annual plans you can pay on credit card all at once and save money or on installments on the credit card over 1 2 or 3 months depending which annual plan you chose 1 2 or 3 years. Each of those plans you get additional free months. On annual plans you can be invoiced instead if you do not wish to put a credit card on the account. You are required to make a 30 dollar payment in order to receive the signal as a payment must be received before the signal is sent so you can either purchase a 30 dollar value based gift card or make a one time credit card payment and then mail in the rest when you receive your invoice. There is no credit outsourcing and no credit necessary means we do not do a credit check on you. As far as wanting your social security number, that is totally not true, we simply need your SID# (Sirius Identification Number, also referred to as ESN #), we need you to make a username and password, we get your address, telephone number, e-mail if you so choose to include one on your account, the plan that you would like, and whether or not your paying with cc, want to be invoiced or have prepaid time with a dealership. Finally we need to know if you want the standard signal or standard playboy, any other information is not required! As far as the 75$ transfer fee, that is only on a lifetime subscription when you are no longer covered by warranty and that is often reversed or not charged if you have a reasonable explanation and did not just decide to upgrade your receiver, a receiver swap on any other plan is absolutely free you simply update you sid# and that takes over your current subscription. The 75 dollar cancellation fee is also something that circumstances will be taken into consideration for. The terms and conditions, although may be a lot to read, do state the possibilty of this and sirius is certainly not trying to rip you off like you think, we provide excellent programming and its unfortunate that you've had some bad experiences but obviously along the way you received and falsely believed some wrong information. Hope this clears a few things up for those of you who are currently sirius subscribers or for any of you who fell victim to the uneducated information.

My SIRIUS bill each month is $14.89. It's pulled straight out of my checking account, and includes all taxes. In other words, it's $12.95/month PLUS tax...exactly like they advertise.

Jon's problem is that he was sold a radio (and the necessary service subscription) under promises of "NO CONTRACT," when there is a contract. And like all of these contracts for unregulated utilities, the contract gives little benefit to the consumer. Read enough of these reports on various companies and one thing stands out: whenever the contract is an auto-renewing plan, you can almost smell the ripoff coming. How do you know the company will accept your request to cancel in good faith? If you can't cancel with them, instead cancelling your card so they can't get any more money, the contract allows them to penalize you. Nevermind even that with the month to month plan, all the programming you've received has already been paid for in advance. If you stop paying, you haven't refused to pay for something that has already been received. There should be no bad marks on your credit or collections activity beacuse of that. Apparently Sirius doesn't consider their ability to de-activate radios that haven't been paid, a sufficient incentive to entice consumers to keep paying. It appears they put this contract in place to try to railroad people to keep paying Sirius, whether they still want to hear the programming or not. Meanwhile they post signs that say "NO CONTRACT" trying to convince buyers that this is not the case. The sign where radios are sold also says "NO CREDIT", i.e. "We won't check your credit." But the contract says Sirius can pull a credit report. Pulling a credit report will make the consumer's credit worse. I suppose if they find bad credit, they will refuse to offer service, and the consumer who thought that "NO CREDIT" was required will have bought a useless radio.

Not sure what your problem is. $15 to sign up, and $12.95/ month. And they autmatically deduct it from your credit card each month until you tell them to stop. Sounds easy enough and just like they advertise. I have never had a problem on my end, even when I changed radios. Do you not have a credit card? Maybe then they want a prepaid 3 month term which would be understandable since it would hardly be worth the paperwork to do a month by month. Sounds like you have another problem?

Not sure what your problem is. $15 to sign up, and $12.95/ month. And they autmatically deduct it from your credit card each month until you tell them to stop. Sounds easy enough and just like they advertise. I have never had a problem on my end, even when I changed radios. Do you not have a credit card? Maybe then they want a prepaid 3 month term which would be understandable since it would hardly be worth the paperwork to do a month by month. Sounds like you have another problem?

Not sure what your problem is. $15 to sign up, and $12.95/ month. And they autmatically deduct it from your credit card each month until you tell them to stop. Sounds easy enough and just like they advertise. I have never had a problem on my end, even when I changed radios. Do you not have a credit card? Maybe then they want a prepaid 3 month term which would be understandable since it would hardly be worth the paperwork to do a month by month. Sounds like you have another problem?

Well since Sirius seems to be hiding the prepaid plans, I will disclose the (my best recollection. I was happy to return the receiver) Activation fee $15.00 3 month plan $38.85 1 year plan $142.45 (a discount of one month) 2 year plan..3 year.. you get the idea Lifetime plan apprx $600 And now where exactly is the $12.95 Sirius heavily promoted?? As I found out, HELL IT DOES ExISTS, BUUUUT - you need to call their customer service and wait for 45 minutes and that's not all, you need to provide them with your social security number, a major credit card (not debit or gift card), and a credit check. If for any reason you failed to abide by their DRACONIAN CONTRACT, they can put a negative mark on your credit report. Speak of the devil! With Sirius and XM pending merger, you may lose your favorite programming (ie Howard Stern or Ophrah). You know these two guys don't get along.

Well since Sirius seems to be hiding the prepaid plans, I will disclose the (my best recollection. I was happy to return the receiver) Activation fee $15.00 3 month plan $38.85 1 year plan $142.45 (a discount of one month) 2 year plan..3 year.. you get the idea Lifetime plan apprx $600 And now where exactly is the $12.95 Sirius heavily promoted?? As I found out, HELL IT DOES ExISTS, BUUUUT - you need to call their customer service and wait for 45 minutes and that's not all, you need to provide them with your social security number, a major credit card (not debit or gift card), and a credit check. If for any reason you failed to abide by their DRACONIAN CONTRACT, they can put a negative mark on your credit report. Speak of the devil! With Sirius and XM pending merger, you may lose your favorite programming (ie Howard Stern or Ophrah). You know these two guys don't get along.

Well since Sirius seems to be hiding the prepaid plans, I will disclose the (my best recollection. I was happy to return the receiver) Activation fee $15.00 3 month plan $38.85 1 year plan $142.45 (a discount of one month) 2 year plan..3 year.. you get the idea Lifetime plan apprx $600 And now where exactly is the $12.95 Sirius heavily promoted?? As I found out, HELL IT DOES ExISTS, BUUUUT - you need to call their customer service and wait for 45 minutes and that's not all, you need to provide them with your social security number, a major credit card (not debit or gift card), and a credit check. If for any reason you failed to abide by their DRACONIAN CONTRACT, they can put a negative mark on your credit report. Speak of the devil! With Sirius and XM pending merger, you may lose your favorite programming (ie Howard Stern or Ophrah). You know these two guys don't get along.

Well since Sirius seems to be hiding the prepaid plans, I will disclose the (my best recollection. I was happy to return the receiver) Activation fee $15.00 3 month plan $38.85 1 year plan $142.45 (a discount of one month) 2 year plan..3 year.. you get the idea Lifetime plan apprx $600 And now where exactly is the $12.95 Sirius heavily promoted?? As I found out, HELL IT DOES ExISTS, BUUUUT - you need to call their customer service and wait for 45 minutes and that's not all, you need to provide them with your social security number, a major credit card (not debit or gift card), and a credit check. If for any reason you failed to abide by their DRACONIAN CONTRACT, they can put a negative mark on your credit report. Speak of the devil! With Sirius and XM pending merger, you may lose your favorite programming (ie Howard Stern or Ophrah). You know these two guys don't get along.

If you don't like the terms, you should be able to return your unactivated radio to the store for a refund. Sirius also says if you have activated and don't like the terms, you have 3 days to cancel, presumably without penalty. I agress that the Sirius website isn't real clear. I didn't find anything about having to pay three months in advance, maybe that is after you get further into the actual process. If you pay a whole year at a time, they only charge 11x the monthly rate, but it's still too expensive. Also if you decide you don't like it or your radio breaks and you have to transfer to a new one, it'll cost $75.00. All their plans are auto-renewing. If you did sign up for the yearly plan, they'll charge you automatically next year, and if you don't notice that it'll be a $75.00 cancellation fee. I guess if you forget about the upcoming renewal and your credit card is no longer valid, they'll hammer you for that too. It appears that if you have a monthly plan, you can cancel without penalty, but it'll be another $15.00 to restart. I don't see why they're so worried about non-payment. You ALWAYS pay in advance. Their technology should be such that it is easy and cheap for them to shut off your radio if you don't pay. Yes you do need a credit card, or at least a debit card. They also reserve the right to check your credit. They also don't guarantee against lack of reception or that they'll continue to carry any particular program, or really any programming at all. So, combine a high monthly rate with unnecessarily draconian contract terms, then they wonder why they're losing money hand over fist.

I went back to the website and read the terms and conditions, which brought up another issue, it does say about the activation fee and nothing about the prepaid plan. And here's the other issue -- SIRIUS LIES --when you purchase a Sirius receiver (STRATUS is the one I purchased), it CLEARLY STATES ---NO CREDIT OR CONTRACT --which will lead to believe that NO CREDIT CARD IS NEEDED NOR ANY CONTRACT IS NECESSARY and yet, when you activate, Sirius wants you to provide them with a credit card and you need to abide by their lengthy contract with fines and more fines. Go to any retailer and pick up a Sirius receiver and it will say NO CREDIT, NO CONTRACT. Sirius is SERIOUS LIAR! Attorneys are you listening?

IF the FCC approves the merger of sirius and xm, you're really gonna see your monthly bills go up.

From the FAQ: 5. How do I activate my SIRIUS radio? Once you have installed your SIRIUS radio, activate your radio by calling Customer Care at 1-888-539-SIRIUS (7474) or activate online. In many cases you may also activate your radio at the retailer where you purchased it or it installed. There is a one-time $15 activation fee. Taxes may also apply. For more information on activation, visit our Activation Checklist. For information on our subscription options, view our Subscription Plans However, when you follow the link to the subscription plans, there is a big display that says $12.95/mo. No contract. http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=FlexContent&cid=1158082415620

From the FAQ: 5. How do I activate my SIRIUS radio? Once you have installed your SIRIUS radio, activate your radio by calling Customer Care at 1-888-539-SIRIUS (7474) or activate online. In many cases you may also activate your radio at the retailer where you purchased it or it installed. There is a one-time $15 activation fee. Taxes may also apply. For more information on activation, visit our Activation Checklist. For information on our subscription options, view our Subscription Plans However, when you follow the link to the subscription plans, there is a big display that says $12.95/mo. No contract. http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=FlexContent&cid=1158082415620

From the FAQ: 5. How do I activate my SIRIUS radio? Once you have installed your SIRIUS radio, activate your radio by calling Customer Care at 1-888-539-SIRIUS (7474) or activate online. In many cases you may also activate your radio at the retailer where you purchased it or it installed. There is a one-time $15 activation fee. Taxes may also apply. For more information on activation, visit our Activation Checklist. For information on our subscription options, view our Subscription Plans However, when you follow the link to the subscription plans, there is a big display that says $12.95/mo. No contract. http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=FlexContent&cid=1158082415620

From the FAQ: 5. How do I activate my SIRIUS radio? Once you have installed your SIRIUS radio, activate your radio by calling Customer Care at 1-888-539-SIRIUS (7474) or activate online. In many cases you may also activate your radio at the retailer where you purchased it or it installed. There is a one-time $15 activation fee. Taxes may also apply. For more information on activation, visit our Activation Checklist. For information on our subscription options, view our Subscription Plans However, when you follow the link to the subscription plans, there is a big display that says $12.95/mo. No contract. http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=FlexContent&cid=1158082415620

I also checked the Sirius website and nothing, I do mean NADA that tells you you need to purchase a prepaid plan. Only after you activate the receiver will it FORCES YOU TO PAY the higher prepaid plan. This is a classic BAIT AND SWITCH scheme by Sirius. Everyone who is victimized should file a complaint with the FTC.

There has always been a activation fee; also if you read info at store as well as what came with radio it explains priceing options. Sounds like you bought with out doing your homework. Ps have been with sirius almost three years now.