In the on-going saga of XM subscribers upset over the suspension of Opie and Anthony, now a new issue is starting to make the rounds - one involving XM Customer Service.
According to individual reports, people are finding that instead of XM service cancelling their account (as requested), XM Customer Service is instead giving people 1-6 months of free service. I'm not talking about radios that still appear active (which can just be because the cancellation signal hasn't been received).
It's one thing to offer free months in an attempt to retain subscribers (I think pretty much every subscriber-based company does this), but it's another to appear to be deceiving. And it's something that XM needs to get a handle on sooner rather than later. The online buzz is giving XM Customer Service the kind of reputation that AOL Customer Service now has. And we all know how well that worked out.
In additional to the complaints that The Consumerist has received, Orbitcast has also numerous similar complaints regarding this. And this is not simply confined to online fanboyism. This has made it to CNN:
This is something that XM needs to get control of... quickly.
Just have the boys back on Monday morning and this will all go away, XM...
for all those who say the boys don't always win in the end well guess what
WE WIN IN THE END!!!
I find the credibility of O&A fans to be rather low right now. Some of them are saying anything to support their 'cause'. I also think they may be confusing missed deactivation signals or the current XM free 10 channel preview with a non-cancelled service. Also, if the cancellations are as high as they claim, it may take a while for the signal to arrive.
pete have you canceled your service and if you did are you signing back up when they come back.
I had to call 4 times to get my 2 subs shut off. This is a very big problem on the part of XM. This mess will not look good if and when the merger talks start back up.
I have canceled two out of three radios that I own. My mom has the third unit, and she loves that Oprah channel. I'm probably going to have her pick up the subscription over the weekend - if I can get through, that is.
:P
Happytypinggirl is so hot right now.
peopleagainstcensorship.org!
Oh no !!! Free publicity. We are doomed !!!
That was a 5 minute piece on CNN that said the name "XM Satellite Radio" so many times that I lost count. Let's all take a chill pill and remember that there is no such thing as bad publicity. The publicity surrounding this event is so much more valuable than the cost of the "free 3-month subscription if you stay with us" offer from XM.
Everyone is milking this event for as much as they can. Even the "protester" on CNN is getting her 5 minutes of fame.
And as much as I respect Orbitcast, they are getting some additional publicity out of this non-event as well.
Have you noticed that the arbitrage spread (between the SIRI and XM stock prices) has been closing for the past 2 days, indicating a market perception that the likelihood of a merger is looking better.
Thaank joo fo cullin XM naaaation may I hove jour ID nooombar X 1,000,000
"I find the credibility of O&A fans to be rather low right now. Some of them are saying anything to support their 'cause'. I also think they may be confusing missed deactivation signals or the current XM free 10 channel preview with a non-cancelled service. Also, if the cancellations are as high as they claim, it may take a while for the signal to arrive."
You could not be more wrong. I have called severaltimes now to have my signal and sub. turned OFF and it hasn't happened. The free 10 channel preview is just that.. 10 channels.. my 2 units were receiving ALL of the channels as long as 56 hours after my first call. By the 3rd call I asked the CSR to read my call logs back to me which all noted I wanted my units shut off ASAP. He then proceeded to tell me that they had in fact made a mistake and tried to sell me on the free month plan..yet again. He also then tried to tell me that the unit would stay active until the month was over. (Which by the way is very convenient as the shareholder meeting is May 25th)
You can doubt O&A fans all you want but Ms. Wolf would be crazy to go on CNN and say what she said without substantial proof. (Which there is in video form in severalplaces: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf3ub40eO2o) This website would also be in deep trouble for reporting a false accusation as well so keep that in mind.
For what it's worth I was one of the people "credited" with a free month even though I was told my subscription was canceled. It took 3 calls and a 2 CSR supervisors for someone to finally just cancel the subscription. I'm sorry if non of us are "credible," but it's a fact that XM is telling people they've discontinued service, and then left the account active. I can't speak for anyone else and I don't want to speculate with actual numbers, this was just my experience.
I don't know if it's a question of credibility versus a question of intelligence - why wouldn't the average XM subscriber (or EX-subscriber, as it were) realize if his/her service has actually been canceled?
I sincerely doubt that channel 202 is part of any free trial XM has to offer, fwiw...
I meant to phrase that first sentence as follows: "I don't know if it's questioning our credibility as much as it is questioning our intelligence.."
As you were.
BruceInAustin: Of course I'm not ignoring the fact that there's a ridiculous amount of publicity surrounding this. I talked about it here.
But online consumer complaints can alter a company's reputation very easily. XM should watch this, and at the very least make sure their Customer Service reps are holding true to what they're telling customers.
Fans up in arms over on-air hosts they're passionate over can easily be seen as GOOD PRESS. But Customer Service complaints littered around the internet can be seen as a long-term problem. AOL will probably never recover from their Customer Service reputation... I just don't want to see XM in the same boat.
Remember, I love this medium - I only want to see it succeed.
I don't understand this. Customer Service has been offering several months of free service for people trying to cancel for a long time now. Why is this news?
Wait a minute... 20,000 subs were cancelled? XM must have hundreds of customer reps on had to handle that many in 2 days.
I call bullshit!!
Plus, she's an O&A pest. She loses all credibility there.
This is news not because XM is offering several months of free service, but because XM is not honoring the requests of its members to cancel.
Scenario 1: Customer asks to cancel and XM offers 3 free months to the customer. Customer accepts the offer and remains a subscriber. This is fine.
Scenario 2: Customer asks to cancel and XM offers 3 free months to the customer. Customer rejects the offer and insists on cancellation. XM tells the customer their service is cancelled. Customer calls back the next day to find out their account is still active and they have in fact been given the 3 free months. This is NOT fine.
Scenario #2 is what people are complaining about.
Ohhh I must have misread the article. I didn't realize they were giving people free service regardless of their refusal. Thanks.
ok, heres what I don't get. You O and A guys here are super fans of there show. I think that the firing isn't 100%, may be back. If you are canceling to show XM that you support your Boys more than XM, then if they come back in 30 days you will have to "PAY" XM to reconnect. You are big O and A guys and will want the other 2 hours right?
I don't think XM will bring back O&A. They could of at least left old O&A shows on 202 instead of Ron&Fez 24/7 of the same show.
I've had a couple of radios turned off over the last couple of months, and they take a while to de-activate. Also, when you cancel a sub, the cancellaction actually goes through at the end of your paid-up time. So if you pay monthly, it would be your anniversiary date. If you paid for a year - they will, by default, not physically cancel the radio until the end of the year's subscription.
This isn't evil, folks, it's giving you your money's worth.
What bugs me is that you have to CALL and WAIT ON HOLD to CANCEL. You can sign up on the web, why can't you transfer subs and cancel over the web?
That was the crap that AOL used to pull, just to get one more month out of people who *thought* they cancelled their AOL by un-installing their software.
Tom C.
First of all to answer your question about the reconnect... no you will not have to pay. The reconnection fee is waived if it is reconnected within 3 months of cancellation as long as it is reconnected under the same name and billing address.
I think some of the O&A fans may never be back, they may just go to audible.com to listen, that's if the show becomes available back on that site. Some others will come back. There is going to be some serious trust that XM will have to gain back, for some people that will never be able to happen. I just hope with enough pleading by O&A they might come back to XM.
The problem may be that XM said that the channel is "uncensored talk" which it seems it isn't and that is false advertising and it's pissing people off. If they can do it to 202 they can do it to XM Comedy, Raw 66, Squizz or any other channel if some small interest group find the content offensive and wants to protest.
Now if the words that Homeless Charlie and the boys exchanged wasn't the problem and it was O&A coming back on their apology then the punishment is to strong. Either way people are pissed and don't trust XM.
In the end I feel sorry for the people up in Canada or the middle of nowhere that can't even get them on FM. I am lucky to live in an area that I can still get their signal.
By the way I think they will be back in about 1 month and haven't canceled so I can see if R&F can grow on me (just in case) like O&A have. In my world I got XM for music, then baseball, then O&A (which turned out to be 90% of what I listen to.)
It's the principle - XM needs to know that people won't stand for a misrepresentation of their service - O&A might not EVER be back, and if everyone stays subscribed for the length of the 'suspension', that's another month of revenue in XM's pocket.
The decision to censor O&A (and that's what they are doing, right?) was about as smart as letting O&A on free radio. Both decisions made XM less important and less necessary.
I called to cancel ealier today, and righ tnow 12:45 am I can still log on online and listen, and my Roady XT is fully functional. My friend Joe cancelled 3 days ago and same story for him.
To late for all that
They are done
http://digg.com/politics/Video_XM_caught_lying_about_canceling_my_account
Shouldn't you still be able to listen until the last date of your currently paid time? But under your account status it should tell you if you are subscribed, and until when, or unsubscribed? I don't know, I have sirius, and that's what I can check when I login online. It tills me when I last paid, when I have to pay again. You should still be able to listen to the service up until that time. Am i right or wrong on this?
Pete, Is it the principle of it if you "reconnect" in 30. That will be supporting o and a right. and that will benefit XM with more $ then if you waited for the ax to drop or they came back.
Pretty much everyone is right here. XM has a right to control its content (1st Ammendment doesn't apply for private businesses) and consumers have the right to protest, boycott, and vote with their dollars.
Anyone have an inno or other XM portable they'd like to get rid of. I'm all ears ;)
Go figure.
When XM finally gets its name in the press, it's bad.
What imbeciles P&P are. They couldn't find their ass with both hands in a dark room.
I've seen posts that suggest that canceling your sub isn't the correct way to send a message. Bullshite I say, it's the only thing those slugs understand.
I own neither stock at this time.
After people cancelling their XM subs found out that asking for a cancellation would mean continuing until the end of the current billing cycle, it was then suggested that people cancelling should ask for an immediate cancellation. An immediate cancellation means that your service should stop within the next day and that you should receive a prorated refund for the remainder of the billing cycle. And that information has been repeatedly verified by XM's customer service representatives only to have the radios continue to work.
Big Mammas Boy, actually
"First of all to answer your question about the reconnect... no you will not have to pay. The reconnection fee is waived if it is reconnected within 3 months of cancellation as long as it is reconnected under the same name and billing address."
This is NOT true...XM is telling anyone who is canceling for O&A and for any other reason that when you re-subscribe, you have to pay another activation and it will not be waived for O&A fans. When you deactivate the service there is no fee unless your radio comes with an early cancellation due to commitment date. No mater if it is a week after cancellation there is always an activation/reactivation fee.
As for radios still going after you canceled. I've seen some go for free after being cancelled up to 6 months later. To stop your radio from working if it is coming in free, all you have o do is go to xmradio.com/refresh and send yourself a refresh signal.
The one radio I canceled was deactivated properly.
>> What bugs me is that you have to CALL and WAIT ON HOLD to CANCEL. You can sign up on the web, why can't you transfer subs and cancel over the web? >>
Because then they couldn't pull this horsesh*t of 'suspending' accounts without customers' knowledge and/or offering free credits to stay on board...
Opie & Anthony are NOT FUNNY. XM doesn't CARE.
This is a NON-STORY.
So sure, they're probably wrong for suspending them.
But this dumb girl saying that this homeless guy's comments can lead to "interesting" statements, or even anything funny, is ridiculous.
As Dice says - O & A should have tried to stop being like Howard Stern.
Their show will never be half as good as Stern's.
Hahahahahahaha - 20,000 subscriptions, how pathetic. That's a retarded number. No one cares about O & A, how irrelevant.
I counted 4 O&A fans demonstrating in that CNN clip. ROFL!
As for Debbie Wolf, since she doesnt believe in censorship Im sure she wouldnt care if they played children being killed on the air. perhaps she better rethink the name of her special interest group.
First of all, XM will provide a pro rata share of what portion of the current months subscription is unused "IF THE CANCELLATION IS HONORED" Second of all, I tried to cancel today, and there customer service rep told me to "FUCK OFF". His words, not mine. On top of that, this disgruntled, DUMBASS MOTHERFUCKER then proceeded to charge $500 to my account on file. If this doesn't tell you stupid fuckers what is what then I want everyone to realize that you are not worth arguing with, you are just a waste of breath.
First of all, XM will provide a pro rata share of what portion of the current months subscription is unused "IF THE CANCELLATION IS HONORED" Second of all, I tried to cancel today, and there customer service rep told me to "FUCK OFF". His words, not mine. On top of that, this disgruntled, DUMBASS MOTHERFUCKER then proceeded to charge $500 to my account on file. If this doesn't tell you stupid fuckers what is what then I want everyone to realize that you are not worth arguing with, you are just a waste of breath.