Can I sue XM RADIO ?

[ImagineIF]

Do like I did, write the Attorney General of DC, they are a DC based business. XM/Sirius will respond then. In my case, they don't the Attorney General's office I had not contacted them. Although I never could through by phone, I did mail a letter and send an email. I hate Sirius/XM, even though I still have some radios active. Their subscription is an autorenewal policy that you must cancel. The problem is that they don't answer the phone on the cancellation phone number. That number is only for cancellations, so how often do you think they answer that phone! They also, in my opinion, lied to the FCC when they merged. They were suppose to let customers enjoy the benefits from both companies after the merger. The fact of the matter is that you cannot combine XM and Sirius radios on the same account. They've had me hot around the collar a couple of times. Like I said, I do have 2 of my 4 radios turned on. Why they can't just given me the better price every year makes no sense. The usual practice is I cancel the renewals, no matter how long it takes. Then 30 to 60 days later they call and offer the same subscription for half price.

I sure wish they never merged, Sirius was easy to work with.

Gil

[Dave and Jaime]

Originally Posted by diandtom

The first call from XM I told them I think about it. The next call from them I said NO. Then there were many calls that I did not answer. the last two calls were on a Sunday. One in the Morning and one that afternoon. The last call I answer told them to leave me alone and hung up. the service continued for another month, I think as I don't drive the truck everyday. I did noticed it had quit last Friday, Dec 3. I don't see where I owe them a dime they owe me for harassing me!!

Were you on an automatic renewal program? If so, then you agreed to continuing service until you "opted out" and notified XM. Probably what happened is that you "auto renewed" a couple months ago but because your credit card on file was no longer valid, they started to try to contact you. By the time you told them "no" you were probably more than a month past the expired term. If you were on auto renewal, then your obligation to pay began the date of the renewal and extended until you finally affirmatively canceled. I don't like those auto renew programs either, but you probably technically owe the money.

Like those "free trial" deals where you give a credit card and have to cancel within 30 days or you get billed for the next period. Wait 31 days and you have to pay for the next period.

It's not a good business practice or good public relations or maybe even immoral but likely not illegal. So, for $23 are you going to refuse to pay "on principle" -- when it is very likely that you have a legal obligation? Check your prior agreement. If you had a credit card on file that they were trying to bill, you probably agreed to an auto renewal program.

[Elkhartjim]

I'm just posting to subscribe to the thread.

Ask the collection agency to provide you with a detailed bill or pay the $23.

Sounds to me you got a heck of a deal.

[Dave and Jaime]

Originally Posted by diandtom

The thing of it,to me,is we never even got a bill for this amount so how can they turn him into the credit bureau,hurt his credit over an unknown bill we never even got for an unknown reason!!

Dianne

If you were on "auto renew", you likely wouldn't get a bill. They'd just charge your card the agreed amount. The only reason they even contacted you was because the charge didn't go through.

Auto renew plans are a tradeoff. Some convenience not dealing with invoices and payments versus "surprises". Good luck.

BTW, I had auto renew with XM for years. I'd just see the charges on my credit card every quarter. No mailings/billings, although you could go to your online account to see what is going on. Have you logged on line to review exactly what the account billings/statements say? Then I got the "lifetime" plan (pay once for the life of the vehicle).

[DFR]

Same deal, different day. I also was on auto renewal, and decided to cancel my subscription. I called and told the rep to cancel it at the end of the term I had paid through. They failed to do so and I was unaware till the collection agency called me. When I questioned XM, they responded that they couldn't proactively cancel, you must cancel when the term ends. What a crock. Ended up costing me 43$. Ended up costing them any hope of regaining me as a customer. I dissuade everyone I can from becoming subscribers.

[diandtom]

That what I am doing !!! I got another problem the car comes up soon. I only got the one bill and we were on a RV trip with the mail on hold. I got a email into XM radio and a email back saying someone would contact me within 24 hours. I am waiting for the reply.

[wa8yxm]

Well. once you tell 'em do not call.. Save for collections they should not call... And the fee is 500.00 per call by the way (owed you) title 47 section 227 as I recall, might be seciton 223.

However... You had a "Business relationship" with them and I'm not sure how that affects things.. (NOTE NOT A LAWYER)

So to the quesiton: Can I sue. yes. you can
But a better question would be "What are my chances if I do" and that.. I can not answer. You need the advice of a real lawyer.

[diandtom]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

Well. once you tell 'em do not call.. Save for collections they should not call... And the fee is 500.00 per call by the way (owed you) title 47 section 227 as I recall, might be seciton 223.

However... You had a "Business relationship" with them and I'm not sure how that affects things.. (NOTE NOT A LAWYER)

So to the quesiton: Can I sue. yes. you can
But a better question would be "What are my chances if I do" and that.. I can not answer. You need the advice of a real lawyer.

They owe me a couple of thousand, where do I collect ? I may turn them into a collection agency.

[NLOVNIT]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

...However... You had a "Business relationship" with them and I'm not sure how that affects things.. (NOTE NOT A LAWYER)

That's the crux, as I understand it. The do-not-call registry rules apply only to solicitations from associations/organizations/businesses you have not already done business with. Once you've established a relationship by subscription, item or service purchase, the do-not-call rules go away. That also goes for any side businesses that company may have. For example, by buying my new fridge from Sears, that opened me up to solicitations from them on windows, siding, furnace replacement, home cleaning.....etc. I can ask them not to call me, but they aren't required to comply.

Lori-

[Dadeaux]

I had a similar experience with a cell company that made some changes in their network that caused me to not have a signal at my location yet wanted to charge me $250.00 for changing companies. It too was eventually turned over to a collection agency but I never paid the bill.

I knew that for me to hire a lawyer would not make sense and that it wouldn't make sense to them either so I told them to either sue me or leave me alone. I contacted each of the credit bureaus and asked them to show it as disputed claim and shortly thereafter they went away and no real harm was done to my credit.

[melvonnar]

Originally Posted by Dadeaux

I had a similar experience with a cell company that made some changes in their network that caused me to not have a signal at my location yet wanted to charge me $250.00 for changing companies. It too was eventually turned over to a collection agency but I never paid the bill.

I knew that for me to hire a lawyer would not make sense and that it wouldn't make sense to them either so I told them to either sue me or leave me alone. I contacted each of the credit bureaus and asked them to show it as disputed claim and shortly thereafter they went away and no real harm was done to my credit.

Had a collection agency call me once and threaten to ruin my credit; i laughed so hard I nearly dropped the phone, I haven't charged anything in 30 years.
I do have credit cards but they get paid auto every month.

[UFO Pilot]

My fax machine started spitting out a piece of paper about 1 per hour sometime last year. The paper in effect says "someone called but didn't send a fax". I finally unplugged the fax and waited for the call to come in. I asked the person why they continue to call my fax number and she asked if I was William. I told her no and she asked how long I have had this number and I told her 20 plus years. I finally asked who she was and she gave me her name and I asked what company she represented. She gave me the name of a collection agency. She told me it would take 48 hours to remove my number from their system.

Recently the calls started up again so I unplugged the fax and waited for the call. When I found it was the same company still looking for William, I asked the lady if the people who worked there were stupid or merely incompetent she had no answer but assured me the calls would stop in 48 hours. When I asked her where I could send a bill for all of the ink and paper of mine that they had used, she hung up on me.

[diandtom]

From what I can tell XM/Sirrius is in trouble. It looks like they going to get hurt a lot more than me. I will never do business with them again. I not had any credit for a long time and don't plan to use credit in the future. Same thing happen to my next door neighbor. He bought a new truck withe the XM radio and after the trial period they wanted money for the month after the trial period. He did not pay either. I will make sure the next one I buy it not working before I leave the dealer. I rather have one with it not on the vehicle.

[RustyJC]

Originally Posted by diandtom

From what I can tell XM/Sirrius is in trouble.

3Q10 results actually look pretty promising - they were finally in the black.

This morning, before the Market open, SIRI reported third fiscal quarter revenues of $717.5 million (Growth of 15.9% Year to Year) above consensus estimates of $719.1 million. The company beat estimates primarily due to increase in net subscriber’s addition, adding approximately 334,727 customers during the quarter, up from additions of only 102,295 in the same period last year. It ended the quarter with 19.9 million subscribers, up 1.3 million from the same time last year.

This increase was due to an improving economy that helped raise the number of subscribers with new vehicles and reactivations of service from previous subscribers.

On the earnings front, the company booked a profit of $67.6 million or a penny per share, beating expectations for a break-even quarter, compared with a loss of $151.5 million or 4 cents a share, a year ago.

Rusty