@cphubb:

I don’t know about all the rest of you with your photographic memories, but I cannot remember what I was purchasing a year ago. Oh wait it was Anti-Virus service. I know that because they just sent me an email saying that it will expire and they will automatically renew it on xx-xx unless I cancel. I think that is the minimum a company should do for a long term subscription like that.

I agree that the company should let you know that your subscription is about to automatically renew. Not because they have to, but because it would be good for customer relations and possibly cut down on angry customer service calls. (A long enough call could eat most of a month's subscription.)

In fact, that's one thing that I might use if I were Steve (well, that Steve). He said he got a letter saying his subscription was about to expire, but why didn't he get one after 11 and 23 months or so? Why only after 35?

Did they throw the previous ones out thinking they were junk mail, or did XM simply not send them? If XM didn't send them, try using that.

As for photographic memories, you don't need one. When you subscribe to something, put an item in your Tasks 11 months in the future reminding you to renew (or cancel) your subscription. We have PDAs to avoid having to remember all of these dates, don't we? ;)

Steve

Steve since you admitted your mistake I will put a little support here for you. I am generall aware that may of my subscriptions (Internet, Cell Phone) are automatically renewed each month and that a charge appears on my card and many of them do not nofity me of the billing. However you stated that you pre-purchased a year of service which means you were not getting monthly charges to your card till 112 months has passed. I don't know about all the rest of you with your photographic memories, but I cannot remember what I was purchasing a year ago. Oh wait it was Anti-Virus service. I know that because they just sent me an email saying that it will expire and they will automatically renew it on xx-xx unless I cancel. I think that is the minimum a company should do for a long term subscription like that. Most of these companies are just grubbing for every dollar they can get at the expense of a few disgruntled ex-customers. I would fight for those dollars back as well.

I don't like it, but I agree with it. Basically it's 50/50. 50% would call angry because their service wasn't automatically renewed and they didn't have service and the other 50 are like you and are angry that they would have the audacity to automatically renew it for you.

I don't like auto renewing, so I use a Paypal credit card and expire it right after I sign up for those things.

XM just Sucks. I'd call corporate.
I had trouble with XM for 2 years, then I switched to Sirius and love the service.

@Steve Laser

Do you agree with XM’s policy of automatically renewing service without specifically asking permission?

I may not like automatic renewal for some things (like magazines), but for others, I do. Would you want to have to call your cell phone company, ISP or cable company and renew every month? Would you want them to require a new contract after your initial contract ran out, as opposed to month-to-month billing?

I also understand why they do this. It gets them more money. Look at Book-Of-The-Month clubs, which send you books unless you tell them not to. (As an aside, if you've been a member long enough, you can ask to be put on an opt-in plan instead of an opt-out plan.) Porn sites do the same thing.

I can't imagine not calling them and saying that you're terminating service given how many companies work like that.

Do you read Terms of Service for every service you sign up for?

Probably not every one, but I typically skim them looking for important things. If you don't, you really should.

After I called and got nowhere with XM, my wife called. She told them that we cancelled the service at the one year point.

She called him on his blatant lie[...]

Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? Your wife sounds like she started off with a lie and then blames them for lying to her.

By the way, I've almost always been able to get big companies to reverse charges (AT&T for collect call fees, Verizon for premium text messaging fees, Charter for rate increases, etc.). You have to be really persistent. Of course, I was still a customer (except for AT&T, sort of, where I had to go through the California Public Utilities Commission), so maybe worrying about losing your business helps, which wouldn't apply in your case.

Steve

Thanks for the link Srvtec, and for providing excellent customer service. That should serve as a model for all companies, large and small.

I totally get where you are coming from. I work for a small company and service copiers (for over 20 years now). We have about 700 machines in the field with about 500 customers. We will bend over backwards to help people get their equipment fixed whether they are a current customer or not.

It seems when a company has a customer base in the millions, they don't give a crap about one person and whatever it is that they have an issue with nor do they want to take the time to resolve any issues.

If you need the head honchos of XM, try this link in the first post of the thread. All the current people in charge since the merger are listed. http://www.xmfan.com/viewtopic.php?t=93780

Hope that will at least get you talking to the right people.

Srvtec, you are a wise person. I guess I'm just naive. At work, written in light writing, it says the customer has 7 days to contact us if there is a problem with an order. We send out tons of orders, and invetably some are incorrect or arrive damaged. Sometimes our customers don't open the boxes for weeks or longer. When they find out there is a problem it's too late. But we always make things right. We call it customer service. Sometimes the customers are flat wrong, but we always give them the benefit of the doubt.

After I called and got nowhere with XM, my wife called. She told them that we cancelled the service at the one year point. The rep told her they have a system that automatically logs the calls with all the pertinant caller information. My wife responded by telling the rep that she works for a large financial company, and they would love to have that technology. "How does it work?" she asked. She said her company and clients would love to have a system like that. "What's it called?" He couldn't answer. She called him on his blatant lie, and said, "Now can I speak to a supervisor?"

She explained the situation to the super, just as I did, and he was just as unforgiving. She asked for a specific name of who she could speak to at the corp office and he refused to give a name. "You mean you don't know the name of anyone I can speak to?" He finally relented and gave her a name instead of just a general corp number.

I know we won't get anywhere with this, at least not likely. After all, it's their "policy". But two years ago, when we flew to Florida, United Air Lines lost her luggage. She filed a claim and they said it's their policy to pay 50% of the value of her loss. She said, "It's MY policy to recover 100% of my loss." They gave in after months of runaround.

Policies help define an operating method for a company. They're important. Just like computer code tells software how to function, policies give employees the means to know how to act in given situations. But the companies that stand out, at least in my opinion, are those that can rise above their policies and actually service customers.

Small mom and pop businesses, the few that are left, are more flexible and customer oriented. I understand why corporations have policies, and I generally agree with them. It really helps large organizations to have everyone be on the same page. This reminds me of a customer I spoke to last week. He had been dealing with a large company who was only a couple hundred miles away. The large company was producing product for him, but because the economy is so slow, he was looking for ways to save money. My first that was that we are 1200 miles away and even if we were competitive, our shipping costs would be huge. As I explored further, I found a way to offer him an equal product at half the cost and our shipping was also half the price. It would have been real easy for me or an hourly employee with no stake in the company, to just tell the guy we couldn't help. I spent hours working things out to make it happen, and before I did so, I thought it would be a waste of time. But I'm glad I put the extra effort in. We will both benefit.

Srvtec, thanks again for the feedback.

Let me clarify my first paragraph. I should have stated online subscriptions, since that is what I was referring to. I have several online subscriptions and that is how they all work. The subscriptions/billing continue until I call to cancel.

I was aware that's how the XM service worked- i.e. automatic renewal and billing. It was so long ago for me, I don't recall how I became aware of it. I must have read it somewhere or was informed by XM before I signed up. I also signed up online. This is all I have to go by- my own experience with the same company.

I typically don't read the TOS either, which makes me think that somewhere on their website, I found all the details about billing and how the service worked, but probably not in the TOS. I guess I'm just a stickler for being absolutely positive how billing/renewal works before I sign up for something and having it in writing so I have a leg to stand on in the event the SHTF.

Srvtec, thanks for taking time to write. I am not asking for sympathy and admit I'm a dumbass. But my questions are:
Do you agree with XM’s policy of automatically renewing service without specifically asking permission?

Do you read Terms of Service for every service you sign up for?

If you read the Terms of Service you'll notice their policy is buried in there. It's also very slanted towards them, at least in my humble view.

I signed up online and didn't read the terms of service. I never do. If I had called to sign up, would they have read the terms of service to me?

Again, srvtec, you are completely correct and I know I mishandled this. I assumed that if I paid for one year that's all I'd get. That's how my magazine subscriptions work. When customers purchase from my company, that's how we work. I should'nt have assumed other companies would be upfront. So I learned an expensive lesson. But this post isn't about me as much as about the two questions I posed.

Thanks again for your feedback.
Steve

That's how many, if not most, subscription services work. Doesn't surprise me at all and I'm surprised there is anybody left out there that doesn't know about this standard practice.

Sorry, you're not going to get one bit of sympathy from me. I guess I don't make enough money to not notice extra charges on my bill. I know you said your wife pays the bills, but that's no excuse. It all boils down to communication. You mean to tell me that not once in the last year did your wife ask you about the XM charge and had no idea whatsoever that you don't even use it? WOW.

BTW, I've been an XM subscriber for almost four years. And the billing was pretty clearly stated when I signed up- either that, or I just paid a little more attention to what was in the details.

Unfortunately, these day we need to read/check all documents (Yes, I know we're too busy), because corporate employed bunch of lawyers just for these "got'ya" clauses. And yes, I do read term and condition before sign up on long term plan/service. Just in case I might get hit by a train and my family still paying for the thing they don't need.
I am surprised that you don't get monthly statement via email.
Check their policy for monthly statement via email, if they fail to deliver your monthly statement, then you have some ground to dispute, base on the fact that you've signed up and were not notified
Don't get me wrong here. Most people don't like their spouses checking on what they'd been spending, but I've got to congratulate them on their sharp eyes for noticing the abnormally. This helps with credit card fraud too. After all, it's their money and we are spending it!!!
Cheers