How to get the best deal on satellite radio!

The Work, Travel and Everyday Life Newsletter

  from Randy Lewis

How to get the best deal on satellite radio!
 
Everyone likes to buy good stuff at a good price right? No one would want to pay more for something than they had to right? For those of you who answered “Yes” to these two questions, I ask that you continue reading. For those of you who didn’t answer “Yes” to both of these questions, you had better continue reading as well.
 
I’m not sure how many of you have a subscription to SiriusXM satellite radio. I’m suspecting that many of my foreign country readers might not even know what SiriusXM is. For those folks, I’ll provide a brief explanation.

 
“SiriusXM Satellite Radio is a subscription service that features a larger variety of programming than traditional radio, as well as clearer reception. In addition, many channels are commercial-free.
 
SiriusXM is the exclusive home to Howard Stern with two dedicated Howard Stern channels. SiriusXM’s talk, news and comedy programming features channels from news outlets including BBC, CNBC, FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg, NPR, C-SPAN, exclusive talk and entertainment channels including TODAY Show Radio, Business Radio Powered By The Wharton School, Entertainment Weekly Radio, Faction Talk, Radio Andy, Joel Osteen Radio, and comedy from channels including Comedy Central Radio, Comedy Greats.
 
SiriusXM music programming includes artist branded channels from The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Garth Brooks, Tom Petty, Pearl Jam, Kenny Chesney, Pitbull and many more, curated music channels dedicated to multiple decades and genres that span rock, pop, country, R&B, hip-hop, electronic dance, jazz and more, and concept-based channels, such as The Coffee House, SiriusXM Chill, Road Trip Radio, Yacht Rock Radio, and The Covers Channel.
 
SiriusXM offers live play-by-play coverage of every NFL, Major League Baseball, and NBA game; every NASCAR race; PGA Tour events; and live college sports, as well as news, analysis and opinions from more than a dozen dedicated sports talk channels.”
 
I’ve had a subscription, for more than 10 years, to first XM radio and then SiriusXM radio when XM and Sirius merged in 2008. I subscribe to their most complete and expensive package called, “All-Access”. I can listen to satellite radio on my iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro or in my car.
 
The way you “buy” satellite radio is a bit unusual but maybe not for subscription services. I’ve been buying the service in six-month increments for as long as I can remember. For my last six months, which ended a couple of days ago, I paid 58.91 including taxes and fees. Remember that price.
 
In order to get the best price during each renewal, I have to place a reminder in my electronic calendar. The reminder tells me when to call the folks at SiriusXM. I’ve been making that phone call every six months for a long time.
 
If I didn’t call them they would “automatically renew” my service at prices approximately three or four times more than I pay each six months. That’s not a good idea.
 
I give them my credit card just like I give everyone my credit card number. I do not have any fear whatsoever as some people do about giving my credit card number to just about anyone. Sorry, I just don’t. The last thing I want to do is write a paper check or have them bill me. I do use ApplePay whenever I can from my phone.
 
It is true that about once a year one of our six or eight credit cards gets hacked. We will notice or the credit card company will notice that some unusual activity has occurred. When that happens we simply tell the credit card company that we didn’t make the charges. They then reverse those erroneous charges and send us a new credit card. Getting a new credit card is a minor hassle. 
 
However, in everyday life we hand over our credit card to well over 100 people we don’t know every year. I consider the hassle of having one of our credit cards hacked, on average about every year, as simply the cost of doing business, timewise, with credit cards. I don’t have any interest in getting a notification every time our card is used by my wife or me. I already get way to many notifications about way too many things. Life is too short.
 
I always consider it “grand sport” as I prepare for my semi-annual phone call to SiriusXM. I know that I’m going to have to tell them that I will not be renewing at their exorbitant renewal price. I’m going to have to tell them that although I love their service I can’t afford the new higher price. I’m a retiree living on a small fixed income or something like that. Unless they give me the same price I had for the previous six months I’m going to have to discontinue my service. I feel as if I’m auditioning for a Broadway play when I go through this twice a year spiel.
 
Sometimes I’ll speak with the SiriusXM rep for just a few minutes. Then they will transfer me to someone in the “retention” department. I’ll talk with that person some more. They will offer me a lower rate or two. I’ll end up getting pretty much the same rate that I had during the last renewal. It’s a song and a dance but it’s a song and a dance that I’ve gotten used to.
 
I will tell you that the process has gotten a little bit easier over the last three or four years. Now I don’t have to raise my voice. I don’t have to tell them that I think their business practices are terrible. Sometimes I don’t even have to be moved over to the retention department. Yes, things have gotten better.
 
However, I have learned that you can never let your guard down. The moment you do and you’re not prepared for the fight you’ll end up on the canvas.
 
In preparation for last night’s call to SiriusXM Carol, my wife, was acting as my trainer. Over in the corner of our master bedroom, I was doing a little shadowboxing just to work up a sweat.
 
Then, Carol, had me sit down on a three-legged stool that we bought just for this occasion. She started giving me a pep talk in a voice louder than I’ve ever heard her speak. She told me I could do this. Then she popped open some smelling salts and put them under my nose. That got my attention! Next, she started putting Vaseline on my face and slapping me. I was charged up! I was ready to go!
 
I must tell you that I don’t like making calls to businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. It is very difficult to get a live person. I don’t get frustrated that much about anything in life but I do get a little bent trying to climb around a phone tree. I have actually been known to use expletives while climbing the tree. More than once Carol has come into my office after she heard me yelling, “Agent!, Agent!” into the phone.
 
I pressed the last digit of the SiriusXM phone number and waited. I got that dreaded pandemic recording that says not only have our options recently changed but we are experiencing a much larger call volume than we are willing to put labor against. Yes, at that point I did utter an expletive.
 
However, I continued to listen to the recording. It seemed that SiriusXM was really busy but rather than have me hold or call back they had another recommendation. As I continued to listen I was pretty well amazed.
 
I told you that for the last six-month period I paid $58.91 for my All-Access SiriusXM service. I had heard from some people that they were able to renew their subscription for one year rather than six months. That sounded like a good idea. That could cut my phone calls to SiriusXM in half.
 
I’m a member of a group that shares their experiences about renewing their SiriusXM subscriptions. They commonly throw out a price that they paid for SiriusXM service but they usually don’t mention what level of SiriusXM service they bought. That’s kind of like saying you paid 31,000 for a new car. I guess that would be a great price if you got a Lexus but maybe not so great if you bought a stripped-down Chevy.
 
Someone said they paid $99 for a full year of the top of the line service from SiriusXM. That sounded like a fantastic price. When I placed my phone call tonight I was shooting for $99 for a full year. I knew it was gonna be a tough negotiation. Like I say Carol had me ready.
 
So the lady on the recorded message continues to drone on but now she was offering up some interesting information. She told me she knew who I was based upon my phone number. That sounded like “Big Brother”. However, Big Brother doesn’t worry me in the least. I gave up my personal privacy for all kinds of conveniences many years ago. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
 
Then the lady on the phone, in a recorded message, asked me the big question. Now mind you it didn’t really matter what she was about to say. I was going to get a year’s worth of SiriusXM All-Access for just $99 if I had to use every swear word I had ever even thought of. If I had to demand to speak to the CEO of SiriusXM or threaten them with a privacy lawsuit I was going to get a year’s worth of SiriusXM for just $99! That’s just the way it was going to be. I was mad and I hadn’t even talked to a real person up to this point. I wasn’t going to take anything other than a year’s worth of SiriusXM for just $99.
 
I admit it. I was sweating. Without me saying ANYTHING more, the woman with the soothing recorded voice asked if I would be interested in renewing my All-Access SiriusXM subscription for a full year at a price of $99? Say what? Was this person reading my mind?
 
Now she was repeating herself again in her recorded voice. “Would I be interested?” You’re goshed darn right I would be. I literally yelled into the phone’s microphone. “Er….ya, I mean yes. I’m interested. How do I get that?”
 
She went on to say that because she had my credit card we could do the deal right now. Then she asked me to reply with a “Yes” if I wanted to renew for one full year at $99 plus taxes and fees which brought my total to $120.91. She was trying to close the sale. All I had to do was say yes.
 
Mind you I was sitting in my office chair bare-chested in my boxing trunks with my boxing gloves on. It was difficult just to hold onto the phone. I was ready to do battle. Now before we even struck the first blows SiriusXM was offering me the chance to get exactly what I had dreamed about all my life or at least what I had dreamed about once. One year of SiriusXM for $99 plus taxes and fees!
 
Did I want to say “yes”? I surely did. I just blurted it out. “Yes!” About 20 seconds later the deal was closed.

 
I sort of felt like I was Muhammad Ali. SiriusXM hadn’t laid a glove on me. The sales rep, always in a recorded voice, did remind me that when my subscription expired in a year I would be subject to “renewal prices”.
 
The renewal price would be $26.70 per month. That meant that the renewal price for one year would be more than $320. I did the math. Yes, $320 was a lot more than $99. I wondered silently to myself….”how many idiots are paying the renewal price?” 
 
What did I do next? I made an immediate entry into my electronic calendar to remind me that I needed to call SiriusXM a few days ahead of next year’s renewal date. You can bet I’ll make that call.
 
I thought my call to SiriusXM was going to generate some excitement into my life to spice up another day in pandemic paradise. It didn’t turn out that way. The excitement I was expecting was definitely muted. 
 
Nevertheless, we all get to learn something from just about everything that we experience. If you don’t have SiriusXM satellite radio I can tell you that I love it. If you do have SiriusXM satellite radio you’re going to need to renew your subscription one of these days. Maybe my experience can become your experience.
 
My extensive online research tells me the best price you can get for SiriusXM radio is $99/year for the All-Access package and $60/year for the Select package. Then you will have to add about 20% of those totals in taxes and fees. Knowing this information I believe you would be safe in selling your boxing gloves and trunks (after washing) on eBay. You won’t need ‘em.  
 
 
Randy Lewis
San Clemente California