Poor Customer Service - My Dealings with Sirius Radio
86This hub is more of a rant. It probibly going to lower my hubscore, but I am so mad about this I don't care. I just want this story on the internet for anyone to see. Basically I am just letting out my frustrations with not being taken care of. I may have a high standard. I have worked in customer service call centers while I was going to college and no matter what, you did something to help the customer. What I will describe next, goes against every customer service rule I was ever taught.
My wife purchased a Sirius radio and a $50 prepaid card that she was going to give me for Christmas. Well, we decieded that I am not in the car enough to make it worth have such a thing. While it would have been nice to have, I would rather spend my money another way. So we decided to return the radio and the prepaid card.
The return went very smoothly. As expected Radio Shack just credited the account. But there was an issue with the prepaid subscription card. They were not able to return this particular item and told me to call the 800 number on the back of the package. Now the card was never used and the pin number wasn't even scratch off yet. I have all the documentation (recipts, etc) so I expected this to go as smothly as possible.
So I call the customer service number and trying to find the option that I was looking for was almost impossible. I, having dealt with automated voice systems new that the keyword "operator" would get me to a human. After about a 10 minutes wait a guy, who I could barrly understand, came on the phone. He said he would do what he could to help me. I tell him my situation and he said that he needed to put me on hold for a few minutes. 5 minutes later, he comes back asking for the Pin number off the card. I told him that I hadn't even scratched that yet. He put me on hold again and after about 10 minutes he hung up the phone on me. Totally unwilling to help.
So of course now I am pissed. So I called back. Got this girl who's name I can't remeber (if I did remember it I would post it her, I'm not protecting anyone). I explain to her my situation and she says, "I'm sorry sir there is nothing I can do for you".
What!! You don't say that in customer service. I even read to her that there was a 30 day gareentee, and yet she still refused to help me. So I asked her to get me her manager and she told me she would put me on hold for 10 minutes. So after letting her know how much I did appreaciated her and hung up the phone
Did I get any help?
After all of this I called the Radio Shack that I purchased this stuff from and the manager said while there wasn't much she could do there were people at Radio Shack that might be able to help me. This story isn't over yet, but I find it interesting that while this is not the Shacks problem they are the ones helping me.
Finally
So after a few months of waiting I got my $50 check in the mail on 4-02-2008. I guess better late than never right.
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
Yes they are terrible - as of 2-22 i'm still waiting for my refund check. I wonder if I will ever get it?
Check out my Hub 'The Decline of Good Customer Service'. I think you will relate to it well. I was on the other end of the stick. Check it out....
Here's a good one to add to this -- purchased a new car and got the "free Sirius for 6 months" and at the time of activation was told by the representative that as long as I subscribed before the end of the 6 months, they'd offer me a 2-year deal at $181.50. So nearly six months rolls by and I try to take them at their word. You can guess what's happened since then -- no one knows anything, they barely speak English, and if you wait to speak to a supervisor, he's even less helpful than the original representative and twice as surly.
But wait, there's more. After our last interaction on trying to activate with them, they sent us a satisfaction survey. Of course, I rated them horribly on all counts, which won me -- absolutely free -- a call back from their auto-dialer explaining "We have a team of specialists ready to address your concerns over your unresolved issue, if you want to speak to them just press Zero". I did.
TWENTY MINUTES OF WAITING LATER, I'm still on hold until it tells me "Whoops, we're sorry, your call is so important to us that we can't even give you an automated tape to listen to in repetition telling you how wonderful our lack of service is, so we're summarily dumping your call, go pound sand you soon-to-be-former-customer".
So bottom-line -- if you get that kind of offer, take it immediately, don't trust them, and hope that you don't need any service of any sort because they're bleeding so much in losses that providing service (versus paying millions of dollars for third-tier talent) isn't something that's very important. I hope they remember that in this day and age of the iPod and HD Radio that $12.95 a month for mediocre programming and crap customer service isn't an option.
Oh how I wish XM and Sirius weren't merging, because XM was clearly the better service all around.
Wow your story sound way to much like mine. Hopefully the combined company will be better.
just got off waiting on hold for some stupid amount of time. We have 3 radios with sirius. The primary was due to expire on 7/18/08 and I received a letter stating"call on or before 7/18/08 to continue your service uninterrupted. I call ON the 18th and they told me the service had been canceled. I explained what "ON" meant in english and spent over an hour dealing with numb skulls straightening t out. Next month I see they are going to charge me for in a different manner and add another $6.99 to the bill. I call again and sit on hold a few times asking for a supervisor after the first person was clueless and she returns and says the supervisor wants me to explain it again. I lose it and ask again for a supervisor who gets on and reads off her script saying the account was canceled at 1:16pm on the 18th. I tell her again i have a document from them stating no where that the cutoff is 1:16pm, but says to renew "ON" or before the 18th. She is a rude and beligerant fool that refuses to tell me where the corporate head quarters is or the phone number. She also says there is no one higher i can speak to in her department. I get her id and am going to call the NY office when they open after the holiday. Can anyone say class action law suit? Thats what they deserve...
I do take some comfort in knowing that I am not the only one treated like dirt by this worthless company and their un-caring worthless (customer service - HA, HA, HA) staff. I bought a new MB six months ago with a six month sirus subscription. I called to activate it and gave the CSR my name, address, phone numbers, e-mail address and a credit card to charge the account after the FREE subscription expired. By the way, two other cars have XM and I have done the same for them for over four years without a single hiccup. But yesterday I'm off and a four hour trip and one hour into it my signal goes out and weather comes on. I wait a bit and then call their customer service number. Twenty monutes later I get a CSR who tells me that they are resetting their computers and the signal will be back in an hour. So I meet another guy, we do our trip and I get back in my car at 8 p.m., turn on Fox News and no service. So I call again, spend 20 more minutes on the phone, finally get a CSR who after another 10 minutes of her waiting for her screens to po, tells me that my service had been terminated for non-payment. I explain to her that I had given the credit card on initial set up. She tells me that they have no account information at all on me other than -- get this - my phone number and e-mail address. So, according to her, they could not bill me and were not paid and shut down my service. Another 20 minutes later on my cell while traveling 70 mph towards home, I have explained for the third time that I did what I was supposed to do and that they had the problem not me. So I ask to talk to a supervisor. WOW! Another 25 minutes on hold listening to a tape that you could barely understand a gal answers the phone, identifies herself as a customer service supervisor and I explain everything from scratch. Her response was "Well, what do you want me to do?" You didn't pay. So I go off. I explain that perhaps they should have charged my credit card. She said they had no credit car information. I explain that I had given it to them on set up and if they didn't have it it was their fault, not mine. I said, okay, then why didn't you send me a bill. She said that they might have done that via e-mail. So I explained that I put all of the e-mail from sirus and XM in junk mail because I don't have time to read all of that stuff and that I had NEVER agreed to be billed via e-mail. So she doesn;t budge and digs in further. Her voice becomes combative. I said, "Look, I am an honest person, just turn it back on, send me a bill and I will pay it." She then explained that she could bill be for a year but that I would have to pay that bill before she could turn my subscription back on. I was getting no where and the concept of treating me as a customer with respect was so foreign to this CS Supervisor that I sensed that I was getting no where. I hung up after telling ehr what I thought of the way they treated their customers.
Class Action Suit? Interesting idea. It would be hard to substantiate a claim for poor customer service, but it would appear that there might be room for a claim under RICO. This would have to be done at the Federal level. But I could see that they are potentially violating RICo by argbuing for consolidation of their services with the FCC in the "interest of the public" and then keeping the subscriber lists of each service -- i.e. Sirus and XM -- seperate and not permitting joint discounts. So on one hand they argue that they need to merge for better service to the consumer and then make a business practice of not doing anything to benefit the consumer. Another argument, and this is where I think that there is tremendous potential liability, if that they know that their customer service at Sirus is rotten and problematic, but have not moved towards merging it with the better customer service at XM.
The great news is that if their is an attorney out there willing to file a complaint and there are three of us who feel strongly enough that this company needs to be changed to provide the level of service and customer care that they told the FCC they would provide, we can have our day in court -- actually days -- and parade consumers like ourselves in front of a jury and see who is wronged. So if you are an attorney, let's get going, Contact me at a36redbaron@hotmail.com. Class action lawsuit? I'm in!
What really sucks the most is that Sirius is an amazing product but customer service is really poor.
Customer service only focuses on getting new customers and never inform you of transfer fees, activations, etc......
They don't care about existing customers and make their billing confusing and dont' keep promises. I was promised a free activiation but because Billing never made note of they never honored it.
Sirius customer service sucks!!!!
I've never had any problems with SIRIUS. Actually, I've had nothing but pleasant experiences with them. They don't try pushing me to buy expensive radios, or to get into a contract with them. I pay month-to-month and have no complaints about their service, or their customer service. I had to call them up last yeaer and stop my service for a few months so I could start going to college (couldnt afford an extra expense) and they said "no problem, give us a call when you can start up again" and never bothered me or sent me any mail begging for me to return. I called them up and got my service back, pleasant as can be.
I've even had some problems with installing/activating the radio at the time I started SIRIUS, and the customer service rep walked me through the entire process without getting frustrated or anything.
While I understand each situation is different, I happen to like SIRIUS & have no complaints about their service/customer service.
I agree , Sirius radio is more than happy to activate your radio , but they won't give damn with anything else, But yet all you have to do is cancel your account and get a free radio and subscripton
I'll go do that now LOL
The most atrocious customer service I think Ive ever seen....and they wonder why their stock is in trouble. Start with the fundamentals, like answering questions and speaking english
I couldn't agree more! I recently called to inquire about purchasing a radio. I spoke with one lady in Egypt, but she was unable to set up my account. After 45 minutes on the phone, I had to hang up so I could go to work. When I called back the next week, I was speaking to someone in the Phillipines that could not give me the same deal that was offered before. I went ahead and ordered the radio over the phone, which took almost an hour, but ordered the home kit online. Now, I see charges on my credit card that do not match what I was told on the phone. I haven't even received my radio!!! I called today and spoke with someone in the Caribbean that explained the charges, but I don't understand why I wasn't told about activation and royalty fees when I first ordered. I feel like I already want to send everything back and cancel, but I am worried that I will never see the refund. It can't be good for business when your customers feel trapped. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!!!
I'am a SiriusXM rep. I do see lots of error the Customer have be told. It is a good idea to read to Terms and Conditions. I do deal with this issus everyday.Auto renew and invoice renew. Lifetime Terms and Conditions..If cancel ask for userid&password to see if there is no service or its going to be cancel on the nexts billing date. Also if you order a radio deal for $9.99 it does have a 3 months plan that will auto charges the credit card or debit card..also you must keep the radios for 6 month..Customers radio breaks and offer the $9.99 deals will add a second radio on the account. Cancel one will charges the credit card and debit card the full cost of the radio and a cancel fee of $75.00 if you sign-up 1 year or $50.00 under 1 year. also it can't be transfer after 6 months.. order radio, please ask for the order number. also if radio breaks you may offer one time 2 months to place your radio inactivate pre year, but watch out there is a reactive date will not send you a notice.
I hope this Info may help you.
From, James..
Hi James,
I think you just proved everyone's point.
James, your post sums up everyones experience with Sirius perfectly. Way to perpetuate the issue with your company!
Below is the email that i send to sirius everyday, regarding what i was told vs. actual.
"I am a lifetime subscriber, and my originally activated radio (Starmate R) failed, and on 9/14/09 I called “customer service” and spoke with Robert (“supervisor”) to voice my displeasure with the quality and subsequent failure of the equipment after only 1 ½ years. He offered to replace the radio free of charge w/ a Stratus 5 and that he would waive the $75 transfer fee and that it also would not account for one of my allowable three transfers as a lifetime subscriber, and I accepted.
I called to activate my Stratus 5 on 9/29/09 and at that time Joseph informed me that as a lifetime subscriber I was eligible for a special, which was the purchase of a Sportster 5 but required a 3-month subscription that could be cancelled upon my activation of the new radio. I was also not informed of the $15 activation fee, which I am demanding be credited. I asked on several occasions if the $75 transfer would be waived and confirmed that the activation would not count as one of my three allowable transfers within my lifetime subscription, and he stated that neither would apply, and that he was “putting it in my records”. Upon activation of the Sportster 5, on 10/7/09 I was told that I now had used two of my three transfers. Judy (badge #03026) stated that “there is no record of that”, nor the record of Robert’s statement that it would also not count against my three transfers. How convenient that both commitments were deleted. Judy also stated that that was the policy to charge the transfer fee and it would be one of my three transfers, yet she agreed to waive the transfer fee. Apparently the “policy” can be changed as Sirius sees fit! I would not have activated the Stratus 5, and then activated the Sportster 5 two weeks later if it was going to count against my three transfers, which, again I was told on two occasions it would not.
I am a very unhappy subscriber due to the lies and deceitful tactics by Sirius personnel and will have nothing positive to say about the supposed customer service of Sirius."
I have had no luck at recieving bad cust. service, I have been unable to get through to them on the phone to activate my radio. So I guess some times bad customer service is no customer service at all.
Let me start out saying that I love the product but I was also beat up by the customer service. To make a very long story short I had my credit card number stolen trying to order a new radio over the phone (a promotion at the time). Lets just say I bought a very expensive plane ticket. Our credit card company did reimburse us but after the pile of paper work and now we have a higher interest rate on that card! I had spent hours on the phone trying to get this resolved (never spoke to anyone in the states!) Go figure! The one guy I spoke with in Canada could not even form a sentence! I am ashamed to say that I had to give up the fight but if I'm ever in New York you better believe I will stop by Sirius radio and hope a US citizen will at least say were sorry!
Guess this is how we get screwed the real American way...outsource to foreign countries to make extra money even if we don't have to.In Europe(if they can figure it out surely we can) there is everything with out commericials here we have to pay for every little thing just to have peace for a few minutes and to be able to collect our thoughts..thanks to whom I wonder? Then to get headaches with trying to communicate in our own language too yet... wow. Are things ever going to get better? God Bless
Cody says:
2 years ago
Sirius Radio Customer service is terrible.. I'm dealing with a bad situation, where money was suppose to be refunded on my credit card, guy I spoke with there said he was going to take care of it all and said he did, well a month later still no credit..