I called in yesterday to activate the XM subscription on my new 2010 Camaro and combine it with the account on my Acura TL. This is what I learned.
This is all based on the activations she had handled. Not overall. She had previously worked for XM before the merger.
The lady I spoke with said they have been getting busier lately. I asked if they had layed anyone off in the activation call center during the slower time this year and she said no.
I asked if they were hiring any new people since it was busier and she said yes.
I asked how most people subscribed. Month to Month or yearly plans. She said some took month to month, but most took quarterly or yearly plans.
I had 13 months left on my 3 year plan on the Acura so I upgraded that to lifetime service for $109.00 more. I took the lifetime plan on my Camaro for $399.99 which will bill after the 3 month trial period is over. You can get the "best of" lifetime for $100.00 more per radio.
I asked what percentage took the best of and she said it was approximately 20% for her activations.
I asked where the new activations were coming from and she said they were all over the board. Aftermarket radios, used vehicles, certified used vehicles and new vehicles.
She said when they were slower earlier this year that the slowest month was March, but they have picked up alot since then.
I asked if they offer a promotional period on used vehicles that were activated and she said that she offered if most of the time. I got the feeling she had the liberty of doing that at her discretion and I think she was just doing it whether they were ready to sign up or not. Probably they signed up for a paying package that started after the promo period though.
I asked if you could suspend service and restart it and she said yes.
I asked if you could transfer a subscription on a vehicle that was sold to another vehicle and she said yes.
Overall it was a good experience, but it seemed to take a while to complete the consolidation of the accounts and get it set up. It was good for me since I was asking all the questions, but others may not like the length of time it took.