Customer Service and Billing Department Issues...

[TheAbbevilleKid]

First off let me preface what I am about to write by saying that I am a loyal SiriusXM Subscriber, and have been since just before Howard Stern came to Sirius back in 2006. I love my satellite radio and enjoy listening to it daily. That being said, as of late, I am beginning to be turned off by the actions of their customer service and billing departments. As recently as March, my brother and I resubscribed our receivers for a yearly premium subscription. Our thoughts were to take advantage of SiriusXMs offer to get in at the original pricing plan, thus avoiding having to pay extra for our internet subscriptions. Since renewing our subscriptions, I have had no less than three incidents where my account has been disabled. I own three receivers, my brother owns two. Renewal of those subscriptions came to just above five hundred dollars. In May, our internet accounts were disabled and when I attempted to inquire as to why, I was met with two disconnections and waiting on hold for an hour before getting someone who could help me. Solution: Our internet account names and passwords were reset without our knowledge. After having them reset them for us, we were good to go. Total time on the phone with the customer service rep ( 30mins) Total time waiting on hold through multiple disconnections ( 1 hour 35 mins.)
In June the same thing happened again. This time however, we were told that we didn't utilize the March 11th deadline to renew our subscriptions in time and our accounts were disabled due to past due amounts. After almost screaming at the original customer service rep, we were given off to a second tier customer service rep who spoke much better english, and was able to see the problem and fix it. Our accounts were restored and we were back in business. Total time on the phone with their customer service rep was just under 45 minutes. Time spent on hold however was grueling at 50 minutes! Today I received a call from my brother that only HIS internet account was disabled. When I checked our accounts online, here again was a past due amount for .43 cents!! They disabled our internet accounts for .43 friggin cents?!?! After paying $500. dollars for subscription renewals, the last thing I want to ever see is that my account is disabled for .43 cents!! I promptly called their now gleamingly wonderful customer service department yet again, and had to wait a half an hour to get to a customer service rep. Their claim was that it was a "glitch" in their credit card point of service software. They fixed the problem and sent me on my way in 45 minutes.

My question is, when are they going to get their collective heads out of their asses and start treating their current subscribers like they should??? I understand their need to raise subscription rates, so they can pay for advertising to help them obtain more subscribers...but lets make sure that any solutions they utilize, wont take away from the listening experience of their current or longtime subscribers!!!

Abbeville

[Sinster]

My question is, when are they going to get their collective heads out of their asses and start treating their current subscribers like they should???

They will never. I've been a subscriber before Stern as well and I get the same B.S. they don't care. Customer service should be a priority for any company but it's not. Now if people start dropping their subscription at a higher rate then they might do something to change.

[SiriusBuzz]

I wish they cared more and realized how important it is. Amazon.com was one of the biggest success stories out of the dot com boom and Netflix is a rapidly growing rising star, it is no surprise that they have ranked #1 and #2 respectively in customer service/satisfaction for a couple of years running now.

Word of mouth is a powerful thing. All of the marketing in the world will not save you if people don't like you. Great customer service and a great product need very little in terms of marketing efforts... let the product speak for itself Sirius XM!

[billhart22]

I wish they cared more and realized how important it is. Amazon.com was one of the biggest success stories out of the dot com boom and Netflix is a rapidly growing rising star, it is no surprise that they have ranked #1 and #2 respectively in customer service/satisfaction for a couple of years running now.

Word of mouth is a powerful thing. All of the marketing in the world will not save you if people don't like you. Great customer service and a great product need very little in terms of marketing efforts... let the product speak for itself Sirius XM!

Hey Charles,

Customer service is the most vital ingredient of any company. It doesn't matter what size the company is. When I purchase something and people stand behind their product it means all the difference in the world.

Here is a couple of quick examples:

My sleep number bed: The air pump went out and I called them. They overnighted me a new one and a return label to send the old one back in.

My Samsung monitor: They sent me a new monitor and a label to send the old one back in.

Netflix: I have had a couple of movies not make it back to them for whatever reason and they forgave it.

Above are three companies that I will continue to do business with. They had very polite CSR's that apologized and took the blame.

Other companies want to scrutinize you and belittle you. In their eyes you are trying to screw them (after buying their product with your hard-earned money).

Customer service is any company's front line for success.

When I first bought SIRI a few years ago, during the Christmas season, the SIRI CSR's were there to please you. Honestly, they took a wrong size radio back and then sent me an extra one; an extra car installation kit and a free boom box. I thought that they just rocked.

I haven't dealt with the customer service since, but at the time I believed that they simply just had it going on.

So much for my rant.

Bill