Each February for the last number of years I’ve faced the issue of renewing my subscription to the SiriusXM satellite music service, to which I was first introduced in 2016.
Those renewals have all been an exercise in patience, and, to some extent, frustration.
Satellite, or car, radio is a peculiarly North American phenomenon. SiriusXM is the company that emerged from competing businesses, one of which was in part owned by Canada’s CBC. In the early years it was questionable whether or not satellite car radio could survive. The satellites were expensive, and developing an economically viable user base took some years.
Eventually the services, separately at first and subsequently as a merged entity, struck deals with most major auto manufacturers to have their hardware installed in new vehicles and activated with short-duration free trial subscriptions.
Over time the cost of subsequent annual subscriptions began to climb. It can be argued that such increases didn’t make much sense at a time when users were turning to other services, particularly streamers such as Spotify. Nowadays, SiriusXM actually owns popular American streamer Pandora, and the service now reaches additional devices in addition to cars.
In my case I found I enjoyed the SiriusXM service right away. I appreciated the commercial-free music channels such as 70s on 7, Escape, Real Jazz, Classic Vinyl, and access to news services such as BBC World Service and CNN.
However, there are technical limitations to satellite radio, the chief one being obstruction of the satellites, whether by buildings or trees. On my commuter route it has been mostly the latter, and some of the signal loss was seasonal in nature.
You might wonder then how SiriusXM could possibly have customers in downtown Vancouver. The answer lies in a terrestrial repeater, essentially a ground-based transmitter that fills in the gaps where no satellite signal could reach.
It is this transmitter that I invoke each year in my arguments for a reduction in my subscription renewal fee. Why should I pay full price when the service in my area is not as good as for someone in downtown Vancouver?
By now my negotiating stance is fairly well developed. I phone in a few weeks before the subscription is set to auto-renew (you cannot turn off this automatic renewal). I state my case clearly and without emotion. I note that I appreciate the service but add the observation that it is not without interruptions.
Typically the call-centre employee will respond with a so-called “great offer.” This year it was around $180, about $100 less than the current renewal price of just over $290 all-in.
Naturally I balked at the $180 offer, asking why I would agree to a renewal costing more than double what I had. My representative said he would “look to see if there are any special offers.” Wouldn’t you know it, there was one, which supposedly had just come in: $125. I declined politely and said I would have to cancel.
At this point I was asked to wait on hold while a discussion ensued. Lo and behold an even lower offer emerged, around $90. I still demurred, and eventually a final offer of $85 was made. This was about 50 cents a month more than my previous subscription. I asked the agent to reiterate that this was an all-in price. Yes, it was. It is crucial to do this when negotiating with SiriusXM because, in addition to the usual taxes, there is a nebulous music royalty fee.
One other point: don’t try to renew too early. Renewals go into effect the day you call and arrive at a price agreement. You don’t want to lose a month you’ve already paid for. In my own case I lost a week. There seems to be no way around this. A friend of mine who has always paid full price and who seemed unaware that negotiation was possible agreed to renew at $123 after using my suggestions. However, he had called a month early and so effectively gave the company about $25 from his previous subscription.
Is it worth the hour or so of time it takes to do this each year? You will have to make that decision for yourself. Saving around $200 seems worth it to me. I hasten to add that it doesn’t always work as smoothly as it did this year. Last year I did in fact cancel (strangely, the company didn’t even attempt to negotiate and filled in a cancellation notice within minutes of the start of the conversation). After a couple of weeks without service, SiriusXM sent an email with the typical “we miss you” messaging and a sweetened renewal price.
One last point. After you come to an agreement on a renewal price (don’t forget to state “all-in”), the company will send you an email confirming the transaction. Only it won’t show the final all-in price. It shows some higher amount. I can confirm this happened for my friend as well. Just check your credit card online and you will find that the charge is indeed what you agreed to over the phone. I’m not at all clear why the company refuses to show the actual amount.
For now, I’m good for another year. In the meantime, I now have friends asking me to negotiate for them. If you’ve never been a satellite radio customer, the company usually has an initial 12-month promo at around $5 a month.
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