Anybody else's XM trial end today?

[palmermd]

Now that I no longer have XM, can I change the XM button to go to a screen that has a good SOC meter along with a voltmeter and an ammeter. Seems like a waste of dash real estate for a button that will never do anything as long as I own the car.

 

[mwalsh]

Well, I spoke too soon. Like Boomer, my sub ended today. I called and got them to re-up the trial for just 30 days. Fair enough, I suppose, since I've had my car for 5 months already. But they apparently only did Radio, because I appear to be without Traffic (which is actually the only thing I use). Then when I go in to pay for traffic only, I get an error about them not being able to activate my radio online. :roll:

As Mogur says, it appears that they don't know anything about our radios. Probably for the reasons he outlines.

So I guess I need to run the gauntlet of their very poor customer service to get Traffic. Paid or otherwise. But that will have to wait for another day.....I've already got a headache from dealing with them today. :|

 

[DaveL]

ummmmm....... can someone tell me where they got the information that the XM trial was for 6 months?

I've had XM running in my pickup since '07 and I remember that the trial was only for 3 months. The radio in my Leaf is still working (as of right now), but I thought I would go looking for some written information on how long the trial is for.

The only place I was able to locate any info was on the "window sticker", where it clearly states: "XM includes activation & 3 months of service only."

Unless I'm missing something, the trial is really only for 3 months, but if you ask for 6 from the right person you get 6.

What do you guys know that I don't?

Dave

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

Interesting stuff, mogur.

I DID call them up right when I picked up my car, and they still couldn't help. (See old thread on this)
Neither could Mossy Poway.

If it wasn't for the traffic data, I'd fogetaboutit, but now I'm motivated to push some.

 

[LeafPowerIsIxE]

Mine cut-out this afternoon after working this morning. No great loss.

Be very careful with XM billing - they have a mobster mentality when they get your credit card info. It is very difficult to cancel, and when you finally walk through cancellation (after being hung up on multiple times), they will continue to bill you. I had to get Citibank to put a block on my account to prevent XM from drafting.

 

[TomT]

They may have put you on the 180 channel XM/Sirius Everything plan (which doesn't include traffic). What you likely want is the 170 channel package with traffic included. If you are paying for it, the price is about the same...

And, again, I may have received some form of preferential treatment from them since I already have a portable unit on a lifetime account...

Well, I spoke too soon. Like Boomer, my sub ended today. I called and got them to re-up the trial for just 30 days. Fair enough, I suppose, since I've had my car for 5 months already. But they apparently only did Radio, because I appear to be without Traffic (which is actually the only thing I use). Then when I go in to pay for traffic only, I get an error about them not being able to activate my radio online.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

Be very careful with XM billing - they have a mobster mentality when they get your credit card info.

Amen to that!
Don't think that having an expired credit card on file will stop them either.. they keep trying with predicted expiration dates until it goes through.

I've even used the "one shot" ShopSafe numbers. That didn't stop them either, even though we had a deal NOT to auto-renew. After the end of the subscription, they quietly continued on, and then sent me a due bill after 6 months at full price, for services already delivered.

Seriously, they're evil. Stay on top of it, and forcefully cancel when you get near the end of your (discounted term). You might have to try tricks of your own.. "I sold the car." "It was totaled", or "The owner died." There aren't many things that will stop them cold in their scripted tracks.

 

[Jimmydreams]

My XM was working fine until late today then it died as well.

Customer service was closed when I called, but I'm guessing they'll want the unit ID number or some such serial number for the XM radio....where do I find that??? I've looked all over but can't seem to find it.


???

 

[DaveL]

Tune the XM radio to channel 0 (zero) and it will display the Radio's ID number.

My XM was working fine until late today then it died as well.

Customer service was closed when I called, but I'm guessing they'll want the unit ID number or some such serial number for the XM radio....where do I find that??? I've looked all over but can't seem to find it.
???

 

[walterbays]

So I guess I need to run the gauntlet of their very poor customer service to get Traffic. Paid or otherwise.

My XM didn't work for long enough for me to try out the traffic to decide whether it's worthwhile. I found one item labeled traffic, impossible to navigate to while the car is in motion, which appeared to offer verbal traffic reports for many US cities, not including my own. I had the NAV system mention to me once that in some route mode it would not give traffic information. But then it has never given me any traffic information that I'm aware of - and I am aware of a lot of traffic.

So to you who have had your cars a long time, or who already knew how to use XM traffic... What do you do to get traffic information? How is it communicated to you? Have you found it useful?

Thanks.

 

[TomT]

I use it in five ways:

1) You get red, yellow, and green bars along all the major routes which gives you an idea of traffic speeds. This is in both map and route mode.
2) It will show you accidents, congestion, road work, etc, along the roads as various icons at which point you can touch one of interest to get all the info about it. This is in both map and route mode.
3) if you have a route set, it will automatically detour you around bad traffic areas if it finds a better routing. I've had this happen a few times and each time what it came up with was better than staying on the congested route.
4) If you set a route, it appears to take traffic speeds in to account when calculating your time enroute. This can be handy in figuring out roughly when you will actually arrive.
5) if you have traffic voice prompts set to on, it will announce congestion, accidents, construction and automatic traffic rerouting ahead and in how many miles.

I find it helpful but by no means perfect or an end-all. Also, the updates can sometimes lag by up to about 15 minutes or so. Note that there is no traffic info available on anything but major roads - usually freeways and the like with imbedded sensors.

So to you who have had your cars a long time, or who already knew how to use XM traffic... What do you do to get traffic information? How is it communicated to you? Have you found it useful?

 

[mwalsh]

So to you who have had your cars a long time, or who already knew how to use XM traffic... What do you do to get traffic information? How is it communicated to you? Have you found it useful?

Thanks.

I think what I find it the most useful for is seeing where there are traffic tie-ups up ahead on the freeway, making it a good idea to buck over into the car pool lane. Actually, it's worth every penny of the $4 a month for that!

 

[Stanton]

Now that I no longer have XM, can I change the XM button to go to a screen that has a good SOC meter along with a voltmeter and an ammeter. Seems like a waste of dash real estate for a button that will never do anything as long as I own the car.

Now THAT'S the best thing I've heard all day! We can only wish. They'll probably be putting those buttons in cars years after Sirius/XM have gone belly-up.

 

[drmanny3]

I too lost our XM. We picked up our car on 5/28 and were told that we would have a free subscription for a while. I contacted XM and explained what had happened. The guy was really nice and gave us the 6 month subscription including traffic. Not sure if it made a difference but we have been long time XM subscribers. Our Prius has XM and my NSX-T did until recently. So he found our account and then indicated he would give us the 6 month sub.
Manny

 

[RSH]

I lost my XM radio yesterday. I found the number this morning on the forum (866-519-7570) and called. The dealer provides us with a demo account. You have to set up your account by calling that number. It comes with 6 months free. That is the deal, plus they offer to sell you further service at the end of the trial period. I recommend you decline that, because after your account expires in 6 months they will offer a much lower rate. I had the experience previously with my Altima Hybrid. In fact, I explained exactly that to the guy and he agreed with me. Don't let anyone tell you you have to buy service now; you are entitled to 6 months free starting now. It's not because they like you; it's the company policy. Anyone not offering that is trying to make their sales commission on you.

 

[evnow]

Now that I no longer have XM, can I change the XM button to go to a screen that has a good SOC meter along with a voltmeter and an ammeter. Seems like a waste of dash real estate for a button that will never do anything as long as I own the car.

Now THAT'S the best thing I've heard all day! We can only wish. They'll probably be putting those buttons in cars years after Sirius/XM have gone belly-up.

Well, most of us would have sacrificed XM for this purpose (even when XM was available free) if this was possible.

 

[Jimmydreams]

I called customer service today and they gave me another 6 months with traffic. The CS kid was nice, and told me about a multi-radio discount if I get another XM unit. I asked "what about the lifetime subscription I have for my Sirius in my other car?" "Sirius and XM are two different systems....we are one company only when it comes to financials. What BS. Oh well, 6 more months is 6 more months. :mrgreen:

Once again, this forum has paid for itself.....Anyone that hasn't ponied up some donation $$$ to this forum needs to get on that pronto!!

 

[mwalsh]

I called customer service today and they gave me another 6 months with traffic.

Ack! :shock:

So after reading this, knowing that Jimmy got his car only a few days after I got mine, I decided to call back and squeak some more. After all, I still needed to get the traffic service restored, so I figured "why not?". But the gal I spoke with still wasn't willing to give me another 6 months, only 3. I guess I'm alright with that, and it's still better than the month the gal yesterday was offering!

BTW, where do you think that call center is? My money is on Indonesia, or someplace like that. Wherever it is, understanding their reps sure is a pain (though their English is still better than my Indonesian could ever be :lol: ).

 

[Jimmydreams]

I called customer service today and they gave me another 6 months with traffic.

Ack! :shock:

So after reading this, knowing that Jimmy got his car only a few days after I got mine, I decided to call back and squeak some more. After all, I still needed to get the traffic service restored, so I figured "why not?". But the gal I spoke with still wasn't willing to give me another 6 months, only 3. I guess I'm alright with that, and it's still better than the month the gal yesterday was offering!

BTW, where do you think that call center is? My money is on Indonesia, or someplace like that. Wherever it is, understanding their reps sure is a pain (though their English is still better than my Indonesian could ever be :lol: ).

Ack is right.

I used the Jedi mind trick on the kid and kinda bullied him by saying "ALL of Nissan's XM programs expired yesterday and that includes people who have had their car only 24 hours! Plus, there were delivery problems with the car because of the tsunami, etc. I've only had my car a short while (debatable!) but I need you to resend a signal for the 6 months free 170 channel package with traffic." He never really put up a fight, but I never really gave the impression that saying "NO" was even an option. :twisted: Oh, and I DID mention that I have a lifetime subscription for the Sirius radio in my other car....dunno if that helped or not.

My CS kid sounded nondescript at the start of the call, but by the end, he sounded just like Checkov in Star Trek, so I'm guessing some Russian geography. He also called me Mr. Jim at one point, and that's kind of an Eastern thing, isn't it? (shrug)

 

[TomT]

Well, for a clue, just as we were hanging up, the XM CS wished me a "Happy Holiday." I quickly asked her, "What Holiday?" but she hung up without answering...

BTW, where do you think that call center is? My money is on Indonesia, or someplace like that. Wherever it is, understanding their reps sure is a pain (though their English is still better than my Indonesian could ever be :lol: ).