4 months ago I bought a Ford Flex. I traded in my Honda mini van. I called XM / Sirius and had them transfer the service to my Flex. They did that just fine. I was up and running in 10 minutes. Today, we got a piece of mail from Sirius, telling us that we would soon be auto - renewed. The policy showed 2 cars, but neither of them were my Flex. Here is where it gets even weirder. The paper showed my wife's Toyota Prius and a Toyota Highlander. We traded the Prius in for the Highlander 10 days ago. The Highlander has service, they say, but in fact, it does not. They say that the dealer asked for it to be turned on, but we do not have service. I asked them about why I don't see any record of my Flex. They said they don't know why, but they don't have any record of it. I was calling today to start service on the Highlander. I was on the phone with them for 48 minutes, and was put on hold. They disconnected me. I called back and canceled service for the Prius / Highlander ( I still don't know why they listed the Prius if they already knew about the Highlander - the Prius was traded in for the Highlander ) as well as the Honda that was traded in months ago for the Flex. Anyway, I canceled service. But then I asked again about my Ford Flex........ ( I have a cancellation confirmation # ) "Sir, we have no record of you having service for a Ford Flex". Totally exasperated by this point I said "Great! I'll just keep your free service!" The guy on the other end said "Sir, that would be stealing; you can't do that." I said "Great! Call me back when you have it figured out and canceled." He sighed, I hung up the phone. So, I am guessing I have free XM Sirius? I spoke to 3 people there and nobody could find any record of my Flex. Is that what you would do? Keep the "free" service? During all of this they even asked me to give them my VIN number for the Flex - they had no record of it. They also asked me to give them the ESN number of the radio, which you should be able to get bu going to channel "0"..... but when I tried to go to channel 0, it would go to channel 220.
Hey, PD! Man, sorry to hear about you having to go through all that BS! I feel for ya, as I've been in the same kind of boat before! Tell you what I'd do, but that's just me. I'd say screw 'em and take it for free as long as it lasts, but if pressed at all at a later date, I'd drop 'em! It's not like you got a flat screen from 'em or something, it's just a service, and considering how you tried to make it right I'd feel a bit justified in doing so after all that TBH with you!
Thanks..... I am like almost the ultimate honest guy. I once, absentmindedly, took a plastic cup from a restaurant about 5 miles from my home. I had to drive it back to feel good. So, as you can see, I'm not especially loving getting the service for free... but I have no idea what more I can do at this point.
I would keep it after all you did the right thing and called to have it canceled or resolved and they didn't know what they were doing. That's their error and you did all you could.
You know, I used to be like that until so many situations kinda jaded me like the few times I found a wallets loaded with money, was dead-set on finding the owner, and then when they came to pick it up, grabbed it, and blew me off rudely with not even a thank you! Or the time I saved this Chihuahua from being road pizza on a busy street, took him in, fed his ultra skinny little ass, got him groomed, eg; put my own money into it, and after almost three weeks after putting up found signs, this woman came outta the woodwork to claim him, and just grabbed him walking away talking baby talk to him. I stood there at the door in amazement as she didn't say anything to me and took off! I said 'you're welcome!' to no reply! I was PISSED! Or the time I was in the Hollywood area using an ATM to take my last $20 out to get dinner when this couple called me over to their van, told me this outrageous story you wouldn't believe, (and this guy's foot was chewed half-off), and they desperately needed money. They were from outta state. Anyway, the story's not important. Suffice to say I'm a street-wise guy born and raised here in Southern California and have heard and seen everything they can think of to throw at you over the years! But once in a while someone can throw you a curve and punk you if you're not careful. This was one of 'em! Long story short, (oops, too late) I got taken! No dinner for me that nite! And lots of other stuff through the years. Hey, when you live here, it's wild and wooly! Anyway, you get hardened to people's sob-stories after awhile, what with all the bums and derilicts everywhere. Seeing how you have that rare thing called a conscience, which is very admirable, along with consideration, respect for authority, and such, which are rare these days--especially from young people, I don't wanna be the devil-with-horns trying to get you to do something against your Karma values! I respect you for the way you are, so just do what you feel you should do! After all, you have to live with yourself and your decisions! That's all that matters, right?!
BigRand... good stories... made me think of two to share. I once saw a baby goat out in the road. It got under a fence. I picked it up and returned it to the owner. Along the way to the house, it bit me. I was bleeding a tiny bit. I asked the woman to get me a towel to wash it off. She did, but she seemed pissed, and she said "Next time you need to be more careful." I still have a scar on my hand. And this one is cooler. My wife was in the Philadelphia airport one morning when she saw a wallet fall out of a huge black guy's pocket. Now, understand, my wife grew up in an extremely bad area with lots of racial tension. In fact, her father was almost killed in a drive by shooting because of 2 black guys fighting. So, I don't know exactly what I am trying to say here, but maybe you get my meaning. Anyway, she did pick up the wallet, and she brought it to the guy...... who turned around... and that huge black guy was none other than..... Clarence Clemmons! Well, he thanked her and hugged her.... and she told him that we had been to the Springsteen concert the night before. Well, he took a selfie with him and my wife.... she had to stand on a chair so that she could be seen in the same selfie. She's 5'1.... what was he, about 6'5"? Cool story, IMO.
Ha-Ha!!!!! Now that's a GOOD one!! Wow! And now that the legend is gone, it's even MORE awesome! I'm 6'5" and he was a bug guy, I think he was as tall as me for sure.
I tried to cancel mine a few years ago and they blew me off, ignored my requests, and kept trying to sell me more service until I finally threatened them with fraud if they ever charged my card again. That ended it and I will NEVER EVER use that service again.
Unfortunately, it's a terrible business practice that's used a lot. The magazine business, for instance. Ever try to cancel one? Almost impossible! I always take a picture of the invoice and I circle the part where I write CANCEL in big, black, or red marker, and the date, and if they keep sending and requesting payment, I'll ignore it for awhile, and if it STILL happens, I tell them I refuse to pay 'em, show 'em the pic, then threaten to sue 'em! Usually does the trick. Sad, but I guess that's what you gotta do these days. At least, when you order mags online in the store here, you can go to your settings and stop the auto-renew without any hassle, and it works well! Seems the print industry is insistent on killing themselves off! Oh well....
Well, strangely enough, they somehow must have found my Ford Flex...... my daughter turned on the radio today, and the service was shut off. The "funny" part is that they said they had no email address for me, but I ALREADY received an email asking me to come back.
Well, there ya go! Happens all the time! They usually offer you a deal for the fraction of the original cost after that! We're not the only ones who love to play games!
