ESN Swap......

bigdaddyII

Member
Oct 13, 2008
137
11
18
Southern Louisiana
Just bought a Sportster 3 to swap with the Stratus 4 in my wifes truck. Nothing wrong with the Stratus 4 besides a button that sticks but it has been doing that since I bought it. Anyway, is there a charge to swap the service to the new radio? I didnt see anything about ESN swaps on the Sirius website. Thanks........
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
9,434
149
63
Louisiana
Well, there was a time when I could give you a definitive answer on this. But there were several folks that reported Sirius charging them to do a tuner swap. However, some of them got it waved by telling them that their tuner was broken and they were replacing it.

What was said is basically they charge you another $15 activation fee. I've not done a tuner swap in over a year so I don't know for sure. Maybe someone who has will reply.
 

bigdaddyII

Member
Oct 13, 2008
137
11
18
Southern Louisiana
Thanks guys......I will give them a call when the Sportster gets here. Just want to be aware of any charges ahead of time. I dont mind paying for something worth paying for but I cannot see paying for someone to punch a couple numbers into a computer.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
9,434
149
63
Louisiana
I would just tell them you are replacing a broken tuner and if they say there is a fee, just ask if they could wave that. Chances are they will.
 

MM

Administrator
Oct 9, 2008
4,312
105
63
New England
This charge is a joke IMO. I have changed "tuner swapped" many times. If I have to do it again, I will definitely say that my previous unit was broken.

If I had to pay all the time I would never upgrade. :rolleyes:
 

riskybzns

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2008
2,358
40
48
land of confusion
I can confirm the $15 swap. To me this is nothing but a load of crap, especially if your receiver poops out on you. This is basically like the whole lifetime subscription plan. How can it be a lifetime subscription when after doing 3 swaps on a receiver you end up losing out on your lifetime plan.
 

GrĂĽpsaar

DRC Forum Bum
Oct 11, 2008
2,361
100
63
36
Anytown, WI
www.youtube.com
I did 3 swaps, and one re-activation.

They charged me the re-activation, but not when I swapped out my broken Starmate with the new one, or the Xact and original starmate. They also waived all the fees and credited my account when I activated a broken radio from ebay, and wanted to cancel.
 

ProperModulation

Green Type of Tube
Oct 11, 2008
2,612
90
48
California
Yes, there is a $15 fee for tuner swaps. I used to do it for free all the time, but with my last three broken radio they were going to charge me $15 each time. They waived the fee when I told them it was a broken radio, but it's still BS. Now I have zero interest in trying new radios. This is also partly to blame for my reluctance to swap out the broken radio in my truck. I know they are struggling to make money, but nickel and diming your customers to death doesn't exactly make customers very loyal. Sirius is turning into a cell phone company with all their fees. They aren't going to get out of debt this way, and it only serves to piss off customers. My last three or so swaps were all in the past 4-5 months, with the most recent being within the last few weeks.
 

Wolf

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2008
33,309
10,059
168
Phoenix
I hate that $15 dollar turner swap, I had to switch radios for a little bit and I wasn't told there was a fee until I found out I was short in my checkbook!!! :mad:
 

ProperModulation

Green Type of Tube
Oct 11, 2008
2,612
90
48
California
I hate that $15 dollar turner swap, I had to switch radios for a little bit and I wasn't told there was a fee until I found out I was short in my checkbook!!! :mad:

Not ONE of the CSRs that I dealt with told me about the fee up front. Every one of them told me about it AFTER the new radio was active and we were ready to end the call.
 

MM

Administrator
Oct 9, 2008
4,312
105
63
New England
Yes, there is a $15 fee for tuner swaps. I used to do it for free all the time, but with my last three broken radio they were going to charge me $15 each time. They waived the fee when I told them it was a broken radio, but it's still BS. Now I have zero interest in trying new radios. This is also partly to blame for my reluctance to swap out the broken radio in my truck. I know they are struggling to make money, but nickel and diming your customers to death doesn't exactly make customers very loyal. Sirius is turning into a cell phone company with all their fees. They aren't going to get out of debt this way, and it only serves to piss off customers. My last three or so swaps were all in the past 4-5 months, with the most recent being within the last few weeks.

I agree. :bigclap:
 

me_rubin

Member
Oct 11, 2008
509
24
18
69
Herndon, VA
Why don't they let us do Tuner Swap's over the intenet. Perhaps if they did that there would be no fee.

I understand if they need a cs rep, it costs more money.

I know I am usually already mad because my radio broke after a year due to poor quality. I'm pissed because I've been on hold for 20 minutes waiting for a CS rep. Now they hit you with the 15 dollar fee. Now that's Customer Service! :)
 

jwt0001

New Member
Oct 27, 2008
6
0
1
Cleveland OH
I just did an XM swap and was told that it was free (and didn't get charged anything). Of course, that's XM and they haven't combined a lot of those operations yet!
 
Oct 20, 2008
170
15
18
Golf Course
I have a question along the same lines. I recently purchased a stiletto 2 on ebay that was already activated. I was considering adding BOXM, however the ESN isn't in my name. Do you think there is a way to keep the subscription that I purchased from the previous owner and put it in my name?
 

IdRatherBeSkiing

Sherbet is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
Oct 11, 2008
27,318
13,881
168
Toronto, ON
The $15 fee is a joke. I certainly will keep my tuner as long as physically possible to avoid this charge.

I also think charging an activation fee for new customers is ludicrous. If they are conserned about the cost of adding a sub, they should absorb that and put a charge on someone deactivating within 1 year or something. Activation fees discourage subs who aren't sure if they want the service. XM Canada allows a 30 day full refund policy to try to eleviate this issue.
 

me_rubin

Member
Oct 11, 2008
509
24
18
69
Herndon, VA
I have a question along the same lines. I recently purchased a stiletto 2 on ebay that was already activated. I was considering adding BOXM, however the ESN isn't in my name. Do you think there is a way to keep the subscription that I purchased from the previous owner and put it in my name?

Is it in anyone's name? You might find out that your radio just has not been deactivated yet and open a can of worms. I know several people who had radios years before they actually stopped working after the owner stopped paying.