Seriously, is XM customer service retarded?

[snakester]

For the past three months, I've been overcharged two bucks on my XM radio bill. If they can't fix it for me this time when I call in, I'm done. They keep on blaming it on me, totally failing to listen to reason and math. (also note there is no sat radio tax in New Hampshire)

It started when I cancelled the third radio on my account. I transferred the radio I pay monthly on to be the primary radio, and a yearly radio is also on the acct. as a family plan radio. After this, I noticed I was being charged $20.99 a month for XM Everything plus BOS. I wait a month to see if it straightened itself out, and the next bill that came was for the same amount. I call XM, and I'm treated to (roughly) the following.

Me: Hello I'm calling because I'm being overcharged $2 a month for my XM service.
Them: Uhh.. that's the invoice fee.
Me: Yes, I am aware I have to pay an invoice fee. XM + BOS is $16.99. Invoice fee is $2.00. That adds up to $18.99. Not $20.99.
Them: Yes but there is a two dollar invoice fee.
Me: *facepalm*

I get a credit out of them ,and figure I'll deal with it next month. Bill comes in, and what do you know, it's $20.99 again (It's $18.99 because of the $2 credit, when it should have been $16.99 for that month). Call them AGAIN. This guy is a bit more helpful, tries basically re-creating my account from the ground up, and still can't seem to get it fixed. Gives me a bill credit of $2, and sends the problem higher, and says for me to expect a call in 4-5 days.

I get home from work 3 days later, there's a message on my answering machine from XM, basically saying "You're getting charged what you're getting charged becuase you have invoice billing. There's a $2.00 fee for invoice billing." YES BUT YOU GUYS ARE OVERCHARGING ME IN THE FIRST PLACE. Answering machine and phone almost went out window.

Before I took the third radio off the account, I was getting charged $12.95 for XME and $4.04 a month for BOS. Now they're charging me, according to the invoice, $12.95 for XME and $6.04 for BOS.

I get May's bill. Whadaya know, $20.99. *facepalm*. It also has to be one of the most confusing bills I have ever seen in my life...

ACCOUNT SUMMARY
PREVIOUS BALANCE $18.99
PAYMENTS $18.99
5/22/09 XM SERVICE $205.88
5/22/09 OTHER FEES $2.00
5/22/09 ADJ/CREDIT $-186.89
5/22/09 SUBTOTAL $20.99

SERVICE DETAIL FOR RADIO ID EZ**02*M
XMP3
05/19/09-05/22/09
XM EVERYTHING $156.70
BEST OF SIRIUS $50.88
XM EVERYTHING -$1.30
BEST OF SIRIUS -$0.40
INVOICE FEE $2.00
TOTAL CURRENT CHARGES $207.88
AMOUNT DUE $20.99

Who do I talk to to get this fixed? Any idea WHY it's happening? I'm getting frustrated to the point of cancelling, which I REALLY don't want to do!

 

[Kryptonite]

Question:

What the heck is an invoice fee?

 

[snakester]

Question:

What the heck is an invoice fee?

I pay my XM bill by invoice. They send me a statement every month saying how much I have to pay them. It's basically XM's form of "bill me later". They charge $2.00 a month to do this, which I find totally worth it as it keeps them from taking out too much and then having to call and get credits. When they screw up, they have to explain/fix it BEFORE I pay them, not them having to give me money back.

I've been paying them through this whole fuck-up, but the point is I have the option to play hardball if I get pissed enough.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I pay my XM bill by invoice. They send me a statement every month saying how much I have to pay them. It's basically XM's form of "bill me later". They charge $2.00 a month to do this, which I find totally worth it as it keeps them from taking out too much and then having to call and get credits. When they screw up, they have to explain/fix it BEFORE I pay them, not them having to give me money back.

I've been paying them through this whole fuck-up, but the point is I have the option to play hardball if I get pissed enough.

It would appear they have a bug in their billing system. If the guy recreated your account and it was still there, then there is obviously a bug. Of course, the CSR you talk to is basically a flunkie so he won't know his ass from a hole in the ground so he won't be able to identify that his program is buggy.

I would ask for a supervisor next time and see if you can sort it out with him/her. I suspect if you can go high enough up the chain they can identify it as a bug and perhaps fix it at some point. Otherwise, you are probably going to have this conversation every month.

Can they bill you in 3 month periods and at least minimize your calls?

On XMFAN, there are a couple of posters who come by from time to time which are CSRs. I can't remember their ids of hand but if you scan some of the CSR type threads you can find them. I would PM them and perhaps they can assist you in your issue.

 

[semipenguin]

Yes, XM CSR's are retarded. I had to deal with them about a month ago about a 2nd radio I bought at a discount through them. No one could seem to answer a simple yes or no question on how long I needed to keep that radio active or if they could e-mail my the agreement when I ordered the radio.

When I switched my radio from a Roady2 (with a 4yr sub) to an XMP3 (also switched from my 4yr plan to a lifetime), they over charged me about $90.00...:worried:

I got my money back, but the CSR I talked to when I was switching radios seemed to be a few cans short of a 6 pack.

IMHO, get the longest sub you can afford, pry they don't screw anything up (so you don't have to call & talk them).

Good luck getting your problem fixed. If they did stuff right the first time, they wouldn't have to waste time fixing stuff.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Good luck getting your problem fixed. If they did stuff right the first time, they wouldn't have to waste time fixing stuff.

Its the false economics of off-shoring CSRs and having them staffed by morons. Looks great on a balance sheet but in the end costs the company money by lost customers and/or increased overhead in making corrections.

 

[geosync]

Yea, I've tried transferring paid months onto other radios while simultaneously canceling a radio, bad idea. More than one function at a time is too much for the CSR peeps. Better to just cancel radios and start fresh. Just create a new account, haha.

 

[Kryptonite]

Its the false economics of off-shoring CSRs and having them staffed by morons. Looks great on a balance sheet but in the end costs the company money by lost customers and/or increased overhead in making corrections.

Exactly.

Have these people based in the USA, and as one of the "company benefits", supply them with free product of whatever they're supposed to be a CSR for.

That way, you can tell that they're not just reading off a screen. "Have you tried re-setting your radio?" "Are you getting a clear view of the sky?"

 

[no1hedberg]

I don't know much about XM but Sirius csr's are gettting worse all the time. Most of them can't speak coherent English at all. The minute I hear their nonsense I tell them I want to cancel one of my radios, and the transfer me right away to someone who speaks English, and doesn't like the Indian csr's any more than I do. They understand your language, and have the tools to help you with your problem. Good luck man.

 

[Kryptonite]

I haven't called that number in a long time.

I have a number for some people up in Nova Scotia. No voice-activated bullcrap, and these people claim to have a direct pipeline straight to Corporate.

WHOOOOO me!

 

[snakester]

I don't know much about XM but Sirius csr's are gettting worse all the time. Most of them can't speak coherent English at all. The minute I hear their nonsense I tell them I want to cancel one of my radios, and the transfer me right away to someone who speaks English, and doesn't like the Indian csr's any more than I do. They understand your language, and have the tools to help you with your problem. Good luck man.

That's really a shame. Back when they were two separate companies I remember Sirius' customer support being reasonably pleasant to deal with.

XM's on the other hand, have always sucked to a certain extent.