# Strage situation: Radios getting Sirius service without paying.



## LetterX

I own three Sirius radios. Two of them have been getting service for years, even though they shouldn't be. How it this possible? Here's what happened:


I had two portable Sirius radios that I purchased in 2004. I paid for a year subscription for each of them, then renewed it the following year. In early 2006, I bought a car that had Sirius radio in it from the factory. Instead of paying for a new subscription, I asked to have the remaining subscription time that existed on my other two radios transferred to the radio in my car. This caused all kinds of confusion, and I spoke to at least a half dozen customer service reps and their managers. Five individual accounts were set up in order to sort it all out. I was mistakenly billed and credited various amounts over and over. Eventually, all the charges were refunded, and it all seemed to be sorted. The car had service, and I assumed the other two radios did not, although I didn't turn them on to check. Over a year passed, and on a whim I turned on the radios that were not supposed to have service. To my surprise, they both had full service and were able to receive all the channels. I logged into the accounts that were associated with them (there are several, like I said, a real mess), and from what I can tell, they both show a $0 balance, but no payments charged or paid. The accounts have remained like that for years, and both of the radios continue to have service. I'm only paying the annual subscription fee for the radio in my car.


How can these two radios still be working after all these years? Will they work forever? Has anyone had a similar experience? Only thing I can figure is that everything got so confusing that some rep just put the radios on a lifetime subscription just to fix the problem and get rid of me. Is that possible? I'm certainly not complaining, just confused about how it could happen.


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## allen98311




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *LetterX* /forum/post/17178859
> 
> 
> How can these two radios still be working after all these years?



The radios have not received a deactivation signal.



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *LetterX* /forum/post/17178859
> 
> 
> Will they work forever?



They will work until they receive a deactivation signal.


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## LetterX




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *allen98311* /forum/post/17179184
> 
> 
> The radios have not received a deactivation signal.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They will work until they receive a deactivation signal.



Thanks for the reply.


How long does it usually take to receive the deactivation signal? For the past three months I've had one of them playing for about three hours every weekday morning tuned to channel 100, and it was left on almost 24-hours a day for a few days while we drove across the country in a moving truck in February. The other radio we've been using a lot every December for holiday music. I find it hard to believe that they will receive a deactivation signal after all these years and use. Is the deactivation signal specific to every radio? Is it possible that because they were not turned on for over a year after they were supposed to be deactivated, they will never receive the deactivation signal? In other words, do they send the deactivation signal to a specific radio for only a limited period of time?


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## jonvall




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *LetterX* /forum/post/17180032
> 
> 
> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> 
> How long does it usually take to receive the deactivation signal? For the past three months I've had one of them playing for about three hours every weekday morning tuned to channel 100, and it was left on almost 24-hours a day for a few days while we drove across the country in a moving truck in February. The other radio we've been using a lot every December for holiday music. I find it hard to believe that they will receive a deactivation signal after all these years and use. Is the deactivation signal specific to every radio? Is it possible that because they were not turned on for over a year after they were supposed to be deactivated, they will never receive the deactivation signal? In other words, do they send the deactivation signal to a specific radio for only a limited period of time?




Who cares?? Enjoy!


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## LetterX




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jonvall* /forum/post/17192311
> 
> 
> Who cares?? Enjoy!



Good point. I was just wondering if this is an occurrence that has happened to other people, or if perhaps there's even a way to make it happen.


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## ti-triodes




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *LetterX* /forum/post/17192337
> 
> 
> Good point. I was just wondering if this is an occurrence that has happened to other people, or if perhaps there's even a way to make it happen.






Quiet down, boy. You want to wake Sirius up or something?


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## Justaddh30

This has happened to me as well. A friend of mine let me borrow his sirius set and it has been working like this for over 2 years.


It even gets the updated channels


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## jonvall

I've been trying to cancel my 2'nd radio for almost a year now...every time I call they give me 2 free months!


I called again this morning to cancel and they extended my subscription till November 18'th! LOL!!


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## LetterX




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *jonvall* /forum/post/17201862
> 
> 
> I've been trying to cancel my 2'nd radio for almost a year now...every time I call they give me 2 free months!
> 
> 
> I called again this morning to cancel and they extended my subscription till November 18'th! LOL!!



If you think about it, that makes sense from a business perspective. It doesn't cost them anything to continue providing service to your radio. If you change your mind, then they will once again be getting that payment from you. On the other hand, if they turn off your radio, there's little chance that you'll call back to reactivate it. I'm sure the number-crunchers at Sirius have determined that in certain situations (like a second radio) this is more profitable than just shutting people off when they request it. Plus, it makes the company look stronger, because their claim of x amount of subscribers is higher. I bet it goes on like that indefinitely.


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## silvermaxd

I paid for a year and it should have ended in feb. and I haven't even been contacted to renew....I guess they expect me to contact them about renewing...not! Hopefully it just keeps working. Maybe they are just waiting for the radios to die out.


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## Manic1!

I bought a open box Sirius unit from a big box store and it has been working for years.


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## DeeKaye07

I called to cancel my XM subscriptions on my 2 radios last week, and they first offered me 6 months for half the price...then 2 months for FREE (but I'd have to call and cancel it before the 2 months were up or they'd charge me). I declined both offers...didn't want to go through the hassle of having to call again and cancel. I wonder...if I'd have agreed to the 2 months free, and then tried to cancel, if they'd offer 2 more months for free, etc. etc... LOL


Haven't tried either radio yet to see if they still work, though...







Guess I'll have to see.


DGK


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## dracassan

Pls give more inform.


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## NoNick00

I haven't paid since 2005. I own a Starmate model.

Bought the unit in 04, paid that year and change my CC # and I never called them.

Still works like a charm.


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## sebberry

I wonder how often and for how long after you cancel the deactivation signal gets sent.


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## zoetmb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *silvermaxd* /forum/post/17238253
> 
> 
> I paid for a year and it should have ended in feb. and I haven't even been contacted to renew....I guess they expect me to contact them about renewing...not! Hopefully it just keeps working. Maybe they are just waiting for the radios to die out.



It doesn't usually work that way. With Sirius, you're generally put on an automatic renewal plan, which you can't cancel from their website - you have to call. So if you paid by credit card, check your statements to see if they renewed and charged you.


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## jonnythan

It happened to me. I called and said to cancel my service. The radio worked for a year afterward.


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## jonnythan




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NoNick00* /forum/post/20961174
> 
> 
> I haven't paid since 2005. I own a Starmate model.
> 
> Bought the unit in 04, paid that year and change my CC # and I never called them.
> 
> Still works like a charm.



You still owe them that money, and they can legally put the debt on your credit report.


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## zoetmb




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *DeeKaye07* /forum/post/17316480
> 
> 
> I called to cancel my XM subscriptions on my 2 radios last week, and they first offered me 6 months for half the price...then 2 months for FREE (but I'd have to call and cancel it before the 2 months were up or they'd charge me). I declined both offers...didn't want to go through the hassle of having to call again and cancel. I wonder...if I'd have agreed to the 2 months free, and then tried to cancel, if they'd offer 2 more months for free, etc. etc... LOL
> 
> 
> Haven't tried either radio yet to see if they still work, though...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Guess I'll have to see.
> 
> 
> DGK



When I called to cancel a year ago, they offered me a year at half price. When I called last week to cancel (since the subscription is up this week), they again offered me the next year at half price, which I declined. They then told me they'd give me the next two months for free and I could decide again in December. That I accepted. I guess they figure that maybe I'll forget to cancel and once billed, I'll wait another year. But I won't forget.


If I actually listened to it, I wouldn't mind even paying full price. IMO, it's a good deal. But the reality for me is that I only have it at home and because the audio quality is so incredibly bad, I very rarely listen.


I recently bought a new receiver which is web capable, but I haven't run the network line yet (it doesn't have WiFi built in.) Once I do that, I might keep it if they offered a really cheap deal for web-only access for a few channels. I usually only listen to "Little Steven's Underground Garage" channel and maybe the blues channel anyway. The shows/channels without jocks don't interest me - I'd rather listen to Pandora, which has much higher audio quality.


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## Thunder9000

I remember reading that if radio is turned off when deactivate signal was sent it wouldn't work. And deactivate signal was only sent for a 30 day period. So if you waited your radio would work again but it also said this was remedied. Probably is just an accounting error through all the confusion someone just forgot to shut you down.


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## ti-triodes

My radio also worked for a year after I cancelled. Since Howard Stern became unlistenable and internet radio is so amazing, I'll never subscribe to Sirius again.


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