Author Topic: Goodbye Sirius  (Read 3272 times)

mynewchoice

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Goodbye Sirius
« on: August 18, 2016, 07:16:06 AM »
A couple of years ago my wife had bought me a Sirius subscription for my birthday, and it has been used extensively as I have an extremely unmustachian commute to work.  However, we just received the renewal letter and the price had gone up nearly $100 from when we originally started.  As much as I love it, I am content listening to sports radio or using the free version of Spotify to stream while driving and so we called them up and canceled.

They made a few counter offers--first was 12 months for $112 and we passed, and then they offered 6 months for $49.99 and again we declined.  I was tempted to take these offers but then realized that if I truly want to walk the walk to try and get my wife more on board with mustachian ways, I had to let this go.

Enigma

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Re: Goodbye Sirius
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2016, 07:20:38 AM »
Awe...  Sometimes it is hard to say goodbye to many of the monthly and yearly expenses we have accrued over the years.  Good luck with the journey

Another Reader

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Re: Goodbye Sirius
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2016, 07:23:55 AM »
I pay $5.00 a month plus taxes and fees (still less than $6.00) because I call every 5 months and insist they put me back on the promotional rate.  The service is worth $5.00 because of all the driving I have to do here but not more than that.  No way would I pay the price they send in the silly renewal letters.

mynewchoice

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Re: Goodbye Sirius
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2016, 07:29:18 AM »
Awe...  Sometimes it is hard to say goodbye to many of the monthly and yearly expenses we have accrued over the years.  Good luck with the journey

You're absolutely right, and a big part of that for me is because before finding my way to MMM I felt as though we were doing fairly well (I still think that we were but now I am trying to trim the fat to get to FIRE earlier than I was originally targeting).  My view was always that these type of expenses for something I use a great deal and are "only $100 or $200" were no big deal, but seeing how these add up and how those dollars can work for me has been a refreshing change.

mynewchoice

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Re: Goodbye Sirius
« Reply #4 on: August 18, 2016, 07:36:10 AM »
I pay $5.00 a month plus taxes and fees (still less than $6.00) because I call every 5 months and insist they put me back on the promotional rate.  The service is worth $5.00 because of all the driving I have to do here but not more than that.  No way would I pay the price they send in the silly renewal letters.

Had they gone that low for me, I may not have been able to resist.  However, as I honestly reviewed my listening habits I noticed that on the morning commute I tend to listen to the sports radio to hear about how my favorite teams did the night before and the evening commute I am not so tied to any particular program that I won't be fine using other options.

I really do wish that these companies would treat their long-time customers better as playing the game every 6-12 months of having to call and negotiate is tiresome.  Not too long ago I had just done that with our internet service, and as I type this I am wondering if auto / home insurance companies do this too.  I have been with my insurance company for a long time and I am happy with them, but I wonder if I call up and indicate that I am planning to switch to a new provider if they will cut my rates.  Sounds like I have an assignment for today. =)

mynewchoice

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Re: Goodbye Sirius
« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2016, 07:38:21 AM »
Great move, in time you won't even miss it.  This is the same as driving a toyota instead of a lexus!

Quite fitting as I drive a paid-off Toyota Corolla! =)

And you're right.  Since I know that I only have about two weeks of service left, I am listening like crazy right now so it will sting a little the first week or so but I will get over it pretty quickly.

Another Reader

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Re: Goodbye Sirius
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2016, 07:39:12 AM »
In general I agree with you, but for me this is a conscious spending choice.  It was not an "It's only $x..." rationalization.  No cable in this house and a strong focus on reducing energy usage.  One restaurant meal in the last 6 months and only because I was stuck in traffic 100 miles from home and it was dinnertime. Frivolous spending is cut close to zero, but I don't consider this frivolous.  YMMV.

Try calling and asking for customer retention/loyalty if you decide the service is worth a lower price.

Random Hangers

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Re: Goodbye Sirius
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2016, 08:16:28 AM »
I really do wish that these companies would treat their long-time customers better as playing the game every 6-12 months of having to call and negotiate is tiresome.
Ugh, so much this. My husband has had Sirius for years now (I cancelled after a year or two because I didn't enjoy it as much as he does), but every year they send that stupid renewal letter at the ridiculously high rate, then act like that's the best they can possibly do...until I threaten to cancel. Then the big guns come out. Last year, we actually did cancel...and the sent us email after email, flyer after flyer, begging us to come back at a deeply discounted rate (we caved eventually). Think of all the money they could save on mailers and such if they just offered a reasonable rate to begin with!

seemsright

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Re: Goodbye Sirius
« Reply #8 on: August 18, 2016, 09:03:39 AM »
There are a few things in this world that I think is important. One of those things is not having advertisements bombard me at every turn.

I think that idea is so important that I am willing to pay for it. I pay for Sirius not only in my car but also my house. I pay for netflix for my kid to watch cartoons so she does not have to 'have that thing'

I run ad block on my browser.

These type of things have been calculated into our FIRE plan. I am the person who has the music on from the moment I get up till I go to bed. And there is something about not having to listen to the loud commercials that is complete joy.  And the fact that I can go from my house to my car and the same music plays. And for $25 bucks a month for both subscriptions. We will cut cost in other places to make this happen.

Miss Piggy

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Re: Goodbye Sirius
« Reply #9 on: August 18, 2016, 09:21:07 AM »
I pay $5.00 a month plus taxes and fees (still less than $6.00) because I call every 5 months and insist they put me back on the promotional rate.  The service is worth $5.00 because of all the driving I have to do here but not more than that.  No way would I pay the price they send in the silly renewal letters.

This is timely. I was going to post a question asking about the lowest rates people currently have. I've had my car for two years and have driven it slightly less than 10,000 miles, so clearly, I don't drive enough to justify a high monthly rate. However, for a while, we were able to listen to Sirius at home using the app, but that no longer works. I called about it, and they said I can't use that feature because of my plan...so I tried to cancel everything, but of course the guy said I'd have to call a different number for that...and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Such a stupid little game they play.