No, I’m not letting my freak flag fly or stating my admiration for Timothy Leary. I’m sharing my XM Radio experience. After being a loyal customer for more than 2 years, I recently cancelled my subscriptions on both of my radios. I actually should have cancelled them months ago because I all but stopped using the service. Ever since I got a radio transmitter for my iPod, the XM was relegated to a second class citizen. I can listen to all my podcasts and any of my music without having to put up with signal drop outs next to tall buildings or trees.
When I finally decided to drop the service, it was just about time for my subscription to be renewed. I tried numerous times to cancel online, but I was always given an canned message to the effect that site maintenance was being performed and that I should try again later. I finally called and told the customer service rep that I did not want my subscription to automatically renew. Well guess what. My credit card was billed for a year’s worth of subscription charges. So I had to call yet again and cancel.
I know what you’re thinking. “Come on Tim. But you can listen to XM on the web too.” Yeah, sort of. You can listen to the XM music channels, but forget about the sports or talk channels. They’re not available.
Just about the only thing I miss about the XM is the First Team on Fox with Steve Czaban on Fox Sports Radio. Now if they would only post their shows (sans commercials of course) so I can listen to them on my iPod.
I guess this is as much a pro iPod post as it is a negative XM post. As much as I detest Apple fan boys, I can’t help but attribute my cancellation of my satellite radio subscription to my iPod. Anyone want to buy a couple XM radios?
Leave a Reply