mine comes due in a few months , going to try. i was able to get a better price for on star this yr.

A year ago Sirius offered me the lifetime subscription for $100 off the regular price, so I took it. Now I'm wondering how I'll be affected if I ever want to choose à la carte channels when they're offered.

We've had both XM and Sirius in different vehicles. Personally I prefer XM, but it didn't come with our current vehicle so we'll either negotiate for a different price or drop it unless they let us pick channels a la carte at a reasonable rate. It's doubtful they'll get in the habit of lowering fees though.

I'm currently taking a marketing class, using a book which profiled XM. XM paid more than $80 million for a federal license to broadcast digital radio and it cost them more than $1 billion to get satellites in orbit, antennaes mounted on buildings, equipment developed for cars and creation of the digital recordings. Then after a year in operation along comes Sirius who again paid millions in start up fees. Satellite radio is yet to be profitable. They continue to pay out huge amounts every year to show hosts and for new product development. Something has to give and I doubt it will be the rates charged.

We have XM in both cars & our boat. On the boat, we've also got expanded weather radar services. Well, the boat's on the hard November 1 through about mid-May. XM Marine costs $60/month. So, we've been cancelling when we haul & starting up again in the spring. This year, they 'said' they won't charge us a start-up fee again come May...we'll see?

/tricia

I'd gladly pay more for my service (2 vehicles and an in-home unit) to stay commercial-free on my stations. As soon as the inane blabber starts, I'm dropping all of them. I have an iPod and I'm not afraid to use it.

It costs next to nothing to ask.

No penalty if you ask ... and are refused.

Some potential gain ... no potential loss, it appears.

You don't ask - you don't get.

ole joyful

I got $83 for a year of XM. They will negotiate - look for about half off. My car dealer told me they get lifetime for $150. Maybe you could sell a car for a day ;)

" ... get lifetime for $150."

With just over a month to age 80 ...

... that's a bargain?

Oh, I forgot ...

... I live in Canada.

CBC Radio One - news, public affairs, and a lot of interesting stuff. No commercials.

Available also through much of N.America via Sirius137.

CBC Radio Two - music, arts, culture, etc. No commercials.

CBC Radio Three - more contemporary stuff ... recently initiated: I know little about it.

Available worldwide through www.cbc.ca.

www.cbc.ca/ideas for much interesting material for the mind, one hour, five nights weekly.

www.cbc.ca/aih - for "As It Happens" ... 1-1/2 - 2 hours nightly Mon - Fri interviewing a number of people close to where current news is being made. Interesting ... plus a bit of whimsey.

www.cbc.ca/tapestry - explores a number of concerns and people relating to spiritual issues, one hour, Sunday afternoons.

www.cbc.ca/checkup - nation-wide phone-in program Sundays 4:00 - 6:00 with a genial, literate host dealing mainly with current Canadian but some international issues - worth a listen. Participation available also by email.

Full details on their site.

www.cbc.ca/TV ... has commercials.

As for your mind, like for your body ... use it - or lose it!!

ole joyful

What a hassle in dealing with Sirius. They obviously don't want to hear from the customer! Endless time spent on hold - even got hungup on because the agent stated the computer was down. Sheesh!

Bottom line = 3 months free with this next year's contract, but I had to threaten to cancel. It wasn't an idle threat, they really are worse than dealing with Indian customer service.

Be prepared if you need to cancel. We've had both Sirius & XM. Several years ago we'd given XM as a gift to an uncle as a Christmas gift. He decided he wanted to cancel. There's no way to cancel online. There's no way to remove your credit card info online to stop the automatic renewal. When I called to cancel (went thru the process of push 1, push 3,etc) I got put on hold with no music & only intermittent comments for 30+ minutes and then cut off. So I called back....same thing. They have caller ID so undoubtedly they knew why I was calling. So I called back & just asked for customer service. After 20-30 minutes I talked to someone who said I didn't reach the right department & they couldn't help me, so back on hold for another 15 minutes and I finally talked to someone who cancelled the service....but not until I heard several offers & pleas to remain a customer. I said I'm already a customer and I just want to cancel the gift subscription (but after the run around I got, they didn't create any warm & fuzzy feelings).

Do a google search on sirius or xm and "how to cancel". It's a pain and disheartening that businesses can give you the run around like that.

FWIW: Just heard on the news earlier this evening that Sirius is considering filing for bankruptcy.

I noted Sirius listed in a recent compliation of corporations highly likely to fail soon.

Where there is smoke...

bill h: Our on star is coming due for renewal. I'm curious how you were able to get a better price. I think it's a great service and want it for my husband in his truck, but I think it's over priced and would love some negotiating advice.