Sunday, January 25, 2015

A #Sirius disappointment....

This post is not sponsored. Nothing was received for this post. As always- all opinions in this post are my honest opinions and not influenced by any partnerships I may have.


I am a mail carrier.... more specifically a rural mail carrier. I spend a lot of time in my car. Since I purchased my car used, I didn't get to choose what kind of options it had....and I've had to deal with the fact that it's not new so not everything is perfect. My stereo is one of those things. The 6 disc CD player hasn't worked since I purchased the car. I purchased it anyway (there's always the radio...right?). Well, the radio doesn't always come in- so I turned to Sirius.

I heard rave reviews from many people, and I checked with others in my town and was told the reception was great! I was excited, but then saw the price tags on the radios. I decided to wait to see if I could find a deal. Well, I finally found a pretty good deal on a Sirius XM radio, so I purchased it. I was SO excited because I could listen to Pearl Jam Radio whenever I wanted! 

The install wasn't all that bad, even in the winter. However, the account set up seemed like torture. I tried to do it online since I had a great discount code (6 months for $25). But, I couldn't get the deal to work. So, I thought I signed up for a free month trial. Nope, I signed up for INTERNET radio. Well, that isn't what I had intended (they even asked for the radio ID... why would they want your radio ID if you aren't using a Sirius radio with the service? CONFUSING!), so I had to cancel that. 

It took talking to 2 different people before they were able to activate my radio... but I did get the special introduction promo, and I was pretty satisfied at that point. 

Then.... after 3 days of great signal and everything seeming to go well....


and this...


I thought that it might be a one day thing... but then it has happened every. single. day. 

I refreshed the signal sent to my radio.... it didn't help. 

I've checked my antenna and all the wires from it- no problems! Nothing has changed, and it is all still in perfect condition. I've only had it for 10ish days! 

Aside from the signal issues I do enjoy the music, but it is a bit misleading when they say "commercial free". The stations are not commercial free. I have heard actual advertisements on most stations I've been able to listen to, and if it isn't an actual advertisement for a product it is a promo for another Sirius radio station.

The radio I have ( The OnyxPlus) isn't all that special... I wish I would have saved my money more and went with the basic radio. I don't need the color screen or album images, nor do I need all of the presets. It's a pain in the butt to change the station. You have to scroll through different stations one at a time or you can scroll through them by category but it's still a hassle! I had thought you could push the buttons to tune into a specific channel but you can't.

 Another major annoyance for me is that whenever I turn off my car (which is a lot since I have to turn it off each time I deliver a package) the whole radio turns off and has to reboot the signal. It would be nice if the radio held a charge so that the interruption didn't happen.

The price you pay for Sirius is NOT cheap... about $20 a month, plus taxes and fees plus royalty fees and a huge activation fee. Honestly, I think that I will likely be returning the radio if these problems can't be resolved and discontinuing my service.

Do you have an experience with Sirius?  I'd love to hear if you like it, love it, or hate it.


1 fantastic comments:

DesiredOne said...

I love my Siruis radio. We only have had issue when pulling up next to a drive up ATM or when we drive through the mountain with surrounding trees that block the signal. Other than those few times it has been great for us and we have had it in 2 cars for over 3 years now. I would call them non stop till they can find a solution for you they are pretty good at making things right if there is an issue. Sorry you have had such a bad experience. I love not having a ton of commercials before I can listen to music and it's great to find anything you want to listen to.

 
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