Brian's Brain

Tough economic times understandably encourage subscription service companies to do their utmost to hold onto customers. Sometimes they do this by making the service too tempting to discard; free months, free extras etc. And sometimes, unfortunately, they do this by making the cancellation too difficult to accomplish. America Online has gotten into plenty of legal trouble in recent years for such despicable behavior. And, if my experience and that of other frustrated online activists is indicative of a general trend, beleaguered Sirius Satellite Radio (still with a pulse, albeit faint) is due for some regulatory attention, too.

I've been a Sirius subscriber since October of 2004, but to date I haven't listened to the service much in my car...in no small part because as a home-based worker, I don't have a daily office commute. Conversely, I've historically made regular use of the Sirius Online streaming service, which in its base 32 kbps configuration was originally included with Sirius subscriptions. However, in early February I received the following email:

whose message was echoed in pop-up windows that appear each time I launch the browser-based Sirius Online player:

Some background: the premium 128 Kbps Sirius Online variant costs an incremental $2.99 per month. As of March 11, Sirius is dropping the 'free' base 32 Kbps offering, as a revenue-boosting opportunity, but if I was willing to renew early (my yearly subscription usually renews on March 27) I'd be able to retain 32 Kbps streaming through the renewal period:

Frankly, I've been listening to Sirius Online less and less with the passage of time. I've got a formidable library of network-stored music ripped from the CDs I own. My Microsoft Zune subscription streaming-and-download service (which includes 128 different online streamed channels) provides additional music content. And there are plenty of other low-to-no cost (i.e. advertising-supported) online streamed music sources around, such as Pandora. Anyway, I have little confidence that Sirius will still be a viable business entity a year from now, far from two or three. So this morning I decided to just go ahead and cancel my Sirius service, in advance of Wednesday's Online cut-off.

Barrier #1: no online or email service cancellation (or, for that matter, even auto-renewal cancellation) option. Check out Products and Services FAQ #12:

If you would like to cancel your service, please contact our Customer Care center at 1.888.539.SIRIUS (7474).

Barrier #2: Lengthy delays, coupled with disconnects. Both times I tried calling the above number this morning, after navigating the Byzantine automated menu system, I waited on hold for more than a half hour only to have my connection subsequently terminated by the other end of the line.

Barrier #3: Iterative, teeth-grinding 'support' redirection. According to this discussion thread, even if I had gotten through to a human being on the above number, I would have just been told to dial a different number (866-527-6040). So, for my third cancellation attempt, I tried this alternative number instead. After another half hour-plus wait, I actually reached someone this time. However, after providing my name, phone number, mailing address and email address, followed by several firm 'I want to cancel my service' statements in response to attempt to persuade me otherwise...I was put on hold again.

10 minutes later, a different person got on the phone. Again, I was asked for my name, phone number, mailing address and email address, and again I was asked several times if I was sure I wanted to cancel my service. Eventually (supposedly...we'll see if a renewal charge still magically appears on my credit card bill at month-end), the cancellation went through. But it was effective on my March 27 renewal date, not today; the 'customer support' person claimed that she was unable to process an early termination request. That's BS, I suspect, but after enduring a multi-hour cancellation process so far, I wasn't motivated to suffer even more delay and frustration just for a two-plus-week credit.

Today's experience bolsters my conviction that Sirius is in a fiscal last-gasp situation. Even though other folks in my shoes might have given up, thereby allowing Sirius to retain subscribers in the short term, the company's behavior will only do further harm to its long-term viability. It's reminiscent of (albeit far more egregious than) those Internet 'companies' who sign my email address up for newsletters, promotional messages, etc and/or refuse to honor my unsubscribe requests. But when the short term looks so grim, I guess a company like Sirius doesn't have the luxury of caring about the long term. Caveat emptor, folks.