Sound Information

So, I got this new car... new to me, at least... and it has an XM Satellite Radio receiver built into it. I've never had satellite radio, not many people have, and I'm not too sure how much I'd use it. That is, I'm not sure it would be worth $13 a month to have. Of course, if I traveled a lot I'd plunk down a year subscription in a heartbeat but for general, everyday use, I'm just not sure.

Now, had this actually been a new car, it's advertised that you get free activation and 3 months service. So, I figure XM is looking at it like a drug dealer... give them a taste for free, get them hooked, then charge them.

I called XM to see if there was any way I could get a taste - give XM a test drive to see if I really like it or not... they turned me down.

I'm shocked. Here's this new technology they want to get people hooked on that, under the right circumstances, you can get a free trial and they won't... no, the way the CS rep I talked to put it, they can't set me up on a trial to get me hooked. Who's the marketing genius there?

Go ahead, call your cell phone provider at the end of your contract and tell them you're going to cancel your contract. You know what happens, they transfer you to retentions. That's right, cell phone providers have a special department whos sole purpose is to keep you using their service. They'll give you free time, special rates, discounts on phones, all sorts of things.

Is XM not concerned with getting new subscribers? I mean, I could go out and buy a Sirius unit and an AUX input cable for my car, disconnect the XM and get a free trial period from Sirius because it's a new unit. Obviously I'm not going to do that. If I were, I'd just pay XM the money for service that I would spend on a Sirius receiver.

No, I'm not dissing XM. I'm not the kind of person that's going to sit and whine all day because I can't get something for nothing... I know how the world works. I just figured that since they are giving out service to new subscribers I might be able to get in on that. Unfortunately their system is set up so the dealerships actually pay for that "free" service and they are who give out the promotion codes.

So, it sucks that I'm not happy with our local Honda dealership and I didn't buy the car from them. And it sucks that I don't want to pay $13.95 (+$10 activation) to check this out for a month.

I guess the XM receiver will just sit there and do nothing.