Free XM Online Activation (1 Viewer)

[MatS]

activation

don't know if this is X-mas day only or for days following
but either way a nice $9.99 gift from XM

welcome new users to radio the way it was meant to be heard

 

[Ronald Epstein]

That offer has been in existence for quite
some time now.

 

[MatS]

not quite sure what you mean Ron as this offer was made available on X-Mas day which is hardly some time ago

has there been free activation promotions at times in the past? sure but not for a good long time

 

[Ronald Epstein]

As far back as February last year your fee is
waived if you activate online.

They just made it look like it was a special
Christmas offer.

 

[Stu Rosen]

Nope. Just activated a second unit online a couple of weeks ago, and it cost me $9.99. I even called customer service to see if there was any way to waive, and was told no. I think this promotion is a recent revival of an old deal.

 

[Jed M]

I activated online on the 23rd and it cost me $9.99 also.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Just to further reinforce what others have stated, I activated my Roady the the Saturday after thankgiving online and was charged the 9.95 fee.

 

[TheLongshot]

Yeah, Ron, I don't know what you are talking about since I activated earlier this month and I got an activation fee.

If you know otherwise, please share with us...

Jason

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Well, I activated last February. Their promotion
at the time was if you activate online the fee is
waived.

That was pretty much the offer that I saw for months
since when I logged onto the XM website to check out
the weekly play schedule.

I must admit, I haven't checked their site out in
the past 4 months so perhaps they dropped the offer
and recently put it back up again.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I activated for the first time earlier this month and had to pay the activation fee. Not that I minded the ten bucks so much after the money that I had just sunk into the new car audio system.

 

[Brian L]

As I type, I am on hold with customer care. Sure, you can currently activate on-line for free, but did you try to activate a second radio there under the family plan?

It appears that you can't get the 6.99/month price of you activate on-line. And if you read the fine print on the web site, it says an activation fee may be required for family plan radios.

Crap.

But the good news is, after waiting for about 15 minutes, they were able to activate my radio, and waived the fee.

Life is good.

BGL

 

[SteveK]

Brian- I activated a second radio online, then called customer service to have that newly activated radio added to my subscription for the "family plan" rate of $6.99 per month. It would be much more convenient to be able to sign up online for the family plan, but they apparently don't offer that option yet. So it was a two-step process for me. Even though I called on Christmas day, my wait time was only about 5 minutes, so I have no complaints. I now have my SkyFi on a 2-year subscription, and my Pioneer XM tuner on the family plan, so my total monthly cost is only about $15 for two radios. Not bad!

I originally used my SkyFi both at home and in my car, but got tired of dragging it back and forth, not to mention the maze of wires required for the car kit. The XM-ready Pioneer receiver is so much better, and I have the tuner mounted in my trunk, and the single wire running from it to the radio is well-hidden. I'd definitely recommend an XM-ready unit if one can afford the additional subscription and hardware costs.

Steve K.

 

[Scooter]

This is a reason why I told DISH to kiss my ass..and would never get something like XM. The wanna charge you to have some phone bank drone make a keystroke to turn your device on.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Scooter,

I never looked fondly upon activation charges.

Why should someone charge you to activate a
subscription service?

It's being done because people will pay it.

You are right -- it's a simple task of a drone
entering a key into a computer. $10 for a few
seconds of effort from a minimum-wage operator?

 

[Brian L]

Quote:
I originally used my SkyFi both at home and in my car, but got tired of dragging it back and forth, not to mention the maze of wires required for the car kit. The XM-ready Pioneer receiver is so much better, and I have the tuner mounted in my trunk, and the single wire running from it to the radio is well-hidden. I'd definitely recommend an XM-ready unit if one can afford the additional subscription and hardware costs.

I went about it backwards from what you did, starting with Pio XM ready head unit in my car. Since I don't spend much time in the car, save for an occasional banzai run to San Diego or Topeka (for SCCA autocross events), I decided I wanted a unit at home, so I did the SkyFi thing.

I thought that would allow me to get a car kit for the wife's 4-Runner, so when we take her vehicle on a long blast, I won't have to go without XM.

So far (after 3 hours with SkyFi), I am liking it a lot. Very easy user interface (can't say that for the Pio unit in the car). And even in the house in a north facing room, I still get 3 out of 4 bars on the sat signal meter, and 3 or 3 on the terrestrial meter.

BGL

 

[Stu Rosen]

Not that I'm defending activation fees (I hate them for all the reasons you all do) but the reason they're charged is to recover some of the costs associated with maintaining an account. New accounts cost money -- additional storage, paperwork, etc. I work for a company that must wrestle with this problem all the time. You'd think that you'd want members -- and you do -- but they cost money to maintain. And a $10 charge both offsets some of those costs, and creates a very small hurdle that increases the odds that the new member will keep its account for a while (companies hate churn).

 

[SteveK]

Brian - I have to agree with you that the user interface on the Pioneer is not as good as on the Delphi SkyFi. I don't really mind not having the artist/song title able to display at the same time, but I wish that the XM display had priority over the clock. Yes, you can push a button to change displays, but it would be nice if the song title would automatically display with each new song, then return to the clock.

This is a very minor complaint, and I still much prefer the no hassle, no mess XM setup I now have over what I had before.

Steve K.

 

[MatS]

word is this is good till Jan 5th

 

[Joshua Clinard]

Free activation is over.