I received a charge from XM on my credit card that I did not authorize, and just spend the last 40 minutes on the phone with them trying to get things sorted out. What I learned was quite disturbing, and I would like to make sure that others in the forum do not get caught by this.

When signing up for the $77 per year subscription, what XM don't tell you is that at the end of this special rate, your account will be AUTOMATICALLY rolled into a standard account with a payment rate of $12.95 per month!!!!!

I questioned the legality of this practice, since I had not given my authorization for this. I was told that the XM representatives that handle these special rates are supposed to inform everyone getting them that this automatic rollover will happen. I strongly believe that this is complete BS from XM, because I updated two accounts, and was never told of this practice in either case.

I was also informed that you can set for automatic termination of the contract when the $77 special is up, you just have to tell them this is the option that you would want (somehow magically we are supposed to know this, I guess).

I made sure that the XM on the RL is now terminated, and that the account that I have for my Honda Pilot will not rollover to the standard subscription rate at the end of the $77 deal.

My strong suggestion to everyone who has gotten the $77 yearly subscription rate is that you contact XM and make sure that you set the option to terminate your contract at the end of the $77 year period. If you do not, then XM will automatically charge your credit card with $12.95 per month ($155.40 per year) when your $77 deal is up.

It would be very interesting to learn how many of us were actually informed of this automatic rollover when we subscribed to the $77 deal, can you respond with your comments please.

I hope this helps others avoid the mess that I just had to deal with.

Pete

 

They call those "evergreen clauses". At the office most all of our service contracts (vending machine, alarm system, etc.) come with those saying you have to notify them of intent to cancel, in writing, thirty or sixty days before the initial contract is up. To avoid forgetting to so and to make renegotiation possible we always send a certified letter expressing our intent to cancel immediately after signing the initial contract. I believe evergreen clauses are unenforceable in some states; you might luck out there.