crxb

Guess we can leave that up to Doc. hydro - if you see above I had the same situation too. After much wasted time on the phone w/ xm - it finally was fixed - after the loss of 1/2 my sunday am. Considering Doc's car is under warranty - at the least - acura could tell him the radio is fine. - that puts xm back in the blame. at least we can all agree the xm cust service experience is lacking. Just makes me appreciate my iPod more.

igowest

Signed for 96 plus tax canadian.

hydr0

My point really is that even if the dealership tells him nothing is wrong with the car, which they will, what is that info gonna do for XM? They're still gonna be incapable of helping properly. He might as well not waste the time and just tell them he brought it and they said it was fine lol. They'll still do nothing with that information, except maybe send him another useless refresh lol.

crxb

i just thought maybe the dealer would have a different ph # to call -you know for the real tech help at xm - not just someone reading a flow chart/script
maybe an acura tech that reads the forum could tell us? If the audi tech on here (remember thats how he pays for his 2 acuras) reads this maybe he could tell us if they can call better tech support (than the customer) from xm/sirus?

hydr0

Yeah you're right, it could be that they have some kind of inside source from probably dealing with it so often. I think it's like hunting unicorn though =P

crxb

that funny - except for the poor guys like Doc - for all we know still out in the cold

hydr0

lol my trial is up in a month, so I'll be right there with him once again when I call to activate it. That is, if it makes it until then without disappearing again, which I think it will every time I turn the goddam car on.

crxb

my trial will be up soon too. dont know if the traff/weather is really worth $8 a month though. probably not - I probably pay for it for a bit just for the 'tech' of it.

bmode

I'm really curious how much the signal is going to improve, as it got worse once they merged with Sirius. If they DON'T give me the same channels for streaming on the computer, that I have in the car, I'm dropping them like a bad habit. I got a legitimate beef here. I've been with XM since Nov of 04, and I'm paid through May of 09, but I have to pay for streaming XM if I don't renew the account by March 11th? F that!

hydr0

Mode, how much do they want for the seperate internet streaming?

I kind of had a feeling they'd be doing stuff like this. They're in too bad of shape to be giving features out for free. And unfortunately, the executives in charge are nowhere near as stupid as their customer services reps lol.

DrEvil777

Well, here is the update. I kept calling and calling to try to get the idiots at XM to understand that everything was great until THEY messed with my account. Finally I got Vanessa in Tech Support who looked at my account. When they merged my account I had base XM radio paid until September, well XM had refunded me the money, likely so when rates go up they can charge me more.

Vanessa says that the XM system shows that TL's can't get Nav-traffic or weather, that our systems are not enabled. They whole time I was able to get XM radio, just no traffic or weather. I begged her to just turn off everything, radio/weather/traffic. I figured that they just kept trying to activate the traffic/weather and whatever signal they were sending, it was messed up.

So, after 30 minutes with nothing, I had Vanessa reactivate everything and IT WORKS! She was very apologetic and reset my trial period again. She was also going to send out a tech-bulletin to the others so they know how to fix this problem. Won't help as the idiots at customer service can't read! Sorry, I'm still pissed. I also called Vince at Acura 101 so the service dept knows the fix.

Hope this helps some other folks here.

hydr0

Wow that sounds REALLY familiar lol. Oh yeah, probably because I did the same thing twice lol. Give us another update tomorrow, hopefully it sticks. I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya.

bmode

Thanks for the footwork Doc, it is appreciated. I don't understand her saying that TL's can't get traffic and weather on the Nav, I have it right now? Could this experience with XM/Sirius be anymore fowled up? Hydro, read the small print in the document I posted. LOL $2.99!

DrEvil777

I think that she was trying to say that the XM system has yet to be updated to recognize that some of the new TL's can get traffic/weather. She said that at this point in time, she was not aware that the TL's could get traffic/weather.

I think it just shows that XM is weak. That I was sent to the dealer for repairs on a radio that was just fine shows that the customer service reps and even the tech support people are lacking training and ability.

What scares me is that they refunded me my old account balance, so that when the rates go up they can try to stick me at higher rates.

So far the traffic/weather has been working since late thursday, everyday is a new adventure waiting to see if it works when I start the car. Love this car and the nav-traffic is awesome here in LA.

crxb

Sirius XM Prepares Bankruptcy Filing


Published: February 10, 2009

Sirius XM Satellite Radio has been working with advisers to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing in a move that could put pressure on the satellite company EchoStar, which owns a substantial amount of the company’s debt.
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Related
Times Topics: Sirius XM Radio Inc.

Sirius has been working with the restructuring expert Joseph A. Bondi of Alvarez & Marsal and the bankruptcy lawyer Mark Thompson of Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett to help prepare a Chapter 11 filing, people close to the company said. The documents and analysis are close to being completed and a filing could come within days, according to a person familiar with the matter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/te...s/11radio.html

Sirius, whose radio stars include the popular shock jock Howard Stern, has also been working with the investment bank Evercore Partners.

Charles Ergen, who controls a satellite-television empire including the Dish Network Corporation and EchoStar, recently acquired the majority of a $300 million tranche of Sirius debt that matures next Tuesday.

Since the news about the debt purchase has emerged, questions have surfaced over whether Mr. Ergen will make a bid to purchase Sirius. The threat of a possible bankruptcy filing could force Mr. Ergen to make a formal offer for the company now if he doesn’t want to go through an auction in bankruptcy court.

It could also compel Mr. Ergen to agree to convert his debt into an ownership stake in Sirius at a higher price than he originally considered.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/te...s/11radio.html

bmode

DirecTV has XM radio channels, Dish has Sirius radio channels. Since the merger, a few of those channels on both satellite providers has disappeared, must to the disappointment of my clients and myself. If I were Mr. Charles Ergen, I'd pick up the rest of the XM channels to eliminate use of XM on DirecTV to give Dishnetwork a bit of an edge since DirecTV is so strong. Since the first of the year, DirecTV promised 100 HD channels to their subscribers, they fell short by 10 channels, but still have an edge with subscribers as people like the guide better than Dishnetworks. We have to use both in my field, but this could give Dish back their edge when they lost it by dropping the original programming of the Voom Channels. That was a huge F up IMO.

crxb

a little more:

EW YORK (Reuters) – Sirius XM Radio Inc has been working with its advisers to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing, the New York Times reported on its website on Tuesday, citing people close to the company.

The move could put pressure on satellite television company EchoStar Corp, which reportedly holds a substantial amount of Sirius XM debt. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that EchoStar chief Charles Ergen made an offer to take control of the satellite radio company late last year, but he was rebuffed.

Sirius officials did not respond to several telephone and email messages, and EchoStar declined comment.

Sirius has been working with restructuring expert Joseph A. Bondi of Alvarez & Marsal and bankruptcy lawyer Mark Thompson of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett to help prepare a Chapter 11 filing, the New York Times reported, adding a filing could come within days.

A Simpson, Thacher spokeswoman declined comment, and Bondi was not immediately available for comment.

Sirius has also been working with investment bank Evercore Partners, the newspaper said. Evercore could to be reached immediately.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported EchoStar holds about $400 million of Sirius XM debt and the satellite radio company led by Mel Karmazin is scrambling to raise $175 million by a February 17 payment date to fend off a possible takeover threat and avoid default.

Sirius XM has nearly $1 billion in debt due this year, prompting analysts to doubt its future given the sluggish credit market and a steep drop in car sales, the biggest source of new satellite radio subscribers.

Sirius XM shares saw a 23.8 percent increase in short interest from mid- to late-January -- the biggest increase on the Nasdaq, indicating that more short sellers were trading the stock.

Short sellers borrow shares and then sell them, waiting for the stock to fall so they can buy the shares back at the lower price, return them to the lender, and pocket the difference.

Sirius shares closed Tuesday's session 3.5 percent higher at 11 cents on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Anupreeta Das and Yinka Adegoke; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Andre Grenon)

hydr0

I just love how my 3000 shares is worth $300 now lol. I hope their building burns overnight.

bmode

That's kinda harsh, but I know what you mean. All the stocks across the board are pretty much down, so what you gonna do, ya know? I spoke to XM today to make sure that I am not on the renewal plan and that it will expire for me in May 09, just in case some idiot finds a credit card of mine on file and charges it as they go bankrupt. LOL.