It Burns!

A picture is worth $214.20…

Nothing says “take your shitty customer service and shove it up your ass” like a nice $214.20 refund check.  I finally feel completely relieved of these moronic assholes.  I still think they owe me more, however, having put me through 6.5 hours of ListenerCare Hell on the phone in addition to the time I spent with the clueless idiots in e-mail, to say nothing of the fact they stole XMRO service from me starting March 11th.

If nothing else, I at least have the petty satisfaction of knowing my cash will no longer be financing the gross mismanagement of Sirius-XM by Mel Karmazin and company.

With a stock price of $0.35, Mel Karmazin has absolutely NOTHING to be proud of as CEO.  He has ruined XM-Radio with this merger and lied repeatedly to his customers AND shareholders alike.  I sincerely hope he is held accountable for his actions.

Meanwhile, discontinuing your service with Sirius-XM and demanding a refund is the most effective way to show them how you feel about being taken advantage of, lied to and stolen from.

Why pay for the privilege of being screwed?  Remind them that they need your business far more than you need theirs.  Hold them accountable for bad business practices and hideously irresponsible customer service!

It’s now been 1 month since Sirius-XM raised prices on some of their services and “silently” degraded their XM Radio Online (XMRO) service from 64kbps down to 32kbps for existing customers without prior notification (i.e., with the new price changes).

Former customers such as myself had assumed that we would be “grandfathered” onto the new Premium 128kbps XMRO service since they said absolutely nothing about forcing us down to 32kbps when they were poking us to “Extend your Subscription now and Save” in order to keep our so-called “free” access to XMRO.  Very classic Bait and Switch.

Anyway, after battling with the pricks at Sirius-XM for more than a month, some people have had limited success getting access to the 128kbps stream they deserved, but only after directly sending e-mail to both the CEO, Mel Karmazin, and the Senior Vice President of IT and ListenerCare, Joe Zarella.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, the situation continues to fester at Sirius-XM.  It’s really starting to pick-up some attention now, too.  I’m starting to find blogs linking to other blogs about people dealing with the same XMRO fire that Sirius-XM started on March 11th.

Lifetime subscribers are apparently taking it in the you-know-where, too, because even THEY aren’t entitled anything but 32k access, according to XM’s ListenerCare. 

Ouch. 

In this quick post, I’ll provide some of those links to help share the love.  I’m hopeful now more than ever that someone will set-up a Class-Action Lawsuit against Sirius-XM for screwing their customers.  I would very happily be a part of that effort.  If you’re interested in working to that goal, I can be reached at eric • at • itburns.us.

Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »

I like iced tea.  I drink it often, and admittedly, I usually take it unsweetened.  But occasionally I do enjoy a nicely prepared sweet tea.  It’s a cold and refreshing treat that also adds a little burst of energy.

When I was driving by our local McDonalds a few days ago, I noticed they were now offering “Sweet Tea”, and it was only $1 for a large glass.  I was in the mood for something sweet to drink, so I decided to give it a try.  After all, their fresh-brewed iced tea was usually okay at this particular location, so they should be able to produce a reasonably decent sweet tea, right?

Swinging through the drive-thru, I picked up my plastic glass, condensation beading on it in suggestion of the icy chill contained within.  Pulling forward out of the lane, I quickly unwrapped the straw and poked it through the lid, immediately seeking a long pull.  Ahhh.  My mouth was awash with…

Gaaaah!!!!! The liquid was the lovely amber I expected, but nowhere was there the slightly astringent sensation or the rich earthiness of tea  to be found in that hideously sweet mouthful.  It tasted as if someone had barely kissed the water with something to color it, then mixed in simple syrup – maybe half a cup of it, based on the overwhelming sugary sensation on my tongue.

I won’t make THAT mistake again!