Why you should NEVER pay for radio in your car when you can get it for free....

Today I was cleaning off the phone counter... this is the counter in the kitchen where the phone sits, and the pencil sharpener, and the pencil cans, and the bill caddy, etc... therefore, it's also the counter where all the paper clutter gets dumped. Mail, magazines, homework, school notes, scout papers, church paperwork... you name it, it gets piled on this one counter.

I found some bills that I had to go through, most of them old news or junk mail, etc., but one envelope didn't look familiar. I opened it up to find a "collections" notice with a past due bill for my old XM account, which I cancelled way back in early November.

If I was a swearin' woman, there would have been all kinds of expletives flying out of my mouth over this one...

So, I got on the phone and called the collections to find out why I was being sent this bill. Of course, they don't have any account info beyond the "past due" amount that XM provided them, so I called XM. I talked with a very kind East Indian gentleman who was very skilled in those "filler" phrases like,

"...just one moment while I access your account..." and "...can I place you on hold while I ask my supervisor about this...." and "once I've pulled up your account I'm going to need to ask you some security questions to verify your identity..." (I heard that last one 3 times in less than a minute....

After a "thorough" investigation through my account, he discovered I had a past due balance of $11.70. But, what I found to be frustrating, was that the collections bill was for $38.85. Even more frustrating was the fact that when I cancelled my account way back in November, the XM rep didn't tell me I had an outstanding balance to be paid to close the account, nor did XM send me a bill for the outstanding amount. If they had, I would have paid it way back in November.

Today's XM rep told me that if I wanted to take care of the problem today, I could give him my credit card number and he would charge my card for the balance.

First off, there's no way in "h-e-double hockey sticks" I'm giving them my CC number, because they would use that information to try to get me to resubscribe, and they would continually pester me and drive me crazy... (kind of like another organization I dislike for this very reason... Friends of Scouting....)

Secondly, the collections bill is for $38.85 which is very different from the balance he says I owe, just $11.70... so which one is correct?

Thirdly, he tried to tell me to "ignore" the collections bill and they would just take care of it on his end. Well, since they didn't take care of sending me a bill when I first cancelled my service 3 months ago, how can I trust them to "take care of it" now?

Twice I asked this guy to let me talk to a supervisor or someone who specializes in collections and twice, he put me on hold and then came back to tell me that his supervisor couldn't come to the phone. He did assure me that they would send me a paper statement with the correct amount owed and some kind of paper document to assure me the "collections" issue has been taken care of.

A couple of things went through my mind, while I was on hold for the third or fourth time...

First, does this guy even understand what my problem is? (He didn't seem to get it...)

Second, how does this guy even have a job given the current economic situation...

Third, after this experience, I'm unlikely to ever subscribe to XM radio again, which is bad for them, because my car is prewired for it....

Hmmm... what do you think, should I call back tomorrow and insist on talking to a manager? Or wait a few days to see if the promised statement shows up in the mail?