Monday, May 18, 2009

XM Radio - STOP CALLING ME!

Seriously are you freaking kidding me? stop calling me XM Radio!!!!! If I want your service I will subscribe, if I don't - I won't. Calling me every day for weeks and weeks on end will not make me subscribe. In fact, by calling me this frequently you are actually making me HATE you and not want your service! I feel harassed!

I am on the do not call registry and don't expect telemarketer calls to begin with. But here's the dilemma: I bought a car 3 months ago and with it came a free trial of XM Radio. I didn't technically 'subscribe', or give them any information, or "opt-in" to getting calls from them. Perhaps my dealer supplied them with my phone number and home address (they are also sending me stuff in the mail) which I'm guessing they needed to turn the service on, but I did not provide that directly to them.

Now my trial is about to expire and they have been calling me 1-3 times a day at all hours of the day and night for about 7 weeks (maybe longer). Enough already! I want to file a complaint with the Do Not Call Registry, but apparently they need to violate the following things to have a valid complaint:


The telemarketer calls before 8 AM or after 9 PM; OR

The telemarketer leaves a message, but fails to leave a phone number that you can call to sign up for their company specific do-not-call list; OR

You receive a telemarketing call from a company that you have previously requested not call you; OR

The telemarketing firm fails to identify itself; OR

You receive a pre-recorded commercial message from someone with whom you do not have an established business relationship and to whom you have not given permission to call you.


Conveniently they call exactly within the "legal" hours. But seriously 8PM is still pretty late to be calling my house unless I know you!

They never leave a message, and according to their website I'm not ALLOWED to opt-out of phone calls. WTF??!!!! Technically I NEVER subscribed - it was a free trial that came with the car. It's not like I can shut that off.

XM's phone policy:

Specifically, by registering on the Site, or by subscribing to the SIRIUS XM Service and providing your telephone number, you agree that this action constitutes a purchase, inquiry and/or application for purposes of telemarketing laws. Regardless of the fact that your telephone and/or cell number may be listed with the Federal Do-Not-Call Registry, or your local State Do-Not-Call list, you expressly consent to receive future information about products and services from us, and in, that regard, you hereby consent to our contacting you pursuant to the business relationship established using the information you provided to us. This means we may contact you, in person or by recorded message, by e-mail, phone and/or cell number (including use of automated dialing equipment), text (SMS) message, or any other means of communication that your wireless or other telecommunications device may be capable of receiving (e.g. video etc.), except as may be prohibited by law. (Please note that as of September 1, 2009, we will not contact you by the use of a prerecorded telephone message unless we have your prior express consent of a higher quality standard, as required by Federal law.)


I have yet to answer the phone because according to posts I've read online they are extremely aggressive with trying to get people to sign up, won't let you opt-out etc. I have enough stress, arguments, and irritation in my life - I'm not picking up the phone to argue with them too.

Here's a quick log of phone calls from my iphone history for the last WEEK (my phone only stores 1 week of call history):

Tuesday, May 12th: 9:22 am
Tuesday, May 12th: 2:29 pm
Tuesday, May 12th: 8:02 pm

Wednesday, May 13th: 1:51 pm
Wednesday, May 13th: 8:38 pm

Thursday, May 14th: 1:27 pm
Thursday, May 14th: 7:08 pm

Friday, May 15th: 1:10 pm

Saturday, May 16th: 11:32 am

Sunday, May 17th 3:25 pm

Monday, May 18th: 1:40 pm
Monday, May 18th: 6:49pm

Tuesday, May 19th: 6:43pm

Wednesday, May 20th: 2:53pm
Wednesday, May 20th: 8:38pm



Are you kidding me? How is this not harassment? Who the f**k opts-into this? Where are my rights? I mean it's one thing to call a person that uses your service, it's quite another to call them over and over and over for weeks.

And while I am bitching about telemarketing calls, I should also mention I used Stanley Steemer once in my life a year ago to clean a rug when I moved out of my apartment.

I was unhappy with the service because:

A: they under-quoted me by $175 - for a 1 BR apt (2 rooms), but when they got to the apt they "claimed" each section was a "room" so I got charged for a 4 room apt. Trust me this place was about 600 sq ft it was NOT 4 rooms! The previous tenant had used a different cleaner (and provided me their receipt when I moved in - in case I wanted to use them when I moved out), but I went with Stanley because they quoted me $50 less than the other cleaners had charged the previous tenant. What a waste - instead of saving $50, I ended up spending $125 more! ARGH

B: I scheduled them for 9am and they showed up at 3:30 pm. That would be 6.5 hours late while and I was left sitting there waiting in an empty apartment!!!

C: When I called several times trying to find out where they were/when they were coming and to complain about my 6.5 hour wait they acted like it was not a problem why was I annoyed, they were "busy" that day, and assured me they were "on the way". They were "on the way" at 10:30 am when I called the first time. Where were they driving from, Maryland?

D: Had that not been the last day I had my apt & was required to clean the rugs I would have refused them entry and called another service.


Now they also call me almost daily probably trying to get me to use their service again. I didn't think using their service once to clean a rug now allowed them to call me weekly for months? Secondly, I have all hardwood floors in my house. I don't have any rugs for them to freaking clean. And thirdly, I will never, ever, ever use their "service" again.

I should also mention that neither company has actually left a voice mail - I found out who was behind the numbers by researching online and found hundreds of complaints from other people about these exact phone numbers. A quick google search brought up 111 results for XM, and 241 for Stanley - clearly people are NOT happy and are being harassed by these companies for their business. 800Notes turns out to be a pretty helpful site.

XM Radio: 877 224-8720
Stanely Steemer: 888 283-9087

My next step will be to see if I can get AT&T to block those numbers for me because I am sick of getting these calls every day several times a day.