I got my MINI in April 2003, and Steve bought my MINI Sirius for Xmas that same year. Gabbing on the radio by DJs drove me nuts and so did the ads, and weather every 10 minutes like it had changed? Stupid. To have a radio where all I did was listen to music? What a concept. Happy to pay for that ability.

In 2004 we drove across a large part of the country and never had to change the station. What a concept.

At gas stations people would see the sticker on my car (or the magnet) and ask me about it. I sounded like a salesman. I wished I had money to buy stock. I was an enthused fan for sure.

Tonight I just spent 70 minutes on the phone with Sirius since I got a phone call last night after they tried to charge the bank card for annual renewal and the bank account had been closed (oops forgot to tell them). So we owed them money and they were going to cut me off if I didn’t call right away.

I’d been meaning to call for weeks to wheedle a free receiver out of them since mine is over 5 years old and I’ve decided they must have a 75k mile limit on their solder connections. Whenever I hit a pothole, bump, or railroad crossing my receiver would cut out and it would take 10-15 seconds for the signal to get picked up again.

Seems bold to ask for a free radio when you owe money. But since I had been a customer for probably almost $2k worth of service over the last 6+ years, I felt I was warranted.

After talking to Mister “K is for Kilo” about my problem (I asked after he said that and found out he was from Egypt), the money I owe, and how much it was going to cost to renew for another year, I bought in to getting the all new Starmate 5, being advertised for $129.99 plus only $4.99/mth for 3 months service. But I was going to get the receiver for only $39.99.

To just renew the two lines and not change anything was $273.81. It seemed like a good deal to me.

So I authorized a charge for $52.83 for a new radio to be shipped to me, and in a couple days’ time there will be another charge for $42.20 for service and activation. After my receiver arrives I can call up and activate it and switch to something new that they have, called “a la carte” service. Never had heard of it. He was prompted to tell me about it when I said look, I just listen to 5 stations, I don’t need anything fancy (like a new radio).

Evidently “a la carte” service lets you pick up to 50 stations to listen to and the receiver screens out the rest. And it’s only $8.99 + .97 music royalty fee, instead of $14.99 plus $2 something or other.

I am glad Sirius got smart and figured out who their customers are. And what we are right now is financially challenged. After arranging for this deal I was transferred to the Cancellation department to cancel the old receivers. I knew Steve would be willing to listen to his iPod rather than pay $98.89 for his 2nd receiver, after paying $164.24 for the first. $273.81 right now for something that other people get free out of the air just wasn’t going to fly.

Of course, Cancellation told me they could have just sent me a free replacement for my current bare-bones receiver. It seems Sales doesn’t know that replacement for receivers as old as mine are free. But I admit the thought of actually being able to read the song artist and title sold me. My current receiver is not readable unless it is dark out. And you’re not moving.

So I was still going to cancel Steve’s receiver. Then she told me I could keep it active for 5 months for only $20. This is essentially half price, and they’re not making me pay for the whole thing up front. This I could do.

Steve will be so happy. After he gets his car back from repairs. He hasn’t been in his own car for weeks. Luckily he’s in a borrowed vehicle. It’s weird parking next to a green Jeep Cherokee in the garage. It takes up too much room for sure!

And I taught Mister “K is for Kilo” that for us it’s K is for Kangaroo or Kit Kat bar, no kilos around here.