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Tuesday, October 26, 2004
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XM is driving me up a wall...
This is true in many regards. Of course, all of the posts lately here on GuyOnTheAir.com seem to have something to do with XM. But, there's interesting news:
I've installed the XM Commander in my vehicle. Perhaps we'll get some pics in the Moblog soon. This took me approximately 10 hours, as I didn't really know what I was doing, and the wiring and such is quite complicated for what I had to do.
But, everything is functioning and well! So, XM is driving me...when I drive.
And when I'm not driving, XM is driving me up a wall, so to speak. With renewed vigor and interest for this whole thing, today I called 1-888-465-4692. These fine folks are the rebate house "RebatesHQ.com", which XM Radio hired to process their rebates. Of course, remember carefully that XM claims they have nothing to do with supplying parts or equipment. Upon FINALLY getting to a real human at RebatesHQ.com, I got to speak to Sharon. Sharon, of course, was very concerned that I was not getting my rebate, but did note the I had called October 20, inquiring about the rebate. She also said they'd told me then that I had to wait and additional 8-10 weeks, and it had only been 5. Sharon, the hired lackey, was boring me, so I asked to speak to her manager. Sharon chose to argue with me some 3 or 4 minutes about how he couldn't possibly help me any more than she, and that I really didn't need to speak to him. Enter Andre (his real name), Agent #1941. After telling Andre that Sharon was nice and polite, if useless, I explained the situation. 1) I'd sent a rebate into RebatesHQ.com on June 10, 2004. 2) RebatesHQ.com claimed to not get the rebate until July 22, 2004. 3) Assuming it ACTUALLY took that long for RebatesHQ.com to actually get the rebate, it had still been THREE MONTHS since that date. And nobody was doing anything.
Andre explained that RebatesHQ.com is JUST a rebate house, and doesn't actually send out the kits, and, in fact, only ever sends out checks for merchants. In this particular promotion, RebatesHQ.com just verified the rebate and then sent the information over to Metron for fulfillment. But, Andre assured me, if I called Metron and gave them my rebate number, they'd be able to look it up and give me a status.
I've heard the name Metron before. See, they're a direct fulfillment house for, you guessed it, XM Satellite Radio. In fact, if you call Metron @ 1-866-SHOPXM1, you're likely to hear "Thank you for calling XM Customer Service, this is" so-and-so "how can I help you?" Wait. Hasn't XM been telling me all along that THEY don't send ANYTHING out, and don't provide parts or equipment?
I spoke with a lady (who will rename nameless, as I forgot to ask her her name...) at 1-866-SHOPXM1 who asked me for my customer number, but I'm not sure what it is, as it's NOT the number that RebatesHQ.com gave me. She finally decided that she was unable to help me. So, she says she'll forward my information along to the appropriate rebate department, and that they'll give me a call back.
Then, she told me "Thank you for calling XM Radio." Hmmm...
I'm not holding my breath, nor standing by the phone...
