XM and the 396

On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 17:17:16 GMT, Maule Driver
wrote:

Jonathan Goodish wrote:
In article ,
Maule Driver wrote:

I'm not sure about the "inactivity timer," but why would you want to
continue to pay if you're not using it?

So it's ready for use when you do decide to use it.


You can call XM and have it re-activated over the phone. This isn't a
$10-$12/month subscription, in many cases folks are paying $50 for the
full weather service.

The implication is that when they de-activate your account for non-use,
they stop charging you for it? A wonderful policy if that's the case
but surprising to this observer of corporate policies and practices.

I doubt it.

I suspect it's something similar to the DirecTV system. They send
down authorization packets for (youraccout/deviceid) every
(onceandawhile). The device receives the packet, updates the expire
date, is happy, and keeps working. If you don't use it in
(morethanonceandawhile) the authorization packet times out and you
have to either ask them to send a packet specifically for your device
to hear, or leave it on for (longenoughtogetanewpacket). They don't
stop charging you for the service because you decide not to use it (or
in the case of DirecTV, have the receiver unplugged) for a month.
Perhaps there is a 'seasonal suspend' feature they have available,
but I have no knowledge of that.

Peter Clark wrote:

I suspect it's something similar to the DirecTV system. They send
down authorization packets for (youraccout/deviceid) every
(onceandawhile). The device receives the packet, updates the expire
date, is happy, and keeps working. If you don't use it in
(morethanonceandawhile) the authorization packet times out and you
have to either ask them to send a packet specifically for your device
to hear, or leave it on for (longenoughtogetanewpacket). They don't
stop charging you for the service because you decide not to use it (or
in the case of DirecTV, have the receiver unplugged) for a month.

DTV has an alternative connection through the telephone...

Perhaps there is a 'seasonal suspend' feature they have available,
but I have no knowledge of that.

They do, its called a "vacation"... Takes a phone call...

You can call XM and have it re-activated over the phone.

What if you're not near a phone when you discover that you need it and
it's not there? Or if "due to unusual call volume, there will be a
slight delay before our highly trained service representatives can get
to your call."?
--
Nothing takes longer than a shortcut.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

In article ,
Maule Driver wrote:
You can call XM and have it re-activated over the phone. This isn't a
$10-$12/month subscription, in many cases folks are paying $50 for the
full weather service.

The implication is that when they de-activate your account for non-use,
they stop charging you for it? A wonderful policy if that's the case
but surprising to this observer of corporate policies and practices.


I don't know, but my point was that if you're not going to use it for an
extended period of time, why wouldn't you call and de-activate it so
that they stop billing you?



JKG

On Mon, 18 Jul 2005 13:18:01 -0500, Darrel Toepfer
wrote:

Peter Clark wrote:

I suspect it's something similar to the DirecTV system. They send
down authorization packets for (youraccout/deviceid) every
(onceandawhile). The device receives the packet, updates the expire
date, is happy, and keeps working. If you don't use it in
(morethanonceandawhile) the authorization packet times out and you
have to either ask them to send a packet specifically for your device
to hear, or leave it on for (longenoughtogetanewpacket). They don't
stop charging you for the service because you decide not to use it (or
in the case of DirecTV, have the receiver unplugged) for a month.

DTV has an alternative connection through the telephone...

DirecTV's phone connection only sends Pay Per View usage data back to
their computer, it is not used for authorization or activation of the
receiver. One time I had the phone line connected in a spare room,
but accidentally disconnected the run to the multiswitch. When a
guest wanted to use it (god alone knows how long later) I had to call
DTV and have them hit the receiver, even though they showed that the
box dialed in as scheduled.

Perhaps there is a 'seasonal suspend' feature they have available,
but I have no knowledge of that.

They do, its called a "vacation"... Takes a phone call...

How do they pro-rate? Do they limit the amount of times you can do
this? How about taking 'vacation' 3 weeks a month?

In article ,
Jose wrote:
What if you're not near a phone when you discover that you need it and
it's not there? Or if "due to unusual call volume, there will be a
slight delay before our highly trained service representatives can get
to your call."?

Honestly, when is this ever going to be the case? The reasonable
assumption is that if you're going to go flying, you call and activate
it. If you know you aren't going to be flying for an extended period of
time (months), you deactivate it.

I believe that XM charges a $75 activation fee if you deactivate and
then re-activate, so you would have to determine your break-even point
based on the plan to which you subscribe.


JKG

"Jonathan Goodish" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Jose wrote:
What if you're not near a phone when you discover that you need it and
it's not there? Or if "due to unusual call volume, there will be a
slight delay before our highly trained service representatives can get
to your call."?

Honestly, when is this ever going to be the case? The reasonable
assumption is that if you're going to go flying, you call and activate
it. If you know you aren't going to be flying for an extended period of
time (months), you deactivate it.

I believe that XM charges a $75 activation fee if you deactivate and
then re-activate, so you would have to determine your break-even point
based on the plan to which you subscribe.



The issue isn't that they are turning it off to save you money. Your system
gets an "Account Active" packet from time to time from the satelite. XM has
no way of knowing if you received the packet so they can't stop charging
you.

There is really no way to know when your packet is going to come down the
stream. You might turn it on for a few minutes on Sunday night and then go
to the airport Monday morning and it not be working.

A refund w/b nice but they're #1 and they know it. Customer service not
required.

I had major startup issues when getting my system up & running right after
they offered it. I "strongly" requested a credit for the time I was unable
to use the system b/c they had refresh issues (the toll free operator person
thought I had a 'radio'. He didn't know about the 'aviator' customer.)
When we finally got it all straightened out, they said they would consider
it. I never heard from them. A follow-up letter from me brought a canned
"we decline to issue the credit. Have a nice day."

They are starting out like Garmin is now.

--

Thx, {|;-)

Victor J. (Jim) Osborne, Jr.

"Maule Driver" wrote in message
om...
Jonathan Goodish wrote:
In article ,
Maule Driver wrote:

I'm not sure about the "inactivity timer," but why would you want to
continue to pay if you're not using it?

So it's ready for use when you do decide to use it.


You can call XM and have it re-activated over the phone. This isn't a
$10-$12/month subscription, in many cases folks are paying $50 for the
full weather service.

The implication is that when they de-activate your account for non-use,
they stop charging you for it? A wonderful policy if that's the case but
surprising to this observer of corporate policies and practices.

Re-activation is $50-75.

--

Thx, {|;-)

Victor J. (Jim) Osborne, Jr.


I don't know, but my point was that if you're not going to use it for an
extended period of time, why wouldn't you call and de-activate it so
that they stop billing you?



JKG

Peter Clark wrote:

DirecTV's phone connection only sends Pay Per View usage data back to
their computer, it is not used for authorization or activation of the
receiver. One time I had the phone line connected in a spare room,
but accidentally disconnected the run to the multiswitch. When a
guest wanted to use it (god alone knows how long later) I had to call
DTV and have them hit the receiver, even though they showed that the
box dialed in as scheduled.

It sends viewer data back as well. Or earlier versions of it did...

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/custom..._phoneline.dsp
"Get the most out of your entertainment experience by keeping your
DIRECTV® Receiver connected to a land-based phone-line.

How does staying connected help you?

It allows you to order pay per view movies and events with your remote
control and avoid phone-order assistance fees. You'll also be able to
order other special programming and products through your on-screen
guide such as Local Channels and DIRECTV — The Guide®.

Your sports subscription packages will be mirrored to the other DIRECTV
Receivers in your house.

You'll be able to upgrade to our advanced receivers such as the DIRECTV®
DVR.

You'll be plugged into our system for future interactive capabilities."

How do they pro-rate? Do they limit the amount of times you can do
this? How about taking 'vacation' 3 weeks a month?

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/get_di...tions_cost.dsp
"If you have additional questions, call us toll-free at 1-888-777-2454"

Used to be vacation billing info on the website, quick browse didn't
find anything. I'd suggest the newsgroups specifically for this item, if
you want to continue information gathering in this manner...