Well my Sirius is still working, as far as I know. BUT... I'm on hold right now, supposedly waiting for Edward to "escalate" this and get me a case #. This is the 4th time I've called them. Call to the dealer told me it was Sirius' problem and I should give them my VIN and that would fix everything. Sirius did have the VIN slightly wrong, so we'll see (in 48-72 hours). This guy was the first one to actually admit that Sirius/BMW did even offer the lifetime subscription.

Needless to say, I'm still not hopeful.

 

Yes that happened to me too... my account was cancelled... it was one of the messed up ones 3 months free + 9 months. I had been emailing my MA back and forth to get the issue resolved and supposedly they were resolving it. Then I started getting emails that my account is cancelled and phonecalls too. So when I called the number back and realized that sirius was calling me I basically decided to try to get the whole thing sorted out right there. BTW, what happened next is a good example of why it is probably best NOT to let your dealer do this and to do it yourself.

So I told the guy the whole story about how I got the car and activated on 11/24/07 and at the time they couldn't get it to go through as lifetime and now it seems to all of a sudden be cancelled (which makes no sense even with the 3 month / 9 months account I had been put on). He basically came back saying that it doesn't make any sense to him why it was cancelled either, but it look like it was and they could reactivate. I then told him if they are going to reactivate then I'd appreciate it if they could fix the Lifetime issue as well so that the problem is not just made worse. Then he came back and said they couldn't do lifetime especially because there were no notes or anything on the account to indicate there was an issue or it had been worked on (why it probably is not good to do this through your dealer). So then basically I told him to get his supervisor because all of that is irrelevant this is a 07 Mini and the subscription should be free.

So long story short (it took another 30 minutes for the supervisor to fix the account) the supervisor set the account up for lifetime (she knew that's how it is supposed to be, the problem is that the car does not show up in their system as an 07 mini). In the process I had to give them the ESN again (to confirm) as well as the VIN. So basically if you talk to the right person there it can get fixed, and this may truely be the only way to reliably address the issue as if you rely on your dealer and they don't come through with it then you have a two month old account with no notes or anything on there to indicate there was a problem to begin with (and they will be more skeptical).

 

Continuing saga - in real time: (similar story to ajabbari but not fixed yet)
After multiple calls to Sirius and my dealer MA on my "lifetime" Sirius over the past few weeks - I just found out my account listing for "one year coverage" was canceled by phone message and no listing for my ESN information on the web site (it was there last week). I am on the phone with Sirius right now - after being cut off once already and going through their endless menu system yet again.

Still on hold after long explanation of what I have already been through... it is 6:52 AM: been 5 minutes up to this point with this call and at least the line has not gone dead... yet...

I had the VIN with me but they don't have it listed and can't see what kind of car it is!! I need my ESN number but that is with the car in the parking garage...... It is now 9:01 AM. I have to start all over when I can get the ESN. They can't even locate it from when it was on their site earlier in the week. How does this company function????

More later..

Steve
2007 week 42 MCSa laser blue/white, all the stock packages including audio with ?lifetime Sirius

 

It is now 9:34.... got the ESN from the car and called back. I got someone else because "Will" is on another call. She took the information and did not have a clue about the lifetime subscription. She said I would have to pay them directly since they did not have a record of my paying or payment through the dealership. How messed up could this get?? A lot more apparently.
I had to get back to work so I told them to take the information, give it to their supervisor's supervisor and CALL ME BACK TODAY with an update and that they had better straighten it out or I can smell a class action suit based on the responses here. It is a shame that so much time has collectively been wasted on this problem in what should have been a procedural slam dunk.

As for the "right people"... it is the luck of the draw. All the ones I get are completely clueless. Maybe we need to make a listing here of the "right people" and their extensions!!!!! A great MINI public service.

I also think "lifetime" Sirius needs to be redefined as "it takes a lifetime to get it"! That would at least be truth in advertising.


Steve

2007 MCSa laser blue/white with audio package but... lifetime Sirius???

 

We're all getting the MINI vs. Sirius "it's not MY problem" runaround. On the one hand, we get the most customer service (good or bad) from Sirius. On the other hand, our real complaint is with MINI. MINI screwed up the lifetime subscription -- Sirius would cheerfully sell them whatever MINI wanted to re-sell to us. Some of us have been told the problem is that MINI gave Sirius an ESN for an '05 car or radio, not an '07. MINI didn't get it right, or didn't make sure it was right.

Also, we gave our money to MINI, not to Sirius. We had a contract with MINI for certain products, including a lifetime subscription to Sirius service. We should all be dealing with MINI, and demanding that they live up to the terms of their sales agreement with us.

That's the theory, at least. Car dealers are notorious for being miserable bastards to deal with after they take your money (too bad for my MA in this case--my in-laws and a couple of friends were interested in the car once they saw mine; after the Sirius problem, I steered 'em to another dealer in town). YMMV, but right now, MINI dealers and MINI USA are not providing great customer service to us.

We have been considering contacting the attorney general or consumer fraud office of our state, and possibly the states attorney for the county where the dealer is located. We definitely have a case of consumer fraud here --we were promised something; they took our money; they didn't deliver. Getting the state authorities to act is never easy. Usually, you need a lot of angry consumers But hey, I just read MINI sales were up 44% in December--that's a lot of people buying MINIs, a lot buying lifetime Sirius subscriptions, and a lot discovering they've been ripped off.

 

Well in principle yes... but assuming this is Mini's fault (at the very least for lack of good follow through) by the time you want to get this resolved through them years will have probably passed and the whole thing will most likely be a moot point anyway.

Spetak, I should point out that even though she took my ESN and VIN I don't think that really proved much by itself. After taking the VIN and putting me on hold again for a couple of minutes she came back asking if I was sure it is for an 07 Mini. So in other words, things are more screwed up here than we can probably imagine (I'm sort of curious to see what would come up now if I did a carfax on my VIN). In the end I think I just got luck in that she took my word for it and decided to give me the benefit of the doubt as opposed to Mini. I think if you are bound to get this resolved you will need to do it with the same supervisor, if they start passing you around from one to the other I'm not so sure things will work out, as I think the "by the book" response is to say that you should do it through the dealer.

 

Wow... I sent an email to customer service explaining all the above and my concerns and received the following email in response: Looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel. Now to see if it really is fixed! If any of you are still having problems, write an email to the attention of this representative and see if it resolves the matter. It does appear to be a SERIOUS SIRIUS problem (sorry about that...) since they had the lifetime information in their "records". Good luck!!

Steve
_____________________________
EMAIL FROM SIRIUS
______________________________
Dear Steven,

Thank you for contacting SIRIUS regarding your account. We're happy to
help!

We can certainly understand your concern regarding this issue. Steven,
after reviewing your account we noticed that you have received a one
year free service with the purchase of your 2007 Mini Cooper. However,
after reviewing our records we determined that your 2007 Mini Cooper
includes a Lifetime Subscription. We have added your receiver SID/ESN
XXXXXXXXX to your account on a Prepaid Lifetime Subscription. We
recommend you to contact SIRIUS Customer Care at the number below and
they will be able to send the activation signal to your receiver. Keep
in mind that your receiver must be powered on and your antenna must have
a clear view of the sky during the activation process. We have also
provided your username and password and link below where you log in and
review your account and Lifetime subscription online. We would also
like to mention that you can also send the activation signal to your
receiver by logging into your account online. If you have any more
questions, please feel free to reply back or contact SIRIUS Customer
Care at the number provided at the bottom of this email.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Have a great day!

We are committed to providing you with the best in customer care. For
your convenience, we are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at:

1-888-539-SIRIUS (7474)

As well as by email at:

www.sirius.com/customercare

Sincerely,

Cecil P
SIRIUS Customer Care

 

A little off-topic, but how much do you think you paid just for the lifetime Sirius deal? Isn't it about $13/month ala carte?

 

It's $500 according to the Sirius website. Although they're running a special right now where it's 100 bucks off.

 

So even at $400 at $15/month you pay for over 2 years up front at the ala carte price (almost 3 years at the reg price). I'll guess it's not transferable to a buyer of your car, because I bet the car owner has to periodically update their account to continue to get Sirius service. Doesn't sound like any bargain to me unless you yourself use it for at least 3-4 years.

 

If you're talking about the factory installed Sirius, it is locked to the VIN and always stays with the car. If the car is sold, it transfers to the new owner. The new owner wouldn't need to do anything.

 

I wanna be the new owner, not the dude that paid $4-500 to hear Sirius for 2-3 years. I've had it in rental cars and it's a chore finding something I like to listen to. Reminds me of the Springsteen line "55 channels and nothing on".

 

Well I'm pretty sure that the old owner will be trying to pass some of that charge on to the "new owner".

For me the Sirius was bundled with the Audio package I got with my R56. I like the HiFi, I like the HD radio... as far as Sirius goes I can say that qualitywise it leaves something to be desired. When you put it next to HD radio and CD/iPod adapter the Sirius sounds closer to good streaming internet radio as far as the audio quality goes. I hear that the programming on Sirius is good and of course the fact that it is consistent nationwide is a plus but so far it has not gotten much playtime.

 

I have a 6/29/07 07 MCS with Lifetime Siruis, but like all of you, it shows up as 9 months prepaid, with 3 months free. Today, I was online trying to add another radio for a Range Rover and it wouldn't work online...called Sirius and finally spoke to a real person. Told him I was trying to add a radio to an existing account, and by the way, my Mini account is incorrect and needs to show "Lifetime Subsccription". He put me on hold twice for 2 times and got it corrected...GREAT! I think the MA's probably can do this, but they are too busy selling cars...at MSRP.

 

So here's an update.

After getting some emails again about my subscription needing to be renewed (this is the one that was made lifetime). I logged in again and lo and behold it looks like it has been cancelled (again). It looks like I'll be calling them up again, although I'm starting to get the feeling that in the end they'll probably come up with some BS about how they shouldn't have given me Lifetime bacause there is no record the car should have lifetime... and the dealer/manufacturer will need to take care of the issue (which from what I'm seeing they won't). Essentially what they were saying before I finally convinced the supervisor to do it

Bottom line is I'm getting a bad feeling that unless I want to take this to the next legal step, I'm not going to be getting my free lifetime without paying something.

 

Good googa mooga! I can't believe people are still getting hammered with this. I know the whole thing comes down to a VIN decoding issue. I found a chart breaking down the MINI VINs somewhere on the internet and mine clearly had the correct digits for an '07 MINI, yet SIRIUS claimed it was an '05 BMW. They (SIRIUS) obviously has an incorrect VIN breakdown. I don't know whether it was given them by MINI (most likely) or they came up with it on their own, but it's wrong and it appears there is no way to get it fixed. You must simply luck into dealing with someone with initiative...and the salaries they pay the phone support folks can't afford initiative for very long.

My MA led me to believe that he had gotten my name on to some list, at a MINI corporate level, that was handled by a SIRIUS liason. I can't say for sure whether it was that list, or the fact that I lucked into a SIRIUS agent with initiative that got mine straightened out (and again, I appologize to all for not getting her name).

 

I purchased my Cooper last year, 7/13/2007. When I activated it, they gave me a one-year subscription. I called the car salesman and was told that they would straighten it out. Until today I hadn't worried about it. Found out it's still listed as one-year sub and no lifetime renewal under my ESN. I called Sirius because I could figure out how to log into my account.

After giving them my VIN #, they supplied me with my ESN and username/password. The Sirius rep put me on hold a few times and created a ticket to "escalate" to corporate. Not sure what the glitch is. She asked for the dealer's name, address and phone number and the exact date of purchase. They had heard of the life-time subscription but wouldn't guarantee a correction. She also couldn't tell me when a decision would be made.

Guess I'll check back next week with Sirius to see if they've changed it. If not, maybe I'll try emailing Sirius. It is frustrating that MINI can't take care of this after charging all that money.

 

Anyone still having this issue? I have a 2008 Clubman with a receipt showing lifetime subscription. I have been working with Sirius for a month with an escalation to someone named "Richie", but of course, no action & no one will let me actually talk to "Richie". Anyone have any suggestions or tactics that seemed to work? And yes, my MA has asked "corporate" to assist as well.

 

When I had the problem last year, I brought my paperwork in to the MINI Service people (with my first maint check up) and had them call Sirius to straighten it out. It took about 10 minutes.

 

Yeah, you're right. It is better to have 3 shitty local analog radio stations with commercials every 5 minutes than 75 commercial free digital music channels and 50 Entertainment/Sports/News/Traffic/Kids channels.

This guy is probably still using rabbit ears on his TV set! Hey Newt, do ya know you have to get a digital box for yer TV (talkin' box) in February. Ah, he can't hear me, he's too busy yelling at the kids to get off his lawn.

 

So my situation is really convoluted, but here it goes. I've had an XM subscription for years. I had 4 radios on that account and it's charged monthly. About a year ago, I bought a Sirius Stilletto for work and did a one-year subscription on it. That Sirius subscription ran out a month before I took delivery of my new '09 MCS with factory Sirius. As soon as that pre-paid year ran out, they started hounding me to renew my subscription and offered me 3 free months.

Fast forward a month to when my new car arrives. Now XM and Sirius have merged but their plans and billing are still separate. I call Sirius to activate the radio in my new car. During that call, I mention about my existing XM subscription and the Sirius renewal offer. The nice lady turns on my new radio and says that she also added the free 3 months on top of it.

I log in to my new Sirius account (which has the same credentials as my prior "work" account that had since expired) and now it says "SIRIUS EVERYTHING (Lifetime Plan) ".

I was expecting to have 15 months pre-paid, but it appears that have set me up for a lifetime plan!

BTW, are there any other XM listeners that are totally disappointed by the carnage that has been unleashing during the merger? Some of my favorite stations are gone and most of the new DJs talk way too much.

One of the XM radios on our current account is built into our home stereo system. We just bought a Squeezebox Duet and plan on deactivating that XM subscription soon, just to get better music, better sound quality, and no DJs.

 

I actually got a letter from MINI a while back about the whole thing - telling me I should have a lifetime sub but might not and how to fix it. Luckily I had already gotten it straightened out after quite a few phonecalls.

 

Sorry to hear of the continuing confusion. I took delivery of my '08 the last week of October and called Sirius the next day. The CSR insisted I had one year free, and I pressed her to investigate further. After a very long place on hold (close to ten minutes) she returned and said it was fixed. The Sirius website shows that there is no expiration, so I have to presume they did it right.

Good luck trying to get this resolved. I'd call daily, and ***** to the CSR like hell about the lack of timely follow-up. Maybe one will feel compelled to escalate it to someone other than "Richie" who is empowered.

 

I'm not complaining (about the supposedly free upgrade to "lifetime") but the 2009 MINI configurator clearly states that the built-in Sirius radio includes a one-year subscription, so that's really all I expected...

 

So, be reeeeeal quiet...


I just checked to be sure, and they have the lifetime package correct on my '08.