Sirius Charged My Credit Card Without Permission

Can't you file something with your credit card company to dispute this
$1 charge? If you never signed for them to do a recurring debit then I
doubt they can legally do this.
If your credit card company cannot help you out with this then its
time to get rid of it.

But this will probably mean cancelling Sirus before the free trial is
up (I am assuming that this is still in effect since these are new
vehicles).

We received a 90 day trial of Sirius radio when we bought our newest
car last spring. We never gave a credit card number to the company but
they have been harassing us now to sign up via phone calls and mail.
We don't want it and they will not take no for an answer.

They always try to lower the price or lessen the subscription time to
get us to sign up. It's driving me crazy. The economy is in shambles
and they want me to sign up for radio I have no need for. Ugh

This happened to me and another service provider (I can't remember
now, maybe Comcast, I think). The $1 charge, not the angry phone
calls.
Anyway, I called to see what the deal was. They like you to have a
credit card on file, so you can't rip them off by not paying your
bill. Kind of like when you reserve a hotel room or something and
damage it/don't show up. In order to check to see if the card is
legit, they run an authorization for $1. Then they credit it back.

As far as them continuing to use the card for recurring charges, I
would double check to make sure you didn't check something that gives
them permission to do so. When people fill out applications or sign
contracts, they often don't look at what they are signing up for.

You say you have three subscriptions with Sirius. Did you use a credit
card when you signed up with Sirus? Are any of those subscriptions now
due?

Here is what is what is on the Sirius website regarding payment:

1. Subscription Fee: You must pay in advance by credit card or debit
card. You may combine payment with a SIRIUS prepaid card. You may also
pay by check or money order for Subscriptions of at least one year in
length. If you pay by check or money order you will receive an invoice
by mail and will be required to make your first payment before your
Subscription is activated.

2. Automatic Renewal: Your Subscription will continue for the length
of the initial term you select ("Subscription Term") and will
automatically renew at the end of the Subscription Term unless you
choose to cancel prior to that renewal. Such renewal will be effected
at the initial term selected or, at our option, on a month-to month
basis. Your account will automatically be charged (or you will be
billed, as applicable) at the rates in effect at the time of renewal.



If you gave Sirius a credit card when you signed up, you authorized
them to charge that card when the renewal came up.

Why did you give them your credit card in the first place if not to
order a subscription? If that's what you did, you were setting up a
monthly recurring charge. That's how Sirius works.

I also agree that it makes no difference the country in which you were
speaking to a CSR, and just by asking you were setting yourself up for
a confrontation.

It sounds like you are still angry by reading your letter. So I bet
you blew a gasket talking to the mgr. No wonder he responded the way
he did. And by the way, what he said is right.

It is always better to calm down, and be levelheaded with people.
People are more likely to want to help you when you are polite. And
yes you can be polite and upset.

Good Day

The lady and manager, although extremely rude, are 100% correct. This
was a pre-authorization. When you give a company your credit card
number to set up an account such as this, they pre-authorize your
card, usually in the amount of $1.

"I noticed that there was a charge on my debit card pending for
$1.00"
Pending - Key word here.
This charge WILL NOT be posted. When you gave them your credit card
number, they simply apply that $1 authorization to make sure that the
card is valid, but it will never be posted or charged to your account.


Since it seems like you got nowhere with this call, I would wait a few
days for the pre-authorization to go away (I doubt Sirius is running a
fraud scheme over $1 charges), and call back. Simply tell the CSR that
you do not want to be set up for recurrent billing. Even though you
told them this in the first place, it seems like it was set up
accidentally, and is a simple case of human error. It should be fixed
in a calm fashion if you are pleasant and simply tell them what you
want done. Dont go into any shenanigans about permission, charges,
fraud etc. It will most likely be a repeat of last time.