The folks at XM radio can lick me where I pee

I haven't really used XM much. I got it primarily for Opie and Anthony and then they started broadcasting on terrestrial radio anyway. My XM receiver didn't really work in my house and I never really bothered to install it in my car. On occasion, I might listen to it on the computer, but really I'd forget that it was even an option for the most part. I haven't really listened to it for months.

So then, XM suspended Opie and Anthony. Buh? It's a subscription service. I paid and subscribed specifically for this. I sent an angry message that I don't want to renew my subscription.

Today, I received a letter from the kind folks at XM stating that they would automatically renew my subscription and charge my credit card in the next few weeks. I hate when companies do this.

I called to cancel and waited for 15 minutes before someone took my call. I explained that I was canceling because I hardly used the service. I also admitted that I really don't support censorship of any kind, especially when I'm paying for the service and that this was my boycott. The woman I spoke with said that she'd connect me to someone who would cancel my service right away. I waited on the phone like a douche for five minutes before I heard a busy signal. The phone was disconnected.

I called back, seething. This time I waited for 20 minutes before someone spoke to me. I explained how angry I was, but stayed calm. I didn't swear (I know, hard to believe), but I did happen to call the operator "Sweetheart."

"I'm really sorry to hear that you're canceling your subscription," the rep said.

"Are you?" I replied dryly. "Will you be up all night worrying about what I plan to listen to without your service? Just connect me to your cancellation department, please."

I waited for a few more minutes only to discover that I had been hung up on a second time!

I called a third time and waited once again. When the third representative answered I immediately asked for a supervisor. I explained what had happened. The supervisor eventually made her way onto the phone. She threw an offer at me for $77 for the year, roughly half the price of a regular annual subscription. I politely declined. I explained that after the service I just received, I had no interest in giving their company any business at all. I said that I hardly used the service and since I specifically subscribed for a program that had been suspended I had no use for them. I don't support censorship.

She told me that it was only temporary. I said I didn't care. She said that the company hadn't suspended them for what was said, rather they asked them not to discuss the issue anymore.

I cut her off. "Asking someone not to say something IS censorship. I have no interest in your politics, ma'am. I just want to cancel my service and be rid of you. Now will you please do it?"

And finally she did. Bleh. I can't believe how ballsy they are. If I don't want to pay for something, I shouldn't have to waste an hour and a half of my life to get out of it and then get an argument after really shitty service. For fuck's sake, just let me go. This whole experience didn't win me over. It just made it worse.