Quick story about my $69 deal, noted above. I'm not sure it really existed.
Back on the 5th, I re-upped my car for, (rounding), $56. That's All Access, 5 months.
Today, I called in to renew my wife's car for five months Select, for what I figured would be roughly $27. Instead I was offered the $69 yearly rate, which I took.
Late this afternoon, I noticed I was no longer able to stream. When I looked at my accounts (I keep everything on separate accounts) S/XM had applied the $69 annual to my car, thus negating the renewal of a few days ago and killing my streaming service.
My wife's car, meanwhile, was not renewed and would roll over in two days.
Now in fairness, maybe the mistake was mine. Maybe I gave the S/XM rep the account for my car, not my wife's. I don't think so, but anything is possible.
All that said, I spent a miserable 45 minutes on the phone untangling the mess - do they have any native English speakers left? - but ultimately got my car reupped as All Access for six months, and my wife's car for five months.
And the rep who straightened things out could find nothing, nothing about a discount rate today. I wonder if the original rep saw that my car had just reupped and offered me a 'deal" of $69 which essentially wiped out the $56 I spent a few days ago. S/XM stood to make $130 off of me for a year on my car, had I not caught the problem.
S/XM is a hassle, whether you're paying full price or doing what I do, constantly negotiating for a better rate.
s.
edit - And...I as right. There was no special "43 percent off" deal today. When I got my purchase confirmations back from S/XM this evening, the first transaction of the day shows me buying a Select package for $109 plus $15 for music royalties, offset with a $56 credit for my renewal of a week back.
Mind you, the rep on the phone described this as a 'today only deal' for $69. All it really was, was something close to their regular discounted price, minus what I paid a few days back. I should have realized what was going on from the git-go; that said, the guy who sold me was on the far side of deceptive with his pitch.