The gift that keeps on giving

A couple of years ago, Tony bought me a Sirius radio for Christmas. At the time I was working in Memphis and so I was on the road at least 10hrs a week. Let me tell you, listening to satellite radio has really spoiled me. Not only can I avoid the commercials but I always know the name of the song and the artist because it shows up on the radio display. And if I really like the song I can just rewind it and listen to it again. Plus I can check what's on other stations without having to change the channel. Another perk is that my radio came with a remote. I know that sounds silly - a car radio with a remote - but it keeps you from having to reach over to change the channel while you're driving. And anyone in the car can be in charge of the radio as long as they have the remote. Trust me, it's super convenient.

Anyway... the reason I'm bringing all this up now is to say that this year I decided I wasn't going to renew my subscription. Money is tight and I really felt like the $170 we would spend on radio could be better spent elsewhere. For Christmas this year I bought us radio transmitters for our iPhones. I figured that we could use Pandora or even the internet version of Sirius on our phones instead of the regular Sirius radio and that would save us a lot of money. I was sad to give it up but I knew we'd get by just fine without it.

When my subscription ran out in January the Sirius people started to call and I ignored their them. I knew they just wanted to try and talk me into renewing. I'd already emailed customer service before the sub expired, asking if they could give me a better deal and they said they couldn't budge. So I really wasn't interested in talking to them. But they kept calling - sometimes two and three times a day! Last Friday I'd finally had enough! I was sick of the multiple calls a day that interrupted my work, lunch and Angry Birds games. So I answered intending to give the other person on the line a piece of my mind!

But what happened? I caved.

Don't judge. Let me make my case. When I answered the phone and talked with them they offered me a deal. Get this - $19.99 for five months! My old plan was around $14 a month. Crazy, right?!? So I gave the dude on the phone my cc# and let him bill me for five more months. I know the rate will go up again after July. But now my evil little plan is to call just before my five months is up and cancel. You know they'll just give me some other outrageous deal to get me to stay again. And I'm okay with that. Yay for working the system!