XM NavTraffic trial subscription (2013 Outback)

[djz]

Well, you are in a better position than I am at this point. I am almost 2 months in to ownership and still don't have my nav traffic up and running.

SOA tells me I should have a 4 month trial on sat radio and traffic
XM tells me the dealer only activated the sat radio and not the traffic
Dealer tells me that there is no trial on the nav traffic

[hadouken]

Sorry to hear you're still having problems.

On October 19 Subaru told me that SiriusXM has finally got the trial period right in their systems (four months, not three) including NavTraffic. I'm not sure if that will help any existing owners, but hopefully new users won't have this trouble.

Best of all, today Subaru was able to rectify the problem for me.

They ended up getting SiriusXM to apply a credit for 4 months' service (SiriusXM Select + XM NavTraffic) - about $85 - to my account and switching me from a trial subscription to a regular, paid subscription. This might be a viable route for anyone still having problems.

A huge shout-out to John J. Mergen from Subaru Customer Service for taking on this battle for me - and winning.

[djz]

I think I am on the home stretch. The difference for me is that I have no intention of subscribing to the satellite radio service, but I may pay for the traffic service if it seems useful to me. In order to figure that out, I would like to have my trial period to evaluate how it works.

I am not willing to subscribe to anything at the moment...

[djz]

Well, it looks like I was wrong.

I got a call from Linda at SOA today and was told everything was in order, I just needed to call XM to provide them my radio ID adn they would activate my 4 month trial. She gave me the number to call and when I did I was told that there was nothing XM could do since the dealer only activated the audio and not the traffic.

So two months in I am still in the same place I was the day I bought the car with no XM traffic service.

I have called Linda back and am still waiting for her to return my call.

[Tom28]

I spoke with Linda today, too, djz.

She didn't seem to know that this was an issue and that she would have to talk to people tomorrow.

[djz]

Just got a call from the dealer where I bought the car. They want me to come down there when their factory rep is in town to let him look at the car. He will be there next week some time and then again the last week of the month. Personally I don't think I should have to take time off of work or out of my day to get this dealt with.

This is going from bad to worse, the issue is that nobody at Subaru or the dealer (I would assume it is the dealer that is responsible to turn on the free trial) ever activated the nav traffic with XM. That is all I need them to do, I have given several people my radio ID, though they should have it attached to the VIN and purchase paperwork.

[Tom28]

Originally Posted by djz

Just got a call from the dealer where I bought the car. They want me to come down there when their factory rep is in town to let him look at the car. He will be there next week some time and then again the last week of the month. Personally I don't think I should have to take time off of work or out of my day to get this dealt with.

This is going from bad to worse, the issue is that nobody at Subaru or the dealer (I would assume it is the dealer that is responsible to turn on the free trial) ever activated the nav traffic with XM. That is all I need them to do, I have given several people my radio ID, though they should have it attached to the VIN and purchase paperwork.

Bring up that you had to take time off. And you would settle for no less than a year of free service.

I'm already drafting up letters to the attorney generals in my state and in the state I bought the car.

I've asked my sales person to put me in touch with someone as well. My confidence in SOA on this one is low.

[djz]

Originally Posted by Tom28

Bring up that you had to take time off. And you would settle for no less than a year of free service.

I'm already drafting up letters to the attorney generals in my state and in the state I bought the car.

I've asked my sales person to put me in touch with someone as well. My confidence in SOA on this one is low.

I have tried to be as patient as I could, but it is starting to wear thin. Honda did not have any issues activating the XM trial or their traffic on my wife's car (not sure if that is even XM based or not, the radio trial is over and the traffis still works on her car). It's not like this is rocket science.

They really should get their act together on this. I have gotten a few messages from people here and on FB telling me that when they talked to SOA, they were told that “this is the first I have heard of this issue” and several of them have given me their rep’s name and number and there seems to be a pattern here with the same rep telling the same story to several people. I find it hard to believe that you can hear the same thing from more than one person for the first time, over and over again.

Not to mention that there is no place in the manual that I got, the brochure I have or the info the sales person I bought from gave me that even states that this is a paid XM traffic service. I was told it was FM based and not subscription based. In fact the only mention of XM subscription service in my Nav manual refers to satellite radio audio programming.

[djz]

Another call from SOA, with the same info I got from the dealer yesterday.

They want me to the dealer either next tuesday or the 27th of this month to talk to the field rep. This is year end for me, and as a lowly bean counting accountant, there is no way I can take time off during a work day this time of year to deal with this.

At this point, I wish I had just bought the base model OB, or possibly even something other than a Subaru and done what I have always done - taken it in to a good stereo shop and had it done the right way from the start. I thought I would avoid some of the minor issues bu getting it all done from the factory so everything in the car "played nice" and look where that got me...

Heck, I would be better off if I duct taped my iPad to the dash than I am right now. As it is, I already use it or my iPhone for traffic while I am driving.

The saga continues.

[DrRon]

Me too!
Here's the email I sent to SOA today:

Hello Jessica,
It's been almost 2 months since I first contacted you about this issue. Nothing that SOA has done, if anything, has worked.
Last night I was angry and called SiriusXM raising ****.
They said they would forward me to a supervisor in Free Trials. I was on hold for 30 minutes.
Finally, someone answered, felt sorry for me and credited my account for another month of audio. Good news.
However, he said he needed an additional ID number to turn on Nav Traffic. I don't have that. Bad news.
I have covered every possible setting on my Outback system and see nothing that either prevents me from receiving the Nav Traffic signal or shows a subsequent ID for XM.
He said he would send an urgent request for help to SiriusXM corporate.
I can't imagine that would carry more weight than an urgent request from SOA.
Here's what I am asking of you.
Someone, somewhere in the SOA organization knows how the system on my Outback works.
I want you to find that person and put me in touch with them.
I want to talk or email with someone who actually knows how the Navigation and Satellite Radio system in my 2013, top of the line, expensive Outback works.
I want to escalate this customer service request to someone who can actually help me.
You may not be aware of it, but there is a thread on the Outback Forum dedicated to this issue.
SOA has a number of frustrated, angry customers who have been handed off from SOA to their Dealerships to SiriusXM without anyone actually solving their problem.
Your offer to pay for a subscription I personally request from SiriusXM doesn't help me if they don't even know how to provide me the Nav Traffic signal.
I need technical support from SOA on a poorly programmed, poorly documented system on this high tech, high priced vehicle.
Whoever you have to talk to to find the person who knows how this system works and can help me, I need you to find them.
Please don't take this personally.
But I am at the point where my opinion of Subaru is being severely degraded.
It may not be a big thing, but SOA should be able to fix it or tell me how to fix it in less than 2 months.

So far, no response...