How do you deal with misinformation from customer service agents?

[schurchill39]

Here's my scenario:

I have been a Sirius subscriber for nearly 6 years now. I was planning on buying a second radio so I called and spoke with an agent about what the costs associated with it would be. I was told that they have a promo on right now that any existing subscriber who adds a second radio before Aug 2nd will get the first 3 months free and the activation fee waved. I went out and bought the radio and hooked it up last night using the promo code the agent gave me but I was charged for the full year as well as the activation fee. Today I called them up to ask WTF and was told that the agent gave me false information and it was only if I bought the radio through them over the phone and paid for it all in one go. I was pretty pissed off, not because of the money, but because I feel that a company should back what their agents are telling people (as long as its within reason).

I was just curious what everyone's thoughts were on how to deal with misinformation from a customer service agent (in general, not specifically about this point). I found with my phone provider that they are pretty good at honoring what their employees say, but Sirius was just straight up rude about it.

[RX-7_TWINTURBO]

"may I speak with your supervisor?" -Repeat until you are satisfied.
If their supervisor can't help, speak to the supervisors boss etc..

[Weapon_R]

Always ask that the offer be made in their notes on their computers. That seems to help as most companies will protect their employees mistakes.

[SKR]

It depends on how much effort I want to put into it or how much I stand to gain or lose. I only have two cable tv providers in my area, and with one of them due to a fuckup on their end, I had a blowout and told the agent that if anyone from their company showed up at my door I would assault them. So now I really have to play nice if I have a problem with the other guys, because I can't afford to tell them to fuck off too.

In another case, I had an issue with an incorrect charge on my Visa for a hotel room in the US, and when it was reversed I got fucked on the exchange rate. I called multiple times to try to get that money back (it was something like $120), and anybody I spoke to was rude and would just cut me off, saying "there's a fee to exchange currencies." Which wasn't the point. I was pissed off that the hotel basically took x amount of US dollars from me when the Canadian dollar was at par, and then gave me back x amount of US dollars when the Canadian dollar dropped. Eventually I just gave up because my only options were to eat it, or cancel my Visa, which I didn't want to do.

In your case, what's three months and an activation fee worth, $50, plus whatever it cost to buy that second radio? Figure out what your time is worth, and put in that much effort. Hopefully you can get something out of them. I've never been able to. They were trying to give me a deal on the one in my truck, and I wanted it on the same account as my standalone unit. They just shrugged their shoulders and said there was nothing they could do because they had no record of a second unit. When I had an American XM, they were awesome to deal with. But that was before the merger.