New York Attorney General Suing SiriusXM Over ‘Lengthy and Burdensome’ Cancellation Process

SiriusXM is being sued by the New York Attorney General for the ‘burdensome‘ process it requires to cancel subscriptions. In a complaint filed Wednesday, December 20th, the Attorney General Letitia James’ office stated SiriusXM ‘deliberately wastes its subscribers’ time‘ when customers try to cancel, requiring alleged phone conversations with a live agent and long periods of time spent on hold. 

After investigations into the process, James’ office claimed during the lawsuit announcement that SiriusXM was ‘trapping consumers‘ and instructing its employees to ‘not take ‘no’ for an answer.’

‘Having to endure a lengthy and frustrating process to cancel a subscription is a stressful burden no one looks forward to, and when companies make it hard to cancel subscriptions, it’s illegal… Consumers should be able to cancel a subscription they no longer use or need without any issues, and companies have a legal duty to make their cancellation process easy.’

-New York Attorney General Letitia James

According to the lawsuit, SiriusXM subscriptions automatically renew at the end of a term unless the subscriber calls on the phone to cancel. These phone calls often amount to as long as 25 minutes on hold, just to connect with an agent, who then subjects them to a ‘six-part script’ in which they repeatedly refuse to terminate the subscription. The AG office claims SiriusXM agents are trained not to take ‘no’ for an answer, and instead ‘present a series of renewal offers to retain the consumer as a subscriber.’

In response to the lawsuit, a spokeswoman for SiriusXM stated the company would ‘vigorously defend against these baseless allegations,’ and that they ‘grossly mischaracterize‘ its practices. 

‘It’s telling that the New York Attorney General issued a press release before providing SiriusXM with a copy of the complaint… Like a number of consumer businesses, we offer a variety of options for customers to sign up for or cancel their SiriusXM subscription.’

-SiriusXM Company Statement

The lawsuit states SiriusXM subscribers are subjected to a ‘lengthy and burdensome endurance contest’ to cancel a subscription they no longer want to pay for, but subscribers have a ‘legal and contractual right to cancel anytime using a process that is simple and efficient.’

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