According to billboard.com, the satellite radio music and streaming platform SiriusXM is facing a lawsuit from New York’s attorney general over claims that the satellite radio and streaming service has allegedly made things “extremely difficult” for listeners to cancel their subscriptions. In the alleged complaint filed on December 20, Attorney General Letitia James’s office has accused SiriusXM of allegedly subjecting canceling customers to “a lengthy and burdensome endurance contest,” which allegedly requires phone conversations with a live agent and an extended time being put on hold.
The alleged lawsuit states: “Sirius deliberately wastes its subscribers’ time even though it has the ability to process cancellations with the click of a button. The only reason Sirius requires cancelling subscribers to interact with a live agent at all is to maximize its opportunity to retain them as subscribers.”
In a statement announcing the lawsuit, James allegedly mentioned that she allegedly followed an investigation that allegedly showed SiriusXM was allegedly “trapping consumers” with their cancellation process, which allegedly includes training 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.” said James.
Following the alleged filing of the lawsuit, a spokeswoman for SiriusXM allegedly stated that the company would “vigorously defend against these baseless allegations,” saying that they “grossly mischaracterize” its practices.
According to the lawsuit, SiriusXM allegedly automatically renews subscriptions at the end of a term unless a user calls on the phone to cancel. The alleged lawsuit also claims that users are allegedly sometimes forced to wait as long as 25 minutes just to connect with an agent, who then allegedly subject them to an alleged “six-part script” in which they are allegedly trained to repeatedly refuse to terminate the subscription.
Because of that, the lawsuit claims that SiriusXM allegedly forces subscribers to “devote inordinate amounts of time, patience, and stamina trying to cancel a subscription they no longer wish to pay for. Even though they have a “legal and contractual right to cancel anytime using a process that is simple and efficient.”