New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) sued SiriusXM on Wednesday, claiming the satellite radio company illegally lured customers into unwanted subscriptions that cost them hundreds of dollars.
James argued that the company “deliberately maintains long and burdensome cancellation processes” to prevent people from canceling their subscriptions to the service.
“Canceling a subscription with a lengthy and frustrating process is a stressful burden that no one looks forward to, and when companies make it difficult to cancel subscriptions, it is illegal,” James said in a statement. “Consumers should be able to easily cancel a subscription they no longer use or need, and companies have a legal obligation to simplify the cancellation process.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the company specifically trained its customer service representatives to fend off customers trying to cancel their subscription.
“According to SiriusXM's own data, subscribers take an average of 11.5 minutes to cancel by phone and 30 minutes to cancel online, although for many subscribers it takes much longer,” the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said in a statement.
“Despite these long wait times, OAG noted that the company can cancel a customer’s subscription with a simple click of a button or even allow customers to do so themselves.”
These intentionally long wait times and complicated processes violate federal and state laws, James said.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for SiriusXM customers, including direct compensation, in addition to a change in company policy and financial penalties.
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