SiriusXM is accused of "trapping consumers" by not making it easy to cancel subscriptions

SiriusXM is accused of “trapping consumers” by not making it easy to cancel subscriptions،

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you wanted to cancel a subscription before the deadline so you wouldn't have to pay for the next month's service? What often happens is that the instructions on how to cancel a current subscription are nowhere to be found and there is no way to contact the company. And you end up paying monthly for something you don't want and/or don't use.

SiriusXM is accused of “trapping subscribers” who want to cancel their subscription

According to VarietyNew York Attorney General Letitia James filed a complaint against radio and audio streamer SiriusXM. Check out this phrase James uses to describe what SiriusXM would have done. She accused the company of “trapping consumers” into paid subscriptions by “maintaining deliberately long and cumbersome cancellation processes.” If you have ever been in this situation, you will understand how relevant these words are.

Listing of SiriusXM in the App Store - SiriusXM is accused of "trap consumers" by not making it easy to cancel subscriptions

SiriusXM listing in the App Store

Canceling a free trial or paid subscription should not force the consumer to get on their knees to plead their case to the company. Yet James wrote in the complaint that SiriusXM “requires its subscribers to call or chat online with an agent to cancel a subscription, and then deliberately removes these interactions as part of its strategy to prevent subscribers from canceling.” .

The court filing says SiriusXM violated state and federal laws by failing to offer subscribers a “simple, quick and easy-to-use” process for canceling a subscription. Additionally, James' office said SiriusXM used fraudulent and deceptive actions to mislead subscribers who wanted to cancel their subscriptions.

The lawsuit states that “when customers decline offers, agents are trained not to take 'no' for an answer and to continue bombarding customers with questions or offers until they give in or become frustrated . » SiriusXM data cited in the court filing shows that it takes 11.5 minutes for a customer to cancel a subscription over the phone and 30 minutes to cancel online. In one situation mentioned in the complaint, a SiriusXM agent kept a subscriber in a conversation for 40 minutes “even though the subscriber had made repeated requests clearly asking to cancel their subscription.”

Court documents provide more details. “Sirius' strategy for frustrating cancellations is to force most subscribers to interact with a live customer service agent, even though Sirius has the ability to handle cancellations without the involvement of live agents. Sirius trains its agents to subject subscribers to a lengthy six-part script, and to refuse cancellation until the agent reaches the end of the script or the subscriber's frustration reaches a point where he becomes openly agitated by the process – or that he gives up altogether.

As part of its cancellation process, Sirius asks its live agents to present a series of renewal offers to retain the consumer as a subscriber. But when a consumer declines an offer,
or refuses to hear other offers, Sirius instructs his agents not to take “no” for an answer. Instead, agents are asked to treat each “no” simply as a request for more information! – and moving forward until the consumer accepts an offer or abandons the cancellation effort, pestering them with questions and additional information. »

Lawsuit demands SiriusXM make “full monetary restitution”

In a statement, James said: “Having to endure a lengthy and frustrating process to cancel a subscription is a stressful burden that no one looks forward to, and when companies make it difficult to cancel a subscription, it's illegal . SiriusXM responded by saying: “Like a number of consumer companies, we offer a variety of options for customers to sign up for or cancel their SiriusXM subscription and, after receiving and reviewing the complaint, we intend to vigorously defend against these baseless allegations which grossly misrepresent SiriusXM's practices.

The lawsuit seeks to force SiriusXM “to make full monetary restitution and pay damages to all injured consumers, known and unknown” and to return all profits generated by the fraudulent, illegal and deceptive actions. The suit seeks to impose a fine of $5,000 for each violation of New York State law prohibiting deceptive acts and practices.

SiriusXM has approximately 34 million subscribers, with nearly 2 million living in New York state.