NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general filed suit Wednesday against SiriusXM, accusing the satellite radio and streaming service of making it intentionally difficult for its customers to cancel their subscriptions.
Attorney General Latitia James’ office said an investigation into complaints from customers found that SiriusXM forced subscribers to wait in an automated system before often lengthy interactions with agents who were trained in ways to avoid accepting a request to cancel service.
“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,” the attorney general said in a statement.
The company disputed the claims, arguing that many of the lengthy interaction times cited in the lawsuit were based on a 2020 inquiry and were caused in part by the effects of the pandemic on their operations. The company said many of its plans can be canceled with a simple click of a button online.
Not just hard, outright fraudulent.
A decade or so ago, my wife got a subscription with her new car. When the “free” period was set to expire, she called them up and specifically stated that she wanted to cancel. They went though the obligatory, “but we can get you this great deal”. She stayed firm and insisted they cancel it. A couple days later, Sirius charged our credit card for a year’s subscription. Thankfully, when I called and explained to a manager that either they could reverse the charge or I could have my lawyer call and ask them to reverse the charge, they agreed to do it. But fuck, that should not have been necessary. SiriusXM can go die in a fire.
Yeah, you shouldn’t even need to call. Just have an option to manage the subscription online or in the car. Keep customers by offering a great product at a great price, not with tricks…