NY AG sues SiriusXM for ‘trapping’ customers in unwanted subscriptions

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) sued SiriusXM on Wednesday, alleging the satellite radio company illegally traps customers in unwanted subscriptions, costing them hundreds of dollars.

James argued the company maintains “deliberately long and burdensome cancellation processes” as part of a strategy to prevent people from canceling their subscriptions to the 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,” James said in a statement. “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.”

The suit also alleges that the company explicitly trained its customer service representatives to push back on customers attempting to cancel their subscription.

“According to SiriusXM’s own data, it takes subscribers an average of 11.5 minutes to cancel by phone, and 30 minutes to cancel online, although for many subscribers it takes far longer,” the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said in a statement. 

“Despite these long wait times, OAG found that the company can cancel a customer’s subscription with a simple click of a button, or even allow customers to do so themselves.”

Those deliberately long wait times and convoluted processes violate federal and state law, James said.

The suit seeks restitution for SiriusXM customers, including direct compensation, in addition to change in company policy and financial penalties.