SiriusXM static: N.Y. legal professional common sues radio station over trapping clients in subscription

New York Attorney General Letitia James is accusing radio large SiriusXM of trapping clients in subscriptions and deliberately making it powerful to cancel.

Ms. James introduced the lawsuit Wednesday, claiming that an investigation discovered that the satellite tv for pc radio agency places up severe roadblocks to stop clients from canceling their subscriptions. According to her, SiriusXM forces clients to speak to an agent earlier than canceling and sometimes attracts out these conversations to excessive lengths.

She opened the probe after quite a few clients complained concerning the sophisticated cancellation course of.

In the announcement, Ms. James detailed one instance the place a buyer was on the cellphone with Sirius for 40 minutes in an try and cancel. Despite the lengthy cellphone dialog, the shopper was nonetheless charged for the subscription, with SiriusXM saying it couldn’t find the cancellation request.

Ms. James says the corporate’s obtuse course of is illegitimate.

“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,” she stated within the announcement.

The investigation discovered that SiriusXM staff are educated to not let clients cancel. When clients name to give up the service, they’re handled to prolonged conversations crammed with quite a few questions and retention presents on future subscriptions. Ms. James says this course of is pointless and that the corporate can cancel a subscription in minutes.

The lawsuit seeks to drive Sirius to create an easier and extra streamlined course of for cancellations. Ms. James additionally needs restitution for patrons and vital fines on Sirius for fraud.