A judge overseeing a consumer lawsuit brought by New York state’s attorney general against SiriusXM has upheld a complaint that the satellite and streaming radio company made it too difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions once they were activated.
The lawsuit was first brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James in state court last December, but was moved to federal court at SiriusXM’s urging one month later. At some point, it was moved back to state court, where a judge ruled on its merits last week.
James accused SiriusXM of making it easy for customers to start their satellite and streaming radio subscriptions online, only to force them to jump through several hoops in order to cancel their plans. According to an early complaint, James said SiriusXM provided its customer support staff with a “lengthy, six-part script” that was designed to create a “lengthy and burdensome cancellation process” when customers tried to end their service.
The lawsuit was filed following an investigation by James’ office, in which SiriusXM furnished the state attorney general with information about its business and, specifically, how it facilitates account cancellation requests made by customers.
According to James, SiriusXM made customers can wait over 25 minutes before they are connected with an agent. Once connected, the agents are instructed to make several offers to customers in order to convince them to continue paying for the service, James said.
“Agents are instructed to think of every no simply as a request for more information, and to press forward until the consumer accepts an offer or abandons the cancellation effort, hounding them with additional questions and information,” the complaint said.
Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Lyle Frank rejected James’ assertion that SiriusXM engaged in fraudulent and deceptive advertising practices, but said the attorney general had proven that the company made it difficult for customers to cancel their plans, in violation of the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act and a similar state law.
The judge ordered SiriusXM to change its practices with respect to customer account cancellations, and ordered it to pay damages that would be determined at a later date.
SiriusXM said it plans to appeal the judge’s ruling, but affirmed it will abide by a “click to cancel” rule imposed by the Federal Trade Commission that is set to take effect in January 2025.
