Have you tried to cancel your subscription with SiriusXM, only to be met with increasing difficulties and a long, complicated process? You’re likely not the only one.
New York Attorney General Letitia James recently filed a lawsuit alleging that SiriusXM traps consumers in their contracts, making it intentionally difficult to cancel their plans.
“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,” said James. “Consumers should be able to cancel a subscription they know longer use or need without any issues, and companies have a legal duty to make their cancellation process easy.”
Employees are encouraged to make things harder
Currently, in order for consumers to cancel their accounts, they need to either call SiriusXM’s customer service line, or chat with a representative online. According to SiriusXM’s own data, that process takes on average 30 minutes online and around 12 minutes over the phone.
However, the suit claims SiriusXM employees are encouraged and trained to make the canceling process extra difficult for consumers, so these interactions often take far longer than those estimates.
“The company trains its agents to keep customers on the phone or in the chat for a lengthy six-part conversation that includes asking a series of questions and then pitching the subscriber as many as five retention offers, all to delay cancellation,” the attorney general’s alleges. “When customers decline the offers, agents are trained not to take ‘no’ for an answer and to keep bombarding customers with questions or offers until they either relent or become frustrated.”
Based on the Attorney General’s report, SiriusXM has approximately 35 million subscribers. The goal of the lawsuit is to not only have SiriusXM revamp its cancellation process to make it easier, smoother, and simpler for customers, but to also recoup the money subscribers have lost.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-01-02 14:45:05
