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- New York's attorney general is suing SiriusXM, alleging that it makes canceling subscriptions long and difficult.
- Agents are trained to ask questions, make retention offers, and not take "no" for an answer, the AG alleges.
- SiriusXM said some of the long waits occurred because of the pandemic and date back to 2020.
Canceling your SiriusXM subscription might get a little bit easier in the future. New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the satellite radio service, alleging that it makes canceling a subscription lengthy and difficult.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for impacted customers and a $5,000 penalty to be paid to the state.
Canceling your subscription to SiriusXM can take several minutes. It takes customers an average of 11.5 minutes to cancel over the phone and 30 minutes to cancel online, according to a press release from the AG's office, which cites data from SiriusXM. Subscribers often had to wait 20 minutes just to be connected to a representative via online chat, the AG's office said.
The attorney general alleges that these chats can take so long because SiriusXM trains its representatives to keep customers on the line, asking questions and giving retention offers.
"The OAG also found that the company trains its agents to not take "no" for an answer when customers try to cancel, making it extremely difficult and frustrating for consumers to end their subscriptions," the release states.
James' office says SiriusXM could easily cancel users' subscriptions "with a simple click of a button, or even allow customers to do so themselves" without going through a representative.
The attorney general cited an affidavit from someone who said they had to chat with an agent for 40 minutes and ask multiple times to cancel a subscription. After the chat, the subscription wasn't canceled, and they kept getting charged, the AG alleged.
"When companies make it hard to cancel subscriptions, it's illegal," James said. "New Yorkers can trust that when companies like SiriusXM try to take advantage of them and violate the law, my office will step in to stop them."
SiriusXM told Business Insider that the claims made by AG were blown out of proportion. For example, it blamed the long wait times on the COVID-19 pandemic and said the numbers were from 2020. In 2021, SiriusXM said, online chats were answered within 36 seconds to 2.4 minutes.
"It's telling that the New York Attorney General issued a press release before providing SiriusXM with a copy of the complaint," a SiriusXM spokesperson told Business Insider. "We offer a variety of options for customers to sign up for or cancel their SiriusXM subscription, and upon receiving and reviewing the complaint, we intend to vigorously defend against these baseless allegations that grossly mischaracterize SiriusXM's practices."
SiriusXM also told BI that those who want to cancel their subscriptions can do so easily. This includes clicking a button on one's account management page or going through the app store for those with streaming-only plans. The process for those with in-car streaming subscriptions might be a bit longer.