(Source : Pymnts) A judge in New York state ruled on Thursday, November 21, that SiriusXM must revise its subscription cancellation policies and pay damages that have not yet been specified.
Justice Lyle Frank determined that the company’s practices are in violation of the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, as reported by Reuters on November 22.
The lawsuit was initiated by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who claimed that SiriusXM complicates the cancellation process for customers.
In his ruling, Frank noted that the company made it “clearly not as easy” to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for one. He pointed out that SiriusXM required customers wishing to cancel to engage with live agents who are trained to persuade them against cancellation and to present alternative service offers.
In a post on X, James stated that the court found SiriusXM “illegally forced people to go through a long and burdensome process to simply cancel their subscriptions.”
“We took legal action against SiriusXM to safeguard consumers’ finances, and now they must streamline their cancellation process and stop exploiting New Yorkers,” James added in her post.
According to the Reuters report, the company plans to appeal the ruling and will comply with a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) “click-to-cancel” regulation set to take effect on January 14.
When the lawsuit was filed in December, the New York attorney general described SiriusXM’s cancellation process as “deliberately long and burdensome,” requiring subscribers to contact an agent and intentionally prolonging those interactions.
“Facing a lengthy and frustrating cancellation process is a stressful burden that no one should have to endure, and when companies make it difficult to cancel subscriptions, it’s against the law,” James stated in a press release at that time.
