Sirius XM Radio Inc. was sued by the Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster last Friday as a result of "numerous complaints" alleging that the satellite radio provider violated the state's no-call laws.
According to the Attorney General, residents who were on the Do-Not-Call list received "unsolicited" and "harassing calls" calls from Sirius XM soliciting satellite radio subscriptions.
"No business, no matter the size or reach, is immune from Missouri's law, and we will continue to go after those who violate it," Koster said.
The Missouri AG also won a temporary restraining order prohibiting Sirius XM from making calls to Missourians on the no-call list unless they have an established business relationship with the company.
Sirius XM may still make calls to existing customers in Missouri, that is unless a customer directs Sirius XM not to call them.
Koster is seeking a penalty of $5,000 per violation (plus associated costs). No word on exactly how many violations the AG has tallied up, but if it's as "numerous" as they say, that could get expensive very quickly.
Here's a question: have you received any calls from Sirius XM selling subscriptions? I personally haven't, but the complaints must've been enough to cause the Missouri AG to act, so I'm curious about the rest of the country.
Thanks Aaron!
I haven't gotten any from Sirius XM,here in PA.
Unless it's a really big violation,involving numerous complaints like this,the Do-Not-Call list is a joke. There is no "teeth" to it,as far as enforcement. For the average Joe Blow,if you file a complaint on the FTC's web site,or your state's web site,the majority of the time,you never hear anything from it.
I have. Several times and I am on the no call list.
No calls here in Wisconsin either.
I wouldn't say the complaints were enough to Missouri AG to act. There are reports that only 6 people complained about Janet Jackson showing a pastie or piercing and look what happened there. The minority in a complaint issue will always get what they want.
Business calls are easier to deal with my simply hanging up the phone. Actually contacting your state about an apparent issue seems like a total waste of my time and the governments time.
Having said that Missouri and the rest of the states should do something about political parties and non profit phone calls. They are by far the most annoying and rude. A couple weeks ago I received over 10 calls in a matter of 7 days. They said they were allowed to call me. That is more harassing.
But I guess if a political party (any one of them) wants to call me I can tell them what I think of them and the collective morons that they work with.
I've gotten at least 15 calls in the last two weeks from them. They started almost immediately after I cancelled service with them. Even though I told the first caller to take me off the list, it continues. Hopefully they'll get nailed for this.
When I canceled one of my two subscriptions, they would not leave me alone. I was getting 5 calls a day to resubscribe, including letters every two days about how awesome it would be for me.
It took me threatening to cancel my remaining subscription before they would ease up. But I still get junk mail. Definitely makes me like them less and they're lucky I like the service.
After canceling my 2 radios I got called twice a day, every day, for weeks. I told them not to call, then told them that I'd sold my radios (I didn't), and I finally just blocked the number. I haven't got a call since I changed my phone provider (and got a new number), but I still get at least one letter and several e-mails from them every single week, begging me to come back. I won't be doing that.
dustoman, they aren't going to call you unless you have cancelled a subscription.
I've been a customer for 5 years and they've never bothered to call once lol
Why would anyone without a current or cancelled subscription be at this website?
We were billed for a extension of our service and were never sent a bill. When it is up they just charge you for future service and then after a month or so they call and say you are late and owe them. We paid the difference and canceled our subscription. At one point we were receiving at a minimum 5 calls a week soliciting us and we are on the federal do not call registry. We have told them over and over to stop and they just ignore us. The last call we got was tonight at 830 pm. We are filing a complaint with the Illinois AG on Monday.
I come to the website because I'm still interested in satellite radio. I do like the idea, and I like to know what's going on. Maybe I'm just hoping they'll get it right and I'll have a reason to subscribe once more.
A couple of summers ago for about 3 weeks I worked for the company that is contracted to try to 'win back' subscriptions and take care of billing issues.
A computer basically dials the number and we were given a script to read. Basically we would be verifying their contact information before we would "stumble" onto the fact that their subscription was up or the credit card could no longer be billed. We would try to sell a year or two year deal at a discounted rate. If the person hung up or said not interested it would just go back in the computer for them to be called a day or two later. Only when they said to be put on the do not call list would we have to mark that in the system. After that the phone number was supposedly taken out. Although I don't think that was always the case..
That place had the highest turnover of any place I have ever worked at. They brought in 10 people to train every two weeks and usually half to 3/4s of that group would be gone within a week or two of hitting the phones. Everybody had access to full account information including acct password and credit card info almost immediately, which as a Sirius subscriber I was uneasy with.
I got a few after cancelling my wife's subscription. It was fun drilling them with questions that they didn't know how to answer. I knew more about their business than they did - thanks to Orbitcast.