Charged for Downloads, yet we haven't downloaded anything.

[Allibunny]

I am very frustrated right now. Having sent emails to support - and had absolutely no help whatsoever, I don't know what else to do.

I have checked through my receipts online, and I have been charged 3x £9.99 for 15 downloads at a time.

We do NOT download, we have only ever used Spotify for streaming as we don't have mp3 players. There are NO music files anywhere on my hard drive, I have searched just in case.

However, support are adamant that we have paid for and downloaded songs. The songs in question ARE things that we listen to - but as we own the cd's already (which are packed away in the loft following our house move) why would we download them?

I've basically been told that we MUST have downloaded them, or if we haven't then someone else has had our details. I don't think that this is the case - I think that there is a glitch and something has gone wrong somewhere.

Support basically just told me to do one, and speak to Paypal. REALLY helpful.

I have cancelled my subscription, which is a shame - because we really did enjoy using spotify. But I can't have money being taken willy nilly - and absolutely no help or assistance in resolving a problem.

Any idea what I can do next? I have opened a dispute with paypal, but I don't hold out any hope there - as their customer services are even more appauling than Spotify's.

[Allibunny]

Oh, and now a further £9.99 has been taken out for the monthly subscription which I cancelled. *rolls eyes*

[Sam]

I understand my colleague, Matt, replied to you yesterday. We can't sort anything out on here, I'm afraid. Replying to Matt's email is the best way we can help you.

[Allibunny]

I  have replied to Matt's email, twice. Was told to speak to Paypal and that's that. There was no offer to look into why it's telling me I have downloads when there is nothing whatsoever on my hard drive to confirm this, just a couple of patronising "well YOU bought downloads dumbass" replies - when I am CLEARLY saying that NO I DID NOT buy any downloads. THAT is my problem. 

Of course, now I have a secondary problem in that I feel that I have been patronised and had my problem treated dismissively. In fact, my ACTUAL problem hasn't been addressed at all.

Here's a copy of the email exchange: (my email address removed for security)

1st from Spotify: 

From: support@spotify.com
> To:
> Subject: Problem with existing payment
> > Hi,
> 
> Thanks for your email. The £9.99 premium subscription allows you to stream the songs that you want to listen to - a bit like renting the tracks. The download option gives you the tracks in mp3 format and saves them to your computer - these can then be copied to a mp3 player/phone/etc.
> 
> On your account, these downloads were used for Americana and Conspiracy of One by the Offspring, and The Tweed album by Mr B.
>
> I hope that this answers your question. 
> 
> Best Wishes 
> 
> Calvin  

My reply:

> From:Me
> Sent: 29/08/2012 17:07
> To: support@spotify.com
> Subject: RE: Problem with existing payment

> Thank you for your quick reply.
> This is very odd, because we don't have any mp3 players and our phones are only ever used to stream if we're in the garden or showering (lol) - I've done a search of my hard drive for any downloaded music (in case it was done in error our end) and there's nothing at all saved on the computer. We do however listen to those via Spotify and have them listed as playlists.
> I'm not sure what has happened in that case, because clearly if what you're saying is correct; they've been downloaded somewhere... but I have no idea where!
> regards
> Me

Spotify's second reply:

> Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:14:38 +0000
> From: support@spotify.com
> To: me
> Subject: RE: Problem with existing payment 
> Hi there, 
> 
> You have purchased bundles of song to download as mp3's from Spotify.
> 
> This is what the downloads you see on your bill refer to.
> 
> If this was not you, then someone has access to your account and you will have to take this up with Paypal.
> 
> Kind regards, 

My reply to that:

From:ME
Sent: 29/08/2012 17:28
To: support@spotify.com
Subject: RE: Problem with existing payment 

Thank you again for the quick reply.
I will email paypal. I've cancelled my subscription in the meantime until I have sorted it out. No-one else has access to my account, and those are albums/songs we do listen to. In fact we have the cd's of them in a box in the loft! (It's easier to just stream them from Spotify while we're surfing the net!)
What is puzzling is that if I click on the "downloads" link on the spotify main screen/console/programme whatever you call it - I can see them listed there, but there is nothing whatsoever saved anywhere on the computer. Also why would we pay nearly £30 for something we already have on cd?! All I can think is that there has been some kind of glitch somewhere and hopefully Paypal will be able to help us more with that.
Kind regards
Me

Spotify's final reply:

Hi there

If you need any more help or information regarding this please let me know, 

I will be happy to help.

Kind regards, 

[David]

Hello,

Judging by your account, it seems the downloads have been used - But the tracks may not have been actually downloaded yet.

In your Downloads section, you should see something like the following.

In this example, the track "grace and out of me" has been downloaded to the computer. The other tracks have yet to be used. 

Purchasing albums and Download credits can be done in a number of different ways. In the below, there is a option to "Get Album", and little "Get" buttons next to each track. 

When clicking on the "Get" icon, you'll be taken to the screen to purchase download credits - 

Now, the question here is that you state you did not purchase the downloads. Does anyone else in your family have access to your computer, or Spotify account, and would have purchased these tracks accidentally? 

[Allibunny]

Thank you for your reply, it's very much appreciated and very helpful! 🙂

I can confirm that I haven't seen any screens like the purchase credits one! The only other person who uses the laptop is my partner, and I've asked him to have a look and he hasn't downloaded anything or seen that screen either.

However, under the downloads list I can see that there are songs listed, with re-download numbers written next to them - so obviously something has happened to make them appear there. We certainly don't want them, and didn't click on any of the "get" buttons. We only ever stream music.

As it happens, Paypal have just emailed me to tell me that they have reversed the payments - but I am quite concerned that it's happened.