Premium-to-Free problems need to be escalated to Spotify executive management

[cwagar]

Over the past week, there seem to be a lot of folks jumping on this forum to complain about problems related to Premium accounts turning into Free accounts, although the accounts are paid premium. I myself have a family plan that turned Free three days after a valid PayPal payment. If there are a certain number of people complaining here, there must be many others who are experiencing the same problems.

In many cases, like myself, there has been a stunning lack of reply from Spotify, even after opening a ticket through the official channels. Even tweeting @spotifycares seems to have no success, as it's the "Account Team" who are responsible.

Possibly related, some folks with this issue are getting emails saying that they signed up for Spotify using an "unofficial vendor", even though they have been paying Spotify for premium accounts for some time, and in most cases signed up for Spotify directly.

When opening a ticket, a canned response is given pointing directly to this forum, and then similarly a canned response is given here by moderators to open up a ticket. It's a nonsense support model.

These problems, and especially the lack of response, are unacceptable, and need to be escalated to a senior management team member immediately. With the streaming music marketplace becoming more competitive by the day, Spotify can't afford to miss a step. People are paying for service, and they are not getting what they paid for. That is not only unacceptable but illegal in many jurisdictions.

In writing this, I'm hoping someone on the board can forward this to a Spotify executive who can take control of this situation, and most importantly start to communicate to a lot of frustrated members.

Clayton

[kylelibbee]

I too am having the same issues.  If you are having these problems, please post here as well so we can get heard!

[snowdenco]

Same problem here. 6 days of getting the run-around from email support and @spotifyCares.

Still don't have my premium and everytime I try to change a payment method (foolishly hoping it'll fix it), the billing system declines my card. Doesn't matter that I've used all 5 attempted cards elsewhere with no issue in the past week. 

Fed up and going to Google Play if Spotify can't get their act together. 

[cwagar]

Great information - I had the same problem. I could no longer use any (known good) credit card to renew last month, and had to switch to PayPal.

That certainly has to be a clue.

The only other 'unusual' thing about my account is that I joined using a special invitation code given out at the IETF Conference in Stockholm in 2009, where Spotify was a sponsor.

[cwagar]

Well, it looks as though my Spam folder did in fact catch the reply from Spotify where I was told I signed up with an unofficial vendor.

I tried to go back to Spotify and all of my cards are not accepted. I'm certainly not using PayPal again, as I made a $30 payment a week ago.

This is incredibly frustrating. It would be great to know if they have a known issue and are working it, but the silence is just disrespectful.

They are going to have a world of hurt when Apple relaunches Beats if this continues.

[Stijnnl]

Money has succesfully been taken from my account for spotify + 1 family member, but both accounts are now back to Spotify Free and support sent us the generic "unofficial vendor" email. Even though the I subscribed through spotify itself and the invoice can be seen on spotify's site itself.

edit: I just charged back through my bank, let's hope spotify fixes this as soon as possible

[richardpian]

Here the same issue.

Paid for more than 3 months for Premium. At the beginning of April I've changed my Premium to Family to add my father. Directly (!), so couple of days after I had already paid 9.99 EUR for my Premium, another 15 EUR was paid for the Family transition.

Now the last payment of 15 EUR for Family was paid on 24Apr2015 and from 8May2015 my account has been set back to 'Free'. Contacted the Helpdesk to get this resolved and no feedback received.

Username Spotify = username forum (in case Spotify want to correct this directly)

[Pricilla]

Hey everyone,

Welcome to the Community.

Sorry to hear you're experiencing some issues with your account.

The folks in our Accounts team are the best people to help out here. Please get in touch with them via the contact form.

If you're already being helped out, make sure to write back to them with any questions you might have. They'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Hopefully everything will be sorted shortly.

Thanks for bearing with us. 

[richardpian]

Dear Pricilla,

At first, thank you for your reply.

However, please note that the 'Accounts team' is not replying to our messages (I've already sent 2) or when they reply to some users, they indicate that they've bought from one unauthorized vendor. A kind of automatic reply message.

Therefore it would be great if you could take the responsibility to escalate this issue internally.

In the meantime, Spotify users are frustated and have lost money as well. (and could not listen to the music anymore).

Kind regards,

Richard Pian

[Pricilla]

Hey @richardpian,

Thanks for your feedback on this.

I'll chase the cases up with the right team.

If you have any questions, please write back to them so they can investigate further and help.

Thanks!

[richardpian]

That is much appreciated!

Could you please give us feedback in this topic when and how these issues will be resolved?

We can compile an overview of Spotify user names who are experiencing this issue, here in this topic, if that is helpful.

Kind regards,

Richard Pian

[richardpian]

I've received a (positive) answer to my question:

---

Thanks for getting back in touch.

We've had a look at your account and see that you had a genuine Premium subscription with us before we terminated it. 

We're sorry about that. We only meant to cancel unofficial subscriptions, as we explained before.

Don't worry. We'll refund the last payment and you can resubscribe for the Familyplan.

---

So, it seems that it worked out.

[Pricilla]

Hey @richardpian,

We're happy to hear that everything is now sorted.

We'll be right here if you need us again.

Thanks!

[Lunaeluxs]

I am also having the same issue. If I pay for premium I should have my premium account or I want my money back. I emailed spotify and received an email telling me to check out the spotify community site and I find no answer to my issue.

[MattSuda]

@Lunaeluxs

If you get an automated reply email telling you to check the help section or the community, you need to reply back to it, even if it's from a no-reply address.

Support usually replies within 24-48 hours.

[Helmondtwan]

I paid 12,99 for à premium subscribtion and now it changed to à free one with al kinds of advertisments

[Tasha_7173]

I canceled my Subscription because i don't use it that offten and i am still being charged for it

[SLM6]

I also tried the contact for and got a generic try our FAQ and community forums answer ... which of course i hat exhausted befor the contact form

[shayleen1381sg]

I have almost the same problem, I paid for 3 months trial premium and now I want to cancel but on my account it says I'm on free when I am not so I can't cancel my premium

[Yurimgomes27]

Shame spotify!!
I just was turned to free account! I checked my payment from november third, 3 days ago witch alludes me to be premium. I'm an old costumer, this is totally unacceptable. Looking for an answer very quickly, otherwise I'm gonna look for my refund and I'm gonna change my music provider. Don't mess with costumer money. If tomorrow nobody answer this. I'm paying for a service and not taking the benefit. Shame!