Spotify car thing discontinued

[Bradey]

Plan

Premium family 

Country

US

Device

(iPhone xs

Operating System

Idk whatever iOS they on now

My Question or Issue

I have had Spotify since it came out; I upgraded to a premium plan with my family in 2018. The decision to stop supporting Car Thing breaks my heart. My truck doesn't have bluetooth or a display so when Spotify Car Thing came out I was ecstatic. I love Spotify I have always thought it was way better than apple music because they would try to make**bleep** like the car thing and they weren't some huge heartless corporation like apple. But this and the fact that our premium plan gets raised a dollar all the time has made me rethink my position. 

My whole family uses I phones and have been discussing switching to apple music for YEARS. I WAS ALWAYS THE ONE TO KEEP THEM WITH SPOTIFY. Now I am over it if you don't make this right and my car thing stops working in December we will be switching to apple music.

[Bradey]

Hi everyone,

Spotify made the difficult decision to discontinue Car Thing. We wanted to share this news months in advance to ensure that our users had plenty of time to prepare for this change, which is effective December 9. This was not a step we have taken lightly, but we want to ensure that any users who have purchased Car Thing have the opportunity to be refunded for the amount they paid for the device. Users are able to contact our Customer Support teams in this link .

In an effort to streamline the discussion and ensure all relevant feedback is centralized, we have merged all threads related to this topic into this one comprehensive discussion. Any new threads created on this topic in the future will also be merged into this thread. 

• FAQs on the Discontinuation of Car Thing

We encourage you to continue to share your thoughts and participate in the conversation below.

[cupcakesandfun]

hopping on the complaint train, but i figure the more voices the better.
i've used spotify for years, and when they released car thing, i was really excited! at the time, i drove a car with no bluetooth or screen functionality, which made listening to music on long drives somewhat difficult. every second that i had car thing i loved it. when i upgraded my car to one with bluetooth, i gave my car thing to my brother, who uses it just as much as i did. car thing solves problems that not many other devices do, at least not for the same price.
i understand discontinuing manufacturing, if the product isn't selling well. but discontinuing the use for existing products is insane. as others have mentioned, the amount of waste being created is massive, but honestly i just find the whole decision disappointing. reading these threads is really highlighting how many people love using their car thing, and how many people are disappointed in this move from spotify. i doubt a few community messages is going to change their minds, but who knows.

[mttbrandmusic]

Same. This is ridiculous. I saved for this device and use it every day. I can't believe Spotify would tell I don't wanna know how many people to toss out tech like that. When I got it, I remember being excited and nostalgic over its simplicity and I loved that it was just for music. Now it's being tossed out like, two years later, and not for being outmoded or recalled - literally only because of some out of touch corporate decision. Environmentally irresponsible and a total disregard for their Premium customers. 

[cortsnort]

I would like to be notified if the class action lawsuit becomes a thing, because this is fricking ridiculous. 

[pinkybabey]

Please update us if anyone does! 

[NicBrum99]

Thank you for sharing this link - just voted! 

[boxirl]

They sure are trying their best to get away with it😆, basically refusing to connect me to a supervisor and saying that "they're just going to tell me the same thing"

[derrappelkopp]

Incredibly dumb move. 
Sonos tried something similar over 4 years ago and they came to regret it

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51768574

[annep901]

My first post wouldn’t upload which is BS but I’m infuriated Spotify isn’t providing some sort of solution to Car Thing users. I got it right when it came and expected to get way more use out of it. I know it’s not a very popular device but the people who did buy it should receive a refund or credits toward premium subscription costs because if I knew this was going to happen, I never would’ve wasted my money and big an Apple Car Play or something similar instead. FIX THIS

[CarThingScam]

I love that there is zero Spotify presence here, it's so clearly just a corner they provided us to scream fruitlessly into.

[manda5000]

I wasn't offered anything after an hour on chat with them

[FloMaster915]

I would like to join in the class action lawsuit. I was supposed to get it for free when they first rolled it out and signed up to reserve mine “free”. Well they didn’t send me a free one I had to pay for it. Now they’re gonna brick it? wth it’s my device that I paid for and they should refund us who paid for them. Or credit our accounts for a whole year. 

[BusySnoozing]

It is absolutely unacceptable that Car Thing is being discontinued and deemed unoperational, with absolutely no mediation or replacement options. I have been a member of Spotify for a decade and find it unbelievable that a device that I have purchased that is fully functional will simply be decommissioned on a determined date. This is an abhorrent decision, and I would love to speak about what can be done. I have read through the FAQ and see that no trade-ins, trade-ups, or replacements are being planned, so I would like a realistic resolution that does not involve me disposing of a perfectly operational product that I have purchased.

[NicBrum99]

I’ve had the Car Thing since 2021 when it first came out — I paid $50 for it.

I have used this thing RELIGIOUSLY every day since I’ve got it — it helps when my car has Bluetooth but is old enough that it doesn’t have a great user interface and so the CarThing made it more streamlined. Especially as an Apple user, when Siri would always glitch and not change my music correctly — and now I’ll have no presets for playlists.

Even driving Uber, my passengers would be able to seamlessly request music and it would make their ride more enjoyable — many also asked what the device was because they’d never seen it.  

Needless to say I am extremely disappointed — I would go so far to say I would pay an extra fee to keep my CarThing active, the software can’t be that complicated . . .

[parkerosebrook]

No recycle solution, no refund plan in place (or at least premium coverage for a few months…) Creating ewaste, ruining a perfect device that so many love. If this is the decision then at least make public the code/os so the community can repurpose these devices. This just absolutely sucks that yall would screw over so many loyal customers and ruin the one “thing”, device you actually make. Instead of ruining what people love, fix what people hate, lyrics not syncing or being wrong, playlist being actual ass….. like this is wrong of spotify as a company. 

[nkrd2nt94kfvhb31q1md]

I just ordered a refurbished iPod. As soon as it gets here, I'm canceling premium. Even if they rectify this situation, which they should, this has marred my trust enough. Let me own what I own. I've paid for premium since 2014. I don't own the music you let me listen to. At least I own the Car Thing.

Spotify was great. This makes me sad. Goodbye, Spotify.

[Manmeyco]

They should offer this by default. At least pretend to care about your customers, instead of blatantly favoring shareholders.

[markpro]

I am very unhappy to hear you are closing down Car Thing. It's such a simple product and cannot take much to maintain. It's sad to see such a beautifully designed product go to the trash. Please please and please pleed with your team and managers to open source or unlock this device to allow the community to maintain it.

[Manmeyco]

Open source would at least prevent some of them from becoming e-waste.

[Bls3412]

"Spotify, screw you for this decision and your community will not forgive this lightly."

This. I chatted with support and the only thing they told me was to wait until they brick it to look for a resolution. 😂 

[nkrd2nt94kfvhb31q1md]

Please let me know if one comes about! I am interested.