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.

[speedyboy1312]

I use my car thing every single day!

[TerribleCustomerCare]

They can just split the API, call the one that supports CarThing v1.0 and stop supporting it, leave that folder of code alone and use v2.0 of the API in the rest of the app to make improvements.

It would have been worth the month of work it would take a developer to avoid this BS.

[psuki]

Besides the color green and its own corporate baggage, what does Spotify have that Apple Music doesn't??

I still have a ZUNE for goodness sake, and it STILL works when I go to use it. Why? Because even though it's a dead project, there's an enthusiast community supporting it, and Microsoft (of all companies) isn't putting up barriers around it! If it bugs out, I can flash the firmware on at anytime, or replace the battery or storage! The same is true of ipod Classics. This is tech from the 2000's!

Basically only enthusiasts or the original target market - older car owners - of the Car Thing would shell for this device or even pick up its free release.

Why would Spotify make any move that alienates consumer segments based on

A) tech enthusiasm

B) those with a very practical reason to use a gadget if they want to participate in this particular merchant's offerings

for something that's barely 3 years old?

[pastjohn]

Spotify, discontinuing Car Thing is a huge mistake. It's completely predatory and disingenuous to sell a device that you not only discontinue, but force it to stop working less than 3 years after release without any reimbursement for the original cost. At best, this is extremely wasteful and takes advantage of the very people who support you. At worst, this is fraudulent behavior.

A proper response is to either release the device code and allow us to put whatever software we want on Car Thing, or give us refunds.

[PirateBay_boi]

Show your love for Spotify on App Store or Google play people! 1/5 stars 

Helldivers2 style 

[PirateBay_boi]

Review on AppStore or Google play?? Don’t discontinue the carthing. Submit your reviews of Spotify and make sure your voices are heard 

[Stevenpark123]

I really love my car thing, it's been a lifesaver for my old car and it keeps my hands off my phone while driving. The programmable buttons are the best!

Please don't discontinue it, or at the very least make it open source so it doesn't just become a brick.

[Angryburb]

I've been a spotofy customer for 8+ years, but the day my car thing stops working, I will be canceling my spotify, premium family subscription and switching to Sirius Xm.

You would figure the monthly fees would be enough for them to cover the programming updates to keep the car things working. 

[pastjohn]

Disappointed?! I'm furious! You lied to and stole from us Spotify! You gladly pocketed the money we gave you and now you're taking away the device we paid for. That's theft, through and through. 

[DialTone54]

This is actively malicious for no reason. To your users and the enviroment, Open Source it and let a community form to keep it alive.

[Stevenpark123]

At least don't brick the device, what a waste of a good product...

[Rassilon7]

I understand no updates, but bricking this device in December shows a total lack of respect for core customers and early adopters. Everybody knows that Spotify is struggling financially and we customers who bought into Car Thing are trying to help them. I would never purchase a Spotify product ever again. 

[realmadmartian]

I bought mine in October of 2022, so I have only had mine 1 year and 7 months. I just got done with a chat asking for a credit for the cost of the device towards my monthly bill. They declined. I will not tolerate this unethical decision. Spotify needs to either NOT brick the device or give me a full credit or I will jump to one of many competitors. When Amazon bricked the Halo it gave me a full refund in Amazon credit without me even having to ask for it. That is what I expect from Spotify if they brick the Car Thing.

[MITTAINIA]

I was told to come here and post my feedback although I don't trust that Spotify will not delete it, as they did the posts from customers this morning.

I would not buy any device--a printer, a kindle, a tablet or a flip phone knowing that its functionality would be completely shut off 2 years after I bought it, but there are some that would and this should have been shared upfront. It's understandable when software updates are no longer supported, but to deliberately kill function for everyone? It violates the understanding customers have when they make a purchase. Nowhere in the terms was it conveyed that this would be a time limited or unreliable service. 

The justification seems to be "just use the functionality your phone/car already has"...yeah if we all had cars with USB ports and displays that perfectly synced to our phones, we wouldn't have bought Car Thing in the first place. Lately people keep asking me why I'm paying for Spotify when so much is free now, and maybe they have a point. If I can only use it when I'm home, I might as well use a free service instead.

[c_wes_long]

Thanks so much for doing the work of reaching out to FTC & other regulators! I'm hopeful that we'll see some sort of legal action taken over this, if not a challenge from regulators, then perhaps a class action suit or something? Even just threatening legal action could be enough to get them to back down or offer some kind of settlement or refund.

Are you listening Spotify General Counsel? Paying for a big law firm to defend you won't be cheap. In fact, I almost guarantee you that it would be cheaper to just spend whatever very minimal cost you're currently incurring on coding for keeping Car Thing support in your updates than it would be to lawyer up and fight any kind of legal challenge on this. And this is all putting aside the reputational damage this causes by pissing off existing loyal paying customers who have been using this product (like me).

It's absolutely insane and unacceptable to intentionally go out of your way to kill a product that people have already paid good money for and actively use/rely on. And to offer absolutely zero refund or even Spotify credit is just adding insult to injury. Of course Spotify is within their rights to stop making this product going forward, but applying an update to intentionally kill it for existing owners is just completely unnecessary and seems almost spiteful.

I'm probably just screaming into the void at this point, but if anyone at Spotify reads this, please reconsider! I've been a loyal customer for years and have had a good experience until now, don't let this be the reason you lose my business, I want to keep giving you my money!

[jftrumpet]

Please do not kill the Car Thing. Spotify either needs to open it to the community for repurposing or compensate those who bought one. 

I'm very upset to learn that I bought a device that is going to become e-waste so soon. It was a pricey investment into this streaming service, but killing it outright will be enough to make me leave. I'm already getting YouTube Music anyway. Please reverse course or at least offer an alternative so this device doesn't end up in a landfill.

Plan

Premium - Family

Country

USA

Device

(Pixel 6, iPad Pro, PC, Car Thing)

Operating System

(iOS 16, Android 14, Windows 10)

My Question or Issue

[Yeetmagee99]

At least explain to me why I have paid for a perfectly good device. On that I use everyday. Only for spotify to make it stop working. Give me my money back or don't turn my display into garbage. 

[Yeetmagee99]

Don't make MY car thing that I PAID FOR stop working. 

[zerolag]

I’m upset you guys will be bricking my device I paid for, shame on you Spotify 

[Yeetmagee99]

Don't make car thing garbage!! Make it work or give our money back!!