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Google Home Mini Promotion still trying to charge full price?

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Google Home Mini Promotion still trying to charge full price?

Plan

Premium Family

Country

 US 

My Question or Issue

 Hello:

Yesterday I recieved my email saying that my Google Home Mini was now available. When I follow the link, it brings me to the Google Store. Once I've selected the mini, and go into the checkout, it's still saying that I have to pay full price for the mini, with no apparent signs that the promo code has been applied.

 

I've looked up some of the other solutions on this website, but following the links provided, and trying to use incognito mode, both didn't work.

 

Thank you for your time.

Reply
197 Replies

Having tried to order a free Google home mini & being charged for it both Google and Spotify advised the order be cancelled and then reordered with a cut & paste of the URL for the promo code.  Having done this the Google store denies the promo code saying it's been used (even though nothing's been ordered) and suggest I contact Spotify as it's their offer as they can't do anything.  Spotify refuse to issue a replacement promo code saying it's only 1 per family.  So there you have it, two hugely succesful multinational companies completely unable to assist their customers.  At least Google tried to be helpful.  Customer service indeed.

Hey folks,

 

Thanks for reaching out to us about this.

 

If you're still experiencing issues with the Google Home Mini offer, make sure to head over to this thread. We've provided some troubleshooting steps there, as well as further instructions to follow if those didn't work for you.

 

Take care!

The thread linked to by Peter does not even attempt to address the problem described by DocBott.  So it is a pointless suggestion to look at it if you have the same problem.

 

DocBott's experience is similar to mine - uisng the recent UK offer for the home mini.  The emailed link to get a free mini worked, or appeared to, but before checkout the zero total reverted to the full £49 price.  Clicking onwards in good faith, assuming this to be a transitory error, resulted in being charged full price.  Google online chat tried various ways to re-order using incognito windows, all to no avail. Google chat then, in effect, prevented cancellation by asking for time to consider how to proceed. By the time they replied (24 hours later) and admitted failure in sorting this out the order was in transit - too late to cancel.  And so I am still being charged  Spotify, meanwhile, have yet to even respond to two requests for help.  As DocBott observed "two hugely successful multinational companies completely unable to assist their customers."  

Hey @jonjob1.

 

Thanks for getting back to us.

 

You mention that you reached out to Spotify for help - can you let us know which channel you contacted us through and if they got back to you? 

 

Thanks! We'll be keeping an eye out for your reply so we can help you out.

Hi Peter

I did get a response eventually - both via twitter (your @spotifycares account) and by email. Neither were particularly helpful, neither actually reading/comprehending that I had already tried the incognito window/stripping the code out of the url systems you think will 'solve' the problem. Both suggested repeatedly, I try this, each time writing as if it was a new solution.

And both also asked, more than once, for the order number with Google Store, even though I sent it multiple times. None of which was reassuring - it seems you don't read the content of the communications, and you don't do that multiple times. That's pretty poor practice.

It's not as if you could, actually, help when given the Google Store order as you also said, repeatedly, that you have no way of intervening with a google store order, which begs the question why repeatedly ask for the order number? You seem to specialise in wasting customer's time.

Furthermore, you kept insisting that I must cancel the original billed order (or return the item for refund if delivered already) and re-make a new order for a free one.  You say this is also because you have no way to intervene with google store. You seem to have no comprehension that a sensible, customer-friendly, approach would be to have, by now (the problem is, judging by this thread, not new) a system to simply reimburse customers whose code didn't work. Not ask them to return an item for refund and try again. Your mess-ups with your relationship with google store are YOUR mess-ups, not mine.  you should sort them out. 

Anyway - the billed order did arrive and google (who have actually tried to help) have offered to expedit the return.

And - having tried and failed with your systems to re-order multiple times - I did, today, manage to re-order without being charged.  So I am, it seems, getting the offer you advertised.  But not without a great dea of trouble.  I do not recommend your customer service.

@peter, quick question...so Spotify isn't honoring the US offer, but is sort of honoring a new offer for those outside of the US...how does that work? I was informed I would be receiving an email about the pervious US free Google Home Mini and never did. I contact support via Social Media and on the the community and never received an email. Any thoughts as to how I can still receive the offer considering that I was within the sign up window and was informed I would receive an email? We still have our family plan and enjoy it, but the Google Home Mini is still a sensitive subject. 

Hey @jonjob1.

 

Thanks for getting back to us about this.

 

We're glad to hear that you managed to get refunded for the Google Home Mini in the end, and that you were able to order a free one as per the offer.

 

We do however apologise for the negative experience that you had. We will make sure to pass on your message to our internal teams as feedback so that we can improve our support with these kinds of cases in the future.

 

@kmckinney - thanks for reaching out about this. We're looking into this, and we will get back to you as soon as we have any updates on your case.

 

Do let us know if there's anything else - we'll be right here.

 

Take care!

I think all the responses are AI. I've gone back through the emails I received in January promising a solution and the wording/language are remarkably similar. "I've asked around backstage..." "Awesome! I got everything I need. Just sit back and relax. Enjoy your music and wait for good news from us soon." "We can put you in high priority 🙂 Consider it resolved"

Still nothing. It's a classic bait and switch and it appears Spotify's bots are now 'responding' on the boards too.

 

Hey @pbj5.

 

Rest assured that we are indeed real people 🙂

 

Let us know if there's anything I/we can help you with.

 

spotify:track:0fiPpwBPIaxxydn4KzX9Tc:small

Plan
Premium
Country
UK

Device
IPad, PC, iPod
Operating System
iOS 12, Windows 10



My Question or Issue
So I get the link for my "free" Google Home Mini and follow it to the check out stage. No discount is applying. To cut a long story short I tried many times on multiple devices and browers, having contacted Spotfy support by email and phone with no change - no discount. Then the message changed to "We're sorry but you are not able to redeem at the moment". I contacted spotify and was told this was due to high demand and to keep trying. I did but after more than a week no change so I contacted spotify again. This time I was told that the reason was that the discount code had already been used and they could not send me another one. I was free to cancel my subsciption to spotify if I wished!!

So I am absolutely 100% sure that "my" code has not be used, at least by me or by anyone associated with my account, and this could be proven by checking if a home mini has been sent to my address. It hasn't because I never received the code to complete the order.

So this whole thing appears like a scam. I assume people have received the GHM but I believe that if demand has been so high Spotify are taking every opportunity to deny those entitled to the promotion receipt of the promotional code.

How should I take this further? If Spotify are so quick to remind me I can cancel my subscription, then I am clear not valued as a customer, so why should they care?

Same issue I got charged on my credit card for this. 

 

{snip - Community Moderator edit}

The whole Google Home Mini offer is a disgrace.  The only help I was offered by Spotify was to cancel my subscription.  This is the worst on-line “customer service” I have come across.


Don't even bother doing the promo. In the end you'll have to pay $9.99 upfront when you cancel your family plan, and then when you redeem and want to upgrade to family I can see them charging you $14.99 upfront as well.

 

Which means your paying $24.98 for a "Free" Google Home.

 

Just wait till Christmas, they're usually on sale for $39.99, and it'll save you the headache.

Nvm

It gets worse

Spotify have seen fit to send me a reminder email to claim my “free” Google home mini that I haven’t been able to order, and guess what click on the link and it STILL says I can only have one, when I have NONE.  Rubbish offer, hopeless customer service and it speaks volumes about the company…..



Premium for Family includes a Google Home Mini.


Claim yours before it's too late!


GET YOURS NOW









Pretty sure this promo only works for the white colour. I was gonna get the black one but no promo was applied so I ended up here. Changed my order to the white one and the promo applied. (ta-da)

 

Hope this helps. 🙂 

Having the same issue

Oh, Spotify,

This has been a farce. Okay, at least for me. 

At this point I feel like I'm just an entitled whiner, some sort of freebie snatcher trying to get his grubby hands on a carrot on a stick. 

 

So I'm just done with that then. I'm really tired of the faux offering to current scrubs like me (but really for new users). Next time just say so. So you're no better than Comcast with a free crappy netbook. Just tell us so. Don't spend months with this rigamarole. 

My goodness, I don't even want this thing anymore. It was a spiff, a neat treat, but ever since I was "able" to order it, I never could actually get it for free. I feigned patience, good humor, etc. Heck, I even made a little video to explain to the unhelpful Facebook help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gxsZTW-nyo&fbclid=IwAR0q049NlMJrx0m0MNYlC0cqHRCUo8ungrrqvHlI4FyZRCx...

 

But as I've always said. I'm not bitter, just disappointed. So there, I've dusted off my saltiness. But, Lordy it's been a months-long saga to leave behind. 

Same problem here. I followed all the proper steps, got the email, on the website it said that the promotion had been applied but still had to enter mi credit card and decided to go through with it, believing I wouldn't be charged for it. Then I just received it, check my credit card and was charged. Since there is no email to contact spotify or phone, I have no idea what to do. I feel it's so unfair I'm being charged for this. Has anyone found a solution for this problem?

There's no Solution, cancel the order and dispute charge through your
credit card. I quite trying months ago, and got one from eBay. No more
problems no more headaches.

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