Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
1–10 of 250 posts
Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
#2They're taking a loss, and a reputational damage from this. This seems irrational. They could have just left the old software to languish.
Could there be more to this? Maybe the Car Thing's DRM has been completely broken? Record companies want to license cars/things differently?
Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
#3I reached out to them to get a refund for my Car Thing - and they actually sent me an email asking for my checking account number and routing number to be sent to them VIA EMAIL. And presumably into their ticket system where future hackers will find a nice collection of financial info.
I wonder if their CISO or security team is aware of this, I reached out to address found in https://www.spotify.com/.well-known/security.txt
Here is response I received:
Hello there,
Thanks for reaching out to us via messaging. Your case has been escalated to the highest tier of Customer Support here in Spotify. All communication within this email thread will be from the Escalation team from now on.
We can see that you've already sent a proof of purchase via chat. About refunding, please share the following details with us:
- Bank name - Bank Location - Account Holder Name - Routing & Account no - SWIFT - A screenshot of the required bank details on your online banking or bank letter (if it's possible).
Make sure to hide any sensitive payment information like your full card number for your security.
We'll keep an eye out for your response so we could sort this out.
Kind regards,
XXXX Escalations Team - Spotify Customer Support
Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
#4I used the support link provided. They tried to give me 3 months of premium instead of a refund. I declined. They replied:
>Thank you for waiting! As I can only suggest you for free Premium in your account. The actual Car Thing refund is done by the specialty advisors, so I'll create a case related to your issue and transfer it and the right team will get back to you through email. Sounds good?
So I am now waiting for an email.
Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
#5I wonder if there's licensing issues with them doing so? Like I assume they didn't make all the hardware and firmware involved.
Kind of a shame when companies do this.
I also wonder how long till the hacker community starts hacking these things any way? Seems like a worthy device to hack, though I can't imagine there's millions of these out there. I'd love to buy a 2nd hand one and install custom software on it if someone builds said firmware.
Hell, if Spotify had open sourced this and still sold them, I might have bought a first hand one. I would just be streaming my Apple music to it instead. ;)
Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
#6I used the support link provided. They tried to give me 3 months of premium instead of a refund. I declined. They replied: >Thank you for waiting! As I can only suggest you for free Premium in your account. The actual Car Thing refund is done by the specialty advisors, so I'll create a case related to your issue and transfer it and the right team will get back to you through email. Sounds good? So I am now waiting fo…
This sounds like you're using a support chatbot. Of course they're not going to allow the chatbot to authorize refunds.
Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
#7I wonder if there's licensing issues with them doing so? Like I assume they didn't make all the hardware and firmware involved. Kind of a shame when companies do this. I also wonder how long till the hacker community starts hacking these things any way? Seems like a worthy device to hack, though I can't imagine there's millions of these out there. I'd love to buy a 2nd hand one and install custom software on it if so…
The count down to an HN post of Car Thing runs Doom has now started
Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
#8I used the support link provided. They tried to give me 3 months of premium instead of a refund. I declined. They replied: >Thank you for waiting! As I can only suggest you for free Premium in your account. The actual Car Thing refund is done by the specialty advisors, so I'll create a case related to your issue and transfer it and the right team will get back to you through email. Sounds good? So I am now waiting fo…
When the Fitbit Ionic had a recall, I applied for a refund 2 years later, sent in the watch (you have to mail it), and it took months to get my cash. I wouldn't hold my breath, it might take a while, which I think is fine, so long as they get it done.
Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
#9Are they just banking on people not caring enough or knowing about the refund process? Clearly it can't be better off for them to refund hundreds of thousands maybe even 1m+ people.
We need laws that step in to make this impossible. Hardware should be designed so that it can be reused. Make it so that people can just reflash the memory at a minimum. There's no reason for something like this to become e-waste. And the excuse being Spotify wanting to protect their brand should not stand.
Re: Spotify won't open-source Car Thing, but starts refund process
#10"Some remain frustrated by the scheduled obsolescence of hardware that was only released to the general public in February 2022. Car Thing first released to a limited number of subscribers in October 2021."
What is the purpose of this device in the first place? In 2021/2022, smart phones with bluetooth or usb/audio cables were in full effect which is how I'm assuming >99.999% of users use Spotify. Were there Spotify users that had cars during the recent 3 years that had cars with radios that were incompatible with bluetooth or aux inputs that made this device desirable?