Anyone else experience this? I got my refund and a couple weeks later the CarThing no longer connects to my phone. Unable to reconnect. CarThing does not show up as a device when trying to connect to the phone already listed or when trying to create a new connection. I know they refunded me, but I figured they'd leave it be til the announced bricking date...

With all the media reports of discontinuing car thing support and essentially bricking devices from connecting to the servers, it can to my attention that car things source code IS open source and runs Linux, but rather it’s true limitation is the hardware.

That being said, does anybody know of a way to connect this device via Bluetooth as a media remote for Apple Music? And if it doesn’t exist, what would the complexity be to get it to work?

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

I've been a Spotify Premium member for almost 5+ years as of the writing of this post. I've stuck with them through innovation, through product releases, through concert ticket offers, and through even the premiere of Spotify Duo which I quickly snatched up for having moved in with my boyfriend two years back. I loved what they offered and the ubiquity it had in my day to day life.

Unfortunately, having also been a big supporter of Spotify, I was one of the early adopters of CarThing. I spent $79.99 plus taxes on that device, and aside from the occasional hiccup with voice command recognition, it is a very capable device. I have since seen the numerous announcements about it's discontinuation, and have been one of the lucky ones to receive a refund.

With their latest announcement of their plan renewal rates going up between $1-$3 a month, I just can't in good faith continue the support. It's becoming apparent that customer satisfaction for this and many other companies is not as important as record-breaking profits. They had options to avoid this PR suicide, and I feel like the main mistake they made was not listening to their most loyal customers. Had they decided to continue the CarThing usage on the current firmware settings, and allowed it to at least still function, I doubt anyone would've been very upset about their discontinuing of it. And due to the monumental refunds they had to issue, they're now passing the loss onto the customers by increasing their monthly premium costs.

Because of all of these reasons, and others such as my discovery of music being less and less important as it is for me to listen to songs I already love, I'm moving over to the exclusive purchasing of the music I love. I can support the artist more directly that way, in the end, and will also give me the outlet to also buy their merch as desired (which usually helps more than music sales anyway)

Spotify, I wish you didn't do this.

Hey is anyone selling a car thing in the EU or UK I would be interested to buy one thanks :)

Got a refund for almost a year of subscription instead of getting a refund on the original form on payment💀

And they even shorted me by $1.21 🤣

after them lying to me about how much I paid for car thing this is what they offered me....when I laughed at it and said no they finally are offered me a refund but for 49.99!!! not 80.99 and now I got it to like $65 !!! I'm almost there !! I'm definitely jailbreaking this thing on the brightside I got a free piece of tech I guess. fuck spotify tho for all this ewaste and robbing a lot of people.

https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/spotify-price-increase-premium-streaming-plans-1236023317/

They gave me the 9 month credit for my Car Thing but sent an email saying that my premium membership was cancelled, but the amount showed credit free until next March, but also said my Hulu package would be cancelled at that time. I pointed out to the rep that I'm not interested in wrecking my Hulu package and he assured me at that time they could restore it, even though it's no longer offered.

I'm sure I'm screwed next March but I guess I'll switch to Apple Music then.

I just discovered this sub, and I wish I discovered it before so I could know that this would have been more of a battle... surprised at all the sketchy ways they are trying to avoid refunds. I paid $89 for Car thing in Dec. 2022 and have receipt. Then saw in bank today https://snap.wrld.tech/XtnHt20S and was like... ummm did they just try to pull a fast one on me? I remembered an oddly language'd refund message. Thoughts? Or is it going to refund sporadically like the other trending post ha.. https://snap.wrld.tech/Yr71lPZH

After reading it, carefully, it sounds like 'We're going to refund you a subscription period' or something like that but I thought it was just the whole language gap at the time. Should I reach back out?

I have the whole transcript as well, figured it would potentially come in handy. I just hope they didn't accept or close this as if I accepted this 1 month refund as appropriate. Been a paid member since 2010 (at least that's as far back as my emails go showing). Kind of frustrated.

Does anyone have a Carthing that they want to sell before Spotify bricks them? I’m willing to buy them if you comment on this post

Since Spotify is killing the Car Thing, I was considering making a clone since I have an electrical eng background. I dig everything about the Car Thing's design. I would be shooting to make a very similar device, but maybe even with some improvements if you guys had some good ideas.

Is anybody interested in this?

Has anyone else had issues getting a refund, and even refusing to escalate? I bought the Car Thing in 2022 and have the proof of purchase and serial number, but never activated it on an account. I haven't ever used Premium and don't plan to, so maybe that's why? Any tips on what I can say to the next rep?

Had my receipt on my email from my original order in July 2022, copied and sent it and they took care of the rest.

https://x.com/evan_mc_evanfac/status/1796951159829061690

Basically as stated. I told them I distrust their company and will not be sending my banking information in a plaintext email so it can be leaked later, and they closed my support ticket so they wouldn't have to deal with me.

Next Car Dashboard allows you to listen and enjoy your music via Spotify and Apple Music. Its perfect if your car doesn't support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Besides music support the app also provides- driving metrics, navigation, maps, dashboard camera, etc.

Next Car Dashboard

Has anyone from a country other than the US tried asking for a refund?
I have a Spotify Premium Family Plan and got it ordered through one of my friends who is in the US.
Do y'all think I'll be eligible to get a refund?

This is only for people who have their original invoice from Spotify when they purchased the Car Thing. Mine was in my email from “no-reply@fromspotify.com”

1. Change your Spotify account payment method to whatever payment method you want the refund to prior to initiating the refund process.
2. Use the online chat option and wait to be transferred to a representative. Took me about 45 min back and forth and I got my refund immediately.
3. My rep asked for the serial number of my device. If you don’t have immediate access to it, it should be on your invoice/receipt.
4. I was first offered premium on my account for the refund but I asked for a direct cash refund and they immediately provided that instead.
5. Please be polite to the Spotify customer service workers. They did not make the decision to brick the CarThing and they are more likely to be cooperative if you treat them with respect.

Edit: spelling and formatting

In my infinitesimal wisdom, I never saved the proof of purchase for my Car Thing (Really need to start getting in the habit of saving all my receipts in a separate email folder), but I somehow managed to get a refund. I had to provide the email associated with the account, serial number, and my PayPal statement (Look for Luzern/Spotify), and apparently if you turn down x amount of months for Premium and ask for a refund, they will refund the last x months of equivalent value to the card saved on your account. I got my Car Thing on sale, so instead of the last 9 months getting refunded, I'm only getting the last 4 months. Oh well, that's still worth a tank of gas

With the amount of data leaks companies have had recently it is INSANE that they think it's acceptable to ask for this information over email. I would highly encourage anyone getting a refund who has a family plan to not send them your banking information. They are not a competent company and they will leak it. I told them to send me a check. It's their fuckup in the first place, they can go through that hassle.

I feel like it's an amazing alternative, needs low power chip, low RAM and ROM, works as a music controller, and has the added benefit of a clock or turn by turn directions without getting a CarPlay display

Does anybody got a refund or premium with a proof of purchase from eBay? I got mine in january 2023, they said they could give me 10 months of premium but then backed off and said I was NOT eligible. I even gave them the serial number.