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If every customer is entitled to a refund then why isn't it automatic and automated? There needs to be a term for this kind of malicious refund policy that doe

If every customer is entitled to a refund then why isn't it automatic and automated? There needs to be a term for this kind of malicious refund policy that does everything possible to prevent you from claiming it.

cududa 2y ago
Small anecdote: I've had Spotify premium for 12 years now. Back in 2020 I got a rather large prepaid debit card. I put a couple low dollar subscriptions on there. Spotify being one of them. Card ran out of money. So Spotify instantly shifts me down to the free plan, after 1 failed payment, and deletes all the songs I synced to my phone until I update my card on file. Which was supremely obnoxious on mobile (but that's because I signed up for Spotify with Facebook, and 8 years after breaking FB SSO OTP code generation on mobile they still haven't fixed it) No grace period, no warning that my payment failed and I was being downgraded. Just a big old full screen pop-up warning me that if I continue into the free version, it would immediately delete all my playlists. Paying customer for 12+ years, with 12+ years of playlists. Had I not read the small print and just clicked "continue" it would've deleted ALL of that. Even after updating my payment method, and not having pressed "continue" (to the free plan) I had to re-sync all the songs I'd already downloaded. They're a very user hostile company, and I've never had the slightest bit of sympathy in their fight with Apple, and this is a pretty good reinforcement.
elaus 2y ago
The account in another comments makes it clear why it's done like that: To get a refund you not only have to talk to support (i.e. spending quite some time in some chat interface), then escalate the issue (talking to another support agent once more) and THEN you might get your money. I guess only a very small fraction of people will do this, making it a very cheap way for Spotify to stop any negative press regarding this issue.
- strunz 2y ago
  I didn't have to escalate anything, just provided my receipt
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  Obviously they're doing it for PR without having to follow through, thus the maliciousness. What we need is a law that obliges them to issue automated refunds in cases where 100% of customers are entitled to a refund.
- lupire 2y ago
  Why isn't there an app business that automatically goes through the corporate time wasting obstacles to burn the corpo's money on support calls?
  - throwaway48476 2y ago
    Some people have been working on using LLM's for scam baiting. I've also seen LLM's used to interact with the chat support windows. It's just a matter of time now.

cududa 2y ago

Small anecdote: I've had Spotify premium for 12 years now. Back in 2020 I got a rather large prepaid debit card. I put a couple low dollar subscriptions on there. Spotify being one of them. Card ran out of money. So Spotify instantly shifts me down to the free plan, after 1 failed payment, and deletes all the songs I synced to my phone until I update my card on file. Which was supremely obnoxious on mobile (but that's because I signed up for Spotify with Facebook, and 8 years after breaking FB SSO OTP code generation on mobile they still haven't fixed it) No grace period, no warning that my payment failed and I was being downgraded. Just a big old full screen pop-up warning me that if I continue into the free version, it would immediately delete all my playlists. Paying customer for 12+ years, with 12+ years of playlists. Had I not read the small print and just clicked "continue" it would've deleted ALL of that. Even after updating my payment method, and not having pressed "continue" (to the free plan) I had to re-sync all the songs I'd already downloaded. They're a very user hostile company, and I've never had the slightest bit of sympathy in their fight with Apple, and this is a pretty good reinforcement.

elaus 2y ago

The account in another comments makes it clear why it's done like that: To get a refund you not only have to talk to support (i.e. spending quite some time in some chat interface), then escalate the issue (talking to another support agent once more) and THEN you might get your money. I guess only a very small fraction of people will do this, making it a very cheap way for Spotify to stop any negative press regarding this issue.

strunz 2y ago
I didn't have to escalate anything, just provided my receipt
throwaway48476 2y ago
Obviously they're doing it for PR without having to follow through, thus the maliciousness. What we need is a law that obliges them to issue automated refunds in cases where 100% of customers are entitled to a refund.
lupire 2y ago
Why isn't there an app business that automatically goes through the corporate time wasting obstacles to burn the corpo's money on support calls?
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  Some people have been working on using LLM's for scam baiting. I've also seen LLM's used to interact with the chat support windows. It's just a matter of time now.