{"id":1733,"date":"2024-07-10T20:42:47","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T20:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/spotify-car-thing-lawsuit-dropped-by-angry-customers\/"},"modified":"2024-07-10T20:42:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T20:42:47","slug":"spotify-car-thing-lawsuit-dropped-by-angry-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/spotify-car-thing-lawsuit-dropped-by-angry-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotify Car Thing Lawsuit Dropped by Angry Customers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\n\tA group of consumers have dropped a class action lawsuit against Spotify over its recent decision to kill its short-lived \u201cCar Thing\u201d device, a case that claimed the streamer left users holding \u201ca useless product.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFiled in May, the case came just days after Spotify announced that the Car Thing \u2014 a device launched in 2021 for playing music in a car \u2014 would be bricked in December. The customers claimed the move left them \u201cwith nothing more than a paperweight that cost between $50 and $100.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut less than two months later, attorneys for the jilted consumers said Tuesday (July 9) that they would drop the lawsuit. The move came without explanation and does not indicate that any kind of settlement with Spotify was reached.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn their initial complaint, the aggrieved buyers claimed Spotify had refused to offer refunds and, at the time of the lawsuit\u2019s filing, the company\u2019s FAQ addressing the deactivation did not make any mention of refunds. It simply told users that Spotify was \u201cnot offering any trade-in options\u201d and urged them to consider \u201csafely disposing of your device following local electronic waste guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut after the news of the lawsuit had spread, Spotify\u2019s website was updated to include a new section covering refunds. In the updated text, Spotify tells users: \u201cIndividuals seeking a refund can contact customer support with proof of purchase to discuss their options.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s unclear if the move to more clearly offer refunds resulted in the withdrawal of the lawsuit, and neither side immediately returned requests for more information. But the voluntary dismissal was made \u201cwithout prejudice,\u201d meaning the accusers could refile the case at some point in the future if they choose to do so.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpotify announced Car Thing in April 2021, saying it would provide users with a \u201cseamless and personalized in-car listening experience.\u201d The product \u2014 a touch screen with a physical dial that still requires access to a smartphone \u2014 rolled out in February 2022 at a price point of $89.99. But just months later, Spotify said it would cease production, telling investors that they \u201cfrankly haven\u2019t seen the volume at the higher prices that would make the current product financially viable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThen in May, Spotify alerted users that it would stop supporting the devices entirely. The company told users that it was \u201cnot a decision we made lightly\u201d and offered a link to customer service to \u201censure that you have the right place to reach out if you have any questions.\u201d A week later, the company confirmed in a public statement that the move, set to take effect Dec. 9, would render the devices fully inoperable.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn May 28, three Car Thing buyers \u2014 Hamza Mazumder, Anthony Bracarello and Luke Martin \u2014 filed their lawsuit, accusing Spotify of violating state and federal laws by essentially duping their clients into buying a \u201cuseless product.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHad plaintiffs and other members of the class known that Spotify manufactured the Car Thing with the ability to brick the product at any point after its introduction to the marketplace and in Spotify\u2019s total discretion, they would not have bought a Car Thing, or would have paid substantially less for them,\u201d the lawsuit read.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of consumers have dropped a class action lawsuit against Spotify over its recent decision to kill its short-lived \u201cCar Thing\u201d device, a case that claimed the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2442,449,1957,2043,303,1217],"class_list":["post-1733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lawyers","tag-angry","tag-car","tag-customers","tag-dropped","tag-lawsuit","tag-spotify"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}