Spotify will be discontinuing Car Thing for good, prompting users to demand refunds

Spotify is notifying customers who purchased Car Thing that the devices will no longer work after December 9, 2024. The company discontinued the device in July 2022, but said at the time that it would continue to support units already sold.

The company’s plans for the device have changed as Spotify informed users on Thursday that all Car Thing devices will “stop working” later this year, according to an email sent to buyers.

Car Thing, which launched publicly in February 2022, was largely aimed at people who don’t have infotainment systems built into their vehicles. The device worked with the Spotify mobile app on the user’s phone and streamed music through the car’s sound system. While Spotify cited low product demand and supply chain issues in its decision to discontinue the devices, Car Thing managed to find a niche community.

Users are understandably upset that the device they paid $90 for will now be unusable, even though they were previously told that Spotify would continue to support it. Some people use social media to demand a refund for their purchase.

hey @Spotify i’d love my money back for my perfectly functional car thing that will cease to work at the end of this year thanks

— danielle (@sightofthesun_) May 23, 2024

“The goal of our exploration of Car Thing in the U.S. was to learn more about how people listen in the car,” the company said in a statement emailed to TechCrunch. “In July 2022, we announced that we would cease further production and now it is time to say goodbye to the devices completely. Users will have until December 9, 2024 for all Car Thing devices to be deactivated.”

The company’s support page advises users to reset the Car Thing to factory settings and “safely dispose of the device in accordance with local e-waste guidelines.”

The site also says that the move is part of Spotify’s efforts to “streamline (its) product offering,” and while it may be “disappointing,” the change allows it to “focus on developing new features and improvements.”

It looks like Spotify has no plans to revisit the hardware market anytime soon, as it notes that it has “no plans to release a replacement or new version of Car Thing.”