Spotify Premium $1 deal I've been charged $16.99

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Forums › Bargains and Deals › Spotify Premium $1 deal I've been charged $16.99

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CYaBro

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#1462513 6-Jan-2016 17:37

dclegg:
TimA: Apple music has been a much better experience for me over Spotify.

I'd be interested to hear why.

The intent of doing this 3 months is so I can compare it to Apple Music, which I've already trialled. I found the latter to have questionable performance at times (on my 15Mbps ADSL2 connection), which is why I'm keen to see how Spotify fares in that regard. So far it hasn't missed a beat.

I use Apple Music at home on our ~5Mbps ADSL connection and have not had any issues.
Loving the Sonos integration now too! (Beta only at this stage)

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

firefuze

510 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1462515 6-Jan-2016 17:39

wombus:
firefuze: If you signup within the app then you pay more because Spotify get charged more, by Apple in this case. If you want it cheaper signup via the Spotify website directly and then login to the app. Hence the $16.99 vs $12.99

If you expand 'in app purchases' list in the App Store you are shown a list of 10 products all with the same name 'Spotify Premium', with a range of prices from $4.99 to $20.99

Yes but the user cannot select these as such, they are all provisioned in there but in NZ at least you only get offered the $16.99 rate as the minimum. To my knowledge that is.

dazhann

465 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1462517 6-Jan-2016 17:48

Slightly off subject, but my daughter, who has only ever had a free spotify account got an email offer of 3 months premium for .99cents and that's not per month. As she was seriously considering going paid grabbed it.

alexx

867 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1462524 6-Jan-2016 18:02

Spotify have been telling people for a while now, don't pay for Spotify using the app store.
Why would Apple want to give you cheap Spotify - doesn't make sense really, does it?

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/07/08/spotify-encourages-customers-to-bypass-apples-app-store-save-3-per-month-on-subscriptions

From my understanding, a condition of placing an app in the app store is that you can't notify the customer that there is a better way of paying for the service from within the app, because Apple want their cut of the in-app purchases.

Edit: if there are still people paying for Spotify from within the app, they should transfer to direct payment as they are just throwing away money. I'm currently on the Spotify 3-months for 99 cents deal and enjoying the service very much and at least on my Mac, I prefer the interface to iTunes.

#include <standard.disclaimer>

wombus

107 posts

Master Geek

#1462588 6-Jan-2016 19:26

alexx: Spotify have been telling people for a while now, don't pay for Spotify using the app store.
Why would Apple want to give you cheap Spotify - doesn't make sense really, does it?

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/07/08/spotify-encourages-customers-to-bypass-apples-app-store-save-3-per-month-on-subscriptions

From my understanding, a condition of placing an app in the app store is that you can't notify the customer that there is a better way of paying for the service from within the app, because Apple want their cut of the in-app purchases.

Edit: if there are still people paying for Spotify from within the app, they should transfer to direct payment as they are just throwing away money. I'm currently on the Spotify 3-months for 99 cents deal and enjoying the service very much and at least on my Mac, I prefer the interface to iTunes.

I'm sure Spotify have never recommended to me not to use the App Store to buy Premium, how did they tell you about this Alexx?

Surely Apple would benefit too from this offer in gaining more subscribers to the service hopefully beyond the offer period.

I clicked on the offer from within the Spotify App that I downloaded from the App Store, this special offer directed me to the App Store. That's why I have laid my complaint with Apple in the first instance as I see it as an in app purchase that's not as advertised.

Btw I have checked I received a total of 3 emails from Spotify during Nov - Dec with this offer. Each email states , Limited eligibility, terms apply.' but offer no link or information regards those terms

wombus

107 posts

Master Geek

#1464694 6-Jan-2016 21:47

A good outcome I take my hat off to Apple this was quick and easy

[i] Hi David,

Thank you for contacting iTunes Store Support. My name is Xxxxx, your iTunes Store Advisor who will assist you with your concern.

I understand that you want to cancel your current subscription. I know how eager you are to have this issue resolved. I’m glad to get the information that you need which can help you address your concern.

I've reviewed your case and am issuing you a full refund for the subscription. The subscription has also been cancelled.

Within ten business days, 16.99 NZD should be posted to the payment method used to make the purchase.

For more information on managing your subscriptions, including how to disable the auto-renewal feature, see this article:

http://support.apple.com/HT202039

If you have other concerns, please feel free to email us back and it will be our pleasure to assist you further. Have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,

Xxxxxx
iTunes Store Customer Support [/i]

Kopkiwi

2617 posts

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#1464816 7-Jan-2016 07:41

Spotify can get stuffed. 10k song limit and the answer they gave for not increasing it means they won't ever see another penny from me.

Apple Music (as an Android user) has been awesome. 100k limit, great UI and has everything I've searched.

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cokeman2

919 posts

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#1464878 7-Jan-2016 09:10

ummm don't know what the fuss is about when you can get it free with spark(mobile) and extra 500mb with it ?

Social Bitcoin meetup every 2 weeks in Hamilton PM me for details

Kopkiwi

2617 posts

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#1465048 7-Jan-2016 11:56

cokeman2: ummm don't know what the fuss is about when you can get it free with spark(mobile) and extra 500mb with it ?

10k Song limit. Was that not clear?

jonathan18

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#1465071 7-Jan-2016 12:19

Kopkiwi:
cokeman2: ummm don't know what the fuss is about when you can get it free with spark(mobile) and extra 500mb with it ?

10k Song limit. Was that not clear?

Wow, you have a particularly direct way of communicating (ie verging on rude)!

Are you also 100% sure this reply was specifically aimed at replying to your own post, not the issue generally (which is what I originally read it as)? It doesn't quote your post, and could easily be interpreted as saying why bother paying $13 let alone $17 for a service that can be got free via certain prepaid phone packages.

The 10k limit may be an issue for you, but I can't imagine it is for many others. And isn't that also only a download issue? If so, I can't see I'd ever need off-line access to over 10k tracks, as I can simply elect to sync different music at different times.

Personally, I'm totally happy with Spotify, and would happily go back to paying $13 a month should my wife elect to move off the $19 Spark plan.

mattwnz

20164 posts

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#1465080 7-Jan-2016 12:32

Glad to see you got it resolved. Pays to always check terms and exactly what they are charging you.

wombus

107 posts

Master Geek

#1465126 7-Jan-2016 13:37

mattwnz: Glad to see you got it resolved. Pays to always check terms and exactly what they are charging you.

Thanks mattwnz yes I probably should have known better an alarm bell should have run. My final rant on this matter I do feel that Spotify could have done a better job regards the process to receive this offer. I was was eligible to take up the offer, however I was not aware I had to purchase directly through Spotify to get it. I had to date only ever used the Ipad App, what threw me was the In-App offer Advertisement which took me to the App Store not the Spotify web page. As well I can confirm I received a total of 3 emails promoting this deal which disclaimed "Limited eligibility, terms apply" but any small print or link to this information was clearly missing in all emails.

nathan

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#1465146 7-Jan-2016 13:59

I used a free trial, but still got the email to signup for this deal

For me it was US$9.99 for 3 months

If anyone knows anything about SaaS business model, you'll know this is a great example of churn. And music is a crap business to be in because of transfer-pricing-power.

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#1465223 7-Jan-2016 15:24

nathan: I used a free trial, but still got the email to signup for this deal

For me it was US$9.99 for 3 months

If anyone knows anything about SaaS business model, you'll know this is a great example of churn. And music is a crap business to be in because of transfer-pricing-power.

The other thing about the SaaS business model is that once they have market saturation, and in a position where it is very difficult for people to move to a competitor, they often then ramp up the pricing. Or they provide a more premium service, and cripple the features on cheaper plans, so you have to upgrade. It is then almost impossible for new entrants to enter the market and succeed. Just look at Trademe which is a form of a SaaS, no other company has been able to setup anything that can compete.

sallyhawkins

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#1470341 13-Jan-2016 20:41

wombus:
firefuze: If you signup within the app then you pay more because Spotify get charged more, by Apple in this case. If you want it cheaper signup via the Spotify website directly and then login to the app. Hence the $16.99 vs $12.99

If you expand 'in app purchases' list in the App Store you are shown a list of 10 products all with the same name 'Spotify Premium', with a range of prices from $4.99 to $20.99

Thanks for the tip

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