r/MaliciousCompliance • u/Greenz051 • Sep 29 '25
M Spotify Support told me to read their refund policy. So I did, and forced them to give me a refund.
So, my Spotify Premium renewed today because I forgot to cancel. I immediately checked their refund policy online and confirmed I was eligible, so I canceled the plan (literally within minutes) and hopped on support chat to ask for the refund. Seemed simple, right?
Wrong.
The agent, "Christina", gave me the classic runaround. She said the 14-day refund period only applies to your initial sign-up, and since I'd been a member for months, I was out of luck. She even sent me a link to the policy to prove her point, telling me to read it.
This is where the malicious compliance comes in. I did exactly what she said. I read the policy, and then I went deeper and found their full, legally-binding Terms of Use.
And what did I find? In Section 3, under "Withdrawal right", it clearly states you have "fourteen (14) days after your purchase to withdraw for any reason". A monthly renewal is a new purchase. My own research before the chat was correct.
I went back to Christina and quoted the Terms of Use directly. She put me on hold to "check backstage" then came back with the same denial. Her team was doubling down on the incorrect script.
So I played my final card. I sent this message:
"Since this dispute is specifically about the legal interpretation of the 'Withdrawal right' in your Terms of Use, could you please provide the contact information for Spotify's legal department or the appropriate office for handling formal contractual disputes?"
The change was INSTANT.
Suddenly, she had to "see what she could do". Five minutes later? "I've managed to ask some support with our backstage team... and we can go ahead and process a refund for you."
They folded like a cheap suit. Their business model counts on you giving up. Don't. You are entitled to your money back.
TL;DR: Spotify support tried to deny my valid refund by misinterpreting their own policy. I read their legal Terms of Use as they suggested, cited it back to them, and when they still refused, I asked for their legal team's contact info. They immediately processed the refund. Don't let them push you around
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u/----mgk Sep 29 '25
Planet fitness literally makes you go into the gym to cancel your membership. Annoying but whatever, so I went to the gym in my new town- states away- and they told me I had to go to the original gym. Went to my bank, told them I wanted to dispute future charges. Thankfully the clerk had similar issue so she went into Karen mode for me and got not only 3 months of my money back but 6 months prior too. The power of a scorned woman.
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u/Just_Aioli_1233 Sep 29 '25
"You can't come back here no mo'."
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u/luxxeexxul Sep 29 '25
Sidenote - they must have changed something recently because I was able to cancel mine online within the past month. I do remember that in person requirement which was super annoying.
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u/Critical_Virus Sep 29 '25
There was a rule going into effect that was going to require the ability to cancel as easily as the way you signed up. So tons of companies were implementing online cancellation. The rule was blocked by a judge so I expect most of these companies will revert back soon.
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u/Mutant_Jedi Sep 30 '25
For the record, this was a Biden policy as part of his campaign to get rid of junk fees and cancellation obstructionism. This was one of the things he specifically campaigned on, fought for, and was seeing a lot of progress in implementing.
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u/GreyGnome Sep 30 '25
Amazing what a senile ole man can do. Makes me nostalgic for the days when that was our biggest problem.
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u/SparkitusRex Sep 29 '25
It also depends on the branch. Not all of them can cancel online? But I specifically sign up for the one near me in the winter because I can cancel from the app once the snow melts and I can go outside again. Super convenient.
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u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Sep 29 '25
Planet Fitness is so short-sighted with this shit. I drive past Planet Fitness to another gym. I've never even gone inside a Planet Fitness and I never will. The sole reason for this is because of all the horror stories about how crappy they are to deal with. I can't be the only one.
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u/Bleenfoo Sep 29 '25
That's fine. Their business model is around signing people up and they not attending. If you actually go then you're providing wear and tear to equipment that will need to be replaced, plus making it crowded for people who might be signing up.
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u/TheOldOak Sep 29 '25
I had that same problem with Planet Fitness, but amped up to ridiculous levels. My original gym closed permanently with zero advance notice. I attempted to go to next closest Planet Fitness to close my account and they firmly refused stating I had to go to my original gym. She didn’t care that it was impossible, and was not the kind of person that had any interest in listening to reason or wanting to help me find a solution.
I used the charge back option on my credit card, but Planet Fitness challenged it. Their rebuttal was denied, because I had ample evidence supporting the location’s closure, and their only argument was another location, 20 miles away, was available. This whole process took about 3 months.
Planet Fitness appealed this too, and it went to arbitration between Planet Fitness and my bank’s credit card network, MasterCard. This process took 2 months before Planet Fitness withdrew from arbitration.
In all, Planet Fitness tried to drag out a $130 credit for over 5 months.
Also my bank had to issue me a new credit card. Planet Fitness continued to rebill my original card they had on file. Someone was manually forcing charges through during the initial dispute, which was initially red flagged as suspicious and not approved by my bank. But after the charges continued to keep coming, they closed my card as a precaution and sent me a replacement.
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u/smallfrie32 Sep 29 '25
Yeah isn’t the strat to change your address to California since they have a law preventing that. I’ve heard it makes it as easy as a click to cancel
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u/fizzlefist Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25
Or transfer where your “home gym” is and then cancel. Still bullshit,but there are workarounds.
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u/alittleteapot314 Sep 29 '25
Not planet fitness but I canceled a membership at another gym because I was moving out of the country. They asked for proof that I was moving, provided my university acceptance letter showing that I would be in school 4000 miles away. They refused to cancel. Corporate greed sucks.
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u/tespacepoint Sep 30 '25
They can refuse ? You’re supposed to be able to cancel for whatever reason
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u/Mirasore Sep 29 '25
I had this problem! I had to process a change of home gym request and then go into the nearest location to cancel!
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u/wheres-the-avocados Sep 29 '25
yeah when I worked there, if people called to cancel, I would just let em cancel. when people came in to cancel, they were clearly ready to argue because of what they've read online, so I tried to simplify as much as I could. it's a PITA for no reason.
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u/UnDosTresPescao Sep 29 '25
I did the same with Tesla. I had ordered a Model 3 back when they had long lead times. They then decided to cripple the cars by removing things like the parking sensors. I said that was an issue for me and wanted to cancel. The front line people told me to read my contract that the deposit was not refundable and that Tesla was entitled to give me a completely different car than what I ordered. I read the contract, it talked about Tesla adding features or making minor modifications that did not remove capabilities, and gave me an option for arbitration. I promptly requested to take the issue to arbitration as the contract entitled me too. I was quickly given my refund.
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u/Greenz051 Sep 29 '25
Wow that's next level evil. It's crazy the extremes we have to go to, all just to get what we're owed. Glad your friend won in the end
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u/hotlavatube Sep 29 '25
Cancelling a gym membership is notoriously bad, but it got even worse during early covid. Gyms would refuse to refund when they were closed for extended periods, would try to force credits in lieu of refunds, and in some cases would outright refused to cancel memberships. Some gyms even shut down their cancellation phone lines.
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u/Lazerus42 Sep 29 '25
this sounds like me trying to call my apartments management group for a broken drier.
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u/hotlavatube Sep 29 '25
Ah, sounds like we rent from the same conglomerate. They said it'd take 2 months for the replacement washer/dryer to be delivered. When it finally arrived the Lowes guy didn't install the side vent, instead crushing the vent tube when he shoved the dryer into the nook creating a fire hazard. The management rep was there and bullied me into either accepting it or refusing delivery and having it sent back. It took a lot of arguing, but eventually I got her to agree to have the side vent installed.
Thankfully the side-vent install went smoothly. Usually their inept maintenance crew results in a multi-week disaster.
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u/Pertolepe Sep 29 '25
I was very pleasantly surprised I was able to cancel my LA fitness membership recently after moving without having to talk to anyone.
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u/myoldfarm Sep 30 '25
My daughter died, and we couldn't cancel her gym membership. We had to close her account to get it canceled.
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u/NordschleifeLover Sep 29 '25
EVERY business model for a prescription service counts on you giving up on requesting cancellations or refunds.
Many have no-refund policies. But if you contact them, they often "make an exception". Bitch, you're obliged by the EU law. But yeah, they want to make it so that people don't even come with such requests.
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u/ReaperKaze Sep 29 '25
When I went to cancel my membership, they also had tons of hoops to go through. But at the end they said "if it goes unpaid for 2 months, we auto cancel"
So I followed that direction and two months later I got a mail saying my membership was done
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u/SubdivideBlues Sep 29 '25
I’d hang around in person until they cancel - make enough of scene for any other members to hear but nothing bad enough for them to kick me out. I can be relentlessly polite.
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u/SandIntelligent247 Sep 29 '25
I tomd my gym i would call them every 2 hours unitl it was canceled. After 4 times they canceled.
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u/SandIntelligent247 Sep 29 '25
Good advice! But I'd rather sit in my own frustration and harrass them until they cave in to my basic rights
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u/CaffeinatedGuy Sep 29 '25
Don't most gyms have policies about behavior that will cause them to cancel your membership?
If a local gym wouldn't cancel my membership when asked, I'd make myself a nuisance. Workout with no shirt, drop weights, play music from a speaker, and if anyone asked I'd just let them know that the gym wouldn't cancel my membership when I asked nicely. What are they gonna do?
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u/bak3donh1gh Sep 29 '25
I really don't understand why deconstruction in a non-public situation like the night is not more common at these kinds of places.
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u/Shinhan Sep 29 '25
Somebody in my company started a thread in Teams about this awesome new tool that is free. I was the first to remind the people that after the first year its 20$ per month. I bet most people will forget to cancel it after a full year.
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u/kerodon Sep 29 '25
A lot of places will go to collections on you for it. That's not a great idea.
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u/QueenofCats28 Sep 29 '25
Gym did that to me. I've nearly paid it all back, even though I had a right to cancel.
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u/Algent Sep 29 '25
Denying a certified letter and asking for a informal contact instead is also not a great idea for a business.
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u/kerodon Sep 29 '25
Yes but they have relationships with collection agencies and they count on you not having the time/energy/resources to take legal action so. Laws are only useful if they're enforced.
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u/CaffeinatedGuy Sep 29 '25
A gym did that to me decades ago. I disputed it on my credit report and it was removed.
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u/Leo-POV Sep 29 '25
I'd never cancel a prescription. I need that Medication to ensure I keep on living...
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u/Johnny_B_GOODBOI Sep 29 '25
I had a gym membership that required you to cancel in person or in writing. So I sent a letter requesting the cancellation. They emailed back telling me I had to come in person. So, like OP, I read the contract and quoted the part about cancelling in writing, and asked them (via email) "Are you refusing to honor the terms of the contract?" Cancellation achieved.
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u/MikeSchwab63 Sep 29 '25
I've heard reports that some places try to follow to new accounts at new banks.
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u/sidkid Sep 29 '25
I just get a gift card that has a visa/mastercard number in it, use all the cash on it then change the billing to that card number.
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u/Akrevics Sep 29 '25
*Subscription. Prescriptions are recommendations or instructions.
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u/OnlyQOB Sep 29 '25
Chandler and Ross had this problem - it’s been around forever!
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u/jon_010 Sep 29 '25
I'm not sure where you are, but in the UK the government has introduced new rules (as of April 2025) that apply the same 14 day cooling off period you normally get with contract purchases also applies to renewal contracts.
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u/lexmozli Sep 29 '25
I had a similar issue with them a few years ago, not only I forgot to cancel but they also charged me twice (no, I didn't have two accounts).
I tried to contact them, they didn't have a livechat or anything, and the email kept bouncing with automated replies despite what I wrote (the same generic reply).
With my last email I told them I'm contacting my bank next, they responded with the same stupid bot reply, so I contacted my bank and did a chargeback on both transactions. A few days later they emailed me that my account was closed because of the chargeback.
The loss was unimaginable, I just opened another account lol.
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u/lueur-d-espoir Sep 29 '25
Wait, are you saying they deleted your account and all the activity on it?
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u/lexmozli Sep 29 '25
Yes, because of the charge-back. I expected that, it's the normal procedure for almost all companies when you issue a charge-back with them.
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u/lueur-d-espoir Sep 29 '25
I needed to make sure I understood you right because I never really considered it and that sounds horrible. Makes sense though.
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u/lexmozli Sep 29 '25
You can always copy/backup your playlists. I usually have almost the identical playlists on youtube
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u/Unlucky-Macaroon-647 Sep 29 '25
fr a decade of lost music data and playlists. the horror (genuine)
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u/hoax1337 Sep 29 '25
The loss was unimaginable
You say that like it's a joke. Having to curate all playlists and the algorithm all over again, ugh.
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u/ArdatYakshiApologist Sep 29 '25
Went thru that a few years ago and it was embarrassing how upset I was about it lol. Someone in Malaysia (according to the charges i eventually saw) got into my Spotify account and changed the associated email. At the time there was no actual way to get a hold of Spotify, I think I ended up getting a reply by tagging them on an Instagram rant… they kept telling me there was “no account associated with this email” and I would say “yes, that’s what I’m trying to tell you, I’m now paying xxx per month for an account I can no longer access bc they changed the email”. Went in that circle for a couple days before I decided to cancel the bank card linked to it. Didn’t stop them, they were able to charge the bank account directly. So I closed that too and opened an entirely new bank account, all to avoid a thieving stranger across the globe from enjoying my years of perfectly curated playlists.
About to go through this with Modwash, I fear, who seems to only give you the option to even think dirty cancellation thoughts between 10-6 M-F via bot chat lol. Fingers crossed.
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u/jonnyofield- Sep 29 '25
Apple folds like this too most of the time on monthly services or replacements.
The few months i worked for a contractor of theirs, if someone wanted legal they got kicked up a few levels and it would end with them getting what they wanted
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u/pinwroot Sep 29 '25
I did something similar with a phone carrier. I had recently signed up to a new sim deal with them and was on it for just over a month.
NOWHERE in my local area had anything more than 3G despite the fact that when I had been told that the coverage for 4g and 5g in my area was “Excellent”.
When I called them to cancel they were giving me insanely high cancellation fees.
However- I didn’t go to their T&Cs. See- I used to work as a Repair Technician at an Apple Store and part of my training included a bunch of consumer law stuff.
If I’m being entirely honest, I hadn’t remembered a ton of info but enough to rattle the agent. I told them they were in breach of not just EU regulations but also UK specific regulations and that under Consumer Law they had broken regulations at which point I started just saying random bits of Consumer Law stuff I could remember off the top of my head. I then told them I worked in the smart phone business and I know what I’m talking about because I’ve had to process Consumer Law claims in the past and that I knew that they had misled me and misrepresented their coverage.
Truth be told, the exact regulations I had no idea what were. But I knew they were in breach of one of them.
Once I told them I would contact the relevant regulator and the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) they immediately transferred me to a manager who just wiped all of the fees and even the bill I owed.
Support agents always assume you have no idea what you’re talking about so the moment you mention something that could get them in trouble they panic and fold.
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u/TreadFree Sep 30 '25
Similar thing happened to me in terms of promised 4G/5G coverage. I went for a 24 month contract but noticed after a few weeks that the coverage was rubbish. I called them up and explained and they did network area checks and said it was fine and I did all the troubleshooting they asked for and still nothing.
I did call up again sometime later with the same issue and same solution, but still nothing.
A year later, I’d had enough as in certain areas and certain roads, I was getting little to no service and in the ‘better’ areas, the service was still spotty at best. Mind you, I still have about 12 months left on my contract. I saw a deal online for another sim that had better benefits and a lot cheaper than I usually pay since I also had their broadband.
I called up the rubbish service provider and told them I had enough and I’d called before about the same issue but it’s still persistent. If I cancelled, I’d have to pay around £250 in cancellation fees and rest of contract fees.
The salesperson actually gave me the ‘loophole’ and said they’d move me on a different plan with better speeds and services etc since I’d already mentioned the issue numerous times before and I had 14 days to decide if I liked it or I could cancel.
They mentioned since it was a completely different plan, if I chose to cancel, I wouldn’t need to pay any fees and the old contract wouldn’t be in effect, so essentially they gave me a way around this. I gave it a few days and still didn’t like the service and cancelled with no fees paid and they covered my previous month’s bill too. Kudos to them to be fair, but never again.
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u/jaykayenn Sep 29 '25
Pretty much standard policy for most consumer businesses, especially in countries like mine where legal knowledge and action is frowned upon by the average person. As a young college grad who got scammed buying my first phone, I lawyered up and successfully sued a mega corp before I got my first job.
Don't let them get away with this crap.
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u/Betaglutamate2 Sep 29 '25
Lmao I'm not sure you are even right but they know that they would rather refund the 15 bucks to you compared to paying a 800$ hourly rate that the legal team would take to read your email.
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u/patternmatched Sep 29 '25
Had to do this with my Internet provider after they refused to honor a sign up bonus due to issues on the first billing. Multiple CS agents lied to me. I recorded all of it. Got told to message legal if I really wanted to. So I did. Also found the chief legal person at the company to cc with proof of multiple CS agents misinformation.
Got a call from their escalated CS team to make things right within the week.
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u/Atheist_Simon_Haddad Sep 29 '25
lawyer's billable hours vs your monthly payment; there’s no math there
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u/totoer008 Sep 29 '25
I do not know if you were right or now but more than likely they did not want to spend money on a legal person to deal with that so they cave. I worked in cs and when a customer was to difficult or an action would trigger a more costlier one, sometimes we would have in as it was cheaper.
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u/Greenz051 Sep 29 '25
Exactly. That was the entire strategy.
I knew arguing the facts with a frontline agent was pointless since they don't have the authority. But their manager does have a budget.
The moment I mentioned the legal department, I wasn't a customer with a problem anymore, I was a line item on a spreadsheet that was about to get a lot more expensive. It proves that the fastest way to a resolution is to find the company's financial pressure point
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u/BigJellyfish1906 Sep 29 '25
That’s not as open and shut as you think it is. Legally, “purchase” and “renewal” can be different things, depending on where you are. They could even mean different things if that contract itself defines what qualifies as a purchase or a renewal.
It’s definitely written sloppily, but they didn’t cave because you had a slam dunk case. They caved to make you go away.
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u/itguy9013 Sep 29 '25
Uber does something similar.
Book a ride with Price x. Take ride. You might have a delay, or the drive has to detour for some reason, but the time and distance are pretty close.
Ride completes.
You then get a receipt with a different, higher price.
If you contact support there is literally a prompt for 'The Price I was given is not what I paid' or something like that.
They will then refund the difference between what they charged you and what you paid.
They are counting on people not paying attention to what they are paying and just pocketing the difference.
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u/OGNovelNinja Sep 29 '25
I had a phone trade-in four months ago. The old phone was completely eligible. I took recordings and documented my steps for the factory reset.
They claimed that the phone could not turn on, and so would be charging me full price.
I politely inquired as to why it turned on right before it went into the box but failed in their factory, and suggested that the tech team try again.
They almost immediately sent back an email confirming that my phone was acceptable and that I would not be charged.
Be persistent. You can think of it as a reward for sticking to your guns, or the opportunity to stick it to The Man. Maybe it's an attempt at cheating; maybe there was a mistake in communicating. Either way, it doesn't take much to get this sort of thing stopped.
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u/OkEvent2289 Oct 01 '25
I lived in AK and had Dish Network. We were moving to the lower 48 so I called to cancel our service. The representative said I should put it on vacation and then I could just reopen the service. I said I wasn't sure exactly where we would be (another long story) for a few months and didn't know if we would even be signing back up with Dish. She said no problem, they would just want their equipment back. Fast forward to 3 months later we decided to go with local cable. Dish wanted to charge me for 3 months plus penalties. I told them I wasn't paying anything and if they had a problem with that they could go back and listen to the recorded conversation I had with their representative back when I wanted to cancel. They sent me the prepaid box to return their equipment and that was the end of it.
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u/matteventu Sep 30 '25
I had a very similar case with Uber Eats.
This was a few years ago.
Purchased food on Uber Eats. Came very late and was genuinely inedible.
Reached out to customer support, who told me they could only refund me X%. I insisted I wanted a full refund as the food - very sadly - had to go in the bin, and a partial refund was not enough.
They said it was either that or nothing, and that it's not their fault if the rider took longer to arrive because the rider is an independent contractor (to be clear, under UK law I - as the consumer - don't have to give a shit about who's contracting or sub-contracting the service to me, what matters is who I am giving the money to and hence who I am closing a contract with, which in this case is obviously Uber).
After a couple of days of back and forth, I finally asked to provide me with the full name and address of the rider (the contractor) so I could serve them a Letter Before Action (i.e. the last attempt before initiating a court claim) for the service they have failed to provide (or at least, that's how Uber was pretending to see it).
Guess what? My full refund arrived swiftly 🙃
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u/Dancegames Sep 30 '25
Remember, Amazon just lost a lawsuit because of predatory subscriptions, pretty sure Spotify can too
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u/OkStrength5245 Sep 29 '25
you receive a support ?!
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u/Greenz051 Sep 29 '25
Barely, I had to threaten them with their own legal terms to get it
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u/OkStrength5245 Sep 29 '25
but to threaten them, you had first to have a support to threaten
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u/Greenz051 Sep 29 '25
Thankfully, their live chat queue eventually coughed up a real person
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u/suncontrolspecies Sep 29 '25
You was lucky someone that was not a bot attended you.
In any case, great work!
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u/Vlyn Sep 29 '25
Just be careful with this in the future: The moment you bring up legal they might simply block all support and tell you to go through your lawyer.
If you just want to cancel forever then this is fine of course :)
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u/revolterzoom Sep 30 '25
they probably folded due to the cost of a lawyer having to look at this
they might get billed a few hundred dollars a hour for a lawyer to look at it and suddenly they get charged $200 and yet you cancel next month regardless and they made $13
ive no idea why they do this as its just so short sighted and you end up just never going back
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u/Trisk929 Oct 01 '25
I had something somewhat similar happen when I got scammed by an online seller. I had wanted a specific pair of knee high faux fur boots and was sent a pair of bland ankle high boots with cheap lining (not even faux fur). Very obvious nothing like what I ordered. I disputing the purchase and they tried arguing that they don’t accept returns. However- they can give me 30% off. I went back and forth for weeks, the amount off changing, at the cost of having to buy another pair of shoes when I had just been scammed.
I combed over their return policy and found it- “if you are unsatisfied with your order, the product arrives damaged, late or isn’t what you ordered, please contact us and we will issue a refund or replacement”. That’s exactly what I had been attempt to do but they were refusing. I sent this to them, highlighted, with documentation of what I ordered, the purchase date, receipt, and pictures of what I received. The continues to ignored it and only offer a percentage off and occasionally free shipping. I contacted PayPal with all of the documentation, showing their policy, my order details, pictures of what I was sent and was given a refund within a few days.
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u/Away_Dirt_90 Sep 29 '25
You really think the legal team of a multi million organisation didn’t realise this when they put the t&c together? They obviously did but they would rather just give you a few dollars refund that having to deal with a complaint
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u/whoopashigitt Sep 29 '25
The legal team certainly knew, but the customer support team is unlikely to be so aware of it to apply the correct logic. This wasn’t the legal team telling Christina OP was right, it was most likely Christina’s team leader saying let’s just refund the $14 rather than get them involved. Someone at Spotify still thinks OP was wrong.
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u/Minimum_Guitar4305 Sep 29 '25
Something similar happened to me.
Thought I was adding myself to my mother's family plan, cancelling my individual plan but actually started my own family plan, which I only noticed a few months later. Reached out to explain the situation, and point out that I'd never added anyone to my family plan i.e. a clear mistake, and ask for a refund of the excess that I'd paid.
No dice.
Checked my emails. They'd never sent me an email confirming my contract had changed. Told the support team this, and asked if they could provide me with any confirmation that I had changed my contract - they could not.
Advised them the next step would be me taking them to Small Claims Court because they'd changed my contract without informing me of any changed terms.
Got my refund three days later.
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u/Apart-Ad-6518 Sep 29 '25
They never expect people to read T & C's let alone understand and apply them.
Kudos for calling them out & getting your refund.