Mobile applications, although very interactive and friendly, are still a ways to go concerning replicating real-life situations. This emotional deficiency on the part of applications is what was showcased in an incident between a user from Reddit and Spotify.
It has been reported on Reddit that one person received an unusually surprising interaction with Spotify after trying to cancel a subscription for his late mother’s account. It was a viral post: “I cancelled my dead mom’s Spotify and it did not go as expected.”.
This conversation was proven true by screenshots where the app, asking for reasons for the cancelation, offering options such as technical issues or high fees. None of these options was picked, but there was a user jokingly quipping he’d write on behalf of his mum: “I am dead.”.
The app, when all was said and done, flashed an unwelcome message: “It’s hard to say goodbye. But it’s easy to rejoin Premium anytime.” Spotify then created for me what I can only describe as a weird “goodbye for now” playlist, its song titles including “If. You. Leave. Us. Now. You’ll. Take Away. The. Biggest. Part of Us.”
Funny and sad in the same breath,” the user described, “I understand it’s automated and they had no idea I was cancelling because my mom died. But the playlist was just too funny. I had a good laugh/cry about it and thought others may appreciate the irony.”
The post quickly resonated on Reddit as the comments came flooding in offering sympathies, people sharing their similar stories dealing with companies’ automated responses upon their loved one’s death. He recounted a somewhat similar ordeal that he went through with T-Mobile, whereby it required him to mail in the death certificate first before they cancelled the account.
Another joined in to say, “I’m so, so sorry for your loss; Spotify seems to try and lighten it a bit with a bit of dark humour.” A third also extended condolences and suggested that such difficult times are perhaps best overcome with a little humor.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Spotify’s automated responses have been called out. About a year ago, another Reddit user shared that a friend received a “Goodbye” playlist after he cancelled his subscription due to the lack of song availability—only to find that even the “goodbye” playlist was missing a song.
