If you’ve taken the Tidal music streaming service for a spin at any time since its launch last April, you’d be advised to check your credit card statement.
A reporter from The Verge says his card charged was $19.99 – the cost of a premium hi-fi subscription – despite cancelling his subscription months ago.
The firm apologised to the user via email, but beyond the spattering of Twitter complaints, it is currently unclear how many ex-users have been affected.
In its apology, the Jay Z-owned company says it is gifting a free three-month subscription to those affected and has automatically reactivated the accounts of those folks who’d decided they didn’t want Tidal in the first place.
“In addition to the full refund, we have also given you free access to TIDAL Premium for the next three months as a compensation. Your TIDAL account is now active, and you can log in with your existing username and password,” the company wrote in its email.
See also: Tidal planning to become the next Netflix?
Those free three months do not include access to the lossless audio tier, just the regular $9.99 a month option, which offers the same audio quality as Spotify, Apple Music and co..
If the un-requested reactivation and lower-tier access wasn’t galling enough, the reporter in question, Chris Welch quickly discovered he’d be charged after the apology access period expired. Tidal has now amended the auto-renewal oversight.
Have you received an email from Tidal? What are your views on the firm’s methods of making up for its error? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
