hthbass

Most of the bad ones were through small artists/labels on Bandcamp. I collect vaporwave which is pretty niche and most labels/artists are doing everything themselves, producing their own tapes and records, shipping themselves, etc etc. So I can't hate on them too much as for some, they're managing full time jobs along with making music/records/fulfilling orders, but some just drop the ball pretty badly and like take forever to ship things, never respond to emails, or don't ship things at all. I've had to file Paypal claims on a lot of items. As far as shitty customer service, Down in the Valley has to be the worst as they accept ZERO responsibility for defective records. They'll only replace/refund records if it's an error on their part. ANY store I've bought from will, at the very minimum, replace or just ask to send the record back for a refund if the record itself is defective, as in like there's a scratch on it or something affects play. Down in the Valley's policy is basically all sales final and no refunds/replacements unless it's their fault. I ordered an imported record from them once and it was sealed/brand new, but when I played it, the record itself had a scratch and would skip. Their policy on scratched/defective records is to "contact the manufacturer to get a replacement." So yeah like I was really going to call some random vinyl plant in Germany and try to get them to ship me a new record, lmao.

I've never had an issue with them, I've ordered from them many times. I've also been able to contact them if I had an issue. For example, the last time or two I ordered from them was a Drain red/white/blue splatter lp and my record came chipped on the edge. It didn't affect playback but I obviously would prefer not to have a chipped record so I contacted them, they sent a replacement, and the replacement had a similar chip. Emailed them again and they just refunded me my order as they couldn't guarantee the rest weren't all chipped because they were sealed, so it is what it is with that pressing. I got two free records and sold one, so I would say their customer service was great.