MERCHNOW yay or nay?

[li0nel]

Ordered two records from them in august, only one arrived (in perfect condition) in Luxembourg in october.

Package was mint and untouched, so the first record LP (40$ worth) wasn't in the parcel from the beginning.

 

Problem :

I paid shipping for both records (40$!!), and the customs declaration mentioned both as well, so I also paid around 30$ more for customs (which is acceptable if the two records were in the cardboard box in the first place, I know, I'm prepared for these fees living in Europe).

 

Solutions :

- I first sent an e-mail to merchnow via [email protected], no answer.

- 24h later, I sent the same message via their contact form, no answer yet. I know they aren't Amazon, but damn, their after sales service is SLOW, or maybe they are just ghosting me.
- What should I do next? Paypal claim or Route (Insurance) claim? I WANT the album, will they send another copy ? I'm not against a full refund if they also refund for shipping. Also the custom fees - If there was only one record stated on the declaration, no custom fees would have been applied (as the value would be under 22$). In the end, I feel like I'm being scammed big time.

Situation sucks.
Any help is welcome.

[N8TRU]

Merchnow is literally the worst. Did you order from a specific band or label? I've found it most helpful to reach out to the band or label because they usually have a direct contact at Merchnow to expedite the process.

This kind of crap is why I've been asking bands and labels to stop using Merchnow for years. It's frustrating when they get exclusive variants I can't get elsewhere but I usually try to avoid them.

[bridley]

48 minutes ago, li0nel said:

stuff

I'm just here to say that 24hrs isn't enough time to reply to your concern. Working in a world that sometimes required email replies to unhappy people - your amount of disappointment and frustration won't (and shouldn't) dictate how quickly someone can respond to you.

 

You've definitely got some grievances that they need to address, but you're going to be better off giving it a week, please walk back from the ledge.

Edited October 14, 2020 by bridley

[li0nel]

SO.

I received feedback from Merchnow -

"The TJT album was refunded as we were sent a shipment from the manufacturer of defective records, so we were unable to send those out. The label decided not to repress any more of those unfortunately. It looks like $55 was refunded on September 28 for that. "

Checked the account, the refund was issued, BUT, nobody sent an e-mail about the cancellation of the order, and well, I paid for custom fees anyway as the record was stated in the declaration.

Also, as I mentioned, they are not Amazon, but if I send an e-mail to Amazon, they will call me back (CALL ME) in the next 5 minutes. I know they can't be compared, but this is poor customer service, I'm overseas and this is a 100$ order.
As @N8TRU mentioned, I do worry ordering from Merchnow each time, and I don't get why lots of bands and labels are still working with them, but I also suppose that even if I'm not alone, most customers are happy with the service.

[li0nel]

Please also note that TOTAL shipping was about 45$, it seems they only refunded 15$ for shipping (as item was 40$ worth) , which leaves me with a single LP shipped for 30$.
That's crazy.

[MCDELTAT]

2 hours ago, N8TRU said:

Merchnow is literally the worst. 

Maybe I'm just really lucky but have never had any issue with them. Including when I was a dumb kid and was like "wait I want to add another thing to that order to save on shipping". I literally called them up and someone helped me add it to my order.

[N8TRU]

3 minutes ago, MCDELTAT said:

Maybe I'm just really lucky but have never had any issue with them. Including when I was a dumb kid and was like "wait I want to add another thing to that order to save on shipping". I literally called them up and someone helped me add it to my order.

You're REALLY lucky. They won't modify orders any more unless something changed recently. My biggest issue has always been them not knowing how to count and not following time stamps on limited releases. Most recently they did this with an order I placed Dec. 2nd (they were guaranteeing people things would arrive by Christmas I should add) with no pre-orders, didn't ship it until 2020 and still shorted me a record. I had to reach out to a manager at a record label to reach out to Merchnow because they wouldn't answer the phone and wouldn't answer my emails spread out across weeks of time passed.

Edited October 14, 2020 by N8TRU

[SaulManella]

Merchnow is just awful. 

[daegor]

I've probably ordered over 50 items from MerchNow over the years, one of my favourite places to order from.

Never had a single issue, customer service has always been reasonable (responding within a week and never had to fight with them about any problems.).  You need to remember that they are essentially a warehouse.  It's not their fault your order was delayed (it was either the pressing plant's or the band's fault).  It's not their responsibility to contact you about product changes (that would be the band or label's responsibility).

It's their job to pack up and mail you the merch that they received from the band/label, that's it.

The fact that I can add items from different bands and labels into one order is huge, I've saved so much on shipping over the years.

Edited October 14, 2020 by daegor

[Shelby]

Is there a fulfillment center that isn't hated? No? I wonder why none of them can not suck according to vinyl buyers who are known for their understanding and compassionate nature.

[SaulManella]

7 hours ago, lostcrimes said:

Merchnow is just awful. 

 

[li0nel]

Ending my story with a refund of the missing record, part of the shipping fees and on top of that they were kind enough to refund the custom fees. Thank you Tooth and Nail, for helping me on this matter !

[tokimedo]

On 10/14/2020 at 9:08 AM, lostcrimes said:

Merchnow is just awful. 

 

On 10/14/2020 at 6:14 AM, N8TRU said:

Merchnow is literally the worst. 

Sandbag enters the room  and says “hold my beer”

[sugareggs]

Never had a problem with MerchNow. SRC on the other hand... 🙄

[ethereal]

anyone notice how they wont add packaging to your mailer unless you keep the "SafeShip" charge in your cart?

I forgot to take it off one of my ZAO orders and it arrived in absolutely perfect shape, even bubble-wrapped;

The other that had the extra fee taken off - was literally thrown in the mailer to bounce around all transit.

 

so instead of learning how to ship records properly - they are charging people more to do so 🖕

[daegor]

Yeah, Sandbag probably takes the trophy for the worst.

[Shelby]

33 minutes ago, ethereal said:

anyone notice how they wont add packaging to your mailer unless you keep the "SafeShip" charge in your cart?

I forgot to take it off one of my ZAO orders and it arrived in absolutely perfect shape, even bubble-wrapped;

The other that had the extra fee taken off - was literally thrown in the mailer to bounce around all transit.

 

so instead of learning how to ship records properly - they are charging people more to do so 🖕

Or they're allowing people who don't care about corner dings and seam splits to have a cheaper option. Kinda funny they do that to people who think they're doing something clever 😄

[N8TRU]

1 hour ago, tokimedo said:

 

Sandbag enters the room  and says “hold my beer”

I've used them once (which is in transit right now) and I've been waiting over 2 weeks for FedEx to deliver my package. Not Sandbag's fault but for $10 shipping I'll take anyone else since this thing is basically lost. FedEx lost a package I ordered from Walmart last month, too.