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Best/Worst Customer Service from a Distro/Label?


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Hmmm.... Crossing my fingers, but I've never had really a really terrible experience (records that never showed, etc.), but I'd have to say the larger places like MerchNow and Interpunk have been weak at times...

No Idea and VC have some mighty fine customer service!!! I always enjoy talking to Matt and Andy (respectively)...

Smaller labels/ distros like Kiss of Death, Magic Bullet and the Mylene Sheath have also been super-professional and consistently outstanding; never an issue and really great communication as far as when items are shipped out!

Recently, I'd add Chunksaah to that list... They were really cool about a recent issue I inquired about...

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I'm guess I'm lucky or something but I've never had a order messed up. The closet thing to a messed up order was with Kiss of Death. I ordered a few things but the store didn't log the order. They sent me a email asking what I ordered and I had everything in a couple of days. VC has combined stuff I won off Ebay(test presses) and some things I ordered from the site and then refunded part of the shipping. Fat and No Idea always sends extra posters and stuff. It did take forever to get those NOFX/Bad Religion represses Epitaph did recently but I got everything eventually.

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I know it's been said a million times, but this was my first near-bad experience with an order.

Amazon sent me a record in one of their stupid fucking boxes with NO bubble protectors.

The tape on the top of the box actually came loose, and the box wasn't even closed,

I'm damn lucky the vinyl even made it here at all. Shit.

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I keep seeing Amazon and MerchNow pop up for bad service. Stop buying there guys! Keep it in the scene! Its pretty clear that all the good service is coming from people who are actually involved. Support them and fuck those other places.

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Thanks for the accolades.

DW works VERY hard to insure that orders are processed quickly, and we are on top of customer service.

One thing to remember is that DW (along w/ other labels) usually has only one to two people working in the DW Estore at a given time. These people are responsible for packing, processing, shipping, as well as customer service. It's a HUGE job for all labels, so patience is always appreciated.

-J.

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I've had excellent experiences with pretty much all the same labels mentione in this thread. Deathwish, B9, Magic Bullet. I'm not playing favorites, but Mylene Sheath is seriously top notch. Their packing, speed, and personal touches really stand out to me. Relapse has really stepped it up, too. And thankfully I haven't had any issues with MerchNow thus far. I hope that remains true.

Also: fuck Amazon. Their issue being that their packers have to fulfill an insane quote of like 125-150 packages an hour. And their computer system "suggests" pack jobs for them. Which often times nullifies any common sense. That's why we get records, or even DVDs or books in ridiculous boxes with the air bags.

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Recently...

Good:

MerchNow - Ordered the Circa Survive 7" when it first dropped. 3 weeks after people already had theirs I had not received mine. Called them up and everything was resolved immediately. There had been a minor mix-up with my order. Call made on a Tuesday, I had records in hand by that Friday. All subsequent orders have been smooth.

Inoxia/Daymare (Japan) - Insanely fast shipping and all items are well-packaged. I've been ordering plenty of ISIS items from them throughout the years and always top-notch in everything.

Less-than-satisfactory:

Relapse - Received the Baroness - Blue Record 3xLP damaged. Contacted them and was told that I have to file a claim w/ USPS (which we all know will be useless) as it was damaged in transit. I understand but at the same time there was no offer to rectify or maybe replace the C/D record which was damaged.

Viva Hate Records - Still waiting on the ISIS Live V records. A lot of people have already received theirs.

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Luckily I haven't had many problems with vinyl being shipped in the mail. My worst experience was with Killing The Dream's Fractures LP though.

The postoffice totally messed up the record (ie dropped something heavy on it) and The Deathwish crew was very sympathetic and replaced it for me.

God damn I wish more companies were like this. You all rule!

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BEST:

Conspiracy Records(belgium)

Vinyl Collective (amazing customer service)

Munster records (spain)

Southern UK

Music Fear Satan (france)

MerchNow (my first order arrived in no time and without bends)

King Road

Aural Exploits (great shipping cost for overseas)

The vault third man records

WORST:

Relapse (try to avoid, but they have some really good shit )

Souther lord (avoid like a plage)

Viva Hate (preorders take a long time always)

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Deathwish has always, always been solid. I've only had 2 minor issues, and they worked hard and fast to fix them (a sign of great customer service). Magic Bullet and Hydra Head (from Chel) also great, throwing in a lot of freebees. I've ordered successfully from a bunch of other labels (off the top of my head, Revhq, Lovitt, BCD, Robotic Empire, No Idea, Midheaven, Relapse, Ajna) but none really stand out like those 3.

I recently ordered records from Punk For Peace, and my only complaint is that it took nearly a month to ship, not the end of the world or anything. A similar, situation happened to me with Vinyl Junkie. I placed two orders for used vinyl a week apart. It took 3 weeks (from the first order) for the items to ship, and the orders were combined into one shipment, and thus I ended up being overcharged in shipping fees (but that was refunded eventually). In resolving the issue, part of the problem was my fault as Vinyl Junkie wasn't getting my messages (I'm a dumbass, yeah), and part of the fault I'd like to put off on Google Checkout, but I eventually got in touch with Vinyl Junkie, and he worked to fix the problem, for sure.

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Guest markovianprocess

In terms of the UK, I can't recommend Different Kitchen and All In Vinyl enough.

Never had a problem with an order, they always arrive super fast (he sometimes even ships the same day!) and Alan has went out of his way to order things in specifically for me from No Idea whenever he has been placing an order. Alan is nothing short of a gentleman, he deserves your cash.

http://www.differentkitchen.bigcartel.com/

These guys are just the same as DK in terms of customer service, and they get such a great stock of records into the online store. Always well packed, always awesome.

http://www.allinvinyl.com/

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Guest markovianprocess
stoked to see nothing but good comments about us :) thanks dudes!

I want to mention that we've DEFINITELY been trying to hook it up for the sizable orders recently... free LPs for big vinyl orders, free CDs for big CD orders, etc. Gotta show love for the folks who keep us going!

I've only played one order with Robotic Empire but it was definitely positive. It was also great that I managed to get the rarest version of Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works.

It's Alive have been great (even though I don't agree with the shipping which demands you place a large overseas order or pay through the nose for one record).

No Idea have always been great, always quickly responding to e-mails and generally being awesome.

Fat Wreck are always quick to ship, and quick to fix any problems.

Asian Man are awesome.

Corndog Publishing/Distro (UK) always dispatch things really quickly and stock a great range of zines.

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Right now I'm having an issue with Runner Up Records, I know its a small label but I'm having a hard time getting in contact with any one there. I've been trying for a few weeks now trying to find out what is going on with Dave House's Intersection LP...anyone else every pre-order from them?

Fuck yes - I can't get that dude to respond - I ordered back in SEPTEMBER!!!!!!

I emailed the other dude i think it was [email protected] and told him that I contact paypal and since it was past the 45 day thing there was nothing paypal could do to get my money back. They said the only thing I could do was contact a few government agencies. I emailed him that, also emailed Dave House, and andrew got a hold of Sean. I got my package a week or two later and received 2 copies of the lp one was clear and the other was like a green marble. I say go that route.

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In terms of the UK, I can't recommend Different Kitchen and All In Vinyl enough.

Never had a problem with an order, they always arrive super fast (he sometimes even ships the same day!) and Alan has went out of his way to order things in specifically for me from No Idea whenever he has been placing an order. Alan is nothing short of a gentleman, he deserves your cash.

http://www.differentkitchen.bigcartel.com/

These guys are just the same as DK in terms of customer service, and they get such a great stock of records into the online store. Always well packed, always awesome.

http://www.allinvinyl.com/

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It's Alive have been great (even though I don't agree with the shipping which demands you place a large overseas order or pay through the nose for one record).

I've talked to Adam a few times about shipping costs for setting up my own online distro where we've discussed the merits of flat costs vs. by weight vs. by country, etc. Unfortunately, for a small label a flat international rate is the easiest to deal with. The reality is it's nearly impossible to do it on a country by country basis. The rates varies so greatly from country to country that it's nearly impossible to do it that way. I've shipped a 7" to Germany that only cost $6 so the next week when I got an email from a dude in Austria about a 7" I quoted him the same... wrong. It was like $11. It's super easy for a label to get burned shipping international. I know I've shipped tons of stuff overseas and didn't charge nearly enough.

Anyways, about distros... I wish I lived in the UK just so I could order from Alan of DIFFERENT KITCHEN. Dude is the best!

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Elusive Disc is the best place I've ever ordered records from. Records come packed in bubble wrap in oversized containers. I recently order 5 records, and they came packed inside a larger box that was filled with styrofoam peanuts. I've never had a bent corner or warped record come from them. They win the best place to order records from.

I can't think of a worst.

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While I love to bitch and complain about anything I only have 1 distro that I won't order from again.

Going Underground. Me and a couple friends ordered a bunch of shit from there, something like a month goes by and we haven't gotten anything so the friend who placed the order emailed them and the dude had forgotten about our order completely. He ended up not having all of the stuff so I ended up not getting some of the stuff I wanted.

As for awesome distro's Douchemaster, Goner, Dirtnap have always been awesome for me, but the best distro I ever ordered from ( and I did it a lot) was Bistro Distro, Troy had really cheap shipping, always packed things in the most secure way I could imagine and he was super helpful when it came to hard to get items like the 5th Jay Reatard Matador Single.

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  • jhulud changed the title to Best/Worst Customer Service from a Distro/Label?

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