Best/Worst Customer Service from a Distro/Label?

[BuzzersonKillwell]

Maybe they are trying to free up some warehouse space and have a lot of leftover Scissor Sisters stock. 

[jase]

Do people honestly care about seam splits?

Living on the opposite side of the world, I feel lucky when a record arrives with only a seam split. I've never complained about a damaged cover because it just doesn't matter to me.

[hobbesthecat]

best cust serv = Polyvinyl Records

 

they give you free singles / albums / and AIRCANDY with every order

 

they're also super fast via email questions

[debrew66]

I just received my NOFX Punk in Drublic record from Effervescence Records in a Pizza Box ... no damage at all but thats funny 

[Hennessey Jonze]

I'm having a bit of a complicated experience with Shop Radio Cast at the moment. I pre-ordered Blink 182's TOYPAJ and also added City & Colour's Bring Me Your Love. I quickly realized after placing my order that I only paid a singular shipping cost which most likely indicated I would have to wait for the latter album to arrive on the release date of my pre-order.

I emailed SRC and Danny immediately shot me an email back offering to split the orders for $4.99 shipping on BMYL. Again, after I emailed him, this time giving him the green-light on splitting the orders, he was quite prompt in his response. The item was shipped the next day. After some comical geographical maneuvers, (USPS) and a bit of a delivery issue that was cleared up finally, I received my package. 

Upon opening the parcel, I discovered a sheet of bubble wrap and cardboard, but the jacket seems to have suffered a significant blow which wasn't consistent with the condition of the box it came it. This leads me to believe it was shipped out in this condition. I was excited to give this to my fiance as a gift and she was even willing to look past the dent in the face of the jacket. She excitedly placed the first disc on her turntable and before she could place the needle on the record, she noticed quite a scratch. It looked horrible!! I immediately took out the second to inspect it and realized both discs were actually warped. 

I sent another email over the weekend explaining the album was damaged, both jacket and records and didn't hear back all day yesterday, so I sent another email last night. Still no response. I've been calling for quite some time today and I'm only getting voicemail. 

I forgot to mention, that included in my package was a pack of Terminator 2 trading cards from 1991 which I collected as a kid. I noticed this before I even saw the album and immediately got the feeling that this, like many other distros, place a personal, caring touch in their transactions, and interactions with customers. I really want to feel confident enough to do business with them again, especially considering the pre-order still stands. 

I'm going to give it another day before I send another email, but will continue to telephone him. 

I sincerely hope I am not just another story of customer neglect. Either way, I'll be sure to update. 

(I'm even calling once more before posting this, so as not to misrepresent their service based on what may be an isolated incident.)

No answer.

[mclz]

I recently ordered from Shop Radio Cast and will probably never order from them again. Before this recent experience I only ordered from them I think once before. This was a year or 2 ago when they got that shipment from old Lobster record releases. I picked up Staring Back, Buckwild, and maybe 2 or so other records. 

 

Well the 2nd order was placed at the beginning of this month. They said they got blue copies of the Propagandhi - TETA in stock. I decided to order a copy and a few days later I got a confirmation saying the order shipped. About 2 weeks later I check to see why I didn't get the record. I go on the site and check the tracking number they gave me, but when I type it into USPS it just says this tracking number was assigned 2 weeks ago and no other update.

 

I contacted SRC to confirm the order shipped 2 week ago, when they said it shipped, and maybe the USPS site was messed up or something. They tell me that not only was this never shipped, but they don't even have them in stock and won't for another week. I e-mail them back to see why they would, first, post online that they got these in stock, second, tell me the item shipped, and third, assign me a shipping number of a product they won't even have in stock for another month.

 

I thought it was ridiculous that I was lied to and wasn't gonna wait over a month for a record I could have gotten somewhere else or on black cheaper through Fat Wreck Chords. I then told them that I would like a refund since they lied multiple times about this product. I send about 4 or 5 e-mails to them with no response. They are quick to get back to me about a little inquiry, but when I request a refund they refuse to reply. 

 

I decided to then take this to PayPal and file a claim. This was the first PayPal claim I've ever filed as I honestly never have bad experiences and when something goes astray, it always gets resolved. I explained the story above in my PayPal claim stating how I was lied to about the items being in stocked, shipped, and given fake tracking information. 

 

After a few days i get an e-mail from Shop Radio Cast saying that my order was refunded, but I didn't see anything on PayPal. I then have to e-mail them 2 or 3 times asking why they marked my order as refunded when it clearly was not. I add another note to the PayPal claim stating that the seller noted in their records I was refunded, when I really was not. Finally, I received my refund today and the first thing I did when I got home from work an hour ago was order the black copy via Fat Wreck Chords.

 

I've heard many people having problems with Shop Radio Cast in the past, but since I only ordered from them once before without a problem a few years ago I didn't take it to heart. I now know that I probably will never order from this company again.

[Hennessey Jonze]

I'm having a bit of a complicated experience with Shop Radio Cast at the moment. I pre-ordered Blink 182's TOYPAJ and also added City & Colour's Bring Me Your Love. I quickly realized after placing my order that I only paid a singular shipping cost which most likely indicated I would have to wait for the latter album to arrive on the release date of my pre-order.

I emailed SRC and Danny immediately shot me an email back offering to split the orders for $4.99 shipping on BMYL. Again, after I emailed him, this time giving him the green-light on splitting the orders, he was quite prompt in his response. The item was shipped the next day. After some comical geographical maneuvers, (USPS) and a bit of a delivery issue that was cleared up finally, I received my package. 

Upon opening the parcel, I discovered a sheet of bubble wrap and cardboard, but the jacket seems to have suffered a significant blow which wasn't consistent with the condition of the box it came it. This leads me to believe it was shipped out in this condition. I was excited to give this to my fiance as a gift and she was even willing to look past the dent in the face of the jacket. She excitedly placed the first disc on her turntable and before she could place the needle on the record, she noticed quite a scratch. It looked horrible!! I immediately took out the second to inspect it and realized both discs were actually warped. 

I sent another email over the weekend explaining the album was damaged, both jacket and records and didn't hear back all day yesterday, so I sent another email last night. Still no response. I've been calling for quite some time today and I'm only getting voicemail. 

I forgot to mention, that included in my package was a pack of Terminator 2 trading cards from 1991 which I collected as a kid. I noticed this before I even saw the album and immediately got the feeling that this, like many other distros, place a personal, caring touch in their transactions, and interactions with customers. I really want to feel confident enough to do business with them again, especially considering the pre-order still stands. 

I'm going to give it another day before I send another email, but will continue to telephone him. 

I sincerely hope I am not just another story of customer neglect. Either way, I'll be sure to update. 

(I'm even calling once more before posting this, so as not to misrepresent their service based on what may be an isolated incident.)

No answer.

 

I received an email yesterday from SRC letting me know that a replacement was going to be shipped. Danny asked if I could kindly take photos of the damage. I'm currently waiting on a tracking number. So far, so good. There is always the chance things will not go 100% smoothly during any given transaction. I can appreciate that and the amount of work being put in concerning other orders as well. Smaller operations do tend to take more time to execute aspects of our orders, obviously. With that said, I will end on a high-note. Unless something whacky happens during transit and I post again on this topic, you can assume the replacement arrived to my satisfaction.

I look forward to future business with Shop Radio Cast, including my pre-order of Blink-182's TOYPAJ re-press. 

[morfiend]

Do people honestly care about seam splits?

Living on the opposite side of the world, I feel lucky when a record arrives with only a seam split. I've never complained about a damaged cover because it just doesn't matter to me.

 

It's not a big deal to me either unless the record is really rare and/or expensive to buy. 

[shifres]

It's not a big deal to me either unless the record is really rare and/or expensive to buy. 

For international buyers, every record is expensive to buy, so the cardboard in the mailer is really important for us so the record will arrive safely.

[Koolhandnick]

Best; Solid State and Sideonedummy, Immediate attention to my E mail RE Damaged items in shipping. Replacements sent out quickly with extras no questions asked.

 

Worst; on the fence, but I'm still E mailing this guy from a very small indie about a damaged(Warped well beyond playability) and poorly packed vinyl. Will see how this turns out.

[SlowlyChoking]

Worst: The now defunct Absolutely Kosher records gave me nothing but problems back in the day. Constantly sending me the wrong albums and/or the wrong format after an already slow shipping time. It's a shame because it was one of my favourite labels. I finally gave up and ordered their releases through other sites.

 

Best: I while back I ordered a couple of the Pomegranates albums from http://brokencircles.com/. For some reason they were having issues and it was delayed. They kept in touch with me the entire time and made sure I was kept in the loop. When my albums came they threw in the new Pomegranates album for free. It's something they didn't have to do but they did it anyways. Great customer service all around.

[dobyblue]

I got pretty crappy service from Razor & Tie recently. They issued Brad's "Welcome to Discovery Park" recently and I was wondering about the source information. I sent an e-mail and was sent the following reply at 4:19PM (Nov.08.2012)

 

It has not been re-mastered, it’s the CD cut to vinyl, but with two bonus tracks that weren’t on the original CD.

 

A little disappointed I replied:

 

That is disappointing news on the source material. I hope I’ll be able to cancel my pre-order. As much as I’d love to own this on vinyl it’s obviously just a novelty item for collectors. I have my original CD still in good condition.

 

Is there any chance I can pass on as a fan a wish/request to the band or whomever makes these decisions that in 2013 if Shame is being reissued on vinyl Razor and Tie might consider going back to the master tapes and doing an all analogue release? I’m surprised Stone is behind a CD cut to vinyl release given how much he and the members of Pearl Jam pushed vinyl back in the 90’s with their all analogue release of Vitalogy two weeks before they released the CD, and the single “Spin the Black Circle”.

 

Then I got another response:

 

 

We didn’t just make it from the CD, we did (or actually the band did) go back to the master tapes, and delivered a new master for this.

 

So I replied:

 

 

Hi Kerri,
Admittedly you've left me a bit confused.
4:19pm - It has not been re-mastered, it’s the CD cut to vinyl
5:03pm - We didn’t just make it from the CD, we did (or actually the band did) go back to the master tapes, and delivered a new master for this.

 

I'm sure you can imagine I'm a little tentative when it comes to re-ordering based on the two conflicting statements within 45 minutes. I hope this doesn't seem trivial to you, I'm very fond of my analogue chain and I like to get the most out of my purchases which is why I usually order vinyl when the record label has been up front about the source, like Warner who have been very good recently with their Dire Straits and Red Hot Chili Peppers reissues and of course specialty labels like Analogue Productions and Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. If this is indeed a new master for vinyl from the master tapes then I will re-order it in a second and eagerly anticipate getting hold of it. So if you can confirm that your earlier statement was incorrect and the 5:03pm e-mail is the correct assessment then I'll order again as I had previously cancelled after getting your response.
If the band want to build anticipation of their vinyl reissues I'd highly recommend putting this information on the package or in the information for the pre-order as there are many forums for releases like this (Steve Hoffman forums for example) where people will eagerly seek out a vinyl release of this nature.
Thanks for the open line of communication,

 

Then I get the following two brusque responses:

 

I am literally taking information provided to me and copying into an email.  Please refrain from emailing me again.   Bob on copy can advise moving forward. Thanks and good luck. Kerri

 

AND

 

Steve. It's not that confusing. They made a master for the vinyl from the original masters, but they didn't remaster it.  Wr didn't just make a vinyl master from a production cd
Bob Hoch

 

I thought I had outlined why it was confusing? Anyway, I sent a final response:

 

 

It's only confusing when someone tells you two different things within a 45 minute time frame, sorry to be such a bother to you and your staff.

 

Some people are pretty full of themselves. Sadly the vinyl ended up being terrible, a real different story from the job Razor and Tie did for the Emerson, Lake and Palmer reissues. It sounds like 128 Kbps .mp3 quality, nowhere near as good as the CD.

[bearchuck]

Way to give that Razor & Tie intern the business.  Hopefully you harassed her into quitting.

[rtw88]

Some people are pretty full of themselves.

[codeine]

Okay, BEST customer service ever... John LaMacchia of Candiria / Rising Pulse records. Here's why:

I bought the Toying With the Insanities remix bundle a while back, comes w/ Vol. I on CD, Vols. II + III on vinyl, shirt, etc.

The 2 vinyl records came w/ download codes, but by the time I punched them in they had expired, I forgot about it for the longest time, then I was going through by records and realized 'hey I'd like to have those' and even found the download codes... so I shot him an email asking him to re-up them... it was pretty bad timing though, cause Hurricane Sandy had just devastated Brooklyn, including his studio, The South Sound... 

So I waited a while and then emailed again and he was like 'yeah do you want .mp3 or .wav?' I was like 'fuck yeah, I want .wav' he basically says 'okay, fuck this computer shit I'll mail you a CD, send me your address' so I did, he's like 'oh you're in Canada, oh well I'll send it anyway' (I'm paraphrasing)

So it kinda slipped my mind until today when I got this CD-R in the mail with all the tracks off Vol. II + III on it. $6.55 postage, what an awesome guy, now I feel like I should buy one of those new Candiria tees since I wanted one anyway, and as a way of saying 'thanks for being a solid dude.' In hindsight, it probably would've been smart to order it before he sent the CD-R and just gotten him to bundle them together and save on the shipping. He totally came through, awesome!

[cheesebanana]

Worst: Enemies List Home Recordings

 

My GF ordered me a shirt for my christmas from them in like, early november. Didn't arrive for christmas. After christmas she sent an email like "yo whats up" and dan replied with something like

 

"i sent you an email saying your shirt was out of stock [note: it said it was in stock when she ordered, obviously] asking what you wanted to do, and you never got back to me. what would you want to do? you can wait and we'll have restocks in a few weeks, or i can refund you?"

 

she asked me and i said i was cool to wait, so she got back to him

 

roll on like late february and still no news, no emails from him, no mention of restocks on the website, no t shirt showed up. so she sent him another email asking what was up. then another. then another. all very polite. she was using a standard gmail account and her email absolutely was working.

 

anyway like 4 months on and no sign of it i gave up and posted on the ELHR facebook with something like

 

"yo my gf ordered me a shirt for christmas like 4 months ago and it hasn't shown up and you arent replying to her emails. that kind of sucks man"

 

this is the aftermath

 

 

he never refunded it and it never arrived.

 

was too late to put in a paypal complaint

[cheesebanana]

the guy at pirate ship records however, was by far my best ever

 

http://www.storenvy.com/stores/7368-pirate-ship-records

 

he bumped up my shipping to priority just because i asked for a time estimate, and didnt charge me extra. arrived beautifully packaged with some free goodies too. what a bloke

 

also, i cant remember the distro, i think it was his own personal official one for the band, but the guy from Fell Voices was selling copies of one of his records at such a low price, he was 100% making a loss just on the price of the shipping, nevermind factoring in the cost of the vinyl.

 

i wanted to donate some money to him or something just to say thanks but i could never find somewhere to do that.

[DinoDay]

November 2011, Paper + Plastick Records were having a Christmas sale and said all orders would arrive before/by Christmas day.

 

I ordered two LPS:

Shook Ones -The Unquotable A.M.H

Make Do And Mend -End Measured Mile

 

Christmas day past and my records never arrived. I directly emailed the label about it and they never responded. The records didn't arrive until late March... and the return address was written by permanent marker.

 

I'm not saying they are a bad label, they sign great bands and what not. I just wasn't satisfied with their customer service at the time. I haven't purchased anything from that label since.

[TwitchingTongues]

Fat Wreck Chords is absolutely terrible.  I still haven't gotten my Old Man Markley and Swingin' Utters records I ordered going on 4 months ago.  I have e-mailed 20 + times and haven't gotten replacements even though they said they would send them out.  I have to send the same e-mail at least 2 times before I even get a response.  They clearly could give a shit.  Must be nice.  I'm going to shit on their store doorstep when I go out to San Francisco next month and include a thank you note. 

[punkbeatjohn]

best: Graveface Records! They are quick, use tracking numbers, and I received an extra poster for the new Appleseed Cast record and some goodies. Highly recommended. 

[aopps42]

Drag City is great from the standpoint that I've never paid shipping from them, but when one of the albums came and was jacked up, they never responded to any communication about it

[seamoney]

Preface: I asked Hello Merch why they don't offer media mail and this was their response https://twitter.com/hellomerch/status/325304412828491776

 

Every record I have gotten from Hello Merch has been damaged in some way and I finally decided to do something about it after receiving a warped X'ed Out LP with torn sleeve and creased jacket. Emailed them and they asked for pictures, so I sent them pictures of everything. After that, they tell me they can't help me out because it falls under their "terms of service" that I agreed to when I placed the order. Their TOS basically says if you get a fucked up record then eat shit because they don't have to do anything about it and won't, and if they magically do agree to help you out you have to pay return shipping as well as the $10 shipping for the replacement. Whatever.

[morfiend]

Preface: I asked Hello Merch why they don't offer media mail and this was their response https://twitter.com/hellomerch/status/325304412828491776

 

What a bunch of BS. I ship hundreds of records media mail and get maybe 1-2 complaints a year because of a warped vinyl.

[drds89]

I got "Translation Loss'ed" despite reading others ....item was n/a though listed in stock; I did file within the 45 day window, so all's good.

 

hellomerch is 50% at best-- some perfect, some crap, some 'item not available' 4 weeks later...

 

The other 95% are STELLAR!

[Buffbloom]

Ordered Pentimento - Wrecked from Panic Records on 4/3/2013 and still haven't received it.  Got a shipping notice on 4/17/2013 (13 days to ship?).  Contacted Panic on 5/3/2013 with no response.  Contacted again 5/6/2013 with no response.

 

Just opened a dispute,