Dine Alone: City and Colour Holiday Vinyl + Alexisonfire Releases

[Buffbloom]

They're an indie label who, aside from this release, have always been good to us. Better than good. I'm sure most of us aren't going to get hung up on one release getting messed up.

Stop the headhunt. We're not owed anything. Not a box set, not an apology.

[Mibabalou]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure ill never buy anything from them again due to how poorly this was planned / executed.

[gcarn]

From a public relations perspective, hell yea they do.

 

There is nothing they could say that would make everyone happy.

 

 

Now we could get into the whole entitled argument, people being selfish, yadda yadda yadda, but from a business perspective, Dine Alone and AOF fucked up big time with this PO. It was a clusterfuck from the beginning, and then the sale its self was the cherry on the top. If they plan to keep customers, and make pissed off fans happy, they are obviously going to try and spin something, if not, at the very least, there will be some sort of apology for the way things were handled.

 

If you feel entitltled your right, I have no reason to argue with you.

 

The did not fuck up big, it was not a PO (they are produced and shipping after the holidays). They sold the 1000 they said they would sell.

 

They're an indie label who, aside from this release, have always been good to us. Better than good. I'm sure most of us aren't going to get hung up on one release getting messed up.

Stop the headhunt. We're not owed anything. Not a box set, not an apology.

^^^^^ I could not have put it better.

[Emo Revival]

^Could not have said it better. Whats an apology going to do. Clearly the only way they're going to make everyone here happy is press 10,000 more of these and let you guys have first dibs. Obviously that's not going to happen because they've already said they will not be pressing more. At this point it is what it is and yeah it sucks that a lot of people missed out but nothing can be done now. Yeah they might have lost some customers like the dude above but I don't believe that will kill them.

[justindinealone]

HEY GUYS IM BACK!

 

im going to start reading posts from pg 52ish onwards trying to answer things as best as i can.

 

first off, a huge thanks for all the support on this sale! can't believe this sold out as fast as it did and we're really happy to finally be able to share these with you. we wanted to do something really special to celebrate the band and dine alone getting the licenses for the back catalogue and this box set really does cover everything. its certainly a full discography of the band.

 

secondly, we have some more AOF vinyl plans to be announced shortly.

 

on to responses..

[gmoney]

No one will buy from them again until they release another record you want.

[cemeterytapes]

I'm not mad or upset at Dine Alone for any of it. And hell, if they keep putting out records I like I'll keep buying their stuff (that reminds me... I should order that Great Bloomers record soon...). I am quite disappointed though, but only because it was the release I was looking the most forward to all year. Really hoping they'll sit down and have a discussion and decide to do another pressing...but hey, you win some you lose some.

[cemeterytapes]

HEY GUYS IM BACK!

 

im going to start reading posts from pg 52ish onwards trying to answer things as best as i can.

 

first off, a huge thanks for all the support on this sale! can't believe this sold out as fast as it did and we're really happy to finally be able to share these with you. we wanted to do something really special to celebrate the band and dine alone getting the licenses for the back catalogue and this box set really does cover everything. its certainly a full discography of the band.

 

secondly, we have some more AOF vinyl plans to be announced shortly.

 

on to responses..

 

Yay! Welcome back by the way. Also, if you send the Frisbee out from the office, sign it or something.

[thoughtsky]

What !? More aof vinyl? What is it this time!? I can afford more atm

[chubbler108]

Hopefully that means pressing more of the exact same box sets.

[Mibabalou]

Hopefully that means pressing more of the exact same box sets.

Same set in white with preorders.

Done.

[Emo Revival]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure ill never buy anything from them again due to how poorly this was planned / executed.

 

 

No one will buy from them again until they release another record you want.

 

 

Same set in white with preorders.

Done.

 

Took just over half an hour for Gkersey to be right. Amazing...

[raynerho]

So justin, i vaguely remember someone asking if they could buy more than 1 set and though you did not say it explicitly, you kinda implied it was 1 per order. But i did see people ordering 2 boxes (with duplicate orders, making it 4, but 2 was cancelled, leaving them with 2 sets still). Why couldnt it be 1/customer?

[xxbyaaahxx]

There is nothing they could say that would make everyone happy.

 

If you feel entitltled your right, I have no reason to argue with you.

 

The did not fuck up big, it was not a PO (they are produced and shipping after the holidays). They sold the 1000 they said they would sell.

 

 

 

I didn't say anything about the statement making anyone happy, but some explenations as to why it was handled the way it was, plans to make it better in the future, shit like that, will ease some peoples frustrations, especially based on the stuff over on facebook.

 

I wasn't speaking of myself, go back and read my arguments, I would say they were some of the best and well thought out ones amongst people just being plain bitter and pissed off. Yes, I am choked I didn't get a set, mainly because I had it in my shopping cart multiple times, and got shafted because of their system. Does that make me entitled, no, that makes me a pissed off customer, due to a companies shit web store.

 

Damn right they did, how can you say they didn't fuck up when their webstore couldn't handle the traffic, couldn't process orders properly thus allowing for multiple duplicate orders, small batches being released over hours, and just the shit shopping cart system in place, I would say thats a pretty big fuck up, especially when you had over a year to set this shit up.

 

Ok, this wasn't a PO, they have the items on hand, regardless, the fact remains, the way it was handled was shit. There is a laundry list of things that could have been done better with this sale, LIKE NOT HAVING IT ON FUCKIN CHRISTMAS DAY! And then expecting no one to get upset when shit crashes and no one is helping customers other then "Guys there were duplicates, we are releasing small batches, oh and dont use chrome, cuz our IT guy fucked shit up, or something like that". From a guy that has been in sales for years, if I was apart of a company that handled it the way this went, I would expect angry customers.

[tml-7]

I didn't say anything about the statement making anyone happy, but some explenations as to why it was handled the way it was, plans to make it better in the future, shit like that, will ease some peoples frustrations, especially based on the stuff over on facebook.

 

I wasn't speaking of myself, go back and read my arguments, I would say they were some of the best and well thought out ones amongst people just being plain bitter and pissed off. Yes, I am choked I didn't get a set, mainly because I had it in my shopping cart multiple times, and got shafted because of their system. Does that make me entitled, no, that makes me a pissed off customer, due to a companies shit web store.

 

Damn right they did, how can you say they didn't fuck up when their webstore couldn't handle the traffic, couldn't process orders properly thus allowing for multiple duplicate orders, small batches being released over hours, and just the shit shopping cart system in place, I would say thats a pretty big fuck up, especially when you had over a year to set this shit up.

 

Ok, this wasn't a PO, they have the items on hand, regardless, the fact remains, the way it was handled was shit. There is a laundry list of things that could have been done better with this sale, LIKE NOT HAVING IT ON FUCKIN CHRISTMAS DAY! And then expecting no one to get upset when shit crashes and no one is helping customers other then "Guys there were duplicates, we are releasing small batches, oh and dont use chrome, cuz our IT guy fucked shit up, or something like that". From a guy that has been in sales for years, if I was apart of a company that handled it the way this went, I would expect angry customers.

 

I used chrome... It worked fine :/ so.... yeah...

[andydrums]

 

secondly, we have some more AOF vinyl plans to be announced shortly.

 

 

If it's something totally new, I'd put my money on it being a live album from the Farewell Tour, or maybe the long-forgotten bonus tracks from the iTunes Originals session. I remember Jordan saying they'd done 9 tracks, but we only ever heard 6

Other than that, I'd say it's the remastered S/T, followed by a 10th anniversary repress of Watch Out! in a few months.

Either way, I can't wait!!!

[Emo Revival]

If it's something totally new, I'd put my money on it being a live album from the Farewell Tour, or maybe the long-forgotten bonus tracks from the iTunes Originals session. I remember Jordan saying they'd done 9 tracks, but we only ever heard 6

Other than that, I'd say it's the remastered S/T, followed by a 10th anniversary repress of Watch Out! in a few months.

Either way, I can't wait!!!

 

Pretty sure they only pressed 6 for the itunes originals vinyl but the digital download contained 12

[justindinealone]

here we go.

 

Got to be less than about 20 people trying to get this now.

 

I have work at 8:30 and what is three hours of sleep, may as well stay up all night and just hope.

at no point was there less than 20 people trying to order, especially at 3:00am.

 

Seriously. Press another 2000.
they will sell and everyone will be Happy.

no possible way to make everyone happy, sorry. if we pressed another 1000-2000 hell even 50 the people who bought the first 1000 would be pissed it wasnt as limited.

 

and send it to DA that would be epic

i've been known to flip the disc, ill totally hang on to a signed AOF frisbee

 

There's the fact that DA didn't originally release some of the titles. They may have only paid for a license to press 1000.

nope, we now have the license for everything.

 

I've got every AOF vinyl release to date, I've gotta grab this final piece.

 

To make it slightly easier for those of us who missed out, maybe DA can announce a live dvd today?

id love to announce a live dvd, i think we're still a little ways a way on that..

 

So fucking unprofessional for them not to give any communication throughout all this nonsense.

we did our beset

 

This is the worst PO I have ever gone through. DA/AOF have let me down big time this time. Many things should have been done to ensure this goes smoothly. Merry Xmas everyone, xmas is ruined for me.

not fair to assume many things werent done.. there was a lot done to make sure this ran smooth, i hope your christmas wasnt ruined over some records.

[justindinealone]

Yeah, I mean I dont want to sound dramatic but I was really looking forward to this for almost an entire year and Christmas wont be that great this year because of this.

sounds dramatic. it would be fair to say most people who successfully ordered these records were also looking forward to this for a year.

 

Why was there never a preorder for this?

we debated it but with a project this big it was just a nightmare. didnt feel right about taking this much money for something in advance and really there wouldve been the same amount of traffic trying to preorder.

 

Who thought doing this on Christmas was a good idea?

 

Seriously.

honestly, we did. people are off work, home, probably looking for something to do.

 

 

Managed to snag one at 12:30 last night. Sorry to anyone that couldn't get one. That was the worst preorder I've ever been a part off. I've ordered a ton from Dine Alone and thought they would have handled it much better.

appreciate the order, and we did our best.

 

 

 

 

In all honesty, I am guessing you are joking. But the fact that you said this in response to my "It could be worse" post makes you my least favorite member on the boards now. There are so many people worse off than us, and people are griping on Christmas about "How dare they not take my money. I'm pissed. Blah blah." 

Isavedlatin and I might be buds outside of the boards, but he had the same outlook I did. "Darn, couldn't get one. Off to hang with the family. Merry Christmas."

Get them priorities straight everyone! It's Christmas! Go hug your mom and dad, or your wife, or your kids, watch A Christmas Story, and enjoy the money that you still have laying around in your bank account.

casey, youre the best.

[justindinealone]

 

im almost a little happy i didnt had the chance to try for the boxset today, saves me from the disappointment.

 

i hope its alright to ask for this... but could anybody help me out with the mp3s of the Death Letter bonus tracks and especially of the Live at BBC Radio 1 ep? i dont think there has been a way other than buying the box set to get either, right?

we'll be releasing the BBC radio album digitally shortly.

 

He probably thinks we will just tear into him when he finally does show, which really isn't far from the truth, I'm sure there will be a lot of less then satisfied people coming out and voicing a concern of some sort. Probably just laying low so people chill the fuck out first haha.

not worried about that, im here an help

 

He's a quarter-millionaire now; nigga ain't got time for us!!

i wish i was, too bad:

1) not my company

2) no parts of this were free to make

 

Not fair for people to rip into Justin, he's just one person at the label. He didn't singlehandedly put this out.

haha imagine? people would be more angry because there is no way i couldve put this out in a year.

 

This is true, but he is like the outside salesman of Dine Alone, if you will. He is out here on a public forum dealing with all the questions and concerns of the fans/customers, so that comes with the position, so to speak.

 

I highly doubt anyone is pissed with Justin in perticular, and I doubt anyone is going to get out of hand, but he is obviously going to get some very blunt and forward questions/remarks due to peoples frustration.

im ready!

 

Did he happen to be posting on IG about time with family or friends because it's Christmas?

i did? im pretty sure none of you guys follow me on IG

 

I don't really agree with the people saying that we shouldn't be upset over this because it's Christmas and stuff.

 

I feel like something that seemed so perfect was handled a little bit poorly. I don't understand why they only pressed 1000, and why it was released at midnight on Christmas, a time when many people are sleeping because they have things to do in the morning, and also when there are a very low number of employees available to address problems that occur. I tried to get one of these sets from 11:55pm - 2:00am, which resulted in me having an awful day from having to wake up super early and being really tired. I am not mad at Justin, but it was stated multiple times that there will be enough for everyone if they tried to buy it when it was released, and I don't understand why there were only 1000. I have seen this band at least 15 times, and City and Colour at least 5 times. This is one of my top 3 favourite bands, and it is extremely frustrating that I have been looking forward to this set for over a year since since was announced, only to be let down by bad projection of how many people would want it, and an awful webstore.

 

I know it's Christmas, and I know others have it much worse than some of us complaining about this set, but that doesn't mean that the situation is excusable. That doesn't mean that some of us don't do nice things for others, or don't care about others, it just means that some of us feel that our time was wasted, and that we were let down for no apparent reason (more sets could have been pressed, and they could have got a better server/webstore)

 

Not trying to start anything, that's just my opinion. Merry Christmas everyone! 

fair enough, we had honestly a really tough time deciding on a quantity.. no prior AOF releases really had this much attention on release, we knew this box was going to be special and knew this wouldnt be the last AOF releases so we decided on 1000. which after taking into account how many parts are inside this box was really fucking daunting.

 

I just want to know why they picked christmas haha. Seems like it'd suck for the label and the few people working for them then as well as for everyone buying.

hindsight is 20/20 my friend.

[justindinealone]

One thing I agree with is you do not know how to make websites crash.

 

It's actually very easy in reality.

Get tens of thousands of computers (or bots) to refresh the same site every second.

 

It's called a ddos attack. It's exactly what happened last night.

 

How can you avoid this? Easy, spend tens of thousands of dollars on server hardware!

 

Is it worth it for a small label to spend shit tons of cash for a 4 hours of traffic spike a year?

Easy answer there I would hope.

 

 

 

They don't just 'let' people make duplicate orders, but when someone spams their credit card to the payment processor guess what is going to happen?

 

It's  a lot easier to cancel duplicate orders (which they did) then code in a double payment blocking system that would only be used for 4 hours every year.

 

 

 

Munk One uses shopNVY which can also suffer from the crazy traffic spikes (I've seen it first hand) and also has whole other cart hoarding issues that leaves people refreshing the page for even longer than last night.

 

It all comes down to two choices. Make a limited release and have chaos, or make it unlimited and take preorders for a decent duration before production.

 

I can't put it better than this:

YES! exactly.. we actually had our normal server person AND a second one brought in to help us. with the traffic we experienced i can safely say most sites wouldve been taken out at the knees by it.. there was a huge amount of you guys hitting the site at the same time.

 

I have 3 guesses as to why.

 

1) The boxset is just AOF and no other bands. (other than Moneen, but that's different.)

2) It's just Counterparts and number them.. nothing special that's not already in the box.

3) They might not have the rights to press it. (It was on Sore Point)

exactly, the song wasnt any different.

 

They do not have to spend enormous amount of money to develop. They should rather use logical thinking. It was easy to predict that the site will crash, even at the time of the announcement it was dead as hell and it was no question that the box set will be popular as well (more thousands of shares and likes). They should have made these 1000 copies available in 2 parts, i.e. 500 copies on 25th and 500 copies 500 on 26th of December or something like that. It might have been helpful for people like us who were sitting here at Christmas eve clicking on the refresh button hopelessly.

this wouldnt have worked, we thought about it.

 

Maybe if they released half on AOF's site and half on DA's? It also had New Damage involved so maybe across 3 stores? Might've helped maybe.

these were all sold on the bands site because the company providing all the assembly / pick & pack is located in montreal. our store is LA and new damage's is Toronto. these boxes are too big to ship to another warehouse just to ship out to customers. all shipping from the location of assembly saved you guys $$

 

Nope, nothing around here. Only thing I saw on Facebook was about their Christmas sampler download, nothing mentioning the ordeal.

 

I'm really interested to see how they spin this haha.

no spinning anything. we made 1000, there was a lot of interest.. we sold a 1000. some people who got them are happy and posting about it, others arent and everyone who didnt get one is pissed / posting about it.

 

From a public relations perspective, hell yea they do.

You know damn well a shit load of these ended up in flippers hands thanks to the unlimited amount you could order, so obviously fans are pissed. Plus the wasted time on Christmas Day, that pissed off a lot of people.

 

Now we could get into the whole entitled argument, people being selfish, yadda yadda yadda, but from a business perspective, Dine Alone and AOF fucked up big time with this PO. It was a clusterfuck from the beginning, and then the sale its self was the cherry on the top. If they plan to keep customers, and make pissed off fans happy, they are obviously going to try and spin something, if not, at the very least, there will be some sort of apology for the way things were handled.

there was a limited of 2. definitely never allowed people to buy an unlimited amount. we also cancelled every duplicate order.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure ill never buy anything from them again due to how poorly this was planned / executed.

i hope you change your mind, if not - sorry you couldn't get one of the 1000 we made.

[justindinealone]

So justin, i vaguely remember someone asking if they could buy more than 1 set and though you did not say it explicitly, you kinda implied it was 1 per order. But i did see people ordering 2 boxes (with duplicate orders, making it 4, but 2 was cancelled, leaving them with 2 sets still). Why couldnt it be 1/customer?

some people, especially overseas wanted to order 1+ a friend to save on shipping.

 

Pretty sure they only pressed 6 for the itunes originals vinyl but the digital download contained 12

the itunes vinyl included all the recordings - just no interviews

[thoughtsky]

So now lets come back to those other aof records you just talked about..!?

[ilikeguitars]

Why the freak are people so eager do pre orders rather than buying them when the company actually have the product in hand?

[raynerho]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Alexisonfire-Vinyl-Boxset-/261361964051?pt=Music_Other_Formats&hash=item3cda631413

 

and he says he's lucky to get 2. asswipe.