Bad experiences with buying music
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=64422
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Topic: Bad experiences with buying music
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Subject: Bad experiences with buying music
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 10:39
Just a few minutes ago I found out I was tricked/robbed for the first time, so I'm pretty angry.  I thought it would be a good idea to centralize these kind of experience, in order to learn from each other and avoid bad experiences in the future, if possible.My bad experience probably comes from lack of previous experience with ordering online. Last month I made my first order through Amazon (I normally buy in shops). They had this customer program through which you don't pay for shipping in the first month, so I subscribed to it. What they didn't say and I didn't think I should check further was that after that first month it's not like you pay for every shipping you need for your orders, but you pay a 50 euro monthly fee which they automatically take from your bank account without asking you, regardless whether you place new orders or not. I only found about this important detail when I noticed the payment of the first monthly fee.Probably most of you people who buy regularly on the Internet know about this and take precautions, but I hope this still may be of help for someone. |
Replies:
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 10:46
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^ I've never heard of such a fee ... could you please be more specific? I use Amazon Prime, but that only involves a yearly fee of about 30 EUR, and in exchange you get free premium shipping for every order.
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: The Doctor
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 10:52
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I've not signed up for the amazon prime deal, but through amazon.de they only charge 29 Euro per year. I just checked. ------------- I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you? |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 10:52
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^ correct - I just checked, too.
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 10:54
| Could it be something only for the French Amazon? It's called Amazon Premium. |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 10:55
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^ You could provide a link for us to check. But I can't think of any Amazon service which you could unknowingly subscribe to.
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 10:56
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http://www.amazon.fr/gp/subs/primeclub/signup/main.html - http://www.amazon.fr/gp/subs/primeclub/signup/main.html I think it says 49 EUR per year ... ------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 10:58
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It's in French so I don't think it'll help much: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/subs/primeclub/signup/main.html - http://www.amazon.fr/gp/subs/primeclub/signup/main.html I didn't unknowingly subscribe to the service, but I wasn't told all the details and I didn't check out further. |
Posted By: The Doctor
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 10:58
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Ah. Just checked Amazon premium at amazon.fr. And wow, it is 49 Euro, but as with amazon.de, this is a yearly fee, not a monthly fee. ------------- I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you? |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:03
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I signed up last December, and they did not conceal the fact that there's an annual fee involved. The deal is that for this annual fee you get free premium shipping for any order (also single CDs that cost less than 20 EUR), so if you plan to buy many CDs there then it's not a bad deal. You also have to take into account that CDs typically cost a few Euros less there than in your local store.
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: The Doctor
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:05
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^But I usually buy CDs in bulk from there, and orders over 20 Euro get free shipping anyway. ------------- I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you? |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:07
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If it's only a yearly fee then my loss is much smaller, but still, they didn't say they were going to charge me anything (there weren't many details on the order page, unlike the page with the presentation of the service). They had me thinking that after the first month, I'm going to be charged per order/shipping, not that I would be charged automatically. If I knew I wouldn't have subscribed because I didn't plan to use Amazon soon. Still it's strange, in my account page it was talking about monthly renewal, not yearly renewal. |
Posted By: moe_blunts
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:09
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Southern Lord takes their sweet time with delivering their goods...but what else would you really expect with people who make music with 1/2 bpm.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/moe_blunts/?chartstyle=minimalDarkRecent"> 
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Posted By: The Doctor
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:12
------------- I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you? |
harmonium.ro wrote:Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:14
Well, not that you have Amazon Prime/Premium for a year you might as well use it. If you order 1-2 CDs per month and save 2 EUR compared to the normal price at the store, you could break even. ------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:20
| I unsubscribed, which leaves me with both the money taken and not able to take advantage of the service (which I didn't plan to, anyway). I'll write them asking whether I can get something back. |
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:47
I just received an email from Amazon, saying that because I canceled the service without taking advantage of it, I will be fully refunded. That's the 100% correct decision, kudos to Amazon! 
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Posted By: The Doctor
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:53
Good to hear. Had a feeling you could get your money back. I find Amazon to be pretty good with customer relations.  ------------- I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you? |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 11:55
I expected nothing less ... I never had any problems with Amazon.
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 12:25
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98.64% of what I buy from Amazon is from Marketplace and not Amazon themselves, so I would not gain anything by signing up for Prime. Same applies to Amazon Gift Vouchers - you can't use them in the Marketplace so they are usless for me. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 12:32
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^ There was a time when I used Ebay and Amazon Marketplace heavily, to buy used CDs (eBay) and imported CDs via Caiman (Amazon) ... but I don't do it anymore. Today I buy the bulk of my albums as mp3 and a small number of albums as new CDs. And as far as Caiman is concerned, their offers have become rare as of late, and they're not as cheap as they used to be.
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 12:43
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Caiman deals became less attractive as the exchange-rates took a nose-dive. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 12:45
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^ The Euro is still strong though ...
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 12:47
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...but the Pound isn't ------------- What? |
Posted By: Mr ProgFreak
Date Posted: January 17 2010 at 12:48
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^ Caiman prices went up in Germany too though ... something besides the exchange rates must have been responsible.
------------- https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike" rel="nofollow - https://tagyourmusic.org/users/Mike |
Posted By: halabalushindigus
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 01:52
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I'm just sittin here reading your guys' blog on Amazon and Euros and all that. Its pretty interesting. The musical thread featuring "GENESIS" is playing and right now "our Juliet clears her morning meal"
If I could say something not related to this Thread. - What a powerful Nation Great Britain must be. After all, they only single-handedly won the war. How awesome must be Germany. I'm an ignorant(well maybe not too ignorant, huh) American who (get this) rooted for THE CHARGERS.
I love this website
------------- assume the power 1586/14.3 |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 02:12
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We are. We did? They are. Good for you. And so do I. ------------- What? |
Posted By: halabalushindigus
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 02:22
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About a week ago, I bought a cd online and The Quality was lousy, but the merchants were nice to me and I would of gotten a refund had I asked for it. Sometimes you'll see an album on cd format and think to yourself, "'Ive never seen this on cd before" and so you'll but it only to find it's digitally remastered from the album itself.
------------- assume the power 1586/14.3 |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 06:21
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I order most of my music online. I do give one of my surviving local independent brick and mortar store business from time to time, as well as a local chain I'll refer to as OK Purchase, when I need a quick fix on a new release that they actually stock. I've had zero bad experiences with my online orders with one exception, Bill Me Later. I was late with a payment. Their late fee is atrocious. I completely paid for the purchase and the first late fee. I didn't pay it quickly enough though and now they are charging me late fees on my late fee. I talked to customer service to no avail.I've never done any shipping deal arrangements and this is the first time I've heard of one. Sounds a little scammy in the first place. Best rule of thumb: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. So for one barb, I'll put out one good word for half.com. They are a division of e-bay with no bidding. They serve as an intermediary for individuals selling off their used stuff and internet stores as well. Of course they do take a cut through their shipping fee. But I have no complaints. Whenever possible, I'll order from the artist's site. Zero bad experiences from doing that. And you know where the money is going. Phil Mazaera personally autographs the CD. I ordered from Darryl Way recently and it appears that he's not only making the CDs himself but again autographs it.  Ordered from Nektar not too long ago as well and Roye sent what appeared to be a personalized packing slip. Stamped and signed.------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 06:35
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Amazon has free delivery here in the UK, is that not so in Europe? ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 07:24
You weren't tricked or robbed. I too saw that when I placed my last order, but Amazon made it very clear that there would eventually be a monthly fee for the service, but I'm quite happy to wait the normal 3 days or so, so I cancelled it and went for the normal delivery fee. There are plenty of schemes like this around where you don't realise you're signing up for a regular fee without reading the small print but I don't think this was one of them. It was quite clear.
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Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 07:32
| I don't buy a lot of music online, but, when I did, I was so lucky as not to have any bad experiences of the kind described here. However, I had a couple of not exacly pleasant surprises when buying CDs in brick and mortar stores. Once, I bought a CD of some musical for my mom at Tower Records in Piccadilly, London. Of course, I didn't think to open the case in order to check (as I always do now), and, when my mom opened it in Rome, we found there was no CD inside. Too late to return it or anything.... Then, some three or four years ago, I bought a copy of UK's Night After Night at an HMV store in London - and, when I first played it, it only had some sort of piano music on it! Again, no receipt, no chance to return it. |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 07:36
| My niece got a boxed set of Lost DVDs once - all the DVDs were missing. (true story). |
Posted By: Snow Dog
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 07:53
Oh the irony! ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Snow_Dog" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 10:55
Reminds me of the Action Man Deserter joke.
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Posted By: jampa17
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 11:26
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Well... I mostly buy my progressive CD online -You hardly can find it here in Guatemala- and everything have work fine with Amazon... I buy through a company called iguama that offer a lot of special prices to the customers and I get all my package in regular time, always good and with no problem... in the other hand, a couple of times that I buy music in a local store, the CDs are broken or the thing that hold them in place... so I have better experience online...
Now, I only have problems through Amazon when I buy a comic book collection of GIjoe and the cover was damaged for a bad package... I send a reclamation and the next issue of the comic book was through a different service and everything gets well again... BTW I have to buy collection volume 5 this month... ------------- |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 19 2010 at 12:33
I'm guessing none of those were shrinkwrapped? No guarantees of course if they were. I've never gone wrong with a purchase at a local store. I did order a copy of Equinoxe and it turned out to be a JMJ best of album. Packaging and the CD label were for Equinoxe, but the content on the CD was for another JMJ album. Then there was that time I ordered a second copy of Air Conditioning thinking I was ordering Air Cut, but that was my bad.  I remember reading about a vulgar heavy metal or something in a CD or LP being released labeled as children's album once. Don't recall the details. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: TODDLER
Date Posted: January 20 2010 at 13:02
| It's better to give you favorite prog vendor the chance to order a title from the distributor. There are some prog vendors that have a good reputation regarding packing and handling. They seem the more consistent route to take. I spent thousands on Amazon and ended up with broken cases or the description of the item was based off false claims. You know, the cover was bent or someone dropped a wet beer cap on it and when it dried, it formed a stain cloud over your favorite inner sleeve cover? Then if you are trying to find a copy of a specific cd with the original cover painting, like I did with Spooky Tooth The Mirror, they don't always have the visual on the cover they are selling. You ened up e-mailing them and not getting a response for weeks. Your bouncing around like an idiot e-mailing private sellers and wasting your time. I would rather make a simple phone call to a vendor and business works out in a timely fashion. |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: January 20 2010 at 18:00
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Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 05:55
I bought a newly released copy of the Groundhogs' "Black Diamond" only to find side 2 was classical music - a culture shock at the time, but as i now like classical music would love to know what it was, i took it back and changed it. 
-------------  Prog Archives Tour Van 
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 07:29
By the way, as a vinyl lover, how do you acquire new ones? A local store or mail order? I'm asking because I have a few survivors from the flood that I'd like to offer up for sale and I want to be sure they arrive at their new homes in as good condition as I have them. Still need to organize and catalog them. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: micky
Date Posted: January 21 2010 at 22:34
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my last was buying a DT album... and finding out that DT played on it. was the last DT album I bought... ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |