IDM Mailing Archive

1999-07-14 04:25~$\({\[Endemic~Distortion\]}$\)~Delete now with my apologies if this doesn't interest you : Update...I got 4/12 which I or

From:: ~$\({\[Endemic~Distortion\]}$\)~ <jpklein@flash.net>
To:: ambivalent <ambient@hyperreal.org>
Cc:: It'ssupposedtosounDlikethat,moM <idm@hyperreal.org>
Date:: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 23:25:14 -0500
Subject:: (idm) 4.95 cds

Delete now with my apologies if this doesn't interest you : Update...I got 4/12 which I ordered with no indication concerning what to/not to expect. I had also ordered another 5 and heard nothing on that. I emailed and inquired. They told me they'd investigate. I get an email back with a "sorry, no go" message - BUT I should get all of the 2nd order. In the meantime, another friend of mine gets told that they cannot get 2 of the very cds they have just told me thay can supply. I informed them that I was considering contacting the BBB over "bait and switch" tactics. They offer me 20$ off of whatever I want and tell me that they "reserve the right" not to supply certain cds in RARE instances like mine. Trouble is, from what I've heard via the Ambient & IDM lists, *my* situation isn't rare at all, but seemingly their normal way of doing biz. I know some of you got freebies, but that's not what I'm looking for. They are either using bait and switch tactics on purpose or else they are completely clueless in a business sense (the excuse they offer is that they "switched distributors and the new one cannot supply most of the titles in question". WHY switch to them, then?). At any rate, I thought that this URL may be of some use to those of us who think that myshopnow has been intentionally dishonest with their selling tactics. I know they're lying - at least to my friend and/or possibly to myself. As long as everybody takes it in stride, they'll probably keep it up, too. If you're interested... BBB (for US & Canada) http://www.bbb.org/ (bait and switch info) http://www.bbbsouthland.org/topic016.html -- jeff "10,000 people all screaming the same thing at the same time are wrong, even if they're right." dancing/about/architecture "...with wandering steps and slow..." ICQ904008

1999-07-14 03:40Peter T. BenseI've also had a similar experience. Those people are real fuckheads, pardon my English. I

From:: Peter T. Bense <textures@techno.org>
To:: <jpklein@flash.net>, <idm@hyperreal.org>
Date:: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 23:40:10 -0400
Subject:: THOSE RAT BASTARDS. Re: (idm) 4.95 cds
Reply to:: (idm) 4.95 cds

I've also had a similar experience. Those people are real fuckheads, pardon my English. I got one of those infamous e-mail messages, check this:

quoted 8 lines Thank you for your order with Online Stores by Shopnow.com. Unfortunately,

> Thank you for your order with Online Stores by Shopnow.com. Unfortunately, > some of the products you ordered, CDs - Terrence Parker- Tragedies of a > Plasic Soul Jun/ De La Soul- De La Soul is Dead/ Herbaliser- Wall Crawling > Giant Insect Bra/ Freezone 4-Dangerous Lullabies/ De La Soul- Three Feet > High and Rising, are no longer available for purchase through our > supplier. Your order for those cds will be cancelled as of today. We > apologize for the inconvenience, and hope to serve your online shopping > needs in the future.

This is fucking bullshit!!! Has ANYONE yet to receive a complete order from these dumbfucks? -pt

quoted 24 lines Update...I got 4/12 which I ordered with no indication concerning what

>Update...I got 4/12 which I ordered with no indication concerning what >to/not to expect. I had also ordered another 5 and heard nothing on >that. I emailed and inquired. They told me they'd investigate. I get an >email back with a "sorry, no go" message - BUT I should get all of the >2nd order. In the meantime, another friend of mine gets told that they >cannot get 2 of the very cds they have just told me thay can supply. I >informed them that I was considering contacting the BBB over "bait and >switch" tactics. They offer me 20$ off of whatever I want and tell me >that they "reserve the right" not to supply certain cds in RARE >instances like mine. Trouble is, from what I've heard via the Ambient & >IDM lists, *my* situation isn't rare at all, but seemingly their normal >way of doing biz. I know some of you got freebies, but that's not what >I'm looking for. They are either using bait and switch tactics on >purpose or else they are completely clueless in a business sense (the >excuse they offer is that they "switched distributors and the new one >cannot supply most of the titles in question". WHY switch to them, >then?). At any rate, I thought that this URL may be of some use to those >of us who think that myshopnow has been intentionally dishonest with >their selling tactics. I know they're lying - at least to my friend >and/or possibly to myself. As long as everybody takes it in stride, >they'll probably keep it up, too. If you're interested... > >BBB (for US & Canada) http://www.bbb.org/ >(bait and switch info) http://www.bbbsouthland.org/topic016.html

1999-07-14 04:01Hrvatski>I informed them that I was considering contacting the BBB over "bait and >switch" tactics

From:: Hrvatski <sheket@tiac.net>
To:: <idm@hyperreal.org>
Date:: Wed, 14 Jul 1999 00:01:23 -0400
Subject:: Re: (idm) 4.95 cds
Reply to:: (idm) 4.95 cds

quoted 2 lines I informed them that I was considering contacting the BBB over "bait and

>I informed them that I was considering contacting the BBB over "bait and >switch" tactics.

How so? Did they change the price on anything?

quoted 3 lines They offer me 20$ off of whatever I want and tell me

>They offer me 20$ off of whatever I want and tell me >that they "reserve the right" not to supply certain cds in RARE >instances like mine.

Well, if they can't, they can't. What can you do?

quoted 8 lines Trouble is, from what I've heard via the Ambient &

>Trouble is, from what I've heard via the Ambient & >IDM lists, *my* situation isn't rare at all, but seemingly their normal >way of doing biz. I know some of you got freebies, but that's not what >I'm looking for. They are either using bait and switch tactics on >purpose or else they are completely clueless in a business sense (the >excuse they offer is that they "switched distributors and the new one >cannot supply most of the titles in question". WHY switch to them, >then?).

I highly doubt they're clueless. No one really throws away several million dollars w/out a plan (they're paying at least $11 COST for those CD's yr paying $4.95 for) We can only assume by now that their plan has succeeded... They switched distributors (from Valley to God-knows-who...) because Valley was fulfilling their orders (i.e. supplying the CD's AND shipping them, all MSN was doing was gathering info...) & found it rather unreasonable to try & fill the 12+ million orders MSN sent them (during the two weeks of the offer, no less) any time within the next 6 months... Undoubtedly any other one-stop is only going to offers titles from the big 5 (majors) and not anything from Caroline, Koch, Dutch East, Allegro, TVT, etc..., basically all the stuff any of us would want anyways... For what it's worth, I've gotten around 30 of the 50 CD's I'd originally ordered (luckily got wind of this whole deal early on) in about 10 separate shipments (an initial box of 17 showed up here almost exactly one month after I'd placed the order, and around 10 others have shown up (one a day) since then, usually containing one or two CD's each) none of which I've paid for (yet), with no mis-ships or anything bad. While I feel great about all of these people buying (or simply getting) CD's from this place and not Amazon, CD-Now/Music BLVD/etc... (fuckers, all of them), I feel like an idiot for not buying this stuff from the mom & pop stores that have served me well for years... -Våt ____________________ Reckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge PO BOX 382864. Cambridge, MA 02238 http://www.tiac.net/users/sheket/index.html

1999-07-14 05:25~$\({\[Endemic~Distortion\]}$\)~Hrvatski wrote: > >I informed them that I was considering contacting the BBB over "bait an

From:: ~$\({\[Endemic~Distortion\]}$\)~ <jpklein@flash.net>
To:: Hrvatski <sheket@tiac.net>
Cc:: <idm@hyperreal.org>
Date:: Wed, 14 Jul 1999 00:25:16 -0500
Subject:: Re: (idm) 4.95 cds

Hrvatski wrote:

quoted 4 lines I informed them that I was considering contacting the BBB over "bait and

> >I informed them that I was considering contacting the BBB over "bait and > >switch" tactics. > > How so? Did they change the price on anything?

Actually, yes. On more than one item, a price listed showed up differently on the invoice. However, that is not what "bait and switch" is. It is offering something they cannot supply and then hoping you'll take something else.

quoted 8 lines They offer me 20$ off of whatever I want and tell me

> > > >They offer me 20$ off of whatever I want and tell me > >that they "reserve the right" not to supply certain cds in RARE > >instances like mine. > > Well, if they can't, they can't. > What can you do?

Complain about their advertising practices. In many cases they offered things which WERE too good to be true. As I said, I'm not looking for a freebie or a future discount. I'm actually far more concerned that they see fit to tell me they CAN get me something while at the same time they're telling someone else they cannot because "their distributor doesn't handle that item". The issue is that I'm not convinced that they *can't* supply many of these or that they didn't know they couldn't. The fact they they have been less than honest in my inbox doesn't help me along this path.

quoted 12 lines Trouble is, from what I've heard via the Ambient &

> > > >Trouble is, from what I've heard via the Ambient & > >IDM lists, *my* situation isn't rare at all, but seemingly their normal > >way of doing biz. I know some of you got freebies, but that's not what > >I'm looking for. They are either using bait and switch tactics on > >purpose or else they are completely clueless in a business sense (the > >excuse they offer is that they "switched distributors and the new one > >cannot supply most of the titles in question". WHY switch to them, > >then?). > > I highly doubt they're clueless.

Agreed. That would seem to be the charitable option of the two.

quoted 4 lines No one really throws away several million dollars w/out a plan

> > No one really throws away several million dollars w/out a plan > (they're paying at least $11 COST for those CD's yr paying $4.95 for) > We can only assume by now that their plan has succeeded...

Well, I doubt that they're concerned over what the inhabitants over a few offbeat music mailing lists think, so you're probably right.

quoted 7 lines They switched distributors (from Valley to God-knows-who...) because Valley

> > > They switched distributors (from Valley to God-knows-who...) because Valley > was fulfilling their orders (i.e. supplying the CD's AND shipping them, all > MSN was doing was gathering info...) & found it rather unreasonable to try > & fill the 12+ million orders MSN sent them (during the two weeks of the > offer, no less) any time within the next 6 months

They reported slightly over 1000 orders in all communications with me and several other people per "these types of cds". I assume that was hyperbole (?)

quoted 15 lines ... Undoubtedly any other

> ... Undoubtedly any other > one-stop is only going to offers titles from the big 5 (majors) and not > anything from Caroline, Koch, Dutch East, Allegro, TVT, etc..., basically > all the stuff any of us would want anyways... > > For what it's worth, I've gotten around 30 of the 50 CD's I'd originally > ordered (luckily got wind of this whole deal early on) in about 10 separate > shipments (an initial box of 17 showed up here almost exactly one month > after I'd placed the order, and around 10 others have shown up (one a day) > since then, usually containing one or two CD's each) none of which I've > paid for (yet), with no mis-ships or anything bad. While I feel great about > all of these people buying (or simply getting) CD's from this place and not > Amazon, CD-Now/Music BLVD/etc... (fuckers, all of them), I feel like an > idiot for not buying this stuff from the mom & pop stores that have served > me well for years... -Våt

Well, I'm truly happy for you (not meant sarcastically) and I'd prolly be a bit less irate if I didn't see them treating me like an ass and truth-twisting here and there. It seems to me, though, that the real story is probably a mix of bad mgmt and poor customer relations. If we assume that they really didn't know they would have the response they did, it would appear to me that they needed some market research before embarking on such an endeavor. It would, as well, seem logical that they would check the efficiency/ability of their suppliers to deliver what they advertise...and that they would do the same when they sought another to fill the void the former couldn't. How many rare items did you see in their coffers that made you wonder if they could REALLY get these things? C'mon.... Hey, I'm not on a witch hunt nor do I wish to start one. It seems to me, though, that a good possibility exists that myshop/techwave is engaging in less than scrupulous advertising/selling tactics.

quoted 6 lines ____________________

> > > ____________________ > Reckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge > PO BOX 382864. Cambridge, MA 02238 > http://www.tiac.net/users/sheket/index.html

-- jeff "10,000 people all screaming the same thing at the same time are wrong, even if they're right." dancing/about/architecture "...with wandering steps and slow..." ICQ904008

Re: (idm) 4.95 cds