From Mxyzptlk Sent Wed, Jul 14th 1999, 05:24
From Mxyzptlk Sent Wed, Jul 14th 1999, 05:24
Hrvatski wrote:
> >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.
>
>
> >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.
>
>
> >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.
>
> 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.
>
>
> 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 (?)
> ... 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.
>
>
> ____________________
> 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