Read Before Ordering CDs/Merch Online: Good and Bad Distros

Originally Posted by Defleshuary

Did you contact Relapse? Their customer service is pretty good with dealing with problems. UPS in PA has fucked me over a few times.

Yeah I emailed them and they got back to me the next business day, but the whole experience was weird and I blame the USPS for all the problems. So Relapse is still perfect in my eyes.

[Javi]

CM distro is pretty good although i think ive only ordered from them one time or maybe 2. Hows nuke blast? never done that one.

[Mol]

Gotta add Pathos to the list. Quick as fuck shipping. Definitely going to order again.

[Javi]

My order from willowtip was placed tuesday, shipped wed, came today =]

cant really say more goodthings about them that hasnt been said, just order from them. Thanks tipton.

[pooptastik]

Originally Posted by Javi

CM distro is pretty good although i think ive only ordered from them one time or maybe 2.

each time i've ordered from CM, they'd take a month or more to receive my package and the cases are usually crushed.

[Javi]

haha damnn, mine came before the month mark but i cant remember exactly how long. maybe 2 weeks? not too long. i usually receive cds with the inside of the CD case with crushed teeth and sometimes cracked covers, coulda gotten that from Century

[Drowned]

Just adding my two cents here, but I ordered six albums from Moribund Cult last year and they arrived within two weeks of ordering (shipped from the US to Iceland). Recommended.

[Souldrain]

www.cdnrecords.com
I ordered from these guys and got my shit in 2 days. Cheap too.

[funktard]

CM Distro got me my stuff very fast.

[wachtourak]

The only thing that's stopped me ordering from Moribund is this:

"We may also require that ALL FIRST TIME CUSTOMERS in ANY COUNTRY OUTSIDE OF THE USA & CANADA who pay by credit card, to mail or fax in their Card Holder's Authorization Signature (the form that you can print out and mail or fax to us is located HERE) at the time of their first order only, so we can have it on file for any and all future credit card orders you might place. This is required to avoid any disputes that might arise, for your protection as the Credit Card Holder, as well as our own protection against possible fraud."

I just can't be bothered fucking around sending them stuff via snail mail hah, did they make you do it?

[Surt]

um, that sounds like a load of bullshit. There's no reason whatsoever that you should have to voluntarily mail a copy of your signature for them to keep on record and duplicate on demand.

Sounds like highly fraudulent practice if you ask me.

[Burnout]

Does anyone know where to find Pilgrimage by Vuvr? I've checked all of the distros in this thread and others and none of them have even listed the album, let alone had it in stock. I think it was released on Shindy productions.

[entwinedwithsickness]

Originally Posted by Surt

um, that sounds like a load of bullshit. There's no reason whatsoever that you should have to voluntarily mail a copy of your signature for them to keep on record and duplicate on demand.

Sounds like highly fraudulent practice if you ask me.

The company I worked for selling electronics required this for all international orders and for domestic orders over $200. Its not fraudulent, its to protect the company in case you get some jerkoff doing a chargeback weeks later saying "I didn't order from this company." You'd be shocked how often this happens to a company handling credit card transactions.

International orders are a tremendous pain in the ass. Ask anyone who is involved in web-based sales, they'll probably tell you the same.

I've ordered off of:

Relapse. Went smooth.

Century Media. Went smoothly for me but everyone I know since then has had problems. When I ordered a good friend worked for them so perhaps thats why. Seems like a sketchy mailorder from what I've heard.

Necroharmonic. In my same state, I'd order and have my items within 2 days. Even if they put out horrible crap like Waking the Cadaver..awesome distro. been buying off Necroharmonic for years and never had a single problem.

Razorback. Always fast, friendly and helpful. I had an issue because of a PO Box and Jill was ready to ship me 4 more Bathtub Shitter EP's (back when they did vinyl) but I waited and it got resolved on its own thankfully. They're willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to help a customer out though. Great distro.

[seedsofthesuffering]

Originally Posted by Surt

Um, don't boycott releases cause then all you're doing is fucking over the bands as much as the unresponsive mailorder/label owner.

Still buy Neurotic releases, but buy them direct from the band or Willowtip instead.

Or would you rather see Disavowed, Spawn Of Possession, Prostitute Disfigurement, Ulcerate, Visceral Bleeding etc lose out just because of the lousy action (or inaction) of the label owner?

Ok no, don't make the bands lose out.
It's just that Neurotic Records are apparently rip-off merchants that this scene can well do without. Eager fans get ripped off for placing pre-orders... it's extremely bad form.
Hopefully some, or all of those bands will eventually find a better label to deal with.

[wachtourak]

Anyone had any experience with Osmose? They have a bunch of stuff I want.

[Surt]

Originally Posted by entwinedwithsickness

The company I worked for selling electronics required this for all international orders and for domestic orders over $200. Its not fraudulent, its to protect the company in case you get some jerkoff doing a chargeback weeks later saying "I didn't order from this company." You'd be shocked how often this happens to a company handling credit card transactions.

International orders are a tremendous pain in the ass. Ask anyone who is involved in web-based sales, they'll probably tell you the same.

well in all the years I've been ordering from numerous US and foreign mailorders I've never once been asked nor had to fax a copy of my signature to the company in advance of future orders.

Nor did anyone from Unmatched Brutality, Brutal Bands, Century Media US, Earache US, Willowtip, Amputated Vein or countless others say anything at all about international orders being a pain in the ass.

Valid or not, it just all sounds like a highly sus thing to demand really.
Hell, reasons not to extrapolated from this context are part of why the Data Protection Act was brought in.

Originally Posted by seedsofthesuffering

Ok no, don't make the bands lose out.
It's just that Neurotic Records are apparently rip-off merchants that this scene can well do without. Eager fans get ripped off for placing pre-orders... it's extremely bad form.
Hopefully some, or all of those bands will eventually find a better label to deal with.

Fo shizzle. I predominantly try to buy my merch in particular in not CDs from teh bands themselves anyway as you cut out the middle man and the money goes straight into the band's pocket.

Fortunately we've got a label like Willowtip as an alternative to ordering from now when it comes to Neurotic bands, so personally I see that as a winning situation.

[Surt]

Originally Posted by entwinedwithsickness

The company I worked for selling electronics required this for all international orders and for domestic orders over $200. Its not fraudulent, its to protect the company in case you get some jerkoff doing a chargeback weeks later saying "I didn't order from this company." You'd be shocked how often this happens to a company handling credit card transactions.

International orders are a tremendous pain in the ass. Ask anyone who is involved in web-based sales, they'll probably tell you the same.

well in all the years I've been ordering from numerous US and foreign mailorders I've never once been asked nor had to fax a copy of my signature to the company in advance of future orders.

Nor did anyone from Unmatched Brutality, Brutal Bands, Century Media US, Earache US, Willowtip, Amputated Vein or countless others say anything at all about international orders being a pain in the ass.

Valid or not, it just all sounds like a highly sus thing to demand really.
Hell, reasons not to extrapolated from this context are part of why the Data Protection Act was brought in.

Originally Posted by seedsofthesuffering

Ok no, don't make the bands lose out.
It's just that Neurotic Records are apparently rip-off merchants that this scene can well do without. Eager fans get ripped off for placing pre-orders... it's extremely bad form.
Hopefully some, or all of those bands will eventually find a better label to deal with.

Fo shizzle. I predominantly try to buy my merch in particular in not CDs from teh bands themselves anyway as you cut out the middle man and the money goes straight into the band's pocket.

Fortunately we've got a label like Willowtip as an alternative to ordering from now when it comes to Neurotic bands, so personally I see that as a winning situation.

[metalgearX3]

Anyone else having problem with Unmatchedbrutality.com lately? WTF, its been over two weeks and no package yet. I'm a bit surprise b/c I've trusted them and had no problem but success in the past. I've sent an email but no response yet...

I'm fucking calling them if my stuff doesn't arrive after this week.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by metalgearX3

Anyone else having problem with Unmatchedbrutality.com lately? WTF, its been over two weeks and no package yet. I'm a bit surprise b/c I've trusted them and had no problem but success in the past. I've sent an email but no response yet...

I'm fucking calling them if my stuff doesn't arrive after this week.

I think like a 3 week period is solid for them wait until then.

[metalgearX3]

Originally Posted by Javi

I think like a 3 week period is solid for them wait until then.

Well, it will be 3 week after this week's end. How the hell can they gone from 3 days max(consistently) to 3 + weeks to ship my stuff? If they don't wanna send my stuff. fine...but let me know at least so I can order from another distro and not have to play the waiting game. It would piss me off even more had I ordered the same product some where else and then all of a sudden they decided to ship my stuff.

[Stupefaction]

Originally Posted by Burnout

Does anyone know where to find Pilgrimage by Vuvr? I've checked all of the distros in this thread and others and none of them have even listed the album, let alone had it in stock. I think it was released on Shindy productions.

Try Google product search.

[Surt]

Willowtip.
Very impressed. A bit of a steal if I'm honest compared to the prices I'm used to paying, but damn, fucking value for fucking money! As you can tell from the expletives hah
Now I won't hear a word said against Brutal Bands' mailorder and I know it's more down to the USPS/ Royal Mail but damn, my first Willowtip order just bisected the usual delivery time from the US to the UK by like a week!
That on top of the fact everything was in prime condition - excellent print job on the PD shirt! - meant I couldn't ask for more.
Even get an email to say the item has been shipped, which might be the norm for the likes of Willowtip and Brutal Bands but even that's appreciated :D

Definately going to order from Tipton in the future.... even if his name always reminds me of Judas Priest.

[wachtourak]

Originally Posted by Surt

Willowtip
Definately going to order from Tipton in the future.... even if his name always reminds me of Judas Priest.

How is that a bad thing

I'm gonna order a Spawn of Possession shirt and some other stuff off them soon. Always heard good things, and their prices are really good.

[Surt]

lol it's not. It's just distracting when you have a mind as prone to distraction as I do.

[Phil]

anyone every order from Crimes Against Humanity?
they have a bunch of stuff I want

[apslam]

Yeah ordering from Europe is a gigantic pain in the ass, ESPECIALLY ITALY. I ordered the Vomit The Soul new demo/t-shirt package deal from Andrea/Permeated (also in VTS) in late JANUARY and still have not gotten it. He has corresponded with me and since I've bugged him about it, he's told me he's sent it twice and it's very strange that it hasn't showed up, told me to give him a possible other address to send it to so he can make sure of where exactly the problem is. I feel bad for the dude if it's the Italian postal system fucking it up...my friend who is conscious about international sales told me that people in Italy/ordering from Italy have to wait months and months and months to get stuff/send stuff out of Italy due to the horrible post. So I dunno whether I'm being ripped off or if I'll eventually get 3 packages!

[pooptastik]

Originally Posted by Phil

anyone every order from Crimes Against Humanity?
they have a bunch of stuff I want

fucking AWESOME. love that place.

[Deepsend Records]

I love when you ship stuff to the address listed in paypal and customs in the country you ship to refuses it and it takes close to 50 days to get it returned. This type of shit happens maybe once a year and it definitely helps to order from a distro located inside a city where orders can get to the airport quicker. I've ordered numerous times from The End and I've had stuff show up 2 days later. I've noticed that the further from the city the distro is, the slower it takes to receive it. But, that's just my experience.

On a shittier note, we've been waiting for about 4 months for our trade from Unmatched Brutality which is looking more and more each day like it won't ever arrive. We ship everything with delivery confirmation so we know that they received our stuff within a week of the confirmation of the trade. It was only about 50 cds, but it still sucks to get ripped off.

I think one of the problems that some customers are attributing to labels is when international orders take 2-3 weeks to receive. I mean we ship everything out next day or same day if the order gets in by noon (EST). But, we've encountered plenty of times when for no apparent reason, one of our packages gets stuck at customs and our tracking provides no information to tell the buyer. It's really a guessing game as to what package will get stuck at customs. Hell if the labels knew how to sneak things through customs 100% of the time, then we'd all have squeaky clean shipping records. You just don't know what will work all of the time. For every 100 orders shipped overseas, I'd say 2-3 orders has any issue and maybe 1 of those has an issue that's out of our hands with foreign customs etc. The post office is mainly to blame. One thing we've been doing lately is when we ship international orders that require the green customs form, we scan the customs slip and what a lot of people aren't aware of is that the customs form is the equivalent to a tracking number, but for whatever reason, The USPS doesn't give you a copy for your records of this slip. We did a dry run on this theory about 2 years ago after we encountered some problems with the post office we were using (we're now in the city with a very good post office) and it definitely is as accurate as any delivery confirmation number domestically or registered number. Just some food for thought.

[Surt]

Originally Posted by apslam

Yeah ordering from Europe is a gigantic pain in the ass, ESPECIALLY ITALY. I ordered the Vomit The Soul new demo/t-shirt package deal from Andrea/Permeated (also in VTS) in late JANUARY and still have not gotten it. He has corresponded with me and since I've bugged him about it, he's told me he's sent it twice and it's very strange that it hasn't showed up, told me to give him a possible other address to send it to so he can make sure of where exactly the problem is. I feel bad for the dude if it's the Italian postal system fucking it up...my friend who is conscious about international sales told me that people in Italy/ordering from Italy have to wait months and months and months to get stuff/send stuff out of Italy due to the horrible post. So I dunno whether I'm being ripped off or if I'll eventually get 3 packages!

I think there's something in the Italian postal system to be honest as I've come across ebay auctions and stuff saying they won't post items to Italian addresses as stuff goes missing way too often.

[Brutal Bands]

Originally Posted by Deepsend Records

On a shittier note, we've been waiting for about 4 months for our trade from Unmatched Brutality which is looking more and more each day like it won't ever arrive. We ship everything with delivery confirmation so we know that they received our stuff within a week of the confirmation of the trade. It was only about 50 cds, but it still sucks to get ripped off.

We haven't received a response to any emails we've sent to Unmatched Brutality in well over a year. It's a shame too, because their releases usually sold decent through our online store. We used to do tons of business with them. Not sure what's going on.

Originally Posted by Surt

I think there's something in the Italian postal system to be honest as I've come across ebay auctions and stuff saying they won't post items to Italian addresses as stuff goes missing way too often.

We have never had any problems receiving a package from Italy or sending a package to Italy. Their post office has worked fine for us - and just as fast as any.