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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | DanAbnrml9@aol.com |
| Subject | Re: Blame Canada |
| Date | Wed, 5 Nov 2003 00:16:29 EST |
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<<In a message dated 11/4/2003 3:02:10 PM Eastern Standard Time,
audities-owner@smoe.org writes:
Yeah, that's very true and is a good point. Although, In my mind, I HAD
paid attention to what I bought but the CD was a scam in the first place.
It even took him a long time to find the "disclaimer" regarding it being a
new versions of the songs. Granted, it's presentation is not really his
issue.
What really irked me more then anything (and I didn't make clear) was his
attitude. I won't belabor this, but a "sorry for any inconvenience" goes a
long way with me rather then being schmoozed in a condescending manner. You
had to be there I guess. >>
No, you're exactly right (we actually make it a POINT to tell people
beforehand if we know a product is substandard or if it contains "imitations" like
what you're describing), and being polite about it is a key issue. I just suffer
from knowing too many of the ins and outs of this very specific job and
dealing with lots of people who just want to return a CD for little to no reason at
all. For the record I would actually always allow a return in the type of
instance that you're describing...
So in other retail news, and since I haven't seen it mentioned yet, has
anyone heard about the new Rolling Stones scandal? Mick and co have decided to sell
their upcoming 4DVD live document EXCLUSIVELY through Best Buy, and
independent retailers (such as my own) are deciding to fight back. When the Eagles did
this a few months ago, there were some repercussions--such as prohibitively
expensive pricing on their entire catalog--but for this many indies are actually
united and pulling out all the stops. Many CIMS merchants (which we are not,
we're too big) and related retailers have pulled a *substantial* amount of
Rolling Stones CDs and merchandise from the shelves and returned it to their
distributors; in much of Canada indie retailers have stopped selling RS CDs
entirely. At my store (which is a large indie--the biggest indie in the USA) we've
pulled all but the most essential RS titles--the greatest hits comps, the
acknowledged classic albums (Beggars Banquet, Exile), and we've priced what we kept
at astronomical rates--in many cases they go for $20, which is much higher
than our standard $12-$16. In addition nearly all Rolling Stones merch--shirts,
bobbleheads, posters, calendars, etc., is being discontinued indefinitely.
What does everyone think? There are clearly two schools of thought here--one
is that the retailer is shooting itself in the foot and hurting no one other
than the consumer, and the other is that such a bold move NEEDS to occur to
stop this bizarre and damaging new marketing technique before it rages out of
control. It is VERY dangerous when the biggest acts align so closely with the
biggest retailers, and if it continues then the biggest merchants--Wal-Mart and
Best Buy in particular--will wind up having a corner on all "popular" music and
courting them will be necessary for all top-tier acts.
I believe the official CIMS party line is something like "We're sorry, but
the Rolling Stones have decided to sell their music exclusively through large
multi-national retail chains and not through locally owned merchants" --J
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