Hmm it seems like one of those cool records to throw on a party , a lot of people haven’t heard it and the 1st song pulls you right in, but if it’s noisy I’ll instantly regret putting it on. I guess I’ll just reserve it for Spotify. out on the deck.
Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)
- Thread starter Captainfog
- Start date
Well hey don't let me change your mind, I'm sure there are good copies. I've just seen some on Reddit complaining of very noisy copies.
And honestly I have about 10 MRP pressed albums and most of them are okay/good. But much like GZ I find them VERY inconsistent.
I think I like it enough to wait for a sale or discount coupon. In the good ol days (last month) I’d just wait for a swap for 23 bucks
TenderLovingKiller®
Well-Known Member
I just got my I, Jonathan today. I am glad it sounds alright. Looking forward to giving it a spin soon.
TheThinWhiteDuke
Well-Known Member
I don't know what this means. Guy on reddit posted an email from VMP that said they were using the price hike to get out of the weeds.
Culling the herd just means dropping some of the dead weight . I was just joking that Reddit can be bit of a cesspool and if VMP ignored them altogether it would probably help them in the long run.
TheThinWhiteDuke
Well-Known Member
Well, it is a marketing myth that is is better and cheaper to retain a customer than to acquire a new one. There is, in any business, a number of unprofitable customers or customers who simply absorb too much time and energy, taking away from the ability to tend to other customers.
The guys who expect a replacement because a cover corner is bent. The guys who constantly demand a replacement because there is a pop or click somewhere. The people who complain about the shipping boxes. Those who, during a pandemic, tie up customer service because their precious records didn't arrive. And so on.
I would get rid of those customers too. Other subscribers end up paying for their foibles. The cost of replacing that bent corner comes from the prices everyone pays.
For some reason, even during the pandemic, my VMP monthly arrives around the second or early third week of the month, the packaging is sturdy and I have never received a damaged cover, and the pressings are always great.
I'm not going to cut off my nose to spite my face. I actually get great service from VMP, and always prompt, personal response to my queries ( except understandably during the migration fiasco) and I never understood how they could turn a profit with shipping included at the price. When the quality went up - primarily the turn to top rank AAA mastering for Classics, and sometimes on Essentials, they started to attract audiophiles - the unprofitable, resource intensive type and it got away from being a cool curation service that gives subscribers a nice surprise every month, hopefully turning them on to something that they never heard before.
I don't know if I will renew. If it seems like interesting titles are coming up, I would. Maybe grudgingly - no one likes a big price hit - but the truth is, so often VMP gives me records that no one else would reissue and in highest quality, and my quality of life is better for it, so I probably will.
The guys who expect a replacement because a cover corner is bent. The guys who constantly demand a replacement because there is a pop or click somewhere. The people who complain about the shipping boxes. Those who, during a pandemic, tie up customer service because their precious records didn't arrive. And so on.
I would get rid of those customers too. Other subscribers end up paying for their foibles. The cost of replacing that bent corner comes from the prices everyone pays.
For some reason, even during the pandemic, my VMP monthly arrives around the second or early third week of the month, the packaging is sturdy and I have never received a damaged cover, and the pressings are always great.
I'm not going to cut off my nose to spite my face. I actually get great service from VMP, and always prompt, personal response to my queries ( except understandably during the migration fiasco) and I never understood how they could turn a profit with shipping included at the price. When the quality went up - primarily the turn to top rank AAA mastering for Classics, and sometimes on Essentials, they started to attract audiophiles - the unprofitable, resource intensive type and it got away from being a cool curation service that gives subscribers a nice surprise every month, hopefully turning them on to something that they never heard before.
I don't know if I will renew. If it seems like interesting titles are coming up, I would. Maybe grudgingly - no one likes a big price hit - but the truth is, so often VMP gives me records that no one else would reissue and in highest quality, and my quality of life is better for it, so I probably will.
jaycee
Well-Known Member
This was the same argument that was used when they shut down the forum. I guess 15 months later they need to cull some more to finally get their business in order.
"the business of business is business" - Milton Friedman
"the customer shouldn't pay to eat shit" - some commie somewhere
dhodo
Well-Known Member
Raising prices 50% is the stupidest possible way to get rid of those customers. The idea that the people who complain like that are the ones that would drop at a higher price point is silly. Lots of people who can afford and regularly order expensive records are the pickiest, because even if they can afford it, paying $50 for an album, your expectations of perfection are higher. There is no logic between targeting getting rid of the customers you are complaining about and raising prices. There are many direct ways to address those issues IF that was their motive.
MikeH
Well-Known Member
Ya lost me on this one...you’re placing some blame on people whose records were never shipped by the company and they want to know where the product they paid for is? I understand that things are crazy right now but VMP has outright lied to people about shipping items (myself included) and then after being patient and waiting a month, I found out they never actually shipped anything and told me they couldn’t replace an item I never received after they said they would be sending me a replacement.
I have no problem waiting to receive a record. It’s just a record. I know there are extenuating circumstances right now too. But when I buy a product and the company just doesn’t ship it, that’s an issue. And when they don’t respond to an email asking if there are any updates for over a week, it’s an issue. When they say they are sending records to non-members first, that’s an issue. And when they say they can’t mail me something now because it will be bundled with my ROTM and then I get 6 different tracking numbers with the item in question in it...that’s an issue.
I have patience for a lot of things but I have no patience for incompetent people/businesses.
doncornelius
Well-Known Member
VMP should get rid of everyone and start anew. While they're at it, they should force customers to sign an agreement on what they can expect from the customer service pov. 
That is not the experience that a lot of folks have with them, although I don't begrudge you having a good experience and thus being happy with the service you've gotten. Customer support in particular is not great, there's no reason they can't communicate better with customers. Their shipping SNAFUs seem like a better place to look to for cost-cutting measures, if they really want to sort themselves out financially. 5 records sent individually instead of as a monthly shipment? Customers getting multiple copies? Ruh-roh Scoob ol' buddy, I think we solved the mystery of the unprofitable company.
As an aside, I thought that their really high-end audiophile stuff was off-the-shelf records that they were reselling (e.g. Analogue Productions) -- their own stuff has been plagued with quality issues that I don't blame anyone for giving them grief for (J Dilla's whooshing, Gorillaz locked groove, Clams Casino pressing, Blossom's cover photoshop).
It was really just a throw away joke about how awful a place Reddit can be. I wasn’t really defending them chasing away their customers.
DiaryBabyFan83
Well-Known Member
Exactly. I think the idea that a price raise can target a certain type of customer is silly. You will undoubtedly, by sheer numbers, lose some of those types of customers; but to think it is some calculation on VMPs part would be wrong. Heck, they can't even target a house with a package of records; they're certainly not targeting a type of customer based on some sort of precise market research.
And, I agree with you about who can be the pickiest customers. In my late teens/early 20's I was definitely more willing to accept a lower standard in, well, most everything. Now, I have a whole lot more money but also more responsibilities - I don't accept an inferior product (when spending that money is tied into hours of how I spend my day [i.e. WORK], I'll be damned if I'm throwing those away).
If someone believes that they shouldn't complain about issues (be it a bad product or a product that doesn't show up) then they're a sucker; and they contribute to the problem of a company (e.g. VMP) more than the customers that do speak up. Those people can sit with their thumbs up their asses rotating - I'm gonna get what I pay for.
TheThinWhiteDuke
Well-Known Member
When you raise prices by 47% you aren't "getting rid of those customers", you are locking yourself in a room with them. At premium pricing comes customers with premium expectations.
Not really VMP related just a funny corporate story, This reminds me of when I worked at Kinkos in my late teens and early 20s, We had two sections, The machines in the back for big litigation copy jobs and the self service area in the front. They were coming down on our manager because even though our financials were okay, and the big jobs were getting out the door. Corporate would call every job that we took in on the phone because they had a 100 percent customer satisfaction plan at the time. So a 10 dollar order gave us the same credit as a 5k litigation job,
Our manager decides that to get our customer satisfaction numbers up every one we assist in self serve now has to place an order at the counter so those simple jobs would bring our total customer service numbers up. So the night shift has this big 10k job to do and instead they completely ignore it to focus on taking in all these tiny orders. They go through the whole process of doing quotes and filling out paperwork for orders that are like 32 cents. One dude spent all night laminating and hand cutting 1000 business cards for 10 cents a card. One dude spend hours trying to make a headshot for a wannabe actor look like it was professionally done but it was just on a copy machine One order was a stoner kid that just liked making random swirls on the color copier and one dude designed a cd cover for a rap group. There was a entire table of orders that were all under a buck.
So the sales manager drives in the next morning with the van to pick up and deliver the big job and sees it's barely touched, he thinks it's a prank and starts looking around like they hid it. When the night shift manager tells him he's sorry that he didn't get to it and proudly displays all the work the night team accomplished, the sales guy loses it. Turns bright red like a cartoon character You can almost see the smoke coming out of his ears , He starts tearing up all the jobs on the table with the originals in there, throws all those cards across the room , he kicked boxes with peoples orders in them and stormed out. Our customer service rating dropped to 0 people weren't thrilled with their originals being ripped up. Sales dude got fired, manager got fired and we all sat there trying to figure out how we're going to explain what happened to the poor people when they come to pick up their order. Working there really was a lot like that Chapelle show episode. They ended up closing our branch down when FedEx took over , I don't even know if Kinko's exists anymore,
Reminds me of that scene in Watchmen where Rorschach yells I’m not locked in with you , you’re locked in here with me before kicking ass.
Here is the customer service email someone cited on reddit
"That’s actually what VMP told me directly in an email.
“I'm speaking personally, but I think everyone expects this to cause less active memberships which would provide more care/attention and promptness to the fulfillment side of things. And obviously with less active members, our customer support will be much faster and be able to go that extra mile for customer satisfaction.
Tyler Customer Support Agent VMP”"
He is not confirming much as to the motives for the price hike just states that they are expecting less memberships, which is pretty obvious. I think his point is more from the perspective of a CS worker who hopes that fewer members will make their job easier. I would not read too much more into that.