Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)

I pre ordered Fiona yesterday at work and then tried to check out the swaptions one more time to see what was available only to have my membership page refuse to load. When I was able to look last night after work, my Erroll Garner was swapped for The Roots Phrenology- ??? I did not initiate a swap. I couldn't even log on to the page to click the swap to check the swaptions. WTF?? I checked again this morning and it is still showing that I swapped. I emailed to have them give me back my Erroll
 
YimYames said:
Man you guys, being a member seems like a ton of work and very time consuming. All over some pretty bland variants? Back in the day VMP was actually fun, not just getting new records but enjoyable to follow and exciting watch the releases. Maybe it still is but from the outside looking in just looks like a huge headache.

Are you even excited anymore by the time you receive what you are supposed to?
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Not excited at all. It’s been more of a sigh of relief if/when I get a VMP package these days. And with there being fewer and fewer true exclusives outside of just color variants, there’s not much of a reason for me to stay anymore. If there’s something I really want, I can seemingly still order it if I’m not a member.
 
YimYames said:
Man you guys, being a member seems like a ton of work and very time consuming. All over some pretty bland variants? Back in the day VMP was actually fun, not just getting new records but enjoyable to follow and exciting watch the releases. Maybe it still is but from the outside looking in just looks like a huge headache.

Are you even excited anymore by the time you receive what you are supposed to?
Click to expand...
I’m still excited each time. They’re consistently hitting home-run ROTMs (Feb was a grand slam on all 3 tracks, March brought Blazing Arrow, and April’s Otis was one of the best products they’ve ever made). The recent exclusives of Horace Tapscott, The Shins, and both TVZs were fantastic. Yes, clicking on Pang for 25 mins was frustrating, but I guess I’m just more patient towards the headaches.
 
YimYames said:
Man you guys, being a member seems like a ton of work and very time consuming. All over some pretty bland variants? Back in the day VMP was actually fun, not just getting new records but enjoyable to follow and exciting watch the releases. Maybe it still is but from the outside looking in just looks like a huge headache.

Are you even excited anymore by the time you receive what you are supposed to?
Click to expand...
Even when it was fun it was stressful, having to worry about checking every record immediately for defects, dings, warps, etc. I've been taking a break from buying in general because the hobby of collecting new stuff was not fun anymore.
 
Kyuuji said:
Have yet to have any response other than the stock "swaps will work soon don't worry" reply after I sent through my request right at the start of it all.

The reply to that, the subsequent email the morning after, the ticket submission yesterday and the DM on twitter from the night of the swaps have all gone unanswered to date.

Abysmal service.
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I never even received the stock email with instructions on filling out some weird form, never even seen the swap request form... I’ve just been completely ghosted and stuck with (what I consider) a shit album that most recently sold for LESS than my sub cost.
 
weezinwa said:
I pre ordered Fiona yesterday at work and then tried to check out the swaptions one more time to see what was available only to have my membership page refuse to load. When I was able to look last night after work, my Erroll Garner was swapped for The Roots Phrenology- ??? I did not initiate a swap. I couldn't even log on to the page to click the swap to check the swaptions. WTF?? I checked again this morning and it is still showing that I swapped. I emailed to have them give me back my Erroll
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May I suggest you try the swap request via chats. It's typically faster that way. That's what I did yesterday, after getting no response to my email which I sent on Monday, and my request was processed and account updated by EOD. Good luck!
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
Even when it was fun it was stressful, having to worry about checking every record immediately for defects, dings, warps, etc. I've been taking a break from buying in general because the hobby of collecting new stuff was not fun anymore.
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There was a time that the only stress was your order going out on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or maybe even Friday. TOTS and BOTS originally were only a few days , maybe a week apart. Crazy to think that's what used to upset people. Lol
 
YimYames said:
Man you guys, being a member seems like a ton of work and very time consuming. All over some pretty bland variants? Back in the day VMP was actually fun, not just getting new records but enjoyable to follow and exciting watch the releases. Maybe it still is but from the outside looking in just looks like a huge headache.

Are you even excited anymore by the time you receive what you are supposed to?
Click to expand...

I'm still excited when the needle hits the record but that's about it!

If I think too much about how it got here then it just causes undue stress that really shouldn't be part of record collecting!

VMP is just another online store to me now, if they put out something I really want I can usually come here and see numerous other options to buy from, unfortunately being from Canada VMP is really competitive with all the other options. If they keep the one month subs I may jump in and pay a PREMIUM for something I have been wanting forever but lately they haven't really wowed me and as soon as my local can reopen I think it's time to get back to the thrill of the hunt vs being spoon fed albums someone else thinks are essential to my collection

Just my 2 cents
 
Tys1 said:
I never even received the stock email with instructions on filling out some weird form, never even seen the swap request form... I’ve just been completely ghosted and stuck with (what I consider) a shit album that most recently sold for LESS than my sub cost.
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Neither did I for the one with the link, I typed it out from an image posted here lol. Found it incredible that they spoke of "processing them in the order we receive them" when people who've been waiting on support responses aren't even sent the link.

I was denied from getting the swaps I wanted and you were forced into having ones you didn't. Bizarro world of VMP.
 
Ponman2003 said:
I’m still excited each time. They’re consistently hitting home-run ROTMs (Feb was a grand slam on all 3 tracks, March brought Blazing Arrow, and April’s Otis was one of the best products they’ve ever made). The recent exclusives of Horace Tapscott, The Shins, and both TVZs were fantastic. Yes, clicking on Pang for 25 mins was frustrating, but I guess I’m just more patient towards the headaches.
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Here’s the thing, for me at least...a lot of VMP stuff can be bought elsewhere now. Tapscott was just a color variant. I waited and waited to get the VMP one long after the other variants were already in my friends’ hands. I believe The Shins was also just another variant but correct me if I’m wrong. The exclusives used to be worth buying but now are mostly color variants of other releases you can get from stores who actually ship on time, send you tracking and let you know if there are any issues with your order.

Overall, ROTMs have been more miss than hit for me in the past 6 months or so. Swap exclusives, in theory, are cool because when it’s a miss, you can grab something that you may have missed out on. But at the same, a lot of these titles were things that others and myself were told we couldn’t get replacements for because they didn’t have copies left...and with the ROTM tracks being hit or miss for me, I’m pretty much out of any swaptions for things I actually want and don’t have.

I successfully swapped two months ago for Bandana and Grace, or so I thought. I didn’t get either as they both ended up being oversold. I sat at my computer for 45 min on Monday trying to swap for ANYTHING. Couldn’t get anything to go through. Still haven’t heard back from CS.

I’m glad that some people got the swaps they wanted. I’ve been a pretty loyal subscriber for 4+ years now. But buying records shouldn’t be a shit show. VMP brags about how well they are doing financially yet can’t invest in fixing their own website? They don’t care about their customers pure and simple. I made lots of excuses for VMP in the past because I wanted them to succeed (and still do). But I’ve gotten burned over and over again from them and the old adage “insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” was starting to ring too true.

My record budget will be going elsewhere to companies that care less about their bottom line and care more about music and actually getting customers what they ordered without having to be worried about receiving something damaged or even whether or not I’ll get what I paid for.
 
NathanRicaud said:
You’re in for a treat! The Roots’ “Phrenology” absolute shits on Shabaka and The Ancestors’ “We Are Sent Here by History”, even though that Shabaka album is pretty great! 🤝

I’m excited for you to listen to Phrenology as I think it’s a masterpiece of an album. I’ve already expressed my love for this album and think it’s an A+ ROTM pick! 💎
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Skalap said:
Really?
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Nathan, this kind of hot and totally incorrect takes, added to your free VMP subscription, make it seem like you're a paid VMP hype man.
 
MikeH said:
Them trying to displace blame over and over from their incompetence is not new but I still get shocked by it. Does it really work on people?? Migration issues were blamed on their old website not being up to par, but why do a full move over to the new one during the busiest time of the shopping year without even testing it? And do people really think that swaps were affected by their payment processing??

The problem is VMP is making money and that’s enough for them. They don’t care about being a good company anymore or care about their customers. If the money is coming in, there’s no reason, in their mind, to fix or improve things.
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2 things. Yes, it clearly works on people. They even have people going out of their way to come up with their own excuses for them. Secondly, they haven't even charged anyone yet, so payment issues shouldn't have entered the equation.
 
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YimYames said:
There was a time that the only stress was your order going out on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or maybe even Friday. TOTS and BOTS originally were only a few days , maybe a week apart. Crazy to think that's what used to upset people. Lol
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And wasps and clicks and swooshes. The QC was always suspect...

Edit: I meant warps clearly but I’m leaving it because I like the idea of being worried about wasps in your records 😂
 
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