My Copy of "All Things Must Pass" Melted!

I ordered a NM- copy of All Things Must Pass from eBay. I got home after work at 4 PM and saw that the package had been left on my front doorstep rather than in my garage, where they are usually left. My doorstep can reach temperatures in excess of 110 degrees in the dead of summer, and that day was no exception. The box was almost burning to the touch, and I was furious. Sure enough, I took the records out of the box, and they appear to have suffered horrible groove damage.

The left channel has strange staticy fuzzy noises that are almost always present, and my stylus skips every few seconds and it sounds like a total mess. Increasing the tracking force, adjusting the anti-skate, using my spare backup stylus, cleaning the record, all of that did absolutely nothing, and the deformities of the record sounded exactly the same each time.

I tested my other records and they sound the same as they always have. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the mailman screwed up and my records melted in the sweltering Louisiana sun. What should I do? I've already contacted the seller about this, and I expect USPS isn't going to accept any responsibility for what happened.

 

Bummer.

 

Sort of ironic, it being All Things Must Pass...

 

Ouch, that would give me a wah-wah

 

Was it a UK pressing or a US pressing? If you buy it again, buy the UK one- I bought a very early pressing, and it is much more full bodied and rich sounding than the US pressing (which if memory serves, is also an old one that I bought at or around the time of release). Sorry to hear of your misfortune- just offering you the option to get a better copy if you buy it again, it will make a difference, and the UK early pressings aren't crazy money....

 

Mastered too hot.

 

I'm pretty sure it's the US one.

 

Isn't it a Pity?

 

Geez. I feel your pain. Doubt the seller or the USPS is going to help here.

We have some pretty serious heat where I live, but somtimes torrential rains are a worse problem, so we've put a big sealable plastic storage box by the mail box with a message that asks that packages be placed in the box and not let out to sit by the door. It has saved many a record from being soaked and probably ruined, as they are almost always in cardboard mailers.

 

USPS should eat the cost.

 

I believe even Media Mail automatically has $50 in insurance on it. The problem is proving it's the post office's fault. The fact that it sounds bad means nothing to me. I've never heard a record being destroyed by heat that wasn't also warped and you don't say that it is. If it was badly warped, too, you might have something.

In fact, I'm trying to imagine how a record groove could get melted without the record warping. I can't.

 

I feel your pain as I just had this happen a few days ago with a new double pressing of Porcupine Tree/In Absentia I had ordered from amazon.com. The FEDEX person left the package laying at my back door in the hot Las Vegas sun on a 110 degree day. Those LPs didn't stand a chance. Luckily, the XTC CD that was also in the package survived.

I don't understand why the driver didn't place the package at my front door on the balcony which is shaded by a large tree.

Anyway, I returned the damaged records to amazon for a full refund. No more ordering vinyl for me during the Vegas summers.

 

Good point.

On the other hand, some reviewers have reported funny sounds coming out of records that have re-flattened by those warp-fixing machines, which flatten the record with timed heating.

 

Didn't think. Didn't care.

Lucky! And good idea on forgetting mail by vinyl in hot summers.

 

It seems like it would be impossible for the records to warp too badly, since they were all pressed against each other in the record box and in the shipping box it came in.

 

Next time I might leave instructions for them to call you to come pick it up if their drivers are going to be this careless. I'd rather pick it up there and not have it out in the sweltering heat, than to bring it inside only to find out it's wrecked.

 

Alright, I just received a full refund from the eBay seller. He doesn't even want me to send the records back, so I'm happy that I got a free poster out of this deal, at least. I bought another copy of this album on eBay for exactly the same amount of money! Imagine that.

 

G- i think you have to pay for that- it's not much, but standard MM as I recall doesn't carry any insurance.

 

If it's any consolation, the USPS left my $5,000 Edge pre amp I sent in for repair on my steps a couple weeks ago.

 

My Sweet Lord .. that's a horrible thing to happen to records.

(I thought we were still doing the song title puns)

 

Beware of USPS

 

Maybe it was a Hot Stamper?

 

You're right. It's Priority that has a $50 automatic insurance coverage. I just checked. Media Mail has none.

 

You can pay to add insurance to media mail, though. I just returned a record to a big online retailer, and they suggested media mail, plus tracking and insurance. The cost was really modest to add that to basic media mail, at least for domestic shipping.

 

Glad you recouped your loss, I would give that seller top feedback and make a point to do business again. After all it doesn't seem to be the sellers fault the records were left in the oven...