Record shop's "Rules": what do you think?

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by RiRiIII, Jan 4, 2019.

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  1. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    In my opinion brick & mortar record stores that do not care to be kind and gentle with their customers (incl. by imposing them rules that can be taken as embarrassing or rude), strongly prefer to do their business with Discogs and eBay and just maintain their stores open just to attract people who want to sell their collections to them. In Athens at least this is a verified fact.

    In one of these stores there is a "hidden" attic where almost nobody enters to browse. I have been once. Really impressive. Surely 30.000,-- records therein. Whenever a customer enters with a want list, the owner may enter the attic, checks availability, and offers the then-actual Discogs price.
     
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  2. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Funny, I've shopped there a number of times and never noticed that sign. Is it actually known to have an adverse effect on records over time?
     
  3. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    I'm not from Sarnia, but I travel there every once and a while because of work. If I have the time, I drop by the store. I noticed the warning to the customers about LP 'leaning' for the first time about a week before Christmas. It's on the wall just above the new record section.

    Records should be stored vertically, and not stacked horizontally on top of one another. This causes warping. I'm assuming anything but 90° straight up (such as leaning at an angle) has a similar effect because of the weight of the records on top. I found the notice on the wall a bit much - I was more amused by it than anything else. There was another customer beside me going through the racks. He saw me just standing there and said, "Sorry, do you want to get in here? Are you waiting for me?" I replied, "No, I'm just reading this notice." He started to laugh and said, "Oh yeah - that!"

    The middle aged couple who own the shop seem nice enough whenever I've been in the store. I'm reluctant to buy LPs there, though, and usually purchase CDs. A few years ago I was interested in a particular new LP and asked about their return policy before I paid for it. The wife said I would have to talk to her husband. The husband told me once I bought it, it was mine - no returns/ no refunds - which I thought was strange. (Whatever Amazon's faults are, I've never had a problem getting a return or refund from them.) He then assured me that it was a brand new, 180g record - so, it should be "perfect". I replied that I had a sizable collection and purchased many "brand new, 180g records" and several were not "perfect" and had to be returned. And if I was paying $30 or more for an LP (IIRC this particular title was closer to $40) I should expect it to be "perfect" and if defective it would be returned. He then said, "Sorry. No returns/ no refunds." I replied, that I didn't want any potential problems later on , so I would not be purchasing the LP. That was okay with him. He then told me that he had implemented that no returns/ no refund policy on LPs because "teenagers" would buy records, take them home, (needle drop) download them on their computers or ipods, then scratch the LPs, claim that's the way they were when opened and return them seeking a refund. [N.B. This was a few years ago. His return/ refund policy on LPs may have changed since then.]

    Maybe the 'leaning' LPs notice went up because people were returning records because they were warped and he blames the customers for leaving the LPs in a leaning position in the racks.
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2019
    GodBlessTinyTim likes this.
  4. funknik

    funknik He who feels it.

    Location:
    Gorham, ME, USA
    Are we sure it’s not ‘Wash your filthy, Greece-y hands?’
     
  5. MKHopkins

    MKHopkins Break out the Hats and Hooters

    Location:
    Beaver Falls, PA
    Well, it's difficult because the albums shouldn't lean, but on the other hand the bin on the right in the photo is so full that you'd have to pull the first 10 or so records out to browse it, which is inconvenient for the customer.

    In my opinion while shoppers should have some common courtesy and put things back the way they were found, it's the job of the shop's staff to make sure the records are stored the way the owner wants them. Taking care of the merchandise is a cost of doing business.
     
  6. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    Sounds like someone had a lot of spare time doing something other than selling records.
     
  7. shelflife

    shelflife Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    Done that. Lead to the only time I've been yelled at by a shop owner (Philadelphia, PA). The records were so tightly packed they made browsing impossible. Only made worse because I had to stand on a milk crate to even try.

    In all fairness, he apologized and explained his position on it. I've been back without hassle.
     
  8. izgoblin

    izgoblin Forum Resident

    I'm curious, what on earth was his position on it if the records were so tight that you couldn't browse? You didn't have much of a choice, did you?

    That drives me crazy, personally.
     
  9. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    I think you've been watching me in the store. I can do it but, even after years of practice, I still manage to have trouble on occasion.
     
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  10. Sprague Dawley

    Sprague Dawley Forum Resident

    Location:
    Japan
    weirdly, on discogs I have noticed that the Greeks have all the best New Zealand stuff and/or buy the best New Zealand stuff...
     
    RiRiIII likes this.
  11. L.P.

    L.P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austria
    Btw. what is greek eastern music?
     
  12. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    You mean "rembetiko"? It is similar to the blues for our culture. By artists In the harbors and cities. Very influenced by our eastern neighbors. The Greek American blues man Nick Gravenites played such music to his pals Bloomfield and Butterfield and they ended up with East West where eastern modes are heard in Mike's solos.



    Apart from it there are numerous folk music from the mainland and the islands.
     
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  13. L.P.

    L.P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austria
    Very interesting! I was on the island of Crete last summer and visited a record shop in Rethymno. I bought two CDs the shop owner recommended, by Nektarios Klostrakis and by Nikos Tavernarakis. I noticed
    that there were lots of local musicians and albums, but it is not easy to google them or find them on Spotify. I'm always interested in so-called "world music" but information is not easy to find. Rembetiko sounds interesting,
    this mix of east and west. I wish I knew more about music theory and history and how the music moved from east to west, how styles melted together. Can you recommend some artists doing Rembetiko?
     
  14. RiRiIII

    RiRiIII Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Sure I ll send some resources.

    For now enjoy this original with familiar subject for this music:



    From this fabulous release: Various - Mortika (Rare Vintage Recordings From A Greek Underworld)
     
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  15. Mbe

    Mbe Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Nothing about guide-dogs, I’m in, Rex can sure sniff out a bargain, down boy!
     
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