No. They’re shipping free of charge. Mind you, I bought from Music Direct, an affiliate of Mofi. They were super cool and apologetic about it. They also are sending me some replacements for previous albums too.
For resellers maybe. As a collector I would say that “disaster” is an overstatement. Speaking for myself here.
I've not had one issue with my One Step pressings from MoFi and if I did for some reason get the wrong album in the box or have a defective sleeve, it wouldn't bother me to have to get a replacement from MoFi or Music Direct. They have outstanding customer service (IMO the best of any online retailer by far and away) and with the way these records have been sounding, I'd still keep buying each and every one they release. It's not a perfect world, sometimes things happen out of MoFi's control, get over it. If you want perfection, then buy nothing, then you have nothing to complain about except that you have nothing. People need to get over the I paid $100.00 for this and got a mislabeled record or whatever. It's not like every one of the 6500 they pressed are flawed. We're talking about less than 5% (I checked the different forums added up the happy and the ones who got a defective or wrong disc and did some math) so a 95% success rate on a premium product is pretty darn good.
There are a lot of guys making excuses for MD and MoFi but we’re talking about $100 - $125 items here. By any measure these are premium products and it’s not too much to ask for some QC here before we receive the products. Scratched sleeves, duplicate discs and now different albums on the same pressing? No matter how nice MD is about replacing these things, it’s unacceptable. And it’s not too much to ask for them to fix the problems before they ship them out. It seems the only thing they don’t have problems with is charging our credit cards.
I find it odd that so few people are putting the blame where it actually would seem to lie, which is RTI--they are the ones who keep screwing up, and not MOFI (who are probably more the victim than any of us, as they have to deal with all the returns and all the costs and attitudes that go with them, as well as having to make the effort to get RTI to do what they were paid to do in the first place). As I understand it, when MOFI receives them, they are sealed, and there's no way for MOFI to do its own quality control--they have to rely on the plant to do it. The only thing that MOFI might possibly be doing wrong is not paying for a higher degree of quality control if RTI makes a higher level available--but we have no idea whether or not it is the case. It could well be that MOFI has paid for the very highest level, but are not receiving it. Who knows? But it seems the anger should be directed at the actual source of the problem (though, perhaps, the more anger directed at MOFI, the more pressure they can put on RTI--it seems like the problem may be insolvable as long as there are so few decent pressing plants available. Not sure whether QPR or Pallas are any better than RTI). Maybe I'm wrong about this, and MOFI has their own people directly overseeing the process at RTI, in which case the reactions here would make sense. But unless that's the case, I don't understand the anger directed at MOFI, as long as they are handling returns in a professional manner.
Very well said and I agree 100%! Who was it that hired RTI? That would be MOFI. Either way the buck stops with MOFI. If RTI continues to screw up and MOFI continues to have them do the pressing for the One-Step series the blame falls squarely on MOFI's shoulders. I've bought many CDs and SACDs from MOFI over the years without any issues. They are an excellent company without a doubt. But their reputation is taking a serious hit by these continued issues with the One-Step series.
I am the one that posted the remarks on discogs and here about my #1822. I also reported this to Music Direct. They say they will mail me a new one but I am not sending the original back as they told me that no one else has had the problem. I find that a bit unbelievable. If that is so, these versions may be collector items. I also received a copy in the low 2000's range but don't want to open it. I have been buying 2 of every title they produce so I can play one and keep one for the future. I'm not positive but didn't Music Direct buy out Mofi? Please correct me if I am wrong. Also, I was under the impression that they were going to make 7000 copies of each new One Step and now this one shipped at 6000. Maybe the demand is waning.
"One Steps not positive for MFSL?" That's comical. They've never made more money or garnered more positive reviews than with the One Steps. Yes, there have been errors they need to fix, but the positives far outweigh the negatives. Try one. You may change your opinion, provided you have a usable turntable and cartridge.
Agree that the positives far outweigh the negatives. And they are stepping up to address the sleeve issues after the fact. We are what—7 releases into this campaign now? It is way past time for MOFI to intervene with RTI to address the sleeve issues proactively for future releases. Should have been done after the first release. That said, my overall success rate with MOFI is much higher than with Analogue Productions and QRP and even better than Music Matters. YMMV.
To anyone still waiting on Bill Evans PIJ, I got an answer from MOFI today after I emailed about status of my order. Me: I ordered SRV Texas Flood and Bill Evans at the same time in February. I received SRV in March, but have not received a shipping notice on the Bill Evans yet. After reviewing my order with MOFI, it says that both were shipped and then received at the same time? There is only one tracking number and it says both packages were delivered in March. Of course I only received the SRV and now waiting on Bill Evans, and I know they didn't ship at the same time. I've already paid for both. Please shed a little light. MOFI: Sorry for the confusion. Your order is marked “shipped” in our system as you have already paid and part of the order did ship. Portrait in Jazz just came into stock and will be shipping to you shortly.
Anyone else wish that Mofi would ditch the black sleeves that house the One Step records and just do a gatefold inside the box similar to their ordinary 45s? Seems it would solve one major recurring problem with these. It would make the series inconsistent, but I can’t see anyone complaining about it. I’ve had scuffs on just about all of these black sleeves, but haven’t bothered to send them back. It is annoying though to shell out such major cash on records where they are presented in such a lavish box only to see those scuffs.
The forums are not the only purchasers, and I'm certain not all copies have been opened yet. I question the accuracy of your math. What concerns me is there seems to be the same issues popping up on multiple titles...and yes this is their premier product.
Ok, so we can go on the way over safe side and say 10% are flawed, 90% are perfect. That's still pretty good even when we error on the side caution. At least they're getting product out, AS is still struggling to get one premium title out.
They did not ask for my Portrait of a Flood record to be shipped back to them - they just matter of factly said that they would send me a replacement. There were not even curious about the problem. That is the strangest part of that whole return. I could have said that side one was Yoko Ono screeching at me for 1o minutes and they would have said - we will send out a replacement for that within 3 weeks. I am about convinced that nothing surprises the Music Direct customer service agents anymore. They were only concerned that I had in fact purchased the product from them.
Yes! One of the things I’m looking forward to with the Hendrix UHQR is taking the gatefold out of the box, putting the box away in a sleeve and never opening it again. For these One-Steps I have blank white gatefold sleeves, I put the records in there and write the title in permanent marker on the spine, then store the original box away. I just don’t have room for the boxes to be on the shelf. Would obviously much rather have a Mofi gatefold than a blank one. Also yes- it would absolutely solve the scuffing problem.
AnkySoho - where do you get the blank white gatefold sleeves? Are these available on like Amazon or somewhere?
Many thanks for clarifying this. I started to seriously doubt my setup due to the, for me, very apparent and quite annoying sibilance.
I use the Sleeve City gatefolds - they’re a bit pricey but I don’t need too many as I don’t have that many box sets. They have center holes cut on both front and back, which I could do without but it doesn’t really bother me too much. It’s on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RNB23T0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_71L2CbRG4Z51K Or on Sleeve City’s site here for a dollar cheaper, but they’ll charge shipping: Sleeve Citys white die cut lp gatefold jacket I use their outer sleeves too so it ends up being worth it to buy directly from them.
