Damaged Box Sets

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Kiss73, Nov 2, 2020.

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  1. Kiss73

    Kiss73 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Scotland
    OK. I have never been a massive box set/super deluxe collector, but I have bought 4 recently. Now maybe its bad luck or maybe its more common than I think, however I have bought the following 4 titles and not one of them has come without issue.

    Fish - Weltschmerz - The box came with a very small dint on the side. Its a bit frustrating to spend £55 on a set (1CD & Blu Ray) and have any damage; however Fish runs his own "cottage industry" to release his albums and it seemed a tad petty to send it back so I let it slide.

    Richard & Linda Thompson Hard Luck Stories- This is a stunning set, and any issues are being resolved very professionally, but the disc issue is well recorded in this forum.

    Tom Petty - Wildflowers - I reluctantly bought this set even though there were many aspects of it release I was unhappy about. Finally arrived today. Outer box perfect (phew). Wrapped in bubble wrap - and then the box has a small dint at the front bottom edge. This means it was damaged before it was even sent out - which is super frustrating. Now again it seems very petty (no pun intended) given what's going on in the world, but given its sold out now the chances of any replacement is probably zero (yes I contacted Warner's). Even a replacement box would do.

    However the icing on the cake also arrived today.

    I bought the Prince Sign Of The Times Deluxe CD set for a present for someone from Amazon. I opened the outer box, and was first met by the shrink wrap for the set thrown on the top, with the hype stickers crushed; however not only that, the book and discs were not even in the sets box. They were also sitting on top. Now clearly someone had bought this set and sent it back to Amazon (it had sticky finger prints on it and unsurprisingly the book has dented corners, and the box is scratched (probably from the other item I purchased that was smaller and rolling about over the top). So someone in Amazon though "**** it, this will do", packed it and sent it out. Of course its going back.

    This unfortunately seems to be the level of quality control in the industry at the moment, and increasingly this is not a new subject for any of us but it seems each purchase now is a review of the level of damage (as 90% of the time there is some damage) and then deciding if its worth sending back or not.

    For me. I'm done. Had enough. My purchasing will be dramatically reduced going forth, and there will need to be a VERY good reason for me to buy something (I don't stream either before you ask)

    Good to get that off my chest......am I the only one with this constant issue? Are expensive box sets frequently arriving damaged?
     
  2. David67

    David67 Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    I'm with you if I can stream it then no need to purchase albeit depending on the artist.

    I eventually paid nothing for the Sign O' The Times Prince super deluxe because both sets contained scratched discs which were clearly visible.
     
  3. Cookie!

    Cookie! Forum Resident

    Location:
    FL, USA
    Yes, I have had similar experiences like this with box sets, quite a few lately as a matter of fact. It is indeed quite frustrating. I'm not sure which edition of the Wildflowers set you're referring to, however I got the 5 CD set from the Warner store and mine too has a small ding in one of the corners.
     
  4. I only bought the Richard & Linda Thompson set this year, my copy's just as bad as what's being reported on these boards. I hope I'm having more luck with the 1969 King Crimson set later this week.
     
  5. Kiss73

    Kiss73 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Scotland
    Yip, that's the one.
     
  6. newelectricmuse

    newelectricmuse charm, strangeness and quark

    Location:
    London
    I think when you are buying an expensive box set it's reasonable to expect it to be in mint condition when it arrives. It's up to the place you bought it from to package it properly.

    Bad experiences are the reason I don't buy these boxes any more - I ordered one a while ago but the cardboard inside that held the CDs had collapsed and broken in transit. Returned it for a replacement but this one had ok cardboard but the book was damaged... The ironic thing is that I've hardly played it since and every time I look at the book I'm disappointed - I wish I'd returned the whole thing for a refund! I haven't bought a box set online since then (I have bought a few still sealed at record fairs but was able to check the condition first).

    I did get a Fairport box as a competition prize and it was packaged immaculately in a cardboard box that exactly fitted the box set held inside another box. It was on perfect condition - that's how it should be done.

    Packaging has definitely gone downhill. Amazon used to use cardboard packaging for books and CDs which gave reasonable protection. Now it's likely to be a (non-recyclable) jiffy bag, or for something larger it's rattling around in a big box with some screwed up paper. Tbh it's not good enough!
     
  7. wendigone

    wendigone Forum Resident

    Any item you get from Amazon these days has a 50-50 chance of being damaged, maybe more. Opening the package is always a source of angst. If Amazon would offer it, I would pay extra for "secure, premium packaging."
     
  8. 4-2-7

    4-2-7 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Peninsula
    It has nothing to do with the "Industry" it has to do where your buying and I guess needing items shipped to you. I sorta have two of the box sets you have but in vinyl.
    Prince Sign Of The Times Super Deluxe 13 LP
    Tom Petty - Wildflowers & All the Rest Super Deluxe 9 LP
    Both are perfect and Sign Of The Times weighs a ton, but I walked into my record store and bought it like I do for 99% of the records I buy. But if your counting on some kid working at Amazon to get you what your buying in perfect shape, maybe look at buying somewhere else. Try working with small independent stores that will ship to you, they can order it and then ship it. But if you want online Amazon prices, then you give up level of care getting you your items.
     
    Adam6437 and Simon A like this.
  9. Not exactly a box set, but I had another horror story yesterday when my copy of the Grateful Dead's Dave's Picks Vol. 36 arrived. The disc was still sealed, but it had obviously fallen into water and the water had gotten inside. Both the cardboard digipack and the booklet look pretty awful. Fortnuately the discs appear to be unaffected.
     
  10. Kiss73

    Kiss73 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Scotland
    The 5CD Petty set was only available from Warners direct (or TP Store).

    Since the SOTT was a gift, yeah I did go to Amazon as even their price was above the budget I originally intended to spend. Only decent thing about Amazon is the replacement arrived (new and sealed this time) before I had even returned the damaged one.
     
  11. vinylbeat

    vinylbeat Forum Resident

    I stopped buying box sets online after receiving a few that had corner dings. These were not purchased from Amazon, but another well known reseller. Sending out expensive sets in their flimsy factory shipping boxes doesn't cut it.

    These sets are usually shipped to the distributor or store in a larger master carton which is more protective than just the original box that the set comes in with the barcode info stickers on.

    Seems it's a crap shoot if your set will arrive unscathed, if it's shipped in just the original factory carton. Sadly this is how many are shipped these days by many online sellers. I'd rather pay $10 more from my local indie store and get a copy I can personally choose and be satisfied with.
     
  12. steveharris

    steveharris Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    My Thin Lizzy Rock Legends cd boxset arrived today from Musicvaultz.The outer box was shredded but the one thick layer of bubble wrap was enough to protect the boxset inside luckily.I felt fortunate to even have my order fulfilled in the first place.Sometimes I will just buy boxsets in the store if they are on sale on the release date.
     
  13. Andersoncouncil

    Andersoncouncil Forum Resident

    Location:
    upstate NY
    I've had some damaged box sets purchased new from Amazon. Nothing major, but the aforementioned scuffs and dings to corners.

    I actually have much better luck through ebay. Much easier when you can see a photo AND ebay third party sellers selling box sets usually take great care with packaging and shipping, as do SH forum members!
     
  14. Joseph.McClure

    Joseph.McClure Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    My Bob Mould "Distortion" 24 CD box set arrived from ImportCDs damaged (corner smashed).
     
  15. siveld

    siveld Forum Resident

    I recently bought what I assume was new (old stock) of the DSOTM Immersion box from Amazon UK. It was shipped to me in Australia and arrived with torn, but intact, shrinkwrap. As my other Immersion sets arrived with perfectly intact shrinkwrap I went to their online help chat hoping to get maybe a $10
    part refund on the shipping. After explaining the problem, and before I asked for anything, they offered a full refund on the purchase price and the shipping. And no I didn't have to return the box set, which was perfect inside.
     
    ScramMan2 and Quark1134 like this.
  16. ScramMan2

    ScramMan2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland OR
    Let [email protected] know. If they can make a few more bucks they will.
     
  17. PeteH

    PeteH Shoes for Industry!

    Location:
    Way over yonder
    This! I would happily pay twice as much for Prime if I could get someone to pick and pack with care. Or, maybe a per item "white glove" charge.
     
  18. bloodlemons

    bloodlemons Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grit City, USA
    I have a slightly different problem. I *hate* die-cut album jackets because we tend to store records upright and in close proximity to one another; snags on anything extraneous are nearly inevitable.

    I can fix that with most albums by placing the die-cut jacket into a poly sleeve; fine. But I recently pulled out my John Coltrane '63 New Directions box set to find that I had snagged the stupid die-cut box set slip cover on the set next to it somehow and it was ruined. Not torn, but but folded and creased to hell. Very frustrating. I would have much rather just had a nice, smooth box in the first place. There aren't readily available poly sleeves for all the differently-shaped box sets out there!

    Not every piece of music we purchase needs to be presented for visual appreciation, like a coffee table book. I won't even get into some of the clear vinyl album covers I've dealt with this year. It's as if the bands, artists, labels and manufacturers have never actually owned a record collection.
     
  19. BrokenByAudio

    BrokenByAudio Forum Resident


    Wait a minute...you took a seller to task for torn shrink-wrap??? :confused::confused:

    wow...just wow. You're clearly proud of yourself because you posted it here! The word chiseler has never had better utility!! :shake::shake::shake:
     
    SJP and bloodlemons like this.
  20. BrokenByAudio

    BrokenByAudio Forum Resident

    I mean it is behavior like this that drives up prices for the rest of us. Amazon, or whomever, has to take this sort of abusive consumer behavior into account when establishing their selling prices and business practices.

    I DO HOPE you are glowing in how you managed to beat them up. I don't care WHO the seller is.
     
    Adam6437 likes this.
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