Classical music fans-- recent experiences with Arkivmusic?*

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by ilistentoallkinds, Sep 28, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. ilistentoallkinds

    ilistentoallkinds Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    MD/DC area, U.S.
    Sorry-- I meant to type "classical music fans" in the subject title! :)

    I'm writing here for three reasons:

    1. As the title says, to ask about your recent (in the last six to twelve months) experiences with ordering from the Arkivmusic website.

    2. To share two recent, consecutive, extremely frustrating, experiences that I've had with the site, as a possible warning for others who are considering ordering from them!

    3. To see if what happened to me, both times, is happening with many other Arkivmusic customers here on the forums.

    With two consecutive orders now (several months apart), there have been very serious delays with my order status(es) simply changing from "Accepted" to "Shipped" on the site. Tracking numbers are not sent out to customers until the "Shipped" updates are formally done and visible in customer accounts. Two times now, I have had to e-mail their customer service to find out that my orders had been sent out (with tracking numbers that I only got after writing to inquire!).

    That is a light matter, though, for me, compared to the most serious issue. Arkivmusic customers are not actually charged for their orders until the "Shipped" updates are in customers' accounts. This sounds good (in a way)-- but in April of this year, it took almost three weeks after I had received my order for it to finally update on the site from "Accepted" to "Shipped." It was only then, after weeks of waiting on my part, that the money for the order was finally deducted from my bank account. I live on a fairly limited budget, and I had to keep watching my account, for days and days, into weeks, waiting to finally be charged for the order, long after I had received it. (All of the items, for both orders, were in stock, so that wasn't the problem.)

    For the first order, in April, I was told by an Arkivmusic customer service representative that the reason for the delay was a recent warehouse move, with their computers still needing to be updated. However, with my next, most recent order, placed on August 31st, it again took almost three weeks for my order status to change to "Shipped" on the site (again, long after I received the order), at which point I was finally charged, and the money finally deducted from my bank account. Unfortunately, at least in my experience, long delays in being charged are still happening five months after my last Arkivmusic order. Once again, I reached out to customer service. I was told that their computers are still being updated, as the reason for the problems.

    How many other people here have had these kinds of issues, or similar ones, with Arkivmusic recently? I love their selection and their search functions, and I truly want to be a more frequent customer, but these delays in being charged, weeks after an order has already shipped, are very nerve-wracking for me, as, again, I live on a limited budget and have to keep a close watch on my bank account. The only reason that I did not place an order with Arkivmusic, between the last one in April and this one in August/September, was due to my concern about not being charged in a timely manner. The issues continue, and so do my concern and reticence to order again from them in the near future.....
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2019
  2. ilistentoallkinds

    ilistentoallkinds Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    MD/DC area, U.S.
    Thread bump.. any recent experiences, good or bad, with ordering from Arkivmusic, to share? Am I the only one who has been having these very frustrating experiences? (I hope so-- I wouldn't wish them on anyone else!!)
     
  3. HiResGeek

    HiResGeek Seer of visions

    Location:
    Boston
    I haven't ordered from them in quite a while. I used to order from them quite a lot, however with Amazon now having better coverage with classical releases, including many OOP issues, and of course with Prime delivering things to me in two days, I typically haven't felt compelled to order from Arkivmusic. I will say that when I was a regular buyer I never had any negative experiences to speak of. However that was several years ago. IIRC they changed hands some time back, so I don't know if things have gone downhill since then.

    It's still a great site for searching for in-print releases, and a lot of times I will use it to cross-reference releases against Amazon.
     
    ilistentoallkinds likes this.
  4. ilistentoallkinds

    ilistentoallkinds Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    MD/DC area, U.S.
    Thanks for sharing your experiences. Things have definitely changed at Arkivmusic, over the last year, and not for the better. As I mentioned above, the customer service replies that I have gotten from them (two times now, five months apart), regarding my two consecutive terrible experiences, is that following a warehouse move, their computer systems are updating, and this is causing problems with orders. However, when the problems are ongoing for months and months, there is the serious risk of the loss of loyal customers-- including me. I hate it, because I really do like their site, including their "ArkivCDs" which bring out-of-print classics back to the buying public... but I can't continue to buy from them if their serious problems with orders continue.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine