Discogs seller refuses to help

hi all,

I've bought a vinyl album from the US (I am located in Europe). It turned out that my copy is a bad pressing (unlistenable) and indicated that to the seller. his message was basically: "Happy Xmas"...
I don't accept that I think he as a seller is responsible what he sold for. Am I right? Could you please give me some advices how to treat this matter? Any similar experiences/thoughts are welcome.
Thank you

 

Open a case with PayPal. His answer is unacceptable. This advise comes from a guy who always want to solve things well first. But that answer is sending you to that place.

 

I would willing to send my copy back on my money (!) if he would exchange it for me. but so far I didn't get that promise

 

nor you gonna get that promise if the answer to your first message (assuming you firstly contact me in a reasonable way) was "Happy Xmas". Thats why i said to open a case without further conversations, since his reply was not even trying to fix things and was a big f**k you (sorry my words).

 

Missing a looooot of context, here.

What exact pressing was it? What is the seller's reputation (# of feedbacks and satisfaction percentage), advertised condition of the album, sealed/unsealed, etc.?

Saw too many of these stories omitting crucial information that I can't take it at face value, sorry.

Until there's full disclosure, I'll have to say we're only getting one side of the story, here.

 

Sure, youre truly right. But if the seller was contacted in a reasonable way (lets assume this) his answer was inadequate even if he has reason on his side (as you pointed well, we dont know this yet).

 

Taking this at face value...Paypal claim.

That's the only advice you really need at this point to get your money back. File a claim with them, keep it short and factual. You can mention that you tried to contact the seller to resolve the issue but they declined to do so in your claim. Just stick to the facts.

If you do wind up sending the record back you need to make sure you send it with tracking. Otherwise, you have no way of proving the record was received by the seller.

 

There are some buyers who are unreasonable. There can be factors on either side that can make transactions complicated or fall into shades of gray. Also, a language barrier can contribute to communication issues.

Since I doubt we'll ever have (honest) answers to my follow-up questions, we'll only be able to assume one way or the other. My experience has been if a thread doesn't go the way the OP thought it would, he/she disappears.

 

The seller has: 99.8% positive out of 4300
The LP was advertised as a brand new sealed item and it was.
So far he hasn't offered anything. no (partial) refund, no exchange no nothing...

 

How is it "unlistenable"?

 

Surface noise covers up the music. pops and clicks all over the place, it is not subtle.

 

Did you search on the web to look for similar cases in that same pressing? If there were more cases maybe it would be easier to show the seller your complaint has solid ground. Not that i aprove at all, as i said it before, his response to you.

 

If the record was sealed by the factory and the seller sold it as sealed and then you opened it (unsealed it) how can it be the sellers fault? He or she sold you a sealed record and it turned out to be crap, not sellers fault. It is too bad that this happened but I don’t see how you can blame seller.

 

Exactly.

I've posted about this before, but read this ; Endless Defective Brand New Vinyl

4 copies of the same album until I had one without scratches.

Do I empathize with the situation? Yes.
Does it suck? Yes.
Should this ever happen? No.
Is it the seller's fault? No.

 

You were getting defective copies and keep them?

 

If it is sealed and brand new, how can the seller inspect it to confirm mint condition?

 

I supose when you guys receive a defective copy of anything (lets say from Amazon) you just keep it and move on.

 

Amazon has a relationship with their distributor or manufacturer. Private, individual sellers don't have any recourse. These sellers weren't responsible for creating the defects and are not able to inspect for these defects. Why should they be held accountable then?

 

Agree on that. Does all discog sellers are private sellers? I know most of them are and most probably this one, so i can accept he is not responsible for the bad quality of a unopened pressing, but is complete lack of opness to even talk the situation with an unsatisfied buyer is unacceptable to me anyway.

 

The Goldmine record guide carries a warning about buying sealed records for exactly this reason. Private sellers are not on the hook for manufacturing defects on sealed records--this is the default rule and something buyers should consider before purchase.

 

No, we're talking about Amazon. Since this is a retailer, I returned them and kept returning them until I got four sides without scratches. That took 5 orders and 4 returns. I encountered the same issue with Aerosmith's Get A Grip reissue and in the end said "screw this!" and just decided that album wasn't worth the trouble.

Since then, I've sworn off UMe records via Amazon.

 

It wasn't. Not even on CD.

Sorry if you like that album. I couldn't resist.

 

There are a great number of stores that list on Discogs. For Discogs I prefer the terms professional sellers rather than stores because some people have a store only in their living room But they move a lot of units and it's more than just a hobby seller situation or someone just selling a few items here and there.

If that stats above are correct, ie seller has 4300 feedbacks, I'd say there's a pretty good chance the seller in question is not a typical private seller.

 

F - - k that! Go to the contact # & pursue every avenue up the chain of command until you get desired results...

It can be done if you call & not only E-mail...

I have had a few sellers like that myself & that is how I resolved the issue...

Good luck

 

I'm so glad I don't bother with Vinyl.

I have sympathy both ways on this. It's a private sale, and the price will have reflected the fact it was sealed. It is no longer sealed. If you['re buying sealed items from a private seller, you surely know that no-one knows what is inside. Also, if you're buying Vinyl, some surface noise and a click and pop is hardly strange.

Of course, we don't know the extent of the issue - but while I can sympathize with the buyer, I can also feel for the seller who wasn't out to cheat anyone. To a certain extent you know you're taking a risk - especially with bits of Vinyl being sent such long distances.

I would ask - how much did you pay for this item? If you've paid 500 for it, I'd not be happy. If 20, then I'd suck it up.