Great/Horrible Customer Service Experiences in Buying Music

On Black Friday Record Store Day, I purchased more than my share of music, and even spent a morning discovering some of the great local record stores in the region (my local store has closed).

But in tracking down Roy Buchanan Live at Town Hall 1974, I had to go online in the days following. In the midst of a lengthy frustrating search, I found that Easy Street Records in Seattle had it. I ordered it - my search was over!

Then a day and a half later, I received an email saying that when I ordered it, it actually wasn’t in stock! Needless to say, I wasn’t pleased, and responded accordingly. Initially, I got some lame excuses. But I guess my complaints were passed on to the owner, Matt Vaughan.

Matt’s response was completely unexpected. He apologized for the experience, and then offered to find and provide me a copy - on him.. Frankly , I was dumbfounded, as his offer to “fix it” went way beyond.

As we communicated about the details, it turned out that they actually had a copy, but the cover was slightly damaged, so they pulled it, as folks presumably want a pristine copy. Sure, I want a pristine copy, but was quite happy to get *any* copy (it is about the music, isn’t it?). So while Matt was going to give me either one, I let him know that the damaged one was OK (I’m not greedy).

When I returned from a business trip this week, my copy was awaiting me.

Thank you, Matt, and Easy Street Records! You’ve turned lemons into fine lemonade!

I’m now a big fan of the great customer service of Easy Street Records in Seattle. Home | Easy Street Records

In fact, I just placed an order for more vinyl!

In my opinion, companies that realize that both good and bad customer service go a long way in the memories of consumers know part of what it takes to be successful. One bad experience can send me away from a company, but an excellent experience will make me a loyal customer.

Please share your own experiences with either great (like Easy Street Records) or horrible customer service.

 

This is a great story/experience, and I am indeed impressed. I've had some decent (read: expected) customer service over the past few years, but Easy Street went way above and beyond. I've added them to my list of potential online stores (since I live in Calif). Cheers! And enjoy the music!

 

We have a store called Skip's CD World. Been there many times, a lot of good experiences. I had duplicate copies of a couple CDs, both unopened, and they let me swap them out for same priced merch, no questions asked. But even better, I once asked about a new release at the time, Steady As She Goes by Hot Tuna. Wasn't planning on buying but they always have cool covers and I was curious what the songs and personnel were. They didn't have a copy for sale in stock, but the clerk said hang on a sec. He gave me the store demo and said I could have it. I was stunned. I don't think he recognized me, and I realize the album is just a dog from an old band no one there was interested in, but still ! It's within reaching distance right now.

 

Great stories! (And great store)

 

My experience with Norman Records in Leeds (UK) has been superb. They communicate well and frequently, and there are zero surprises when the transaction is finished.