RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) denied due to being too "demanding"**

that's a lot.

seems you are being unreasonable.

 

Yes--I agree that the message from the store is worded very respectfully and seems reasonable. It's especially impressive to me that they have not yet made a final decision, but are asking for further dialogue with you. It seems that they want more information on how the defects in the records you return affect actual play, rather than only cosmetics. From what you've written, at least some of the defects (such as non-fill/stitching or wow from a badly off-center pressing) undeniably and obviously affect the sound of the playback, and that would presumably be clear in any audio/video recording you would make. Others, such as warps, may or may not affect playback, depending on the severity and how your turntable handles them. It sounds like you posted a video where they couldn't hear a sonic problem. Did YOU hear a sonic problem in the case with the video? You haven't made that clear. But what you describe as their position--"They do not accept RMA's as long as the record plays fine"--seems perfectly reasonable to me.

 

I'm going to be that pedant

It's 26.666....% to be exact.

you have approximated rather than be exact and incorrectly rounded (down instead of up).

To three sig figures it is 26.7%

 

seems reasonable, but some collectors insist on sealed products....you're never going to satisfy some vinyl junkies.

 

I suppose you are right, but I wasn’t aware that I was being graded, or I would have done a better job!

 

define warped.

all vinyl is warped to some degree.

it's a judgement call as to what degree of warping and what degree of sound distortion is acceptable (or even noticable)

 

yeah.

I would have left the original mistake, but after you jumped in pretending to be smart....

if you are going to be that guy that points out a mistake in a calculation, its best to make sure you do it correctly

 

If you’re selling something as new, it generally needs to be sealed. Plus that is more labor hours for something that will ultimately result in not a major difference in return cost. Chronic returners are easier to weed out than individually inspect every item before shipping.

 

The thread definitely isn't going the way the OP was hoping.

No, the store isn't refusing anything, yet. They want to know what the expectations are because they seen to be unrealistic.

You're costing this shop a lot of money. Switch places or move to a different medium.

 

You're not making yourself look good or smart here, gotta say.

 

For comparison, Amazon, who has the resources to absorb far more return losses than any record shop on earth, tracks the amount of returns done by every customer. If you go over some magic number, you may receive a message from Amazon saying they will no longer accept returns from you. No remediation process, no dialogue, just a sharp cut off. So the fact that this store is sending an email to try and find an amicable solution is IMO going above and beyond.

 

I send all my records to NASA before playing them. If they don't declare them to be perfectly flat and clean enough to send to space I immediately start the RMA process

 

I have purchased over 200 vinyl albums in 2021, many of them multi-LP sets. I have not returned a single record for warping because I have discovered that virtually all new vinyl warps can be fixed with a Vinyl Flat and Groovy Pouch. It takes practice and patience, but is well worth it.

I think that there are many more warped records these days because all purchasing is done online so records are subjected to local shipping and delivery conditions which can involve exposure to sweltering heat.

 

Defective vinyl pressings are a real thing, obviously, but it raises red flags when people report an unusually high incidence of unplayable records. Buying a lot of vinyl blind is unfortunately not wise — you’ve got to do research (on forums like this one) and you’ve got to steer your purchases towards reliable labels and pressing plants and artists who pay close attention to the quality of their vinyl mastering and pressings. And thoroughly cleaning all vinyl purchases gives you an edge as well.

For a lot of music, you’re better off with CDs or downloads or streaming, especially with new music and bands for whom quality vinyl releases are an afterthought or not something they’ve got the clout or resources to insist on. And don’t expect or demand perfection from this medium.

Those are my thoughts on improving your luck with vinyl.

 

In my experience, for a full return, there usually has to be visible damage to the LP, or excessive noise that can be demonstrated via sending an mp3 to the label, if it was an online purchase.

Blue Note did a full return for me earlier this year, because two records I ordered from them crashed through the inner and outer sleeves, and you could see obvious scratches. I sent pictures, and that was it. BN sent out perfect replacements.

Just a month or so ago, I complained about excessive noise on the recent Coltrane ALS Live in Seattle set, and the Jazz Center store sent a replacement immediately, without even asking for sound samples or anything else.

I have never actually had the need to return anything to a local store.

 

it's an overly technical term, why not just say "having problems returning stuff to the shop"?

 

Vinyl is an imperfect medium, maybe switch to CD's.

 

"Oh, I only returned over 25% of what I bought!"

That is entirely unreasonable. Vinyl is not the medium for you.

 

I'm warped!

 

83 Percent of All Statistics are Made Up on the Spot, I’m sure 29% of the forum may agree with this.

 

Again, i am not returning minor warped records. I only return what has worse warps / edge warps, major off center and non - fill.

I even send videos to the store whenever i have had an issue. Even asking them of they think its acceptable to return or not.

 

Oh, you are so srewed!
Time to start streaming.
BeaVe

 

I don't think it's unreasonable to return warped or damaged records. It seems as if that's more common these days, and people saying "maybe vinyl isn't for you" must know how bad record pressing has become. Finding another store could be another option.

 

sure - but if you are being flagged as a statistical anomaly (i.e. sending back considerably more records than would be expected) then maybe the problem is likely to be you? Sending back 4 records out of 15 is - on the face of it - unreasonable and the shop is pointing this out.

At some point, you are costing the shop money (and it seems you have reached this threshold) and it's best for them to flag this with you and beyond that refuse your custom.

You said "They do not accept RMA's as long as the record plays fine"

how is this in any way unreasonable.? If the records plays fine, its fine.

As everybody else has said, maybe vinyl records are not the format for you? Vinyl in inherently imperfect, and it might be triggering some OCD in you.

 

Yep. Hardly worth the trouble.

What's kind of odd to me is that I don't have a $1,000 vacuum cleaner for my records, have no idea how to remove warps, and I'm satisfied with 99% of what I buy, used or new.

It seems like there's no middle ground here: You have generally happy record junkies on one side, and those who find fault with everything.