tubular_trekkie
Group: Members
Posts: 366
Joined: Sep. 2005 |
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Posted: July 28 2009, 05:35 |
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| Quote (starfish @ July 27 2009, 21:51) | Guys, seriously - I'm not sure how anyone can accuse MO himself of any wrongdoing. I mean, does he even know what's happenned?
Let's be honest here, the re-release of Tubular Bells was a pretty good success. Despite it having been re-released so many times (and indeed even given away as a free gift in a newspaper here in the UK), the album reached number thirteen in the charts, a phenomenal achievement.
I don't how many units an album needs to sell to reach number thirteen, but it must be in the tens of thousands, and that's just in the UK alone. When you factor in worldwide sales, I reckon the re-issue probably racked up oh, at least a hundred thousand.
So against all this, we have a very small (but vocal) minority, who have had problems with their sets. Compared to overall global sales, the people who've had problems with their TB re-issue must make up only a fraction of a percent of total sales.
Remember, us few complainers on this little forum are small potatoes compared to the cash Mercury are raking in over this.
Basically, the ONLY way the situation can be rectified is for Mike himself to sign a few extra copies. Not a problem if he lived in England, but considering he lives on the other side of the world, it's no surprise that it might take awhile for replacements to be signed.
And that, of course, is assuming he even KNOWS about the problem. I mean, do Mercury even care that 50-odd people out of a hundred thousand are unhappy? Is it that much of a priority for them?
Frustrating as it may seem, those still waiting for the signatures will just have to continue to wait, and send their complaints to the relevant people at Mercury. Either way, one of two things'll happen - either you'll get a signed copy in due course, or the order will go unfulfilled and your money returned.
But directing anger at MO himself is a bit harsh, I feel. |
Hmm. Yes and no, I think.
It certainly isn't Mike's fault or even his direct responsibility. I'd agree with you there. I also wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't know about the problems. I'm sure he's got better things to do with his time than constantly plough through various fan warblings on tubular.net!
What I will say though is that I think the problems do reflect badly on both his reputation and that of Universal/Mercury. We may very well be only talking about a small number of customers, but that 'minority' is not such a drop in the ocean when we're considering the 500 signed and numbered limited edition sets. Even 10 or 20 people out of this number is a significant amount and the problems directly relate to the 'specialness' and 'collectability' (as it were) of this limited edition. Glossing over this and concentrating on how many thousands of unsigned sets have been sold - or even other versions of the release - is missing the point IMO.
Universal/Mercury NEED to get this right and hopefully show some contrition for such unacceptable problems. As I have pointed out in my letter of complaint: this is an expensive set marketed at the serious fan/collector, I think we have every right to expect a premium quality product and a premium quality service.
If Universal/Mercury can't or won't sort things out (perhaps because of the nonplussed attitude you imply), it doesn't bode well for any future releases aimed at the hard-core fan base, does it?
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"The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future."
- from 'Collected Sayings of Muad'Dib' by the Princess Irulan
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I don't like the sound of all this 'passing the buck'. I suppose it's always concerning when there never seems to be a clear agency one can appeal to; there's too many layers here for my liking. Is it Bandstores? No, it's Completely Independent Distribution. But no, it's not, it's Bravado. But no, wait a minute, it's Mercury Records, who are a subsidiary of Universal...