Bad vendor alert: Impulse Music

[Stevie WOnder]

A very good friend of mine who came with me to Powermad once ordered some old stuff from them. Here's a copy of their e-mail:

IMPULSE ORDER CONFIRMATION

Thank you for your order. We appreciate your business and look forward to
Serving you in the future. Shipping and handling is already added for
Your convenience. Please retain this email for your records.

LEATHERWOLF - S/T ( ISLAND VERSION ) A
$12.99 1 $12.99
HEAVY PETTIN - LETTIN LOOSE A
$15.99 1 $15.99
HURRICANE - Over The Edge A
$18.99 1 $18.99

Sub-Total: $47.97

Shipping: $5.00

Total: $52.97

The credit card was billed but my friend never got anything so he proceeded to e-mail them numerous times and never got any replies.

Since his english isn't so great, he asked me to call on his behalf. I finally talked to the owner and he said he would put a trace on the package and call me back. This was in june and I never got any call back from him. He never offered to send the stuff back or refund.

I then tried to talk to the guy by calling again and again and two things would happen. Either he wouldn't be there or the line was busy. I finally talked to one of his employees telling him the situation was not acceptable and to call me back last week. I left him my cell phone number but once again, I never got a call back.

So, my buddy lost over 50$ and never got his stuff. I think I have to tell my friends and metal brothers to steer clear of this vendor. There are many good ones like Laser's Edge for exemple who will go out of their way to keep you as a customer.

Stay away from Impulse Music at all cost!!!

Steve

 

[Cheiron]

Call him and tell him you will file a report with the BBB, as well as Visa. These guys don't want to lose their ability to process credit card payments.

P.S. This is why I don't order online from CdInzane anymore. He charges you extra to guarantee that you get the product. If you don't pay extra and it doesn't show, he won't send you out a new one, if it shows broken, he won't send out another. I refuse to pay the extra cost, especially when vendors like LaserCD charge me less in shipping & handling and seemingly guarantee unbroken delivery.

 

[Diabolik]

my only issue with Impulse is that the web site says that they have all this stuff in stock and you go to the store and it isnt there. A few times I went there the day after the site is updated and ask if they have it in....I usually get the same answer....it is available on our online store. well...I am in the store, I drove out here for this stuff. This has happened many times to me.

I am sure the Q will be chimming in soon. He works there you know.

They do have a great selection and I have gotten some good stuff there. I am sure any online distro will have its share of mis sent packages and stuff. It comes with the territory.

 

[Jasonic]

Wow, sucks that happened.
I too have experienced what Diabolik said above.
I would go there all the time based on what the site says they had. Then the workers would admit the site never gets updated. How can you be in business and not update your site, esp in this day and age.

I have a few other things I could say about the store, based on personal experience, but I won't.....

As Diabolik said, the Q will chime in soon, as working there is his passion.

 

[Kaosaur]

my only issue with Impulse is that the web site says that they have all this stuff in stock and you go to the store and it isnt there. A few times I went there the day after the site is updated and ask if they have it in....I usually get the same answer....it is available on our online store. well...I am in the store, I drove out here for this stuff. This has happened many times to me.

I am sure the Q will be chimming in soon. He works there you know.

They do have a great selection and I have gotten some good stuff there. I am sure any online distro will have its share of mis sent packages and stuff. It comes with the territory.

If The_Q does end up chiming in, I'll just link back to the thread where he gripes about the big chains "forcing out the little guy".

Maybe doing business in the ways mentioned above is the REASON why people choose to buy from larger businesses.

 

[Metaldrumz]

Heres why I dont shop at Impulse Music or CD Inzane.

Impulse - Always lists shit thats NOT in stock.

CD Inzane - Lost my interest with the 4-7 months in advance pre-orders. Bait you into being trigger happy, then most of the time a place like NEH Records, or The end Records, or Lasereds Edge got it in sooner even though you will have it pre-ordered for 5 months already haha. NO THANKS.

My personal favs are NEH Records (You pay a little more but customer service is primo), Sentinel Steel (Denis RAWKS), and Lasers Edge (Do we need to say anymore about Ken and his reputation).

The End Records is good too but lately a little too slow in what I'm after.

 

[Yippee38]

I used to really like Impulse, but many years back they changed ownership. It's not the same. Now when you go in there, the people working there are on the phone 100% of the time (Q is the exception I've noticed).

I ordered around $100 of CDs from CDInzane. They had a free shipping deal going on. Half the stuff I ordered was out of stock, even though their website said they had it in stock. Rather than notifying me that it was out of stock, they cancelled my order on the oos items. I called them and they said, "Well did you look at your order status online?" I told them I couldn't as I was out of town. They looked it up and told me it was cancelled. Apparently, because it wouldn't ship during the "free shipping" month, they had to cancel the order. How hard would it have been for them to e-mail me the information? I would have re-ordered the CDs.

Isn't Laser's Edge now owned by one of the labels? I thought they were had just gone through the deal before last year's PPUSA. Maybe it was somebody else.

 

[DADRocks]

As I've shopped at Impulse pretty regularly for many years now I thought I'd chime in. I used to go there a lot but found it easier to order on line due to time. If the stuff I order is in stock, I see it within 3 days time in the mail. They haven't had a fully functioning online shop up and running all that long so I believe they are trying to work out the bugs. They only have Current Releases and Coming Soon shown on their site, hopefully they could list on the Current Releases whether or not the item is currently in stock or not. Hopefully they only get better. I'm not planning on boycotting them as they've always treated me well.

 

[mëtålspëd]

Heres why I dont shop at Impulse Music or CD Inzane.

Impulse - Always lists shit thats NOT in stock.

CD Inzane - Lost my interest with the 4-7 months in advance pre-orders. Bait you into being trigger happy, then most of the time a place like NEH Records, or The end Records, or Lasereds Edge got it in sooner even though you will have it pre-ordered for 5 months already haha. NO THANKS.

My personal favs are NEH Records (You pay a little more but customer service is primo), Sentinel Steel (Denis RAWKS), and Lasers Edge (Do we need to say anymore about Ken and his reputation).

The End Records is good too but lately a little too slow in what I'm after.

Could not have said it better on all accounts!

 

[Stevie WOnder]

As I've shopped at Impulse pretty regularly for many years now I thought I'd chime in. I used to go there a lot but found it easier to order on line due to time. If the stuff I order is in stock, I see it within 3 days time in the mail. They haven't had a fully functioning online shop up and running all that long so I believe they are trying to work out the bugs. They only have Current Releases and Coming Soon shown on their site, hopefully they could list on the Current Releases whether or not the item is currently in stock or not. Hopefully they only get better. I'm not planning on boycotting them as they've always treated me well.

I'm not telling you to boycott them but they actually ripped off a very good friend of mine. I think this is some very valuable information for this community.

As far as I'm concerned, I am never ever buying there.

Steve

 

[johan68]

Stick with Sentinel Steel and Laser's Edge. Both class acts.
Have also used Cd Baby a few times without problems. You can find a lot of unusual stuff there, and service has always been great.

 

[lasercd]

Yippee38 said:

<<Isn't Laser's Edge now owned by one of the labels? I thought they were had just gone through the deal before last year's PPUSA. Maybe it was somebody else.>>

Sorry to jump into this thread but I wanted to correct the above comment. The Laser's Edge is privately owned and operated by myself for the past 20 years. We own three labels: The Laser's Edge, Sensory, and Free Electric Sound.

(Thank you for the nice comments).

Ken Golden

 

[J-Man]

NIGHTMARE RECORDS, and LASER'S EDGE get all my business, Why???? Both are run by honest guys who are both class acts.

 

[Iced Dog]

I've never ordered from Impulse, but from browsing, their prices AND shipping costs seemed on the high side.

 

[The Colorado Kid]

NIGHTMARE RECORDS, and LASER'S EDGE get all my business, Why???? Both are run by honest guys who are both class acts.

What? No mention of Ken's aural addiction?

He's paid more for speakers than I did for my engagement ring, and I got lots of sex out of the deal. :Smokin:


Though seriously... you should send in The Michael, the local heat. Threaten the owner that you'll have The Michael personally deliver a case of Peroni every Friday until the order arrives...

I wonder how much over night shipping to Europe costs?

 

[coreystinson]

P.S. This is why I don't order online from CdInzane anymore. He charges you extra to guarantee that you get the product. If you don't pay extra and it doesn't show, he won't send you out a new one, if it shows broken, he won't send out another. I refuse to pay the extra cost, especially when vendors like LaserCD charge me less in shipping & handling and seemingly guarantee unbroken delivery.

I would like to make one remark about this issue. As a mail-order vendor myself (not CDs) I have this very same shipping policy. Rather than just outright charge all of my customers a shipping insurance premium to cover loss/damage by the carrier, I offer the customer the opportunity to get a less expensive shipping if they want to take the (negligible) risk of having their merchandise lost or damage in transit.

Obviously, if another vendor offers you all of those services and at still a lower price you'll want to go with that other vendor, but otherwise you really can't complain when these policies are priced and explained clearly up front.

Having said this, I think that this whole sub-topic is a bit of a thread hijack and not very useful to the originating complaint.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

I shop impulse occasionally, but usually only when I'm in the neighborhood, which unfortunately, isn't that often anymore. Impulse has been doing catalog & online orders for as long as I can remember, and I personally have had ZERO issues with them over the years, and Steve, Cindy, & once in a while, even Q-Bert, have treated me well as a customer. I'm sorry you had an issue with them, and I hope they get it taken care of for you. There is so much competition in the online market that customer service should be a priority. I'd also like to see them get some kind of updateable DB on that website. If you're looking for excellent customer service, competitive prices, and fair shipping, check out www.harder-edged-music.com I've yet to see, hear, or read any complaints. If it's on his site, and marked in stock, it's REALLY in stock. No b.s., if it's listed, he's got it.....
/end defense /end plug

 

[General Zod]

My purchases preferences...

The End = 90%
The Laser's Edge = 5%
Miscellaneous vendors for hard to find Black Metal releases = 5%.

I'd use TLE more, but I'm in state and have to pay tax.

Zod

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I use The End, and Lasers Edge on occasion, but it seems as time goes on I tend to be using CD Universe the most. They have nearly everything I'm looking for, and their prices are generally better than most anyone else.

Britt

 

[booB]

Threaten the owner that you'll have The Michael personally deliver a case of Peroni every Friday until the order arrives...