Fuck Aquarius Records (rant inside)

[Demilich]

So, the initial order in question was placed on January 30th, 2006, and was for 8 cds. They eventually shipped me 6 of the cds (sometime in March) after telling me that 4 were on hold and the other 4 were on order. I emailed them asking where my other 2 cds were, and was told that Boris - Pink and Twisted Tower Dire - The Isle of Hydra were proving difficult to obtain. Eventually, they informed me that the TTD album would not be coming back in stock, even though at the time of my order it was not listed as out of stock on their website. So I choose Boris - Flood as a replacement. OK. They inform me that it may take some time to get these two titles in from Japan. OK. Fast Forward to a few days ago. They email me, they have the two titles in stock and will ship them in a couple of days. OK. Today they email me and tell me my credit card has been declined and that I must resolve this issue by 06/06 or the order will be cancelled. OK... what the fuck? They take 5 months to complete my order and tell me it'll be cancelled in 5 days if I can't provide payment? I have an available balance of over $1400 listed on my web banking service and have used this credit card within the past 24 hours without any problem. So this is the email I sent them:

What can i do other than try to re-send the order or whatever? I need some input as to what my options are. I used my card without issue yesterday. For the time being, I will look into the credit card situation and make sure that nothing is wrong on my end. However, I well be extremely dissatisfied if you cancel my order, even after 6/6. I have been waiting over 5 months for this order to be completed. This is an absolutely laughable amount of time, and I have recieved questionable, disorganized service over the course of this extremely lengthy transaction. I am a paying customer of your store, and would appreciate if you would hold the cds until the issue is resolved. Please show me that you have some inkling of respect for your customers. I do not mean to come across as intimidating, I simply do not want to lose these CDs after waiting so long for you folks to get your act together.

 

[NAD]

Sucks. I've always had good luck with them.

 

[Demilich]

Ah, to live only a couple of hours from them...

 

[NAD]

More like 8 if I hit zero traffic (nearly impossible) am I rite.

I've never been to their store, will next time I'm up in the area though.

 

[Dick Sirloin]

I hate it when their web page says they have CDs in that they aren't even close to finding

 

[Demilich]

Exactly! Their website is very misleading. When I see titles with OUT OF STOCK, PLEASE DO NOT ORDER written beneath them I'd tend to assume that titles without this descriptor would be IN FUCKING STOCK.

 

[Krilons Resa]

fuck them and their ridiculous prices and their snail paced shipping.

I had the same probs with FMP and their fucking IOU's.

 

[Demilich]

but they have soooooooo many awesome albums listed

 

[Chromatose]

Yeah they're pretty slow and don't always have in what they say they do, that shit seems to happen often. Definitely not the kind of place I consider ordering from anymore unless I really can't find it elsewhere, then I check into it first.

 

[Krilons Resa]

but they have soooooooo many awesome albums listed...that are out-of-stock and will probably forever be out-of-stock but will keep it on their catalog page regardless to look good. Hell, maybe even list it as available but actually be ...you guessed it....out-of-stock!

fixed

 

[Krilons Resa]

Moribund does the same thing as well.

 

[Demilich]

the biggest piss-off of all is that I still don't own "The Isle of Hydra," never mind "The Curse of Twisted Tower Dire"

 

[JayKeeley]

Here's the thing...

Aquarius is an excellent website. Great selection, interesting reviews, and samples for everything. It's fun to browse and make selections.

And then I go elsewhere and order what I want.

I'm sure as a "brick and mortar" store, they're the best at what they do, but as an on-line store, they fail it.

Shame too, because they seem to be pretty decent fellows.

 

[BenMech]

agreed with Jay

 

[Chromatose]

I've even heard bad things about their physical store. Mostly stories of the instore stock selection being pretty much shit, and this would explain why their mail order turns out the same way as well. Too much waiting around for potential arrivals and special orders.

I love their website though, I've discovered quite a few bands from just reading those great reviews.

 

[Erik]

It's sad when people whose hearts are apparently in the right place don't know how to run their business right

 

[JayKeeley]

It's sad when people whose hearts are apparently in the right place don't know how to run their business right

A. Hippy musician
B. Business school graduate

A and B are mostly mutually exclusive.

Thing is, most of these issues seem rather trivial and easy to fix one would imagine (without needing a degree in Economics or whatever)....but there is this laid back 'lazy day sunday' surfer dude vibe to Aquarius which means everything can always wait another day.

 

[Demilich]

Here is the response I got from them (notice the lack of an apology or anything I'd consider indicative of respect for the customer):

i dropped the last digit and it worked,
you should see these soon,
christine
aQ

And my longwinded response:

Thank you. It has been utterly abysmal dealing with the Aquarius and I can only say that I will barely regret taking my business elsewhere as I will probably miss out on the pleasure of ordering many albums which have fallaciously been listed as available on your website. Unfortunately, it isn't worth the 4+ month wait and multiple emails with infrequent, impolite and disorganized responses which seek to pass off your responsibilities to your customers. Judging by my conversations with other customers of this store, this type of service is the norm. Bearing in mind these considerations it seems unlikely at this point that Aquarius would consider overhauling its service to accommodate so unimportant a group as those who are paying you/them, I have decided to make this last-ditch attempt at a move in the direction of strong customer service and good business practice. I don't suppose I'll have much occasion to continue this exchange with Aquarius, but the best of luck to all involved in this endeavour and others. Thank you for the 8 cdswhich I have finally acquired from your well-stocked yet inefficient webstore.

Sincerely,
Matthew Giovannetti

 

[En Vind Av Sorg]

p.s. I sent you a letter bomb

Seriously though they deserve that, they coudlnt even take three seconds to write "very sorry about all the problems and the long wait."

 

[Demilich]

i just hope the don't do something unhygenic to my cds before sending them