I found a rare treasure at DooWop.com!
Written: Sep 07 '05 (Updated Sep 15 '05)
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I'm a big music buff and I love to sing. That makes me a natural karaoke enthusiast. Karaoke is the loose translation of the Japanese word for empty orchestra. Would be American Idols sing to pre-recorded music as the words flash across a television monitor. In order to get the words to flash, though, you have to use a karaoke machine equipped with CDGs, which are CDs with graphics. Since my husband, Bill, bought me my own karaoke machine last Christmas, I can do karaoke whenever I want to and that means I often get bored with my music selection. That means I have to hunt down new songs and purchase CDGs.
Because I'm a big music fan and have eclectic tastes, I often look for obscure songs on karaoke. This is where the DooWop Shop really helped me out this past July. I had found a CDG that had two rare songs on it not available by any other manufacturer. The trouble was, though, that the CDG was discontinued by the manufacturer. Nevertheless, the DooWop Shop had this disc advertised on its website. I went ahead and ordered it, thinking that maybe they had it on hand. After I placed my order, I got an email from the DooWop Shop advising me that the disc I wanted was out of print. I knew this already, of course. I was offered a few options as to what I could do. I could cancel the order, look for the songs on discs from other manufacturers, or have them search for a used copy for me. The used copy would cost the same as a brand new copy because of the effort required to track it down and because the DooWop Shop guarantees that all of their used discs will play like new.
Not hoping for much, I replied to the email, advising their customer service department that I wanted a used copy of the disc I had requested. To my great delight, I had a copy of that rare used CDG in my hands about one week later, sent to me via US Mail. Although it came in a jewelcase that was missing the original artwork, the CDG played as if I had bought it brand new.
Quality karaoke discs are quite expensive, so I do what I can to hold down my costs. The DooWop Shop's prices are competitive with most of the other karaoke suppliers I've found on the internet. The one major difference is that the DooWop Shop does NOT charge shipping! I was also not charged sales tax for the two CDGs that I ultimately purchased off of the DooWop Shop's website. Although I tend to get my orders faster when I order from one of their major competitors, Karaoke.com, I had no qualms with the DooWop Shop's shipping. I didn't have to pay for it and I got my order within the week. What's more, they found a discontinued disc for me. That, to me, was impressive.
One thing I do want to comment on is that DooWop.com's website is no frills. The website is low on graphics and fancy effects. I can search for discs by artist, song, manufacturer, or disc number. I can also search for disc format; that is, I can look for CDGs, DVDs, laser discs, cassettes, or video cassettes. Unlike Karaoke.com, DooWop.com does not provide customer reviews of the discs, nor does it provide song samples. However, I've found that DooWop.com's selection is often better than Karaoke.com's and sometimes its prices are better. DooWop.com also offers a disc repair service. If one of my CDGs suddenly got a scratch on it that made it unplayable, I could, in many cases, send the disc to DooWop.com and have it fixed within a week. The DooWop Shop also offers karaoke equipment besides music. They sell everything from karaoke machines to singer's throat spray and guitar strings.
DooWop.com accepts Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal. The store itself is based in Louisville, Kentucky and boasts an inventory of over 147,000 discs. Also, whenever possible, DooWop.com claims to ship every order on the day they get the order. In my case, there was an obvious delay, but that's because I wanted a rare CDG. Unlike many other karaoke dealers, the DooWop Shop takes returns within 30 days of the sale, even if the disc was opened. They can do this because they have a rental department, which I think must be quite an innovation! I've never heard of karaoke disc rentals!
I would love it if DooWop.com allowed user ratings of discs and had song samples like Karaoke.com does. Since I can access those features on Karaoke.com, though, it's not such a big deal that DooWop.com doesn't have them. I'm sure that those features, especially the song samples, cost money and DooWop.com's emphasis seems to be keeping overhead costs down. In fact, DooWop.com doesn't even spend money on a 1-800 number. Customers must, instead, communicate by email. Since DooWop.com always uses the regular mail to send out its orders, it's impossible to track orders. But DooWop.com will, at their expense, replace orders that get lost in the mail, as long as 30 days have passed.
Overall, I was very impressed with my experience using DooWop.com, although I have to admit that I almost didn't order from them because their website looked so plain. I was actually afraid that they might not have been legitimate and that would have been a real pity! I think the folks at DooWop.com do all they can to satisfy and save their customers money. I don't think they have as many sales as my old standby Karaoke.com has, but whenever I want a rare disc, you can bet that I'll be looking to the DooWop Shop for help! Now, if only I could find such great help for my addiction to karaoke, which is rapidly putting me in the poorhouse, my life would be golden... or as golden as possible in today's bleak world!
DooWop.com's website: http://www.doowop.com/karaoke/index.php?CCHK=1
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Location: Carolina
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