BMG Music Services Online Store Spells SCAM
Written: Mar 20 '02 (Updated Oct 15 '02)
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I am sorry I have to write this review. During the 2+ years I have written for epinions I have come across companies that behave unethically, companies that misrepresent what they sell or do and in the case of BMG a company that purposely misled me. It is a review I have to write because you have to know. I have been doing business with BMG since the time when tapes were sold! Admittedly I rarely purchased tapes and then CDs beyond my contract. On occasion I would because the deal was too good to pass up. Over the years I have cancelled my account and later on renewed it again. BMG doesn’t have a problem with that; in fact they asked that I come back. I did repeatedly. I won’t again. I have to review BMG Music Services Online Store first before I actually rate this merchant an avoid.
The Great Deal That Pulled Me In Time After Time:
~BMG offers 12 CDs for the price of 1. Literally. You will pay shipping and handling but I have figured out the cost per CD many times and it comes to about $5.00, perhaps a bit more depending on the CD you choose. When you get to the site you will find out that you pick out 7 now, then after purchasing 1 at the regular price, you can pick out 4 more “free.” (Shipping and handling is almost always added on.) The site keeps track of how many you have chosen. Let’s say you have picked 4, it will say on the left-hand side “you have 4 CDs you have 3 left.” The regular priced CD has to be $14.98 or more and that is clearly stated. Note this because it will become important.
~You are allowed 10 days after receiving your 7 CDs and as long as they are not open you can return them at BMG’s expense. Note here: That last sentence is summarized from the site. When you get the CDs and open the box the CDs are in, you will read that, in fact, you can return it at their expense as long as the box hasn’t been opened. (You will also find this disclaimer online.) In other words if you got a CD by mistake you can see what it is without opening it. You just write “not accepted” or similar words and drop it in a mailbox. Once the box is opened, it sounds as if you will have to pay the postage. In reality, if you just glue the flap of the box back on the box (as long as you haven't ripped it, just write, “will not accept” and that will work. Believe me because I have done it.
There must be a catch
No there isn’t. The only catch is that a disorganized person will forget that he or she has gotten an update either through e-mail or snail mail (your choice) which will ask you to pick the featured selection, another selection or nothing. You get these 14 times a year and if you don’t act within the time frame you are told you will be sent the Featured Selection. Again, if that happens you have 10 days to return it, but if you are away for an extended period of time, be prepared to keep a CD you may not want.
I have never had a problem with this aspect of BMG Services and I do travel. There has always been enough time to get back to BMG with, for example, “I don’t want anything at this time” so I haven’t run into any unwanted selections.
Does the site work easily?
The pages load very quickly and this is a really easy site to navigate. Everything is laid out for you. I often go to Rock and Pop and going there now I find a page that shows me top picks and links to “What’s New;” “Greatest Hits;” Rock and Pop Collections;” and Rock and Pop Soundtracks. There are pull down menus in each of these categories giving you even more choices at the touch of a finger. You can find music by the alphabetical order or subcategories of the category you are looking at. You can also do a search by artist name, song or album title, composer or the selection number if you know it.
What don’t I like about it?
One reason I continuously say I won’t sign up again is because there are many CDs that are not listed. Granted they have a lot and I’ve never had trouble choosing 7 to start with. Carole King is not sold on BMG. Most of the Beatles albums are not either, although I have found a couple, especially John Lennon here. There have been many times that I have read a review on epinions and gone to the site and not been able to find the album. It is those times that I say I would rather pay the $16.00 give or take for a CD that I really, really want, then $5.00 for some that I may just be buying because it is such a great deal.
From the website: “New selections are being added to our collection every day. However, we can offer only those selections recorded by artists and labels with whom we have negotiated contracts. Rest assured that we are doing everything we can to offer you the best music."
Other site features
~ If you have either RealPlayer™ or Windows Media Player™ installed on your computer you can just click on the song you want to preview. There will be headphones next to the song titles. If you don't have RealPlayer™ or Windows Media Player™, you can download them for free at the following sites: www.real.com, www.windowsmedia.com
~You can get free CDs by referring friends.
~You can earn points toward free CDs. The more you buy the more points you earn. There are often deals “Buy one at regular price and get one CD for $3.99." Those are hard to pass up. Remember that $3.99 will actually be closer to $6.00 with shipping but it is still cheap and you can accrue points that way.
~You can keep track of your orders as soon as you place one from the website. You will receive an order confirmation email. You can keep track also of when your CD was shipped by signing up to get shipment confirmation e-mails at My Account on the website.
So what could be wrong?
Something I consider major. I will give you a brief summary and then to make this as clear as possible show you two e-mail – one to the company via Planet Feedback and one back to me. This is what happened:
1. I received my 7 free CDs with no problem. The CDs always come in 2-4 weeks and I have found it is closer to 2 weeks. I then wanted to buy my full-priced CD so picked a Neil Diamond CD which shows the price at $17.90. Here is a url to see what a page looks like with headphones:
http://www.bmgmusicservice.com/catalog/product/cd_detail.jhtml?productId=33506
When I received the CD, lo and behold, it was magically on sale. Well you may say that’s great I saved money. But I didn’t want to save money. I wanted a full–priced CD so I could get my additional free CDs. I bit the bullet on that one and paid the $10.00+ that I owed BMG who told me that I had saved over $7.00! As I said, I wasn’t too happy but I wanted the CD and figured it was my mistake.
2. It was time for me to either select a CD or get nothing and since I wanted my last free CDs I picked a full priced CD – Boston Pops (John Williams). It clearly said $17.90. I got the CD with the same “You have saved $7.00+ on this CD. Well was I angry. I had opened it, but I wrote the first of my letters to the company, glued the box and put it in the mail. I also e-mailed the company directly but didn’t hear from them at that point. I have found, in general, that the few times I have had to contact customer service. For example before the .com when I had to actually write a number down, if the number couldn’t be read and I got the wrong CD I just returned it and always got a postcard stating they received my CD and that the correct one would be sent out.
3. Back to the problem: I canceled my account and put in writing in an e-mail that I would forfeit my free CDs. I told them I was very unhappy with misleading information. I got back a postcard (not via e-mail) that said they would send me my free CDs when I bought one at full price. I had tried to explain to them that I had attempted to do just that two timesbut to no avail. I was really angry and companies do not want to tangle with me when I am angry.
4. I wrote to the company via Planet Feedback. I am sharing that letter with you and BMG’s response (The letter has been edited just to maintain my privacy.)
March 14, 2002
TO:
Amanda Goldman, Director, Customer Service
BMG Music Services
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
FROM:
jo xxx
My address
jobythebay@adelphia.net
RE: PLANETFEEDBACK REFERENCE NUMBER xxxxxxx
Dear Ms. Goldman,
For most people, the words "music" and "enjoyment" go together, like treble and bass clefs. But my recent experience with the price and value at BMG Music Services really has me riled. You don't know how furious I am!
RE: Account # xxxxxx
I took advantage of your terrific "deal" and paid shipping and handling for 7 CDs. In return I was expected to buy one CD at full price and then receive another 4 CDs free and pay the shipping and handling. Order #xxxxxxxx shows that I bought a CD WHICH WAS SHOWN AS FULL PRICE ON YOUR WEBSITE. When I got the bill I saw that the price was $10.15 and you told me I saved $7.31. What I also saved was not being able to use my 4 FREE CD voucher, which I didn't realize. I sent in the voucher only to be told that the above order was not full price.
I paid the $10.15 and then ordered a Boston Pops CD which clearly showed the price as being $17.00 + so I sent in my vouchers. AGAIN I got a statement showing that the Boston Pops CD was "ON SALE" and I saved $7.31 so YET again I could not make use of my voucher IN SPITE of checking that the SITE had it listed as full price.
I SENT that CD back with a note that I would forfeit my free CDs and that you are misrepresenting your prices thus not allowing me to get my free CD's. Today I got a notice from you that I would have to purchase a CD at regular price in order to get my free ones. I have attempted on two occasions to do so, but to no avail. I am canceling my account (As I have told you in writing twice.) and forfeiting my free CDs. I will not be doing business with you. I write for epinions and will be reviewing your service in the very near future. It has been quite unsatisfactory to say the least!
Quite frankly, I've had nothing but very disappointing encounters with your company. Because of this, I will never buy one of your labels again. You can be sure about this, though: I'll definitely tell my friends to steer clear of your music.
This is what I'd like to see BMG Music Services do: I want to cancel my subscription. I suggest BMG let consumers know the accurate price of a CD so they can make an informed decision if it is one they want to buy at a "discount" thus not counting toward the free CDs.
As a music fan who doesn't want to continue being disappointed by disharmony, I hope you respond to this complaint soon.
Sincerely,
jobythebay@adelphia.net
CC:
William D. Delahunt (Federal House)
John F. Kerry (Federal Senate)
On March 19, 2002 I received the following from BMG via e-mail:
To: Jo xxxx Account xxxxxxx
Your correspondence to PlanetFeedBack.com has been referred to this
office.
As you know, we sent you a postcard not long ago advising you that we could process your free selections as soon as you had ordered your required purchase to complete the Membership Agreement.
In light of your correspondence, we have rebilled D140970 12 GREATEST HIT-V by Neil Diamond to serve as your full price qualifying selection. This adjustment has created a remaining balance due of $10.52 on the account for this selection.
Once you have submitted payment of $10.52 to complete the Membership Agreement, you may resubmit your free order for D1402635 BRIDGES - BEST OF, D1329929 20TH CENTURY MASTE and D1106913 THRILLER.
Payments can be made by check, money order, or Credit Card to the address below. Please be sure your account number is written on the actual payment document.
BMG Music Service
PO BOX 1958
Indianapolis, IN 46291-0010
If you wish to submit your payment by Credit Card, please provide the necessary information on the reverse of your billing invoice, or in the spaces below:
( )VISA ( )MASTERCARD ( )AMEX/OPTIMA
( )DISCOVER ( )CARTE BLANCHE ( )DINER'S CLUB
Card No. ________________________ Expiration Date ______
Cardholder's Signature _________________________________
Payment Amount $___________
( ) Charge this amount only
( ) Charge this amount & future orders
You can also submit your credit card payment online at
http://www.bmgmusic.com. Simply follow the MyAccount link. In addition, you may contact us with your credit card information via telephone at (317) 692-9200.
We are sorry to learn that you do not want to continue your membership in BMG Music Service. Please be assured your account has been canceled. It's possible that a recent BMG MUSIC SERVICE MAGAZINE may already be on its way to you. If you should receive such a mailing,
please disregard it.
We regret any misunderstanding regarding this matter. Please let us know if we may be of further assistance.
Your Friends at
BMG Music Service
C18R401002 8591464410
In conclusion:
My problem has been resolved. I will get my free CDs and pay the full price for my Neil Diamond CD which is what I expected to do right from the start. BMG’s misleading “full price” CDs caused a lot of grief and aggravation on my part. The fact that 2 CDs were sent to me “On Sale” I don’t believe for a second was an error of any sort. I believe it is their way to get us to do exactly what I did the first time and that is bite the bullet, pay for it, and buy another one. Their mistake was that the 2nd one I bought was also on sale. If it hadn’t been, I would have ordered my free CDs and been on my way. There is no way I can recommend BMG. In fact I suggest you avoid them. Unless they come up with a way to tell us before hand, not after we receive the CD, that it isn’t full price, then this is a nasty company with which to do business. If in fact, most of their CDs now are not at full price, then actually getting the additional free CDs will be almost impossible.
Any questions, comments, e-mail me or leave one.thanks.
Recommended:
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