Complete Bill Evans on Verve

[Free For All]

Overstock.com has one left for $191.

[disaac]

Has anyone received one of these?

Due to an internal error, your recently purchased box set of BILL EVANS, Complete On Verve 18-CD Box NEW Jazz Piano was listed with an incorrect Buy-It-Now price. Your order has been canceled and a refund is currently processing for your payment. We apologize for this error, and will have this item for sale again in our store shortly at the appropriate pricing. Thank you for your understanding regarding this matter.

Please include the original message in all replies.

Thank you for contacting us.

Kurt

Customer Support

universalmusicstore@umusic.com

Universal Music Store

Btw, I replied that my bid was a binding contract to purchase the item for the agreed upon price and my payment was even accepted days ago and NOW you're going to try this?? Uh-uh. Not in those words, of course.

[GregK]

That is terrible customer service. You have every right to complain to ebay about this. They have to honor that price

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

I received one for both the Brownie & Evans box. What a $@# outrage! They're going to take the position that a $99 'buy-it-now' on a Brownie box is somehow a wild error???

[Guest Chaney]

Boy, this stinks.

Unfortunately, I can't envision eBay taking the side of the little guy against universalmusicgroup (47124).

[Brad]

Jeez, I hope I get my set. I'll be ticked if I don't. I checked my paypal account and I haven't gotten a refund so I hope they'll honor it. If not, I'll be sending them a legal type email/letter.

Edited February 26, 2005 by Brad

[Brad]

Has anyone received one of these?

Due to an internal error, your recently purchased box set of BILL EVANS, Complete On Verve 18-CD Box NEW Jazz Piano was listed with an incorrect Buy-It-Now price. Your order has been canceled and a refund is currently processing for your payment. We apologize for this error, and will have this item for sale again in our store shortly at the appropriate pricing. Thank you for your understanding regarding this matter.

Please include the original message in all replies.

Thank you for contacting us.

Kurt

Customer Support

universalmusicstore@umusic.com

Universal Music Store

Btw, I replied that my bid was a binding contract to purchase the item for the agreed upon price and my payment was even accepted days ago and NOW you're going to try this?? Uh-uh. Not in those words, of course.

I got an email this morning saying it would be shipped in a business day (Monday) so we'll see.

[disaac]

The beat goes on -- the complete correspondence.........

Dear Kurt,

This is completely ridiculous -- did you even read my previous email? I am going to give you and your people at UMG another opportunity to respond to me in a manner that makes it clear that my grievance is being heard and attended to. I plan on contacting eBay and making sure that the others who were treated in this fashion regarding this item do so as well. UMG does a tremendous amount of eBay business and I am sure that they would prefer not to have their reputation sullied by behavior such as this.

Daniel Isaac

-------------- Original message --------------

All Bill Evans box sets have been removed from the store due to an incorrect listed Buy-It-Now price. This is being corrected within our system and as soon as it is corrected the item will be re-listed at the correct pricing. As soon as this error in all listings for this item was identified we immediately canceled all auctions and began the refund process. We appreciate your understanding regarding this matter.

Please include the original message in all replies.

Thank you for contacting us.

Kurt

Customer Support

universalmusicstore@umusic.com

Universal Music Store

-----Original Message-----

From: disaac68@comcast.net [mailto:disaac68@comcast.net]

Sent: Friday, February 25, 2005 5:33 PM

To: UMG Auction Customer Support Truition

Subject: Re: Error in listing - order canceled

To whom it may concern,

This is not the appropriate way to do business. I bid on this item on eBay -- my bid was a binding contract to purchase the item at the agreed upon price. I even PAID for this item and had my receipt go through and now, DAYS LATER, you are trying to renege on what, to me, is a clear and binding contract. Please do the right thing and process my order. I should not be made to pay for a mistake that was clearly beyond my control.

Thanks in advance,

Daniel Isaac

-------------- Original message --------------

Due to an internal error, your recently purchased box set of BILL EVANS, Complete On Verve 18-CD Box NEW Jazz Piano was listed with an incorrect Buy-It-Now price. Your order has been canceled and a refund is currently processing for your payment. We apologize for this error, and will have this item for sale again in our store shortly at the appropriate pricing. Thank you for your understanding regarding this matter.

Please include the original message in all replies.

Thank you for contacting us.

Kurt

Customer Support

universalmusicstore@umusic.com

Universal Music Store

SentMail: Email 1 of 72

[Brad]

There is a concept at law called mistake. It has been many years since I studied it but my recollection is that if there is a mutual mistake, that is both parties were mistaken as to the item (Verve made a mistake and we knew that they did -- the price should have been more), that's a voidable transaction. However, if it's unilateral (Verve made the mistake but we thought that we were buying it for $99 and that was the price), it's a good deal and can't be undone. If I've said it correctly, that's the theory. Whether it holds up is another story. One factor that people should point out that they delivered the sets at this price and they shouldn't be allowed to profit from their mistake. It would be unequal application if some received and others didn't.

[Edward]

There is a concept at law called mistake. It has been many years since I studied it but my recollection is that if there is a mutual mistake, that is both parties were mistaken as to the item (Verve made a mistake and we knew that they did -- the price should have been more), that's a voidable transaction. However, if it's unilateral (Verve made the mistake but we thought that we were buying it for $99 and that was the price), it's a good deal and can't be undone. If I've said it correctly, that's the theory. Whether it holds up is another story. One factor that people should point out that they delivered the sets at this price and they shouldn't be allowed to profit from their mistake. It would be unequal application if some received and others didn't.

The following website provides a pretty good summation of the concept of "mistake" as it applies in California:

MISTAKE

Whatever conclusions you may draw from browsing this site, I submit the fact that (at least in the case of Daniel and hopefully also Weizen) Universal actually accepted funds (despite the fact that these funds were later returned) is significant and distinguishes it from Donovan (noted in the previously mentioned website). It has been a while since I have really studied contract law, but I do not see how, in these particular situations, Universal can back out of its contracts after accepting payment in full (and hence complete performance) from the other parties to the transactions. I think that it would be a different matter entirely if Universal had refused to accept payment after the auctions had ended.

At any rate, anyone who successfully made payment to Universal for this set should pursue the matter vigorously despite receipt of notification similar to what Daniel received. In my experience, it seems to help a lot if you follow your name with "Esq." in any correspondence that is sent. I do not see why someone who is not a lawyer could not follow this tactic - I doubt that the bluff would be called.

[Brad]

Edward,

Thanks for posting that. The Donovan case is quite interesting but I think it may be difficult to surmount because of this concept of unconsionability. The best thing going in our favor not only did they accept the funds but that they had already completed several transactions before they attempted to rescind the last two or three.

[sidewinder]

.......... Thank you for contacting us.

Kurt

Customer Support

universalmusicstore@umusic.com

Universal Music Store

.........

Edited February 26, 2005 by sidewinder

[Ron S]

As someone who has a real "Esq." after my name (when addressed by others--it's actually not proper for an attorney to refer to himself as Esquire, although many do), I think the best shot you guys have is to take this up with Ebay. And the fact that UMG IS a "Power Seller" should only peak Ebay's interest.

As anyone who has placed a bid on Ebay knows, you are always explicitly warned at the time of your bid that you are undertaking a CONTRACTUAL obligation to pay the price you bid if you win the auction. Ebay is built upon the foundation of this fundamental principle, and it's easy to imagine how quickly the Ebay system would disintegrate if this principle were not enforced. For example, what would be the consequences for a BUYER who kept winning auctions and reneging on paying because he had made the winning bids "in error?" In short, Ebay's very survival depends on the enforcement of these rules, especially in the case of a large, commercial seller.

And your most persuasive argument is that this item was listed for sale at this price not once, but over and over again, night after night after night. It strains credulity to assert that an honest pricing error was repeated so many times, even as several separate sales at that price were being completed and acknowledged. If it truly were an "honest" mistake, then it would rise to a level of negligence or recklessness in merchant listings that Ebay should want to strongly discourage.

Anyway, that's my free advice. And it's worth about as much as you're paying for it.

[jazzmessenger]

I can't believe Universal is trying to pull that kind of BS. I hope you will get your Evans set, Brad.

[clandy44]

I snagged one several days ago. It was the first time I had bought from Universal on ebay and I was struck during the transaction by a specific "caution" from Universal that, by hitting "Buy It Now" feature, I was entering into a firm commitment to buy the set. I quite agreed at the time, and mentally noted that Universal had bound itself as well when I accepted its offer. I can assure you that I will press the matter with them if they pretend unilateral mistake since I am an attorney and will not allow them to weasel away on the assertion that "a computer error" caused them to mistakenly make the offer.

[Bluerein]

I guess there goes my chance of getting this set cheap..........

[jazzmessenger]

I guess there goes my chance of getting this set cheap..........

Same here...

[ghost of miles]

I also don't find it inconceivable that UMG would be unloading Bill Evans boxes for $99. How well can that box still be selling at this point? How well, I wonder, did it sell in the first place? I hear that the Lester box tanked, and it cost much less than the Evans... granted, Evans may have more commercial viability, but when I heard about the $99 price my first impression was that they were doing something akin to online remaindering, not that a mistake had been made.

I've already got the set--picked it up "used" (it had been barely played) for about $110 a couple years ago, so I wasn't hoping to score here.. but I'm really outraged for Weizen and the others who have gotten a raw deal here from UMG. Stick it to 'em, Clandy44!

[kulu se mama]

i can understand universal not listing any new sets at that price, but for any transaction that was completed including payment, they are going to be hard pressed not to follow through.

they should have noticed their error 15 sets ago.

as for the brownie set, $99.99 is not the greatest price in the world, i don't understand their correction on that price.

[ghost of miles]

as for the brownie set, $99.99 is not the greatest price in the world, i don't understand their correction on that price.

No kidding? What is that--close to 25 percent off list? Big whoop.

[Ron S]

i can understand universal not listing any new sets at that price, but for any transaction that was completed including payment, they are going to be hard pressed not to follow through.

they should have noticed their error 15 sets ago.

My point exactly.

[disaac]

I think it might be most prudent to get those who got shafted together and write a joint email to eBay's customer service department -- I bet we'd have a much better chance this way. UMG has a feedback rating of 15000+ ;; you think it would hurt them a bit if eBay suspended their selling privileges?? I do. Rolf, Brad and others: thoughts?

[Tjazz]

Last night was volleyball night.

Has anyone E-mailed this place to see if they have a stack of them for sale? I should try that.

Later,

Kevin

I played volleyball last night too!

I emailed them thru ebay, inquiring if I could buy the box set. They gave me a 'form' email reply.

2/23/5 I got this email from Universal:

We appreciate your interest in our online Store. The auction item you are interested in is currently closed due to an error in the listing, but be sure to check back soon for a re-listing.

Please include the original message in all replies.

Thank you for contacting us.

Kurt

Customer Support

universalmusicstore@umusic.com

Universal Music Store

I guess it wasn't a good ideal to email them. Universal might not have noticed their price error.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I thought the same thing when I got that reply. I was pretty bummed.

I'm sorry everybody if it turns out that my E-mail did this. As others have said, $99 is a great price but not unheard of if they were dumping product. I just figured I'd get them to up the quantity of the listing so I could get one. I never anticipated this. I mean, heck, they sold almost a dozen of them and never noticed.

EDIT: In my inquiry, I never mentioned the price. I simply asked why they didn't list multiples since they seem to list one every night. I have no idea why the reply mentioned the price.

Kevin

Edited February 26, 2005 by Kevin Bresnahan

[Free For All]

I'm sorry everybody of it turns out that my E-mail did this.

Kevin ruined Christmas.