Tower.com

[ASNL77]

I am thinking of buying a few CDs from these guys. How reliable are they? Have any European board members done business with them?

[Chuck Nessa]

They are now owned by Caiman. I'm curious about the shipping time and fill. I hope Caiman doesn't spoil the Tower name.

[Late]

Not from the UK here, but I just placed my first order with the now Caiman-owned Tower.com (— they dropped the "Records" from the URL) today. I'll let you know how it goes.

They've slashed prices (well, as far as EMI goes) on classical discs. I placed an order for six classical discs — it totalled just under $23.

The final switch-over from the old Tower system to the new Caiman-Tower system actually took place just yesterday.

[Eric]

Just checked it out - the lack of a sophisticated search capability (by label anyone?) is not good.

[Big Al]

They also have the same item at two different prices. Take Wayne Shorter's SPEAK NO EVIL:

This one costs 5.86USD. The UPC number is 724349900127, and shows a release date of 5/19/99.

This one costs 6.93USD. The UPC number is 0724349900127, and shows a release date of 3/5/99.

WTF?????

[John L]

  Big Al said:

They also have the same item at two different prices. Take Wayne Shorter's SPEAK NO EVIL:

This one costs 5.86USD. The UPC number is 724349900127, and shows a release date of 5/19/99.

This one costs 6.93USD. The UPC number is 0724349900127, and shows a release date of 3/5/99.

WTF?????

I highly recommend paying the extra dollar to get the 3/5/99 release date.

[DMP]

Not as much detailed information, no sound clips, appears they no longer take American Express. Still a great selection, though, and the prices seem good - I ordered a Tubby Hayes import and an Arnett Cobb OJC, together for about $20, free shipping - we'll see how it goes...

[Eric]

  DMP said:

Still a great selection, though, and the prices seem good

That was my take as well.

[Kyo]

International shipping is $2.99 per item (you can choose expedited and priority shipping, too). Not too bad.

[ASNL77]

I took the plunge! I ordered the Miles Davis at Montreux set for $161 + 6.99 for shipping. Not bad at all.

Yet, the same set was advertised for $296.74 just below . I ordered this last night but I haven't received any confirmation or anything else from them yet. Late, did you receive any confirmation for your order?

Wait and see. I like this type of stress......

Edited June 1, 2007 by ASNL77

[LarryCurleyMoe]

In a word, CAIMAN SUCKS!!!! At different times Ihave ordered 3 items through Amazon from them...received one and had to BADGER THEM for refunds on the 2 items they never shipped because they never had in stock! Sorry to see Tower go down...

[Late]

I've had four orders with Tower-Caiman come through without a glitch. These were all made through the old Tower site (which still had the excellent search engine and sound samples) that was newly powered by Caiman (all my receipts noted "Caiman" on them, and were shipped from a warehouse in Florida rather than Sacramento). The new Tower site is indeed lacking in functions, but maybe that will be corrected over time. I hope so.

The only difference I've noted so far is that shipping takes longer. I used to receive discs from Tower (Sacramento) in 2-3 days (media mail!), but from Caiman (Florida) they take about 10-14 days. All the discs have been in fine shape, and all the orders have been filled. I've even called customer service twice (they're now out of Montreal), and haven't had problems receiving information on orders. One thing to note — Caiman, unlike old Tower, will often ship out discs one at a time, though your confirmation e-mail will simply say "your order has shipped." Once I understood that, I haven't had a problem.

I've read about others having problems with Caiman (though almost exclusively through Amazon), but I've yet to experience a negative transaction.

[J Larsen]

That's a relief to hear. I placed a fairly substantial order right before reading LCM's post.

[Ron S]

It's good to hear that there's a telephone contact for customer service. No trading wonderfully personal emails with the warm-hearted "Claire"--at least not yet.

[HolyStitt]

  Late said:

One thing to note — Caiman, unlike old Tower, will often ship out discs one at a time, though your confirmation e-mail will simply say "your order has shipped." Once I understood that, I haven't had a problem.

Thank you for the information. My order from them just arrived but was missing the Beethoven: Symphony no 9 conducted by Furtwangler at the Bayreuth Festival, so I was a little nervous that they forgot to send it.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

  Kyo said:

International shipping is $2.99 per item (you can choose expedited and priority shipping, too). Not too bad.

That's interesting.

MG

[Late]

You should still be able to talk to an actual person if you call 1-800-ASK-TOWER. At least, that number was still active last week. Just have your order # ready, and be ready to repeat it about 2-3 times for the representative.

My order through the new site evidently shipped today. I received six separate e-mails for each unit (six discs) in the order. Kinda weird, but if they all come in I won't complain.

I much preferred old Tower, but the new site does seem to have pretty good prices — as long as you know what you want before you go there, as the search engine is pretty weak.

Some classical EMI discs are selling for as low as $3.53 ...

[Guy Berger]

They have great prices. Free shipping for big orders, right?

Guy

[Ron S]

  Late said:

I much preferred old Tower, but the new site does seem to have pretty good prices — as long as you know what you want before you go there, as the search engine is pretty weak.

Reminds me of the old AllDirect.com site. Damn, I miss that site--although my wallet doesn't!

[Late]

  Ron S said:

  Late said:

I much preferred old Tower, but the new site does seem to have pretty good prices — as long as you know what you want before you go there, as the search engine is pretty weak.

Reminds me of the old AllDirect.com site. Damn, I miss that site--although my wallet doesn't!

Yeah, I loved AllDirect. I'd wait a couple of months between orders, and then put in a $99+ order (that was the only way to get free shipping, and I think it was FedEx if I recall correctly). I think I bought all my Yazoo discs from them. I even bought my own book from them, as it was cheaper than the wholesale price the press offered. Those were the days!

[Late]

  Guy said:

They have great prices. Free shipping for big orders, right?

Free shipping on orders over $20.

[Chuck Nessa]

  Late said:

  Guy said:

They have great prices. Free shipping for big orders, right?

Free shipping on orders over $20.

I says "free USPS shipping on U. S. items valued $20 or more".

[Late]

  Chuck Nessa said:

I says "free USPS shipping on U. S. items valued $20 or more".

So that's what you've been saying all this time.

I says something different.

[Chuck Nessa]

  Late said:

  Chuck Nessa said:

I says "free USPS shipping on U. S. items valued $20 or more".

So that's what you've been saying all this time.

I says something different.

Lots of missing "t"s in the world. Are they all my fault?

[DMP]

Put in a small order today, go an e-mail this evening that says one has shipped. That's pretty quick, although when it arrives is another story.