Tower.com

[Late]

  Chuck Nessa said:

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

here are los of missing 's in he world, bu hey're no all your faul.

[J Larsen]

As many of you noticed, Tower.com often lists the same cd with different release dates at wildly different prices. I bought several of the cheaper copies of various cds on my order. Though not advertised as such on the site, they are used. I think it is shadey that they don't say they are used on the site, but they seem to be in good shape and the prices were good even for second-hand discs. I won't return these, but I'm not sure how much repeat business they are going to get from me.

[Late]

That sucks that you got used CDs, but I'm glad they seem to be in good shape.

It's weird. I ordered six titles on 5/31 (some of these had "duplicates" at higher prices on the site; I ordered the cheaper ones), and I just received the package today. All discs were shrink-wrapped.

Maybe it has something to do with the fulfillment center? Still, if a disc is used, it should be advertised as such. I'll be interested to hear what kind of response you get when you tell Tower about this.

[Late]

Also of note: Do not order "Special Order" items from the new Tower. You'll be billed, whether you're going to receive them or not. The old Tower site never billed you for a Special Order item unless it actually shipped. With the new Tower, you'll get billed, and then have to call for a refund if the item never ships.

Just a FYI ...

[J Larsen]

It is starting to sound like the answer to the question posed in the thread title is "not really."

[AmirBagachelles]

Be real careful with Tower.com friends, its really Caiman behind the scenes. I had one baaaad experience with Caiman a few years ago, where they debited my card for something they said they had in stock, then stalled me out for 10+ weeks on the credit. My sense is that they used slimy float tactics to build their business, now trying to go legit. (Hey, does that sound like organized crime?) They acquired tower's online business in the bankruptcy process. At this point, no real-time human intervention for customer service at caiman, no real order tracking for anything in-process. Certainly not criminal like the old float scams but enough to be wary of sending them a large order, particularly for hard-to-find stuff (remember Sound City 2000?, ... they might be back, as Sound City Internet). Dan

[Late]

  AmirBagachelles said:

At this point, no real-time human intervention for customer service at caiman, no real order tracking for anything in-process.

Not entirely true. I don't about Caiman itself, but Caiman-Tower does have an 800 number (1-800-ASK-TOWER) where you can talk to a real person. I just called them on Friday to request a refund for a "special order" that I was billed for but that never shipped. The guy explained that when Tower was shifted over to Caiman, all existing/pending orders were closed — meaning billed, whether they'd shipped or not. I'd agree that that's a little dubious, but I'd followed my order (one of two titles had shipped), and he said it was no problem to refund the billed title. I gave him my order number, and then received an e-mail confirmation a few minutes later. When I get my credit card statement, I can post here if/when I receive a credit.

I'm not wanting to "defend" Caiman here, I just think that Caiman-Tower, per se, might be a little different than "regular" Caiman — who I've never purchased from (via Amazon) because of such low ratings. It's understandable that people would have their doubts, but so far I haven't had a "bad" experience with Caiman-Tower.

Last week I received six EMI classical titles (in one shipment) for under $23 shipped. Not too shabby.

[Tom 1960]

I was thinking about taking advantage of there free shipping offer. So it takes 10 - 14 days, it's still a pretty good deal. Has anyone dealt with them more recently and willing to offer further thoughts? I'm looking to bulk up on the OJC's and since the future on these recordings availabilty is shakey at best, I'd like to grab them while I still have the opportunity.

[Ken Dryden]

A retailer either has the CD in stock or not. They don't have any business billing a credit card until the order is ready to ship, it is not like they have to manufacture it.

I've done business with Caiman through half.com and they have been rather erratic about shipping things promptly, which half.com requires--a seller is supposed to be able to ship within two business days or issue a refund. But the thing is that a few too many multiple location sellers never individually list titles as they are in stock, they simply put a generic description, then the orders are confirmed automatically and it is up to the buyer to complain. That's a very unsavory way to do business and such sellers ought to be banned from half.com.

[Kyo]

  Ken Dryden said:

A retailer either has the CD in stock or not. They don't have any business billing a credit card until the order is ready to ship, it is not like they have to manufacture it.

Yes, but that's how things work for Amazon marketplace sellers. The order isn't even forwarded

to the seller before the buyer's credit card is debited. Obviously this is meant as a means to protect

the sellers and offering items that are not really available right away goes against the whole idea.

Does tower.com work the same way or do they wait until they ship before billing?

[brownie]

  Late said:

I don't about Caiman itself, but Caiman-Tower does have an 800 number (1-800-ASK-TOWER) where you can talk to a real person. I just called them on Friday to request a refund for a "special order" that I was billed for but that never shipped. The guy explained that when Tower was shifted over to Caiman, all existing/pending orders were closed — meaning billed, whether they'd shipped or not. I'd agree that that's a little dubious, but I'd followed my order (one of two titles had shipped), and he said it was no problem to refund the billed title. I gave him my order number, and then received an e-mail confirmation a few minutes later. When I get my credit card statement, I can post here if/when I receive a credit.

I'm not wanting to "defend" Caiman here, I just think that Caiman-Tower, per se, might be a little different than "regular" Caiman — who I've never purchased from (via Amazon) because of such low ratings. It's understandable that people would have their doubts, but so far I haven't had a "bad" experience with Caiman-Tower.

Last week I received six EMI classical titles (in one shipment) for under $23 shipped. Not too shabby.

Before I went away for a few weeks, I ordered seven CDs from Caiman via Amazon. Prices were excellent. Got separate answers on the shipment of each releases. Paypal billing was superfast. Now that I am back home, all seven CDs are with me. All were shipped in sturdy envelopes from New Zealand

Will order from Caiman again soon!

[Daniel A]

Welcome back, brownie!

The trick with Caiman seems to be to only order titles which are known to be in print. Caiman can list anything as "In stock" on Amazon marketplace, but if it's an OOP title they will not have it, but charge your credit card anyway and then you'll have to ask for a refund. Usually no problem, but if there's currency conversion involved there will always be a slight loss.

Edited September 24, 2007 by Daniel A

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

  Daniel A said:

Welcome back, brownie!

The trick with Caiman seems to be to only order titles which are known to be in print. Caiman can list anything as "In stock" on Amazon marketplace, but if it's an OOP title they will not have it, but charge your credit card anyway and then you'll have to ask for a refund. Usually no problem, but if there's currency conversion involved there will always be a slight loss.

And a period of time in which they've got your money and you haven't - or you owe it to the credit card company and are paying interest on it. If they have enough customers, even a few days like that, multiplied up, means a good chunk of interest to them at overnight rates.

MG

[Big Al]

I recently placed an order for seven OJCs. They arrived within a week, sealed, packaged nicely, and without any problems or defects. I'll definitely be ordering from them again.

[ejp626]

On the whole, my experiences with Caiman have been good, but I agree that it is not worth going to them for a super-rare item. There are a small number of items of interest to me that you can get through Caiman-amerique on the amazon.fr site (or the amazon.uk site) which are not available on amazon.com. I do wish these were available on all their outlets. I suppose if I want it badly enough, I can find a way to get it.