[albatard]

Amazing news!!!!
Thanks!

[reelybored]

@deathwaltz did you get my email about my address listed as the incorrect address as I have recently moved? Please let me know, thanks

[seb]

Great news he! I'll be there too.Come hang with us in Gent.

[ninjaqutie]

Finally got my Le Matos today!!! It is damaged a bit though. The mailer it was shipped in was rather flimsy; boo. I am really depressed in the quality of the mailer and I am hoping my subs come in a better quality mailer than this one. Otherwise, I have a feeling this will become a repeat issue and I don't think I will be happy with that.

It has some dinged corners, some small spine splits and some scuffing on the jacket. Oddly enough, on the inside, it looks bent in one corner, but not on the outside. All around, it just looks a tad beat up. Regardless, I am still eager to listen to this when I have the chance. I think I recall reading somewhere that a third party was used to ship these out? Do any of you know if that is correct?

[philball1974]

@ninja there definitely seems to have been an issue with some damage. As is often the case with mail order, i often get a ding in the corner.

I wouldn't worry about the Subs though, they were boxed and fully protected. Besides you'd probably have to hit it with a brick to make a dent!

[freshoj]

I am a repeat US subscriber and so far have received everything in good nick, but I too cringe at the mailers. DW briefly was using something better, but seem to be back to the lightweight boxes.

[scottydoo]

I know this is an open forum and I normally enjoy reading that back and forth, but there seems to have been an increase of chatter moaning about packaging recently and it's just getting ridiculous , certainly not aiming this at anyone in particular but we must have something better to talk about than the grade of cardboard used , if there's a particular issue with items turning up damaged then spencer etc have proven in the past that they want to make sure everyone is 100% happy with their purchases so they need emailing directly , no matter how well a record is packed it can be pot luck how it gets treated on its journey , having had multiple parcels from both mondo and deathwaltz recently I've not noticed anything wrong with the packaging used

[skate]

I find it disappointing when members on any forums are discouraged from making posts of a critical nature. I personally think discussion (which is what I've seen here as opposed to 'moaning') centring around packaging and the condition that records arrive in is perfectly valid on a forum dedicated to vinyl, the majority of which is purchased by mail order. More than valid, it is useful. I don't understand why feedback of a critical nature should only be emailed, but its okay to make positive posts on the forum.

It might be a good idea if such discussion were in a separate thread though - then those that are bored by such feedback don't have to look/read. After I recently received a poorly packaged and damaged record from Juno, and experienced their policy of offering store credit as opposed to refunds, I was contemplating how useful it would be if there was a thread specifically dedicated to our experiences of ordering from various online retailers - packaging, delivery times, customer services etc. If agreed, maybe a moderator/admin could move the discussion to a new thread (if one doesn't already exist).

And finally, I type this with trepidation...yes, the mailers DW use are, in my opinion, pretty poor (I too have received damaged vinyl) - similar to those used by Juno & Banquet, who charge around £2.50 delivery. DW's delivery prices of c.£6 really do warrant the use of a better record mailer, such as those used by Mondo or Amazon. I certainly only order records that aren't available elsewhere from companies that package their vinyl poorly, as having to seek replacements/refunds is pretty tiresome.

[Rambler]

A seperate thread for this issue is a good idea. Name and shame the shops that use poor packaging! I would certainly only order from Juno as a last resort...

[Peek-a-boo]

Can't wait to see everyone's top 10 best/worst mail order packaging companies! Putting mine together as we speak.

It is very annoying to get damaged goods but the majority of the blame is with the postal service/delivery companies who treat people's possessions like turd.

[philball1974]

I think the discussion about packaging here are valid as it was related to something sent out by DW. Agreed if you have issues then email spencer directly to resolve but I think it should be encouraged to openly discuss gripes we all share.

Personally I rather see discussion than multiple photos of new records we all have!

[Vapourmire]

I would encourage this discussion also. It's funny, my experiences with Juno have always been positive, i certainly favour their packaging over DW but then each to their own and that's the whole point of discussion isn't it?. My main (and

[ninjaqutie]

I guess I was just taken by surprise because DW has such great product that I expected their mailers to be a good quality to protect that product. This was the first time I have ordered from them directly, so I didn't really know what to expect.

It is somewhere along the lines of when you go to pick up a heavy box and you lift it up with gusto, only to find out that box is empty and you go stumbling backwards because you lifted with all your might. I expected something along the lines of the mercedes of packaging and I got a honda. Yes, it got the job done, but it isn't nearly as nice and this honda had some dings and scratches.

I do have to agree about the postal service treating things like "turds", but if better mailers were used (stiff/hard cornered boxes- I like soundstage's)it would prevent more corner dings. Sadly, that is beyond our (and the label's) control. As for the front of mine having a scuff, I have no idea what would cause that other than before being mailed possibly? As far as people e-mailing the label and sorting things out, what do you suggest when a record is sold out? Such as what happened to me with two of mine? Luckily, Waxwork is doing a repress of one, so I am lucking out there, but I don't know what will happen with this one.

[Vapourmire]

I would encourage this discussion also. It's funny, my experiences with Juno have always been positive, i certainly favour their packaging over DW but then each to their own and that's the whole point of discussion isn't it?. My main (and only) issue with DW is their packaging. It just doesn't match the quality of their beautiful products, and I think I expect the same for each. As with everything though it's probably cost related, maybe the quality of the products would be affected if better packaging were to be used, and I certainly wouldn't want that.

[scottydoo]

Simonsj perhaps I'm a little to close To the subject to comment objectively as run the mail order for 2 record shops , and occasionally get emails from people bemoaning my inadequate packing (baring in mind 99% arrive perfectly in these same packaging) and the people who moan are the ones that moaned that the shipping costs are to high to begin with even tho I ship at cost (or sometimes less) but I digress

Certainly not my intention to shoot down "negative" posts but would prefer them to be constructive , for example your point re deathwaltz postage costs certainly are valid but I'm guessing the difference takes into account the cost of the third party shipper they now use to free up time to expand the label,

To carry on your point also think there is an issue sourcing good quality mailers in the uk anyway so we are kinda stuck with what we can get , some parcels I receive from the states come in such a high grade cardboard that makes me very jealous but the cost of trying to import them over here completly rules them out as an option

I agree that the oversized parcels mondo and amazon use are good at preventing dinged corners and I'm more than happy with them but just recently people had been moaning about these mondo mailers saying they were inadequate which I didn't agree with , that's why ended up posting .

Anyhow that's enough about cardboard lets get this back on DW (more than happy to carry on cardboard ness on another thread)

[DISCOSUCKS...]

Cardboard!!!

(said in the style of Peter Griffin's "Roadhouse!!")

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a-qreb8w0I[/video]

[philball1974]

One thing i will say is I assume the Le Matos was damaged in the warehouse rather than due to packaging. For me certainly the rip on the sleeve could not have been done through packaging.

Also, unless i am getting something different to others I think DW packaging is very good. The subs came in a full on box, which took ages to get in never mind dent or rip. Its definitely the same standard as the likes of Boomkat and Norman.

[skate]

I imagine these posts will be moved, so until then will continue to post about mailers here to keep the conversation together...

@ philball1974 : Maybe subscribers get different mailers to non-subs? As a non-sub, my DW orders so far (still waiting on Le Matos) have come in the fourth one shown on this blog - http://mugwumb.com/2013/06/08/little-po ... l-mailers/

For the nerds amongst us, his posts on mailers are somewhat interesting... http://mugwumb.com/category/packing-vinyls/

[kingmob]

At least you guys got your copies of Le Matos!

[flapdoodle]

Has anyone received the Andrew Liles album, yet?

[Whip Wilson]

I brought this up a few times on Twitter years ago because DWRC products are amazing, but the mailers are wet garbage (sometimes literally). At the time, Spencer said that the UK (maybe Europe in general?) have shitty mailers on the whole and even the lower grade mailers we take for granted in the US are unavailable there except at import prices. That said, I sympathize completely. As someone who imports to the USA, the boxes and envelopes(!) That get used to ship things from the UK incur even more handling damage than I'd imagine they do domestically. I've only had a damaged record from DWRC once, but it's always nerve racking to receive a package with an exposed corner. Now I'm going to listen to Death and Vanilla for the third time since it arrived miraculously whole yesterday afternoon. Chin, chin!

[philball1974]

[blue15]

That's the exact same type of box my sub copies arrived in yesterday - no dings and in super shape. Big congratulations to DW on GODZILLA & CITY for setting the bar so high and sailing over it!

[Bub]

My Death & Vanilla arrived with one of the corners completely torn off the mailer. Looked like someone just took a bite out of it. That was a first for me. Miraculously & thankfully the jacket was unharmed.

Postal workers handle packages like shit, even if you write fragile on them because they obviously deal with so many on a daily basis. Mailers should be prepared to take any abuse or even just the weight of other packages that may/will get stacked on them.

[Captain_Cravat]

The worse packaging I've come across was Amazon. The first LP I ordered from them just came with the dispatch documents and a large 'Fragile' sticker stuck to the cellophane. It's a miracle that the only damage was some bent and slightly crumpled corners... They got a response full of capital letters when they sent one of their packaging survey e-mails the next day.