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Hard To Find Records...TAs beware!!!!!!

Hello again my fellow TAs!

After having my 3rd terrible experience with Hard To Find records, I feel it’s time I let the world know what they are like. I, personally, have decided to no longer use them. I am starting this thread to warn others about using www.htfr.com because of the really dodgy shit that's happened to me. Let me take a moment to explain...

Firstly, I ordered 'Sasha & Maria- Be As One' from them mid last year, at a cost of £14.00 including shipping ($20.00 US). It was the usual slow service... it took about a week to arrive even though I live in England, but that I can put up with.

When it did finally arrive, I opened it up and found it was a 4 track EP. Fine I said. I put it on the deck and pressed start... and thought to myself "This isn't the start I remember". It had had about 2 minutes cut off from the beginning. So I wasn't happy. Anyway, I left the tune to play... and 4 minutes later, there was some crappy fade out and that was it! Also the actual quality of the recording was appalling! It sounded like an mp3 at 96 KBPS! I was absolutely furious! The clowns at Hard To Find records had totally butchered a brilliant 13-minute tune. What the rip-off bas**rds appeared to have done is taken the tune, made some crappy edit of it, used a vinyl cutter to press the vinyl and then charged an extortionate amount of money to buy it! I was horrified that they could get away with something like that... but I said to myself, 'I've bought lots of vinyl from them and this is their first ever blunder, so I'll let it go and just put it down to bad luck.'. Fool that I am!

Anyway, a few months later I decided I wanted a copy of Underworld- Dark & Long (Dark Train mix). A classic tune from the movie ‘Trainspotting’. And it was available to buy from HTFR at a cost of £15.00 including shipping ($22.00 US). When it finally arrived, I was once again appalled! It looked like I had been ripped off in nearly the exact same fashion. The quality was crap again and it was quite obvious that I had been sold a copy of their copy, which they must have been holding for ransom in their shop! And I had been charged yet another ridiculous amount of money!! At least this time it was the full version… By this point I was getting more and more annoyed with these cowboys and subsequently shopping for vinyl at other (better!) sources…

Now I’m not 100% sure if this 3rd blunder was down to HTFR, but with their track record it wouldn’t surprise me…

A short while later, I decided that I wanted Members Of Mayday- 10 in 01. When this was released in the UK it was over 2 different vinyls with different mixes on each. So at around £7.00 each, it would cost over £14.00 ($20.00 US) to own both, because of shipping. So I went online and did my usual search to find it, and in the end everywhere was sold out except for 2 places…. HTFR and recordstore.com. Each of them had 1 of the vinyls, so I made an order from each of these stores. The 1 from recordstore.com arrived, swiftly and in the original sleeve and everything. The one from HTFR arrived a few days later in some crappy (obviously copied), cheap sleeve. But it had the right mixes listed on it so I didn’t mind too much. Now if this is down to HTFR then they were really sly this time, cos the vinyl was fairly good quality sound and it even had the right mixes printed on the label… it was just like the 1 I got from recordstore.com but labelled with the other mixes. When it actually came down to listening to the tunes, it would appear they had correctly copied the Paul Van Dyk Club mix onto the vinyl… but the other 2 mixes were supposed to be on the other vinyl! So I’d bought a record expecting the Tok Tok remix and the EK mix only to find I now had 2 copies of Paul Van Dyk Short mix and the PvD members only mix! Unbelievable! So this time HTFR had ripped me off for about £9.00 ($13.00 US). £7.00 for the record and £2.00 for the shipping. Now if I’m wrong about this then I apologise to HTFR for making them look bad. But let’s face it, after the other 2 huge blunders it wouldn’t exactly shock me to the core if they were responsible!

So, in total, I feel they have ripped me off for £38.00 ($55.00 US). Maybe I should have learnt my lesson the first time around… but I didn’t and so I paid the price (literally!). So it’s up to you guys if you still wanna use this record store for buying vinyl… I can only tell you what has happened to me and pray that you don’t! I know I will never buy from these guys again.

lateRZ,

barryfigiel

Not only that but they really are bloody hard to find!!!

* flashback of Spad, Miss Prox, Ant, Coup & Volksjoolz driving round Birmingham for 2 hours on a Saturday afternoon *

(we never found them)

have u ever had problems with chemical records? i haven't used them yet so i was wondering.

as far as british record stores www.abovethesky.com has good fast service, no complaints.

Yeh I use Chemical records quite regularly...they provide a very quick, very professional service in my opinion. Not like the clowns at HTFR...

BTW people, if you've had any problems with any record store (like those I've had with HTFR) then let us know about it! It's about time we told each other about the cock-ups these record stores make, so that people stop using them and therefore the stores don't get chance to do it to others...Us TAs have to stick together!

lateRZ,

barryfigiel

Gotta play it safe when it comes to online shopping, many people try to rip you off
10x for letting us know...

So, anyone know any good online stores??

Jon

guys stop buying from htfr , juno , etc ... they are scammers

the best vinyl shop online is CHEMICAL RECORDS http://www.chemical-records.co.uk , why ? because :
1-the prices comparing to the other shops are low (specially if u live OUTSIDE the UK , u don't pay taxes)
-the shipping cost for 1 vinyl is the lowest i have seen (2 pounds)
-the shipping is the FASTEST ever (not DHL or UPS , normal shipping) i ordered 4 vinyls separately and they all came after 7 to 10 days (depending on the day u ordered)
-whenever u contact them they quickly answer u in a polite and respectuous maner

I Live for www.djmr.com.

I dont have a credit card but djmr offers Cash on delivery orders if you live in Canada....there Montreal Based. All my orders have arrived in quickly and in mint condition. Nice selection to.

www.satelliterecords.com <---fast as hell if your in the U.S.

www.planetxusa.com <---sucks my balls cause they dont list whats in stock...causes great pain to realize a vinyl you so desired is not actually offered

www.dotvinyl.com <---crazy ass promos and bootlegs and pretty new records too...cheap too

www.juno.co.uk <--- has a shit load of new and hard to find stuff but i ordered something the 26 of december 2001 and still havent gotten it yet...fucking slow (but i do live in the U.S and it is a U.K. based store)

www.throb.com <---they will work there asses of to get you any of the records they advertise...they found me a copy of humate - love stimulation (blank & jones remix) my favorite song ever!

www.htfr.com <---SUCKS FATTY WOOKIE BALLS

Replayrecords.com is damn good too, bought loads of vinyl from there, and they've only ever made one mistake (they sent me the arful dodger mixes of gabrielle - rise instead of the matt darey mix), they didn't have the matt darey mix in stock, so instead they changed the vinyl, and are going to send me the matt darey mix when they get it in stock
they've also got loads of fairly rare records

I wonder why you didn't do anything about it!! If yu buy a choon at www.only-djs.com and they send you the wrong tune, you can keep it and you get the originally ordered choon for free!!! Now THAT'S service

Maybe try www.musichead.de or smth like www.decksrecords.de

Many thanks to you all for the recommendations of other record stores... though the main idea of this thread was to disuade people from buying their vinyl etc from HTFR...

quote:

Originally posted by Miss Proximus I wonder why you didn't do anything about it!! If yu buy a choon at www.only-djs.com and they send you the wrong tune, you can keep it and you get the originally ordered choon for free!!! Now THAT'S service Maybe try www.musichead.de or smth like www.decksrecords.de

As it happens I did try to do something about it. I emailed them more times than I can remember and I also phoned them about 10 times, but they basically told me to f*ck off... in a 'nice' way of course! I was hardly gonna sit back and not make some effort to get my cash back was I... why do you think I was so pissed off...?! The point is that they sent me low quality, bootleg copies of records and charged me the price for the originals... which is not only a shitty thing to do to regular customers, but also illegal! I've discussed this with one of the other TAs (Flowtation) in some detail and he says it's just like HMV selling copied cds but still chraging you the same price as the original...

Thanks for those recommendations of other record stores. However, I have to disagree with one of your recommendations- www.only-djs.com. Even though they provide a quick service, I think it is only a good place to buy records if you live in Holland, because if you don't they charge you ridiculous amounts of money for shipping. How they can justify £10.37 shipping (nearly $15.00 US) to send 2 vinyls to England is beyond me... tho I have a feeling that might be something to do with DHL who they use to ship international orders. DHL are another set of rip-off bas**rds, but that's another story for another time... And also, if they were to send you a record in error, how exactly do you prove they sent you the wrong record? Is it a case of they just have to trust you and hope you don't rip them off?

CONSUMERS REVOLT!!!!

lateRZ,

barryfigiel

quote:

Originally posted by barryfigiel And also, if they were to send you a record in error, how exactly do you prove they sent you the wrong record? Is it a case of they just have to trust you and hope you don't rip them off?

It's all about marketing strategies sweetie

Its madness!!! I'm not sure of the legal implications, but this has to be illegal, i mean if they are taking original vinyls and pressing copies to sale to the general public this is definitely against the law. Its worth investigating so they don't continue to rip people off!!!. However if this is an innocent mistake on their part, they should be made aware of the fact their suppliers are taking them for a ride. Either way if something is done about it hopefully there standard of service will improve

In reading the whole thread it seems everyone was unhappy with the service they provide but no has mentioned anything about bad quality vinyls or vinyl with incorrect tracks on yet. If anyone has esperienced this they should mention it! I mean you think how many members we have and there friends who buy products from these guys, we must bring them a hell of a lot of business.

Good quality fast service is so hard to find these days

Later

anyone knows a good place to buy records that ships to israel chiply?

I'm a big fan of HMV. I can't list all the things they have done to impress me so far but well.. i'll list a few..
Their new releases are quite cheap upto even 2.99 quids.. i also get a 15% vat refunds and another 10% off using my mate's student id card.. so 25% off every order.
How many vinyls i'd order it's only cost me 10 quids for p&p .. and their packaging is reaally good too.
I've had problem about a missing package earlier and with no argument they just sent it over again.. for free..
etc etc. so if u get a chance to try them out .. i'd really recommend it.

ps: Dj-Energy : Try it out! very cheap p&p as u wanted.

quote:

Originally posted by Narcissus I'm a big fan of HMV. I can't list all the things they have done to impress me so far but well.. i'll list a few.. Their new releases are quite cheap upto even 2.99 quids.. i also get a 15% vat refunds and another 10% off using my mate's student id card.. so 25% off every order. How many vinyls i'd order it's only cost me 10 quids for p&p .. and their packaging is reaally good too. I've had problem about a missing package earlier and with no argument they just sent it over again.. for free.. etc etc. so if u get a chance to try them out .. i'd really recommend it. ps: Dj-Energy : Try it out! very cheap p&p as u wanted.

The main prob with HMV, my friend, is that the vinyl they sell is old! They are too far behind to really compete with the likes of www.clubmusic.com, www.deejay.de or www.chemical-records.co.uk etc. Though I suppose if you can get records from them cheaply then that's a good thing. However, I am personally too impatient to wait for HMV- I'd rather pay top dollar to get the new releases as soon as they are available...not 6- 12 months later when the tunes are yesterdays news!

lateRZ,

barryfigiel

asd

1. chemical records <--- WTF???? they dont even have techno.. lol@them

2. yes, htfr do suxx.. a friend of me ordered 2xtechnics 1210 mk3, but they didnt want to send becuase he used his father's creditcard, and they wouldnt believe that he was his son, even though his fathered called them to tell them that everything was correct.

3. as miss p said, only-djs is very good. they deliver very fast, but the bad thing about them (at least for us in norway), is that they charge lots of $$$$$$$ for shipping, but once again they deliver on your door, so that is good

4. juno is best =/
lots of nice 12"'s, and they deliver fast (at least here), and their shipping taxes aint high -_- thumbs up for juno


conclusion: juno & only djs - use these 2 online stores
htfr = suxxxxxxxx

greetZ!

Dude

I only use www.abovethesky.com

Tony the owner is amaizng and very friendly.
The delivery is very quick and price is good.
I stopped buy from Hard to Find after being screwed
to many times for items.

They only read email and on line orders once a week
This sucks.....

DJ Mag gave Above The Sky 5/5 for service


Go there mate

Another case of Hard To Afford Records shafting people out of their money!

Somebody should get onto trading standards about them or something, we shouldn't have to put up with this kinda shit.

quote:

Originally posted by Special_K I Live for www.djmr.com. I dont have a credit card but djmr offers Cash on delivery orders if you live in Canada....there Montreal Based. All my orders have arrived in quickly and in mint condition. Nice selection to.

Er....I bought from djmr 3 or 4 times. Every single bloody time i order, 2/5 records are backordered and its usually records that i really want. One time i ordered from juno.co.uk and djmr.com the juno records came first . Since i live in canada and djmr is in canada.....wtf! So i stoppped ordering from djmr.

Juno has been good with their orders imo.

http://www.theonlinerecordstore.com is also pretty good but have limited selection

http://www.groovetech.com these guys are good and you can actually phone them up and they will get back to you. Good service, descent selection, (my package arrived ONE Day later after it shipped)

well.. I've used HTFR a few times... granted it's really annoying to pay 20$ a record.. but for collection purposes I'll do it at times. I also bought one of their home made records, for way too much. but the quality was good and other than the sleeve being really flimlsy paper I had no complaints.

but my advice to all of you is buy records at a store. its sooo much easier. Have the store order what u want if they don't have it, etc. I use decadance in NYC. they have the best selection and i give dennis (The owner) a weekly list of old records i want.. and he goes to the distributors and digs around for me.. just this week he found me some ancient records (man with no name - teleport is one!!!) and he charges the regular rate for them. 12$, no tax when paying cash (which is only about 1$ more than satellite but you get personal attention). also they do phone orders etc..

i'm telling you guys the way to go is a small record shop..

dazzed

SO HAS ANYBODY ELSE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH A RECORD STORE... IF SO, TELL US!

lateRZ,

barryfigiel

The stories you hear about HTFR are truly shocking. How can this company still be in business. I have never ordered from them myself, buta friend has and he had the same nightmare with almost 2 week delivery (to the UK) and two if the six tunes were just illegal bootlegs. Its fine buying a bootleg if they let you know and price it accordingly, but for £12 - £15 you expect the original (after all this is what they say it is)

The most shocking thing I have heard about them is that they have an endless supply of homemade bootlegs of 'Prodigy - What Evil Lurks' @ £100. Everytime they sell one another mysteriously appears on the shelves and the label is just crap quality. Some should tell the DTI about their shocking business practice.

Rant over, I can agree with other board members and highly recommend www.dotvinyl.com they have got it spot on IMO. Fast delivery, massive samples, wicked choice of upfront stuff! I love this place!

Question here for those who has used dotvinyl.com. The thing is I've ordered couple of really essential white labels records with them and i haven't got any confirmation mail or reply to my e-mail at all.. i just wonder do u guys ever get notified on mail first? Do they reply mails quickly? I'm really worried.. last chance for me to getting some decent records at good price here =P

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