Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

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gigemaz
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#256 Post by gigemaz »

I finally had some movement on mine. It has now processed through the ISC facility in New York. Hopefully it will be arriving within the week!

Hope everyone that has been waiting will get theirs soon!

5/25 - update - mine is out for delivery so hope to be reading it this afternoon! Hope the same for others.
Last edited by gigemaz on Thu 25 May 2023, 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Danimal
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#257 Post by Danimal »

I went to my local post office and spoke with my favorite postman, Rich, last Saturday. He said that in the past five years US customs has taken to randomly locking down entire shipments of incoming overseas mail, then systematically going through it and the process usually takes a month. Could explain why some of us in the US haven’t received our shipments. Have any of you in the US who were waiting received your Annually/Lost CD yet?

gx2066
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#258 Post by gx2066 »

Received mine today. Shipped April 17.

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Danimal
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#259 Post by Danimal »

Received mine in Michigan today. I swear I checked Tuesday and there was no tracking history after Jersey, but today there's tracking history from Sunday, May 21 forward. Either the postman I spoke with was correct, that customs sometimes holds entire containers for a month, or tracked mail from the UK is sent via the slowest transatlantic surface ship to sail in the past 500 years. My tracking shows the parcel left Jersey April 19 and arrived in New York May 21. That's 32 days crossing the Atlantic or stuck in customs. Note for future orders: tracked mail from the official store is not worth the extra cost.

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Meebabi
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#260 Post by Meebabi »

Danimal wrote: Fri 26 May 2023, 12:23 am Received mine in Michigan today. I swear I checked Tuesday and there was no tracking history after Jersey, but today there's tracking history from Sunday, May 21 forward. Either the postman I spoke with was correct, that customs sometimes holds entire containers for a month, or tracked mail from the UK is sent via the slowest transatlantic surface ship to sail in the past 500 years. My tracking shows the parcel left Jersey April 19 and arrived in New York May 21. That's 32 days crossing the Atlantic or stuck in customs. Note for future orders: tracked mail from the official store is not worth the extra cost.
I completely agree with you regarding the extra cost to have an order tracked. I have made a few orders from the store, tracked and not tracked. It made zero difference. Definitely not worth the extra cost.

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oakey
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#261 Post by oakey »

Also Mid May had passed, so I reminded the Store to get back re the double VAT and custom fees…

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PositiveRoleModel
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#262 Post by PositiveRoleModel »

Danimal wrote: Wed 24 May 2023, 11:48 am I went to my local post office and spoke with my favorite postman, Rich, last Saturday. He said that in the past five years US customs has taken to randomly locking down entire shipments of incoming overseas mail, then systematically going through it and the process usually takes a month. Could explain why some of us in the US haven’t received our shipments. Have any of you in the US who were waiting received your Annually/Lost CD yet?
I have also received mine and even though tracked mail is a bit one the expensive side now it's something that I will always spend the extra on if it is available. Only for the peace of mind that you know where an overseas package is, most of the time. This is the 3rd or 4th shipment from the EU that I have had since the pandemic that has been stuck for a month or more with no movement, but being able to track when it gets going again is worth it to pay the extra fee.

The main reason for me is that in 2004 I purchased 12 separate Live Here Now CDs and didn't have them sent by tracked mail and all 12 of them were lost in shipment somewhere. It was a hassle trying to work with both LHN and the USPS and eventually I just had to resign to the fact that I'd never see my purchase. So, I try to prevent that from happening ever again
Last edited by PositiveRoleModel on Tue 30 May 2023, 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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DopeFiend
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#263 Post by DopeFiend »

Received this:
Ingram Support (Pet Shop Boys European Store)

May 30, 2023, 7:11 AM EDT

Hi ____

Thanks for your patience.

Unfortunately your order 0000060595SF_EU has been carrier returned to us.

Unfortunately, due to a technical issue, we're unable to resend this order or provide you with a replacement for your order.

If the item is still available online you're welcome to place a new order. We are currently working to resolve the issue, but unable to confirm when this is likely to be fixed. I understand that this may cause you some disappointment and I apologise to you for this, as we appreciate this isn't the best shopping experience.
I didn't do anything wrong. I ordered it shortly after announcement, used my home address instead of any PO box.
No clue why they failed to fulfill the order.

They act like it's a polite and apologetic email, but completely disregard the fact Annually 2023 is a limited edition publication. "If the item is still available online" they should know that it isn't available, and even if they didn't, it takes 2 seconds to find out. They're disregarding the fact I'm missing out on a collector's item.

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Danimal
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#264 Post by Danimal »

The PSB online store is horrid. They should just partner with Amazon to sell their merchandise and fulfill their orders, it would work much, much better.

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oakey
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#265 Post by oakey »

oakey wrote: Sat 27 May 2023, 7:34 pm Also Mid May had passed, so I reminded the Store to get back re the double VAT and custom fees…
Today received an email that hey are happy to refund, asking for my PayPal account address and the invoice and proof of payment (the latter two I had already sent)
Let's wait and see...

I agree that this store (and most other artist stores) are a mess and unprofessional, with very expensive prices, high shipping cost and poor (or absent) tracking options, adding to the VAT and custom fees issues. I get that artists want a bigger share of the profit and want to sell directly to customers, but there's a reason the amazons of this world are doing so well (at least for us as customers) in comparison. Brexit is also to blame of course for all this red tape, but that's something the UK peeps voted for themselves (not all of them, I know) and that's out of our (as in EU's) hands.

It is what it is. But I will not buy from the store again; I like the Lost CD but it's all getting too expensive. Even regular items are way too expensive, i.e. the Smash 6LP (black vinyl, so not the limited edition) is €161.66 incl P&P versus €119.92 via Amazon (France). So a 35% difference, whereas one would expect the absence of a retail layer would make it possible to offer these items at a lower price than in other stores. Guess which one I have ordered... Amazon will also deliver within 3 days after the release for sure.

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alternativeformat
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#266 Post by alternativeformat »

To add to the record, so to speak, I can happily report that mine also arrived, on May 23 [in Pennsylvania]. Same story as @Danimal, tracking came alive, from NYC, on May 21, after dormancy from April 18.

However, I did not know for sure if it was here until just this past Thursday, because a bit ironically, we left for vacation the day before it arrived. I saw this thread early in the vacation and that's when I found that the status was suddenly Delivered.

But to make it suspenseful 'til I got home, it was listed as delivered in the next zip code over for some reason, even though it had been Out For Delivery in my own zip code.

So I guess like Danimal's postman said, these things can get waylaid in batches.

@DopeFiend, I'm sorry your result was as maddening as that. Being lost is one thing, but for them to have received it back and not be able to resend is inexplicable.

As I said before, I found the Store cordial and responsive, and a lot of the circumstances are out of their hands, but I could do with less stress when I order these things. If only I could move to England. Image

Last note, for Danimal. Our favorite postman was Rich, too! Unfortunately for us, he retired a few months ago.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk


Last edited by alternativeformat on Sat 03 Jun 2023, 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

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DopeFiend
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#267 Post by DopeFiend »

alternativeformat wrote: Sat 03 Jun 2023, 10:57 am @DopeFiend, I'm sorry your result was as maddening as that. Being lost is one thing, but for them to have received it back and not be able to resend is inexplicable.

As I said before, I found the Store cordial and responsive, and a lot of the circumstances are out of their hands, but I could do with less stress when I order these things. If only I could move to England. Image
Thank you.
Last time I used a postal forwarding service, it seems to be the best bet for those living in far away countries.
Pretty poor success rate every year, in terms of whether it gets delivered and how long it takes.
I totally agree with Danimal they should just overhaul the whole service, use another company to fulfill the orders.

Wish
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#268 Post by Wish »

oakey wrote: Tue 30 May 2023, 7:53 pm Today received an email that hey are happy to refund, asking for my PayPal account address and the invoice and proof of payment (the latter two I had already sent)
Let's wait and see...
Any luck with the refund?

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oakey
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#269 Post by oakey »

Well, actually no, nothing happened since...

Just checked the latest message I got from them on May 31:
I can confirm that your refund request is being processed and you should receive your refund within 4 weeks.

I hope that you’ll find this helpful, but if you have any further questions just let me know.

I apologize again for this frustrating experience and thank you for your patience.
It has not been 4 weeks so let's be patient and give them the benefit of the doubt :)

Choliux
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Re: Annually + CD - Published on April 14th, 2023

#270 Post by Choliux »

So, what do we think is the “secret gig” mentioned in the preface of Annually? One of the smaller Primavera shows or something else later in the year??

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