Vinyl Me Please (store, exclusives, swaps, etc)

displayname said:
I think *this* screw up will force *some* fixes. Like @Btsvinylfarm I don't think they are actually capable of fixing everything. But I agree with his point that this site migration is hitting their spreadsheets HARD. During what should be their money making season as well. I can't even imagine how much their execs are quietly sweating right now. They likely considered the new store and site a major investment, and now it's become a major unexpected expense that is going to hurt them visibly for at least Q4 and Q1. We may not get to hear about it, but someone will be fired. But given the way VMP is structured to our knowledge, it will likely be a 3rd party that did the migration, and they likely will have their contract terminated early.


First and foremost - PREACH! Speaking with your wallet is the most powerful thing you can do with a company.

However, I said before, this particular series of issues has to be hitting their books hard. And not just now, but it will continue to hurt them into next year. Between some dropping renewals, refunds, represses, excess shipping charges... you know the list. There is no way this doesn't make a major blip on the bottom line for this quarter and next. Honestly, if I was in their shoes I would be worried about some artists wanting to cancel exclusives or even a ROTM. There is no way they have been able to keep this from partners at this point. And that will REALLY show up when Q4 numbers come in (I do wish we could somehow see those). That is unless they did enough business pre-holiday shopping to somehow offset all of this. But I can't imagine they land anywhere close to their original projections.

Another point that's annoying about financials and the Q by Q view that tends to get hyper focus in VC backed companies... VMP might actually be avoiding some things so it doesn't hit the bottom line as hard this quarter.
Every refund request they move to the bottom of the stack until Jan 1, well that stays off the Q4 bottom line. It's not processed losses or debt yet. Same thing with anyone cancelling subs now. Will they hire new staff or temps to help expedite things or get packages rolling... not in Q4. It's a bad time to take on new expenses. It's actually possible that firing the migration company and not hiring a new one until 2020 is considered a "win" on a spreadsheet because it lowers a major expense. Strategic cost cutting. Can't go over budget in the home stretch. Just ride it out till Q1 and they can adjust their projections before hand. At the end of the day they still are dumping money they should have made, but when it's spread out "correctly" it's "good financial management" that helps "leaders" keep their jobs.


Honestly, the VMP Shitshow is kind of becoming my favorite reality TV show, only it's on a forum on the internet. I hate being a customer, but purely from the outside perspective I have a bowl of popcorn and I'm just waiting to see what could possibly happen next. I thought 25 Mobb Deep records to one person was the season finale, but oh no, VMP decided to announce a mail-em-back raffle with nearly impossible logistics... while logistics is currently their biggest problem! And they they just stopped responding to customer emails? And most customers don't have shipping notices with only two business days left in the business window? How are these crazy kooks going to handle this one? And what about that unknown amount of unfulfilled Fiona orders that are also supposed to ship this month? What could POSSIBLY happen next? I don't know, but I'm kind of curious, lol.
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And thank you for the thoughtful response! I didn't even think of those moves they can make in Q4 v. Q1. It makes sense why the refunds are delayed.

What a clustereff.

Yeah, this is also my favorite reality show. I actually don't watch any others. Lol. I can. not. wait. for all this raffle and mobb deep stuff to start up. CAN NOT WAIT.
 
Dead C said:
If you're waiting on a product you paid for, you're being charged for shit that you didn't agree to, and/or you're not getting your money back, then this doesn't really apply.
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What I said had nothing do do with customers who haven't gotten what they've paid for.
 
Btsvinylfarm said:
Because this is the first one that is almost guaranteed to hit their bottom line. Changing your inventory and web platform are no small tasks, and when there's a fuck up and you didn't think to have a contingency or roll back, and you are losing customers, losing orders, losing payment, shipping albums to the wrong people and resorting to giving out freebies and massive refunds for all the trouble the system change caused, it's guaranteed to hit the bottom line.

VMP likely is not a company with a robust P&L - they make healthy amounts of revenue, but I can't imagine the business is all that profitable. They also probably have a delicate balance sheet, and that's why they can't offer a pay-when-it-ships model. Probably a lot of outstanding liabilities + they definitely recently went through a new round of financing/capital injection. They need the upfront cashflows to sustain in the near term.

So, something like what has happened this past month is going to hurt them.

Now, I don't know if this will make them fix everything, because I'm simply not sure they're capable of fixing anything. But this clusterfuck, unlike smaller ones of the past, is more likely than ever to hit their wallets.
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You previously mentioned how and when you came in and out of VMP. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. A lot of people left during the forum shut down too. Also, keep in mind that we're viewing both of these through our own lens of people who are a part of these communities. Most customers aren't and have no idea that the whole company is fucked. They just think their album is taking a long time. Next month someone else will be experiencing something like this for the first time with no context
 
Dead C said:
You previously mentioned how and when you came in and out of VMP. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. A lot of people left during the forum shut down too. Also, keep in mind that we're viewing both of these through our own lens of people who are a part of these communities. Most customers aren't and have no idea that the whole company is fucked. They just think their album is taking a long time. Next month someone else will be experiencing something like this for the first time with no context
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Yeah but the forum shutting down didn't cause fulfillment issues. And while most customers aren't actively on reddit to get the news about the shitfest at VMP, it isn't like they won't notice that their "December" RotM doesn't arrive until January.

And the other thing about to bite VMP here is that this is the last month in many newer customers' 3-month sub that signed up early to get the QOTSA (Flaming Lips, Queens, Aretha). This is where playing up that FOMO could burn them. Because the January RotMs look like relative duds compared to the recent albums. And they're not going to announce their February thru April trifecta yet.

A lot of people won't be renewing.

That, plus all the folks who had issues with swaps, order pages showing wrong stuff, delays on past albums (people still waiting on November boxes). Refunds are definitely going out at a higher rate than ever. In all, it's a bad picture for the bottom line of a company that probably breaks even outside of their peak months where they get something like De La or QOTSA
 
Btsvinylfarm said:
Yeah but the forum shutting down didn't cause fulfillment issues. And while most customers aren't actively on reddit to get the news about the shitfest at VMP, it isn't like they won't notice that their "December" RotM doesn't arrive until January.

And the other thing about to bite VMP here is that this is the last month in many newer customers' 3-month sub that signed up early to get the QOTSA (Flaming Lips, Queens, Aretha). This is where playing up that FOMO could burn them. Because the January RotMs look like relative duds compared to the recent albums. And they're not going to announce their February thru April trifecta yet.

A lot of people won't be renewing.

That, plus all the folks who had issues with swaps, order pages showing wrong stuff, delays on past albums (people still waiting on November boxes). Refunds are definitely going out at a higher rate than ever. In all, it's a bad picture for the bottom line of a company that probably breaks even outside of their peak months where they get something like De La or QOTSA
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Not to mention the fact that they appear to be randomly shipping single items instead of entire boxes. I've had two singles go out this month, without my main box. That's going to triple their shipping costs this month for me alone... Times that by 30,000 subscribers... Yowza.
 
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