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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