This disc is turned and framed, it's seen much better days

by Yome NetSan 29. October 2012

I think I have a rather big Phish collection but I don't often show the items I buy. So here are some of the last Phish related vinyls and discs I recently received.

The last Marco Benevento record is as good as the previous ones is not better. Moreover Mike Gordon plays bass and mandolin on Escape Horse, a tune already released last year as a limited 7" disc.

Like most of us, I discovered Jennifer Hartswick with TAB, but the girl really need more recognition for his solo work. All of her 3 albums are absolutely great, very jazzy and funky, and her contribution to Everyone Orchestra's first studio album makes it feel like one of her own.

Continue reading...

Good answer !

by Yome NetSan 28. January 2010

Pfff, I'm seeing the end of it !
Too bad I won't see my 6 months baby with a Phish beanie anytime soon...

Here's my contact's answer and mine bellow.

Hi Guillaume.

I’m sorry I missed your first email. It was set aside by my spam filter – presumably because of the numerous exclamation points in the subject line. I apologize for not seeing it sooner.

I’m also sorry to learn that they processed your new shipment with the shortage of those items. Totally ridiculous. I’m refunding you $31 for the cost of those items, since we are completely out of those items. That refund should occur sometime today. I already refunded your shipping last time around, so I can’t do anything further there.

I agree with you that those shipping rates are ridiculous. I’ve long complained to my bosses that we are well above reasonable rates, and have already forwarded your emails to them to remind them yet again. It’s not like I’m pocketing that money personally.

The best I can do is extend some good faith to you as a fellow Phish fan. I’m going to set up a couple of unique discount codes for you which can be redeemed for free/discounted shipping on future orders. It might take me a day or two to get these set up, but I promise to send them along when they are ready. If you choose to shop with us again and use the codes, great. If you want to give them to a friend, that’s fine too. I also understand if this has soured you so much that you never shop with us again.

I’ll be in touch with those codes when they’re ready. Again, sorry about the poor communication on these out of stock items.

Best Regards,

 

Hi

Thanks for your answer, I was about to send a "third try" ;-)

Indeed, I didn't calculated the currency change ($>€) between the refund I got and the actual shipping fee. So there's no problem about the missing item, except that I was informed at all. It was really a downer when I open the parcel after the joy (!) of actually received it !

I appreciate your honest answer about the shipping rates and the discount coupons.
Of course, I'd be tented to say I'll never buy from Dry Goods any more. Unfortunatly, there's no alternative for some items...
I just hope my next order won't took 5 months to come and, if it happens, that the normal customer service will answer me properly :)

Thanks again for your help with this issue. Sorry I had to send to you so many emails ;)

Guillaume

 

Now I can relax and finally appreciate my Joy Box, my Joy Vinyl and my Joy CD.

Still waiting (part 4)

by Yome NetSan 14. January 2010

Good news !

Music Today's merch account manager answered me very quickly on Friday !

Thanks for your email Guillaume, and I’m sorry to hear that you haven’t received your order yet. Let me correct the situation for you as best I can.

I will have a new order shipped out to you by expedited/trackable shipping method right away. I will email you once I have tracking information -- hopefully later today, but definitely no later than Monday. Can you please confirm that there aren’t any errors in your shipping address? This is the address we used on the previous package:

Guillaume
xxxxx
xxxxx
xxxxx
France

I will get back to you later today with an update on the new shipment. Please do let me know if we should make any changes to your shipping address.

Also, we will refund your shipping charges, as we’ve clearly not give you proper service in this regard. You should see that refund on your bank statement within the next 5 business days.

Best Regards,

I got another email later after I confirmed the shipping address.

I have good hopes that this issue will finally comes to an end but it's thursday and I'm still waiting the tracking number and the refund.

Still waiting (part 3)

by Yome NetSan 8. January 2010

New year a new messages to Dry Goods...

I haven't received an answer to my 17th december email (already in holidays) so I sent 2 more this week. Still nothing.

So this morning, I emails directly Music Today's merch account manager which address as been given to my by a fellow reader. I hope it will make things moove...

Hello Mr. .......

I'm sorry to write to you directly but I have a serious issue with Phish's Dry Goods and I didn't get an answer to my emails since the 23th november 2009.

You can read the whole writing bellow but to make a long story short here is my problem :

I made an order on Dry Goods site on the 11th august 2009 (#24332894, $225.20 including $59.14 for standard international shipping as I'm in France).
This order contains, amongst other items, Phish's Joy Box which was delayed until mid-november.
I sent an email on the 17th november asking when my order will be shipped. I received the following day the shipping email and then an standard answer to my message saying that it was shipped on the 17th (strange cohincidence ?) and that international orders don't have a tracking number.
1 month later (17th december), I was still waiting for my order and ask again your custom service.
I sent again emails after the holidays but I still got no answer and still got no order (I checked my post office).

Right now, I'm rather upset that I spent $225 in august and I still didn't received my order.
Moreover, I'm really surprised that after paying $59 for shipping fees, you don't provide a tracking number.
I'm used to order items over the internet to foreign contry (USA, Europe or Asia) and Dry Goods has by far the most expensive shipping fees with the worst service (since its managed by Music Today).

You can read the following messages for furthur details and examples of overrated shipping fees (last example is $28.84 for shipping a $9.99 festival 8 playing card game, standard shipping !!).

I also post updates for this issue on my European Phish blog (http://www.bouncingaroundeuroom.eu/?tag=/music+today), that's how I got your direct email.

I hope you'll be able to help me finally get my order and understand your international shipping fees

Thanks a lot.

It was the good old time....

by Yome NetSan 23. December 2009

I just found 2 invoices for orders I made to Dry Goods back in the days.

10/31/2003 : Live in Vegas DVD $17
International shipping : $5

06/07/2004 : The White Tape CD $11
International shipping : $5

Now that MusicToday manage Dry Goods, international shipping for a $14 T-shirt is $16.21 !
I tried to buy The White Tape to check the shipping fee and they are $15.21 (the CD itself is now $12), as for Live in Vegas.

So it's three time the price !

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for both my Joy Box and an answer from my last message to Dry Goods...

 

Anyway, have a Merry Christmas and try to start 2010 as best as you can ! Have fun in Miami Holger !

 

Still waiting (part 2)

by Yome NetSan 17. December 2009

As expected, my new update about my Joy Box is another mail to Dry Goods...

Hi,
Your standard answer to my email sounds like a bad joke. I wonder if you have really read my original message...

The fact is that I'm still waiting for my order #24332894.
I checked my shipping address on your website and it's good (I've already ordered several times with this same account without changing the shipping address).
I checked my local post office and they don't have this parcel for me (meanwhile, I received other orders from several websites from France, Canada and Asia during this 2 last mounths without any issue).

I'm in touch with other european fans who already received their Joy Box (but with a scratch) as you can see here :
http://www.bouncingaroundeuroom.eu/post/2009/12/12/PHISH-Jox-Box-finally-arrived-in-Germany.aspx

I can't understand how you can make people pay such expensive international shipping fee ($59 in my case !!) without providing a basic tracking number ! Moreover, the items aren't that protected in the parcel and always come with a small or big scratch.
It is totally unprofessional and very disrespectful for your "valued" customer.
I'd like you to explain me how my order would cost you $59 to ship, with details. I have very high doubts about that amount.

Another example : If I want to order a simple t-shirt right now during the "7 Below sale", shipping to France would cost me $16.21 for a $14 shirt ! How can you justify those $16 without a tracking number ???
And of course, the free shipping is good only for US customers...

It's not a small order to an obscure seller on ebay in a difficult-to-reach country, it's a $225 order on the official web store of an internationally famous rock band !

I ordered on the 11th august 2009 and I doubt I'll get it before 2010 !

This is really a bad joke...

Please, I'm waiting for a real answer.

PHISH "Jox Box" finally arrived in Germany

by Holger 12. December 2009

Wednesday Dec 10th I finally got a letter that I can come to the German customs office in Berlin Schoeneberg to pay tax and release my delivery. So I drove to the department first thing in the morning on Thursday Dec 11th. From my previous experience I expected nothing less than 2 hours of driving and waiting. I was so damn right.

When you get there your have to show them the letter and you have to draw a waiting number - mine was #35. Next step after waiting is to go in, open the package by yourself, take out all contents and show them to the officer. Then he calculates the tax on basis of the value of the goods + delivery. It's 19% in Germany so on top of my 130,- USD value of goods + 50,- USD shipping I had to pay 23,- EUR tax. But you have to wait again before you are allowed to pay. With the receipt of your payment you can go back and finally release your order. What a hassle! But hey, fuck it - it's Phish :-) I would drive to Alaska.

The good thing about showing all contents of the box to the officer was to see them by myself for the first time in real. I got a huge smile on my face and the officer seemed to be kind of impressed as well. After driving to work I proudly showed the box to my colleagues. At home after work I made a couple of pictures.

The box itself is massive. Made out of heavy cardbox. Originally I thought its made out of plastic or wood. The cardbox seems not so stabile on the edges and corners. My box had a little scratch. Inside you find a hardcover book with lyrics, pictures and 2 CDs and 1 DVD. You also find 10 signed posters by different artists.

It's definately worth 75,- USD and you get a special price (11 USD each) for 2 Joy T-shirts.

Let me introduce myself

by Holger 10. December 2009

Yome was so kind to let me blog on his site.

Let me introduce myself shortly before I start to post stories about my Phish travels and experiences. My name is Holger and I am a German Phish phan who lives in Berlin since 2003.

My sister was hosting a kid from Massechusetts as part of a youth exchange back in the mid 90s. He had some Phish records in his CD collection incl. “Hoist” and “A Live One” as far as I remember. I was interested but not blown away immediately to admit. 1-2 years later I was reading the German music magazine “Musicexpress” and my attention was caught by the record of the month article – “Billy Breathes”. I almost forgot about Phish since I first heard them but I gave them a second chance. The album was gorgeous.

Only a couple of month later I saw that they play a show in Munich which was about 150 miles away from my parent’s house. I decided to drive down with a friend. The show changed my life. In the same summer they played only 60 miles away from my parents home in Nuremberg. I bought tickets for me and my friends.Later my sister and me also won 2 tickets in a competition by our local news paper because we were the only people who took part. So we brought two more friends. The show was amazing. Only one year later another Europe tour was announced. This time Germany was left out but Prague was only 130 miles away. This was my best show so far. Unfortunately we did not stay overnight – big mistake because it was the last time they came to Europe since then. Who could foresee this?


In 1999 I was very close to book a trip to Big Cypress after I got mailing with the announcement but in December ’99 I felt in love with my girlfriend so I didn’t want to leave her alone over our first NYE. Years went by and as a student I had absolutely no money to follow Phish in the US while Europe was constantly left out of their touring plans (maybe due to the increasing drug issues of Trey which could easily cause trouble if you travel accross different countries). In 2002 I got my first real job and in 2003 my girlfriend and me were flying to the gigs in East Rutherford (with special guest B.B.King) and Worcester and also to Miami for 2 out of 4 shows of the NYE run. In 2004 we attended 2 of the Las Vegas shows. We never did this for Phish alone but always planned a road trip around it with classic sight-seeing stuff. I had some of the best times of my life on these travels.

When Phish broke up I was shocked and very sad. Once the first reunion rumors came up my fanatism was back on track. I tried hard to get tickets for Hampton through the lottery and on Livenation but failed. I retried for the summer tour and had tickets in the basket but the site crashed several times. Don’t ask me how but as I wanted to see Phish again so badly I somehow manged to get tickets for Deer Creek / Noblesville and both Alpine Valley shows. The trip was only 4 days – fly in, fly out (Berlin-Amsterdam-Detroit-Chicaco + drive to Indianapolis). I was all alone and came just to see Phish. Crazy? Life saving! The shows and people I met on the trip ("Hi" to Matt & Justin!) were worth every Euro and Dollar. People around me thought this could heal my hunger but the complete opposite was the case. A total relapse: I am more addicted than ever. “Joy” is a great album and tomorrow morning I will drive to customs to finally get my box set.

In a little more then 2 weeks my girlfriend (still the same after 10 years of tolerating my passion) and me will fly to Miami to see all 4 shows of the NYE run 2009. We got lower section tickets on ticketmaster (I might tell you the whole drama of buying them in a different post) so I have no doubt that the shows will be mind blowing. I plan to blog about the trip to keep you updated. We will see what 2010 and the future brings for us Phish phans - hopefully some Europe shows after then 12 years of abstinence…

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/treyanastasio/sets/72157622845648589/

 




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