Kevin Sutton wrote:

Wes Crone wrote:

>>I have to be honest and say that I have been returning CDs at Tower for
>>years.  In fact, several years ago I would gather a group of unwanted CDs,
>>take them to the cashier at Tower and tell them I disapproved of the music
>>or the recording quality.  ...
>
>I'm sorry Wes, but that kind of behaviour is absolutely deplorable.  Yes,
>the store did indeed lose money, because the labels strictly limit the
>amount of return credit we receive for opened product.  This is a clear
>abuse of the system and if I were the manager, I'd have sent you packing.

I fully expected this reaction as I myself have worked in sales jobs
similar to Tower and I know the ill feelings one can have toward certain
consumer behaviors.  I worked selling computers at Staples for some time
and we allowed the returns of any and all merchandise (aside from software
for obvious reasons) within 30 days for ANY reason.  Most often people
brought back stuff they didn't like.  We rewrapped everything which was
non-defective and resold for full price.  I believe Tower worked in a
similar manner as I frequently saw my returned cds on the shelf.

Tower is not a library for borrowing cds.  I never borrowed anything but
I did return several cds.  You purchase a product from a store, you are
disappointed with the product and you return it.  Many places function in
this manner:  Restaurants, computer stores, hardware stores.  If cds were
copy-protected then I imagine Tower could easily function like this and
resell the returned functional discs.

The time when I returned cds was before the day when cd recorders were
really even available.  Tower was not worried that I was copying them and
they knew full well how much money I spent every year on their merchandise.
I don't necessarily feel that I was doing right by returning cds.  However,
I was led to believe it was entirely harmless and trouble-free for the
staff at Tower and, after seeing my returned cds at another Tower location,
harmless to the labels as well.  If their product is sold they make profit
regardless of whether it has been returned and sold again or sold only the
one time.  As far as calling my actions abuse of the system, it takes one
simple "no" to end the activity of a consumer.  I never would have
continued to return cds had I felt the slightest ounce of irritation by
staff.  The day finally came when the manager told me Tower does not allow
returns after the given deadline and that was that.  He acknowledged that
I had previously been allowed to do so on many occasions.  His stepping
in to stop my returns was probably a result of the mass production of
CD-R technology and not even related to Tower's strict guidelines.  My
cd-returning behavior was met with zero hesitation on the part of the
management staff and thus I felt fine doing it.  I have been one of their
best customers over the past several years, I believe.  I have easily
purchased a few thousand dollars worth of music from them usually in
bursts of 100-200 dollars.  If Tower has always had the no return on
opened merchandise after 14 days policy then I never caught a whiff of
it.  Maybe the Dallas and Sacramento stores function differently?

>>One more thing regarding Tower Records.  I believe it was Mr. Sutton who
>>works for Tower Records (correct me if I'm wrong) and I would like to know
>>something of Tower's policy regarding returned music.  ...  when I get a
>>bad CD it makes me think it could be a defective CD returned by someone
>>else.  Is this possible?
>
>I don't believe it is, however, if we test something that is truly not
>defective, we have been known to rewrap it and reshelve it.  We do this
>for product that we know full well is not defective, and are returned ad
>nauseum by people who, apparently like you, abuse the good will of the
>company.  ...

I appreciate the kind words and I do enjoy reading your posts.  I am
not one to try and cheat or steal and would be as least likely to do
so as anyone on this list.  My cds have turned up at other stores and
I really don't see any problem with this if they work.  CDs don't suffer
from degradation like tapes and can surely be resold as new if not damaged.
Things are different nowadays with the popularity of cd recorders.  I want
to make this clear.  Back then, if you wanted the sound of the digital
recording you simple had to buy the cd.  I bought many cds and returned a
few.  Imagine a scenario where cds could not be duplicated by any means.
Does it really sound so bad if a company could repackage and resell those
returned undamaged? If this isn't wrong then certainly there is nothing
wrong with the behavior of the consumer doing the buying and returning.

>Music and art is subjective.  There are dozens of options which are
>available to satisfy nearly every taste.  A retail outlet cannot possibly
>guarantee that you will like every recording you buy.  It is you, the
>customer's, responsibility to do a little homework before you lay out money
>for what is, in fact, an investment.  You would not buy a home or a car or
>an insurance policy without doing some consumer research.  Do you return
>a failed stock purchase for a refund? No you don't.  Those of you who
>continually bitch about the high cost of cds and the shriking selection in
>stores can look to the "returners" as one of the causes of the problem.
>You do not help the industry, rather, you help to diminish the available
>funds to produce new and interesting recordings.  Ihave NEVER, in 20 years
>of collecting records returned a disc on the "I don't like this" premise.

I would hardly compare the purchase of a cd to the purchase of a stock or
a car.  Stocks and cars have widely fluctuating value and, in the case of
the car, can lose nearly 50 percent of their market value the second they
become a used item.  CDs are one of the few items which can be as perfect
after 5 years as after 1 day.  I do complain about the high cost of cds
sometimes because they ARE expensive.  I don't believe it has a single
thing to do with the vast numbers of repeat-return offenders like me.  Cd
companies sell their product at a high price because they can.  No matter
what, there will be people who want the Bernstein version or the Szell.
They can mark the price up as high as they like until people quit buying.

I do homework when making a cd purchase.  I do a lot of homework most of
the time but this was not always a possibility.  Consider a 14-year-old
kid when internet access wasn't a consideration (9-10 years ago) and the
only way to hear different readings was to purchase them.  I didn't have
access to virtually any recordings and was forced to purchase them and hope
for the best.  It is really very EASY to get an idea of a particular cd's
sound these days but it wasn't always so.  Add to this picture a budget for
buying cds which was only increased twice a year (Christmas and birthday)
and you have a person with very little means to purchase and VERY little
means to "do homework." I am not crying "poor me" but it is a fact that
information is much more readily available about ANYTHING nowadays than
is was several years ago.

>If you are afraid of a risk, do your homework or buy Naxos, Arte Nova or
>Vox.

I do purchase Naxos and Vox frequently although probably not as often as
I purchase Hyperion or Harmonia Mundi.  I feel safe buying from all 4 of
these companies without doing "homework" because of the low price of the
Naxos and Vox and my consistent satisfaction with Hyperion and Harmonia
Mundi.  Understanding why you are angry after reading my post I can tell
you I have had my share of annoying customers.  Many companies offer a
satisfaction guarantee, however, and I was led to believe it worked this
way at Tower Records.  The problem was that I was incorrect and didn't
know it.  I will continue to purchase from Tower because I like the people
that work there.  Good customer service can make a person blind to the
price of an item.  I'm not so sure you would feel the same about my actions
if you weren't a Tower employee or if you experienced the environment I
experienced when purchasing and returning cds here in Sacramento.  (Citrus
Heights more specifically) Thanks for the post and have a good day!

Wes Crone (I'm not a crook folks, really!)