Box set - potentially very interesting and useful info

If you go to hmv.co.uk and click on "Coming soon" (near the top of the page - next to "New releases" in the centre) you will get a list of forthcoming releases on various formats. If you click on "Music Albums" (on the left of the page - near the top left of the page) you will get a list of forthcoming albums. Scroll down until you find the releases for November 11th 2002 and you will find "New Order - Box Set: Title To Be Confirmed". The price given for the box set is £16.99. If you think you're seeing things click on "Box Set: Title To Be Confirmed" and you will get a brief page about the box set which restates that the price is £16.99.

In recent months a few retailers have mistakenly advertised products at incredibly low prices on their websites, lots of customers have ordered them at those prices and the retailers have then found themselves in a very tricky position. I don't know if the retailers in question had to sell the goods that customers had ordered at the advertised prices or managed to get out of it. If you are planning on buying the box set regardless of the contents or price and think you could argue your corner in any dispute you may want to consider ordering the box set from HMV making sure that you get printouts at every stage of the transaction in order to prove that it was offered for sale at £16.99 and you ordered it at that price. I don't know if anyone at HMV.co.uk works weekends but it was advertised at £16.99 in the early hours (UK time) of Saturday 19th October 2002. If there is a rush of orders for the box set or requests for the webpage in question someone may spot the error and change the price advertised on the website.

I'm not an expert on consumer law and I've never bought anything over the Internet so I don't know if anyone will be able to get the box set for £16.99. If anyone does know how these things work you may be able to tell us whether or not HMV will have to honour any orders placed at the advertised price. I'm just telling you about this because I thought you may be interested and I'm not sure anyone else has noticed this potential bargain.

My order was accepted and they gave me back the VAT! :D

Originally posted by vlad_nomad My order was accepted and they gave me back the VAT! :D

Forgot to say 'Cheers' Fingers

I've ordered this as well, so with a bit of luck...

I remember Argos getting a price wrong on their website for PCs (I think), missing out a digit and having to sell them to the customers for something like £50 each! It does happen, but it's strange they've set a price for something which doesn't even have a track listing yet.

I bet we'll all get an email telling us the product we've ordered is out of stock, then when it's finally released, it'll be on HMV's site as a completely new product with the real price.

We can only but try, however.

Andy

www.TrustNoOne.org.uk"

Having done a spell in UK music retail, I can recall this situation arising and the method used to deal with it.

If a customer advised us of an item which was deemed priced in error, the legal get-out clause was that the retail price was "an invitation to purchase at that price" which the store could at any time refuse. Just because the price appeared as such, it didn't imply a selling contract for the store at that price. There were further implications for 'advertised special prices'.

Of course internet retail is a different ballgame so you may as well jump in at the low price. Nothing to lose.

:\pimp3:

i ordered it just for the hell of it (from the USA)... i'm not sure what to expect... in the email they sent me this long statement. here it is, pretty funny, as long as they don't charge me more than stated...

from e-Mail...

"Order No: 6264204 1 CD NEW ORDER BOX SET: TITLE TO BE CONFIRMED GBP 14.46

SubTotal: GBP 14.46 VAT (Refunded): 2.53 (applicable to non-EU customers only) Shipping & Handling: GBP 3.00 Total: GBP 17.46

All amounts are in UK pounds

This email does not act as a contract between HMV and yourself. The contract will not be formed until HMV charges your credit card at the point of despatch of the goods. We will send you an email to let you know the goods have been despatched to you, and your offer has been accepted.

PLEASE NOTE: We endeavour to bring our customers the best value we can by running special offers, but please remember stocks are limited and subject to availability. We update our web site as quickly as we can to minimise disappointment. Rest assured your credit card will only be debited as your order or individual items from your order are dispatched.

You will receive an email when your order has been shipped from our Fulfilment Centre. You can check the progress of your order until it is shipped by signing into your account on the HMV web site, and clicking on 'My Orders'. This page will give you the option to display the status of each of your orders. To see the status of an individual item within an order, click on the order number.

Thank-you for shopping at www.hmv.co.uk. All prices at www.hmv.co.uk apply to online purchases only and are not applicable to any HMV UK retail locations. All titles are subject to availability at this price for a limited period only.

Customer Service HMV.co.uk "

whether my "offer has been accepted" ...hmm, bizarre... doesn't sound like i'm going to get it. does pre-ordering count as a "bid"?

Looks like they've cottened on...it's gone from the "Coming Soon" page. DAMN!

I've just (8:30p.m UK time Sunday 20th October 2002) had a look at HMV's website and the box set is still advertised at £16.99 so it looks like no one working on the website works weekends.

I wish I had a credit card too. Then again I wish I was an area manager for HMV because I'd earn a promotion within a few weeks of starting for pointing out all the things they are doing wrong but don't realise are wrong.

Just ordered mine at that price. Fingers crossed eh Fingers !!

i ordered mine last night...looks like they are going to lose a bit on this...we may have enough people to sue HMV if they back out of their end of the deal...although there was something about the contract not being complete until they charge our cards....so they may have a legal out...

Originally posted by Andrew Morrison I bet we'll all get an email telling us the product we've ordered is out of stock, then when it's finally released, it'll be on HMV's site as a completely new product with the real price.

If they did try to do that they would only make themselves look even more foolish than they are. Their description of the product was vague and the only circumstances in which they could argue that you actually ordered a completely new product would be if New Order were to release two different box sets at different prices on the same day (which is highly unlikely given it has taken them years to release one).

It's all a ruse, believe me......please don't be so gullible as to be taken in by this latest scam....

Originally posted by Our Trinitone Blast It's all a ruse, believe me......please don't be so gullible as to be taken in by this latest scam....

What scam? If you think I work for HMV you're wrong. I used to work in another record shop so I know more about the workings of the music business than the man in the street but I don't work for HMV. HMV advertising the NO box set for £16.99 strikes me as another mistake from a company that makes quite a few of them. However, if anyone thinks it's a scam (the nature of which you haven't explained) they don't have to order it. I've mentioned it because I thought some of my fellow NOOLers may want to try to take advantage of HMV's mistake.

Pardon me for the misunderstanding but I never even once suggested from my last post that you worked for HMV!

The reason why I said "scam" can be easily explained away by a few other people's posts above....I'm just supporting and quantifying their comments, that's all.

Originally posted by Our Trinitone Blast Pardon me for the misunderstanding but I never even once suggested from my last post that you worked for HMV!The reason why I said "scam" can be easily explained away by a few other people's posts above....I'm just supporting and quantifying their comments, that's all.

Okay, I accept you didn't imply that I worked for HMV but I still can't work out what the "scam" you're referring to is. HMV list forthcoming releases because they hope people will pre-order them on impulse or in fear that the item will sell out before they can buy it from a shop but they have to put a price on those releases. Advertising the NO box set at £16.99 strikes me as a cock-up similar to others made by other retailers (some retailers are spectacularly incompetent - Tesco recently printed an album chart list for its shops in which it said "Bryan Adams" had just released an album called Demolition when it was actually "Ryan Adams"). If people are going to buy the box set anyway it may be worth them trying to get it from HMV for less than £20 thanks to their cock-up.

a "scam" would imply that they are ripping people off... please elaborate... what "scams" have they pulled in the past???

thanks, guys..... ...just put my order through too..... ...yeah, got my VAT refunded too.... so, do you think we'll all get the boxset by Christmas 2005? .....

Originally posted by Brett Lambe Have had a similar experience in the past, swindled "Heart & Soul" from Amazon for the princely sum of £13.99. Nice. Just ordered it from HMV now, but was immediately struck by the fear that they could be referring to the 2CD French Best Of, and are unaware of any 4 CD box set. Hope I'm wrong, mind. Damn chain stores...

Yeah I'd thought of that, maybe they have confused the French Best Of with the Box set. Hope not !

I've ordered it to and also told afew other friends about it and they've done the same thing. So I really hope that its not the 2CD French best of that turns up on my doorstep in the mail.

But, it all could be worth it in the end if it is the boxset.

Originally posted by Sunrise I've ordered it to and also told afew other friends about it and they've done the same thing. So I really hope that its not the 2CD French best of that turns up on my doorstep in the mail.But, it all could be worth it in the end if it is the boxset.

You cheating sods!:DHope you get the 4 CD BOX SET though.Mind you i have heard that SHUGZV has tipped em off and that is why he has gone QUIET!

oops - ignore this post.

I was chatting to one of my mates who runs the VINYL REVIVAL record shop in Manchester today (Colin - the guy who bears an uncanny resemblance to Simon Pegg off "Big Train"/"Spaced" - and is pretty much your man on all things Factory-related - it's his pal James Nice who got all the obscure Factory bands back catalogue all reissued on LTM recently) and he speculated about a couple of interesting theories (note use of this word in bold) regarding the New Order box set. He reckons they may just do a single worldwide run of about 20-25,000 MAX of this release and when it's out of print, it will effectively be deleted. This is because sources suggest that New Order do not have the vast collectors potential that Joy Division have had all these years, citing the debacle concerning the latter's HEART AND SOUL 4CD set as an example of lack of record company foresight to supply sufficiently to meet demand (when the initial run of 30,000 of these sold out pretty quickly and the label were quickly ordered to press up more copies simply because of a steady stream of orders from buyers overseas).

The second bombshell he dropped was that until I mentioned it NO-ONE had as yet walked into his shop asking about the forthcoming INTERNATIONAL compilation, and his feeling is even New Order fans in Manchester don't give much of a stuff about any New Order product any more. As far as he sees it, it's always Joy Division that has sold....this was substantiated by the fact that all the New Order LPs, Live Bootlegs (including the Sunderland Mayfair 1984 live one that was shrinkwrapped and selling for £20 on the racks) and 7/12"s have resolutely failed to budge from his racks the past few months, whilst there are no JD originals anywhere to be seen. Does that suggest that New Order don't even have much of a dedicated fanbase left even in Manchester, cos it would appear that no one seems to be interested in "International" for starters? Me neither come to that! Ominous portents indeed then.....

Originally posted by Pack Yr Romantic Mind I was chatting to one of my mates who runs the VINYL REVIVAL record shop in Manchester today (Colin - the guy who bears an uncanny resemblance to Simon Pegg off "Big Train"/"Spaced" - and is pretty much your man on all things Factory-related - it's his pal James Nice who got all the obscure Factory bands back catalogue all reissued on LTM recently) and he speculated about a couple of interesting theories (note use of this word in bold) regarding the New Order box set. He reckons they may just do a single worldwide run of about 20-25,000 MAX of this release and when it's out of print, it will effectively be deleted. This is because sources suggest that New Order do not have the vast collectors potential that Joy Division have had all these years, citing the debacle concerning the latter's HEART AND SOUL 4CD set as an example of lack of record company foresight to supply sufficiently to meet demand (when the initial run of 30,000 of these sold out pretty quickly and the label were quickly ordered to press up more copies simply because of a steady stream of orders from buyers overseas).

The second bombshell he dropped was that until I mentioned it NO-ONE had as yet walked into his shop asking about the forthcoming INTERNATIONAL compilation, and his feeling is even New Order fans in Manchester don't give much of a stuff about any New Order product any more. As far as he sees it, it's always Joy Division that has sold....this was substantiated by the fact that all the New Order LPs, Live Bootlegs (including the Sunderland Mayfair 1984 live one that was shrinkwrapped and selling for £20 on the racks) and 7/12"s have resolutely failed to budge from his racks the past few months, whilst there are no JD originals anywhere to be seen. Does that suggest that New Order don't even have much of a dedicated fanbase left even in Manchester, cos it would appear that no one seems to be interested in "International" for starters? Me neither come to that! Ominous portents indeed then.....

Unless they all realize the folley of blowing money on International when they have all the songs already, knowing the box set will be out. I have no intention of buying International before IV. It's like running out and blowing money on Joy Division Permanent a week before buying Heart And Soul.

We have shipped the following items in your order on 2002-12-06:

1 CD NEW ORDER RETRO: BOX: 4CD GBP 14.46

SubTotal: GBP 14.46 Shipping & Handling: GBP 3.00 VAT (Refunded): 2.53 (applicable to non-EU customers only) Total: GBP 17.46

:D

THANK YOU mr. FINGERS