Over two months ago, in a moment of weakness I went for a promotional deal from Universal Music Group on a Deutsche Grammophon CD set. Eleven discs for $35, plus shipping.
https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/brahms-complete-chamber-music-4304
I waited for the order to be shipped. And waited. And waited. The shipping date kept being moved out by three days. Queries to customer support seemed to be answered by AI bots. This went on and on until I finally requested the order be canceled and my money refunded.
UMG came back with an offer from, I assume, a human being. They would refund the $12 shipping charge, and take about $7.50 off the purchase price and, somewhat to my surprise, they did. Yet the order remained unfilled for almost another month.
Universal Music Group issued a $12.14 USD refund Universal Music Group issued a $7.43 USD refund
A few days ago the package was shipped at last. It should be here today.
The timing of my order being shipped coincides with Universal Music Group’s announcement that it is pulling everything off of TikTok. Obviously, my order was delayed because of the ongoing negotiations.
An Open Letter to the Artist and Songwriter Community
Why We Must Call Time Out on TikTok
As soon as the impasse with TikTok was reached they were able to turn their attention to me. “Why hasn’t this order for the respected and influential blogger Dog Rat been filled yet? Get on it immediately or he’ll rip us online and we’ll never be able to sell another Classical release!”
Funny because it’s true? 😉
The last part was hilarious.