Dutton Vocalion Surround SACD Orders Sent by Royal Mail & Ascendia

[privateuniverse]

Question...... I ordered the two Art G. titles on January 5th. It's the 3rd time that I've ordered direct from DV. The other two times I didn't pay for tracking but this time I did. I know that with my other orders they never sent a shipping confirmation e-mail, but I assumed that since I was paying for tracking this time that they might notify me of a tracking #. Yes? No?

I am also a little concerned about this order because when I check my order history on their site, this order isn't listed even though I did get an order confirmation e-mail (w/ order #) when the order was placed. They also charged my credit card immediately after I placed the order.

Anyone have similar experiences?

 

[karlkastner]

I ordered a couple discs on December 16th. I did not receive a tracking number. I've sent a couple emails asking to confirm that the order shipped. No reply.

All I have is my PayPal receipt. I know with the holidays things may have been delayed. I'm expecting to receive them by the end of next week.

 

[fac23]

The tracking is used so DV can check the status of a package in case it doesn't arrive. It's the old school way of doing things. These days people expect to be able to track orders themselves (quite understandably, one might argue) but that hasn't always been the case and DV clearly has no way to easily provide such a thing through their website. Which doesn't mean the additional expense isn't worth it.

 

[karlkastner]

Oh Hell Yeah - Me Doc and Chet Atkins order fiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnally arrived wow :yikes

Would Snood tell us how much time elapsed from ordering to receipt?

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Question...... I ordered the two Art G. titles on January 5th. It's the 3rd time that I've ordered direct from DV. The other two times I didn't pay for tracking but this time I did. I know that with my other orders they never sent a shipping confirmation e-mail, but I assumed that since I was paying for tracking this time that they might notify me of a tracking #. Yes? No?

I am also a little concerned about this order because when I check my order history on their site, this order isn't listed even though I did get an order confirmation e-mail (w/ order #) when the order was placed. They also charged my credit card immediately after I placed the order.

Anyone have similar experiences?

I had the same experience...and here is what I learned and did..they don't send shipping notices...what you can do is this...when they send you an email with your order number on it just use that email and send a reply asking for the tracking number..they use Asendia....here is their website...just understand that the tracking system is not very exact...

 

[John Svensson]

I received my Dec 15th order about Jan 10, that seems to be about normal to the US. My early Jan order for the 3 latest is also "out there". I don't go for the tracking but have never had a lost shipment. That said, looking at my Account's order history on their site, the last entry is for a November order, so its clear that they don't keep that data up to date in any way...which is odd since you'd think that would be automatically compiled. John

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I received my Dec 15th order about Jan 10, that seems to be about normal to the US. My early Jan order for the 3 latest is also "out there". I don't go for the tracking but have never had a lost shipment. That said, looking at my Account's order history on their site, the last entry is for a November order, so its clear that they don't keep that data up to date in any way...which is odd since you'd think that would be automatically compiled. John

From my observations.. these are all signs of a small company..maybe not a "mom and pop" venture...but it's not very big...both times I have contacted them I got responses from Simon..and he's a nice guy and very British...you can tell they are trying to do things the right way and I would surmise that their new found popularity(from quad fans and music lovers on forums)has overwhelmed them..of course they don't do things as "polished" as the amazons of the world..and I guess "old school"might apply to their business model...but what a diamond in the rough for us music lovers

 

[bmoura]

I received my Dec 15th order about Jan 10, that seems to be about normal to the US. My early Jan order for the 3 latest is also "out there". I don't go for the tracking but have never had a lost shipment. That said, looking at my Account's order history on their site, the last entry is for a November order, so its clear that they don't keep that data up to date in any way...which is odd since you'd think that would be automatically compiled. John

My experience is similar. The Vocalion orders arrive in the US anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks via Ascendia/Swiss Post.
Apparently the discs are sent from the UK to Switzerland and then to the US.

Right now my Chet Atkins Surround SACD shipment is in New York after being shipped out in late December. So this one looks like a 3-weeker.
No activity yet on the Art Garfunkel & Lynn Anderson SACD shipment. So it's probably a 2 to 3 weeker.

Ideally Vocalion would offer shipment via an express carrier like DHL, Fed Ex or UPS.
That would increase shipping costs to the customer. But the customers willing to pay for expedited shipment would have full tracking information - and delivery much quicker.

A good example of that is CD Japan. They offer international shipping that brings you the SACDs on the release date.
Pretty much every time.

 

[privateuniverse]

Thanks for the info everyone!

:banana:

 

[steelydave]

Just to address a couple of things in this thread from my understanding/experience:

Vocalion offer two shipping options, regular and tracked. For me in Canada, the regular service usually takes about 3-4 weeks. The tracked service is also effectively an expedited service, and it's about twice as fast - my last couple of shipments have arrived in 5-10 days.

Vocalion do not send out tracking number emails as part of the tracked service, but their customer service (as many people here can attest to) is friendly and helpful. If you want to track your order, or you have a problem with your order or it hasn't arrived in a reasonable amount of time, email them (orders at duttonvocalion.co.uk) with your order info and they'll be happy to help you out.

 

[bmoura]

Vocalion offer two shipping options, regular and tracked. For me in Canada, the regular service usually takes about 3-4 weeks. The tracked service is also effectively an expedited service, and it's about twice as fast - my last couple of shipments have arrived in 5-10 days.

I've tried the tracked service for my last few orders. In one case, the SACDs arrived in 1 week. But the other times, they came in 2-3 weeks.
So, usually not much different time-wise than the un-tracked service.

 

[karlkastner]

I ordered a couple discs on December 16th. I did not receive a tracking number. I've sent a couple emails asking to confirm that the order shipped. No reply.

All I have is my PayPal receipt. I know with the holidays things may have been delayed. I'm expecting to receive them by the end of next week.

Postscript: Evidently Simon at DV had been trying to email me, but those didn't appear in my Gmail. Thanks to SteelyDave, acting as a go between, we got my order straightened out. My Paypal was charged but no DV order was created somehow. At any rate its all good.

I told Simon that since many of my QQ contemporaries have waited since the 70's for these quad/sacd releases, I guess I could wait a couple of more weeks!

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I've tried the tracked service for my last few orders. In one case, the SACDs arrived in 1 week. But the other times, they came in 2-3 weeks.
So, usually not much different time-wise than the un-tracked service.

I wonder how much of that is DV or it is the delivery agents?

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Just to address a couple of things in this thread from my understanding/experience:

Vocalion offer two shipping options, regular and tracked. For me in Canada, the regular service usually takes about 3-4 weeks. The tracked service is also effectively an expedited service, and it's about twice as fast - my last couple of shipments have arrived in 5-10 days.

Vocalion do not send out tracking number emails as part of the tracked service, but their customer service (as many people here can attest to) is friendly and helpful. If you want to track your order, or you have a problem with your order or it hasn't arrived in a reasonable amount of time, email them (orders at duttonvocalion.co.uk) with your order info and they'll be happy to help you out.

I found it easier to just use the original order email from then and use the reply function on your computer...that way the order information is already there...that's what I did and it worked fine for me

 

[steelydave]

I wonder how much of that is DV or it is the delivery agents?

Simon from D-V's shipping department tells me that they currently ship within 24 hours of order placement, so whatever disparity there is in delivery times (for me it's been anywhere between 1 week and 4 weeks) is due to the vagaries of the international postal system.

Simon also added that they also reply to all emails within 24 hours as well (weekends excluded). So if your shipment seems late (or you have any worries at all) don't hesitate to contact them, or if in the rare occasion (like karlkastner, where gmail's spam filter was rejecting D-V's emails) you've emailed them but don't seem to be getting a response, feel free to get in touch with me and I'll inquire on your behalf.

 

[rustyandi]

I received my 3 new SACD,s today
Melbourne .Aus.

 

[Philip Spinner]

Received my latest package a few days ago. Two of the cases were severely cracked from shipment. Next day I received a package from Import cd's with two more cracked cases. This is becoming a growing problem. I will live with it because I'm not about to return them because the discs are fine. I will just get replacement cases but geez.

 

[ubertrout]

Both ImportCDs and D-V use a similar packing method, where sticky corrugated material is used as the only packing/padding material. I'm not a fanatic about cracked cases (as long as it's not falling apart I don't care), but the method is obviously inferior to the method used by Amazon and other sellers, who use mailers with bubble padding or proper boxes.

However, since I'm guessing D-V has already invested capitol in this shipping technology, I'd rather they used the money it would take to retool on more releases and not worry much about it.

 

[ubertrout]

Simon from D-V's shipping department tells me that they currently ship within 24 hours of order placement, so whatever disparity there is in delivery times (for me it's been anywhere between 1 week and 4 weeks) is due to the vagaries of the international postal system.

Simon also added that they also reply to all emails within 24 hours as well (weekends excluded). So if your shipment seems late (or you have any worries at all) don't hesitate to contact them, or if in the rare occasion (like karlkastner, where gmail's spam filter was rejecting D-V's emails) you've emailed them but don't seem to be getting a response, feel free to get in touch with me and I'll inquire on your behalf.

D-V should talk to Google, because they seem to be getting bounced or spam filtered by gmail's spam filter. And possibly others as well. I suspect they've made a mistake and it's costing them; I'd urge them to look into fixing the problem.

 

[4-earredwonder]

Received my latest package a few days ago. Two of the cases were severely cracked from shipment. Next day I received a package from Import cd's with two more cracked cases. This is becoming a growing problem. I will live with it because I'm not about to return them because the discs are fine. I will just get replacement cases but geez.

I'm happy to report that my 2 Garfunkel and Anderson discs arrived today from the UK in mint condition [NO cracks]. Cannot wait to play them all.

I like the covers on the Garfunkel discs.....meaning the original ones....and NOT facsimiles.

Very well done, D~V and now the excitement of finally hearing them in pristine master tape resolution. :banana: