Presto Classical - anyone else had problems?

[LHC]

I suspect that copies of the Haitink box set might be in short supply and that Presto haven't received enough to fulfil all of their pre-orders.

The only copies for sale on Amazon now appear to all be from external sellers with estimated delivery dates towards the end of this month or into April (and the price has increased considerably with some being offered at £400+), Amazon France are giving a delivery timescale of 1 - 2 months, and Amazon DE are stating a release date of 24 March.

Of course, if Presto are having problems obtaining enough copies they should have kept Petrushka informed.

[MickyD]

Indeed, Hyperion has a fine reputation regarding replacements. However, they were not the only label hit by the problem. Other companies have been less cooperative. I hope Universal continue Hyperion's replacement service. I still have a few which reveal themselves as bronzed with time. I have far too many CDs to go through them systematically, checking for those which have now become faulty due to their slower development of the bronzing.

Yes, I remember other companies too with bronzing issues; luckily I had few of those. I really have my doubts that Universal will be as helpful. I also remember the problem of the foam inserts put into box sets which in time stuck to the discs - if you didn't open a box for many years, they became quite messy. But I am off topic here, sorry.

[Bryn]

My recent communication with Presto, concerning a closely related issue, evinced this immediate response:

Thank you for contacting Presto music. Please be aware we are experiencing a high level of inquiries and it is taking us longer than normal to get back to every email with a personal response. We do apologise for this and understand your frustration, we do ask for your patience with this and kindness towards our staff as we get back on top of our inquiries and we will come back to you as soon as possible.

They do appear to be under some considerable pressure at the moment.

[Dave2002]

I know that I am an old stick-in-the-mud, but the more I read about problems such as these, the more reticent I am to get into downloading or streaming. I honestly wouldn't have the patience with mislabelled or missing tracks etc. I'm happy to stay with CDs.

If you can get them! I have on occasions managed to find suppliers, but sometimes have to resort to ebay and used issues. For example, the Oiseau Lyre Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet's issue from several decades ago [1989?] - which I also have on LP. Fortunately it is sometimes possible to get physical copies, but often not.

[Petrushka]

My recent communication with Presto, concerning a closely related issue, evinced this immediate response:



They do appear to be under some considerable pressure at the moment.

That's exactly the message I got. As a customer awaiting despatch of a long ordered item that kind of insincere guff is the last thing you want to read. The immediate question is: what kind of pressure? Financial? Staff shortages? Have they overreached themselves?

They seem unable or unwilling to fulfill my order and that message provoked an immediate cancelation and re-order elsewhere. There's still no word from them so you have to wonder what's going on. I'm not that bothered about the refund - I want my order!

[vinteuil]

If you can get them! I have on occasions managed to find suppliers, but sometimes have to resort to ebay and used issues / ... / Fortunately it is sometimes possible to get physical copies, but often not.

... agreed. But then - sometimes the Quest for the Almost Unavailable becomes entrancing in its own right. The joy when I have - finally - tracked down the Very Rare Almost Unobtainable CD (from some obscure source... )

PS -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Virtuoso-Recorder-Amsterdam-Stardust-Quartet/dp/B00000E2XQ

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Italian-Recorder-Amsterdam-Stardust-1991-11-12/dp/B01K8L1LIU

.

[Dave2002]

.
And it was always a joy not to have to use the amazon behemoth...
.

Amazon may be a difficult employer, but where we are now we living would be very much worse without Amazon Prime. Most goods arrive within a day or two, and we do use Amazon's streaming video service. That's not to condone, what I believe may be poor business practices, but at least they do provide a service which generally works. Which is more than can be said for Tesla! I am still waiting the courtesy of a reply to the letter I sent to Mr Musk in California in January, and for which I do have a tracking receipt showing it was delivered.

[Wolfram]

At the end of February I placed a pre-order with Presto for Pappano’s Turandot at the advertised price of £24.75 and, as is their normal procedure, they took the money up front at the time of placing the order, unlike Amazon who take the money for pre-orders at the point of despatch. I was then surprised to see just a few days before the release date on their website that the price had been reduced to £22.50. I was quite miffed to have paid the higher price when it hadn’t even been released yet. If I had ordered through Amazon this would not have happened, they would not have taken the money until the item was despatched and would have passed on any reduction in price subsequent to placing the order. In addition, if the price had increased in the meanwhile, they would have still honoured the lower price advertised at the time of ordering. I am sure Presto are well within their rights to do this, and it is just my tough luck. However, I feel that it is unfair and it will actively discourage me from placing pre-orders with them in future; after all where is the incentive to do so if they are going to do this. I try very hard to avoid using Amazon if I can, and wherever possible to purchase from a home grown business - one that actually has a shop somewhere. But in this case it is Amazon who are by far the more reasonable retailer. I emailed Presto about this over a week ago and am still waiting for a reply. So I have shared the experience on this Forum instead.

[MickyD]

If you can get them! I have on occasions managed to find suppliers, but sometimes have to resort to ebay and used issues. For example, the Oiseau Lyre Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet's issue from several decades ago [1989?] - which I also have on LP. Fortunately it is sometimes possible to get physical copies, but often not.

So pleased to see that Vinteuil managed to find you a copy! I agree with him in that there is a strange pleasure in hunting down long-deleted issues. I tried for years to get the Academy of Ancient Music's 'Venice Preserv'd' CD and having heard about e-bay, gave it a try. To my delight, I got hold of a copy from a seller in Singapore!

But yes, I do understand the point you are making. One of the biggest mysteries to me at the moment is the outrageously high prices being asked on Amazon for issues in the Naive Vivaldi series - the discs really don't date from very long ago and are, after all, part of an ongoing cycle. I dropped a line to Naive asking why their releases were so unavailable, especially when their PR machine is so active whenever a new disc is released. Answer came there none.

[vinteuil]

I tried for years to get the Academy of Ancient Music's 'Venice Preserv'd' CD and having heard about e-bay, gave it a try. To my delight, I got hold of a copy from a seller in Singapore!
.

... this one?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00000E46F
.

[MickyD]

... this one?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00000E46F
.

Yes that's it - took me years to find it. And look at how cheap it is now - makes me want to spit!

[silvestrione]

I've used them regularly. No problems, and if something doesn't come in the allotted time, they offer repeated chances to cancel...

[Andrew Slater]

Just taken delivery of 3CDs, ordered last week: no problems at all here.

[Petrushka]

Just taken delivery of 3CDs, ordered last week: no problems at all here.

Yet my pre-ordered boxed set is still showing as 'awaiting despatch'.

Cockney Sparrow, on the Bernard Haitink thread, has pointed out that Presto will only take phone calls on Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 10am to 4pm.

The vibes I'm getting are not positive ones and I wish someone from Presto could see this thread.

[Andrew Slater]

Yet my pre-ordered boxed set is still showing as 'awaiting despatch'.

Let's hope it's something simple, like they've run out of big boxes - that set would have needed quite a large one.