[mplpost] CD manufacturing alert!

[Karen Taylor]

Hello there,

I’m new to Maplepost – I’ve enjoyed discovering this
whole world of music people alive and kicking…  Rants
from James Gordon about border crossing shenanigans
and outrageous, ever-escalating INS requirements are
particularly resonant.

I’m leaping into the posting scene here because of a
rather shocking and infuriating phone call I received
today. It should be of interest to anyone getting CDs
duplicated, especially through PUNCH MEDIA in Toronto.
 I’d also appreciate some advice on what to do.

A Scott Bailey from “Duplium” gave me a call to say
that a my order of a 1000  Flapjack CDs were sitting
in his warehouse, but that I couldn’t have them unless
I gave him money.

I’d ordered them through PUNCH MEDIA, as I have
without troubles for our last 3 batches. Apparently,
Punch sends the order to Duplium for manufacturing.
Now, Scott tells me, Punch has been locked out of its
offices for whatever murky reasons -- bad debts, back
rent, whatever -- and he suspects it’s permanent. He
says HE’S owed thousands of bucks for manufacturing
orders from PUNCH, including the payment for MY CDs.
However, I already authorized a deposit of 1099.19 on
my VISA to Punch, which has already gone through, AND
I found out from VISA that Punch has already charged
the balance to my card without authorization. So I’ve
been charged 2200 for 1000 CDs and I still can’t get
them.  

I have VISA looking into the unauthorized Punch
charge. As well, I can send VISA proof of Punch’s
bankruptcy (how do I find that, anyone?), and proof
that Punch didn’t provide the products/services, and
then VISA will issue a credit to my account  But that
could take weeks to resolve. It’s also a bit swampy
because Punch DID already provide the booklets for the
CD to Duplium, so they’ve provided SOME of the
services.  

In the meantime, Scott at Duplium says maybe he and I
can come to some “come up with some kind of deal”. 
“You mean you want me to give you money directly” I
asked, just to be perfectly clear. Yes, he says. This
reeks of some kind of scam to me, but I’ve got to
leave on tour on Oct 18 and right now I have exactly
one CD left from our last batch. I really need to get
those CDs that are sitting in that warehouse, or I’ll
lose all the CD income on our upcoming tour, which
would at least cover the 2200 to Punch I’m going to
have to cover on my VISA, whether temporarily or not.
So what should I do? Swing a deal with Scott at
Duplium? Is he really allowed to ask me to pay him
directly?  Problem is, I’m worried that Punch will
just reopen in 2 weeks ie. not go bankrupt, and I’ll
end up paying the VISA bill AND Duplium.

Aside from the above grief, Punch has all of our
artwork on file in their offices. Stupid of me,
certainly, not to have copies of my own, but there you
go, I’ve learned my lesson.I have no idea how to get
it because (unsurprisingly) Punch is not returning
calls, and if the files end up in a dumpster, I have
to have the booklet and back redesigned, which is
plenty expensive and time-consuming.  

So, this post is a heads-up to anyone else that deals
with Punch.  And of course, any helpful hints on how
to deal with this situation, or any bonding with other
folks who are in the muck with Punch, would be very
very welcome,


Karen
www.flapjack.ca


=====
www.flapjack.ca

Flapjack & Cabin Fever Music
PO Box 23, Buckhorn, ON, Canada, K0L 1J0
705-657-7433

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