Help!! My Sealed MFSL Yes "Fragile" Contained an Internet Signup Disc

I just cracked open a sealed copy of MFSL Fragile that I got during the recent Borders $9.99 sale when I was out in Seattle. Much to my shock it did not contain "Fragile" but had a disc to sign me up for "peoplepc online" and a couple of inserts booklets for a website called saddle-creek.com. The front booklet of Fragile was missing and in it's place was a copy of the front cover - which looked pretty convincing. The back tray card looks fake too because it has a white back.

Now this was absolutely sealed! Thick cellophane, even had a sticky thingy on top that I had to peel off that had the correct information and barcode. This was not in a lift lock case - just a regular CD case. Only thing I can think of is that someone went to elaborate efforts to get their money back and keep the disc. The borders price sticker was completly intact - and said "Fragile - Gold Disc" $29.99.

What the hell do I do now? This story is way too bizarre to believe if I go back to Borders here in New Jersey with it for a refund.

 

Contact MusicDirect or Mofi. They helped replace an SACD for me.

 

I'm not sure what you do now, but it wouldn't hurt to try to return the cd to the store. The worst they can do is say no to your refund request and you're only out $10.

It seems like I've read a story similar to yours here before. I think the lesson for everyone is that unless you are buying a new, sealed copy of an in-print cd, it's important to open your purchases while still at the store. That way it's obvious to the store that you're not trying to pull anything over on them if the case doesn't contain what it's supposed to.

 

9.99 for a MFSL Fragile- File that under too good to be true, I guess. I'd be bringing it back to Borders asap.

 

It was a new sealed copy of an in-print CD.

 

Look at the bright side. At least you don't have to sit thru "Cans and Brahms".

Sorry to learn you got scammed.

 

That $9.99 sale was amazing. I talked about getting 3 MFSL's for $9.99 each here last month.
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?p=3114627#post3114627

 

Then take it back to your local store with the receipt.

 

I would take it back to a Borders store and explain what happened. Since your story as you put it is "too bizarre to believe", do they really think you were scamming them by trying to return the disc - ESPECIALLY when you explain to them what happened. If that doesn't work, I would contact MOFI and see if they can help you out. Good luck.

 

Do MoFi CDs have that? I don't recall one ever being on my CDs.

 

Yes they do - the ones in CD cases - not the mini-lp's.

The thing it did not have was the "24kt Audiophile Mastering by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Collectors Edition" small circular sticker that are usually on the CD's.

 

I got the MFSL's of Mind Games and Imagine last month (also at Borders for 10 bucks) and they both have those sticky strips. They're pretty annoying.

 

Sorry. I didn't realize you were talking about a currently available MFSL disc. I assumed that $9.99 was a used price since I've never heard of a store selling new MFSL cds for $9.99. Makes me wish I had been aware of that Borders sale and had gone to one of my local stores, but as someone else posted in the other thread I doubt I would have found anything of interest anyway given my experience with the selection available at Borders in my area.

 

Well I did it three times with Mofi Fold CDs so it worked.

 

It seems that if this happened once then there might be other instances...maybe MusicDirect will be aware of the other instances and believe you...? Their service is superb.

 

Looking at the few I picked up and all still sealed, these circular gold stickers are attached to the outside of the clear plastic wrap. I'm not sure if you should attach any significance to the fact that you are missing yours, as these might be easy to peel off, whether purposefully or not. I'm not saying you are necessarily attaching significance to it, just raising a general point.

What I'm confused by is the fact that your recollection of the clear plastic wrap/cellophane being intact without any indication that it had been re-wrapped by someone. I don't know what to make of that. Unless.. are there cellophane wrapping machines people can purchase for cheap?

 

The exact same thing happened to me with a Johnny Cash SACD I purchased at Best Buy. Boy, that was a fun time at the customer service counter trying to explain it

In the end, they offered me a store credit (I would have prefered an exchange for the same title, but they didn't have it in stock).

It is bizarre though, and you have to wonder who would go to all the trouble of going to the store, waiting in line to purchase it, bringing it home, copy the front and back artwork in color, cut said artwork perfectly, reseal it (mine was resealed in the typical fashion Best Buy does; it was not the thicker plastic seen on most re-seal jobs), go back to the store, wait in line at customer service, do the exchange.... all this for a $14 CD.

 

bring it back, and stand your ground.

 

FYI, I go to the Borders at Stonestown. Admittedly it is a pretty horrible store, but they have good deals from time to time. I recommend signing up for a Borders card and receiving the emails they send...they send coupons all the time, and most of them suck, except for these sort of deals. And hey, they had a couple of Lennon MFSL's I didn't have so that was a good enough selection for me

 

Keep us updated!

 

That's the same thing I was wondering with this. It had to take at least an hour to do, just for a little $30 CD. For the OP, I would return it to the store. I don't know if Borders can do it, but I'm sure they'd find the culprit for all of this if they can track down whoever returned an MFSL Fragile (there can't be that many of these that get returned).

 

Just analyzing the method here, I'm sure that the person who did this does this all the time. There two other front inserts from other CD's behind the scanned one (thin) page cover - put there to make sure the front picture did not move. There was a CD that was replaced - obviously he (she??) knew that an empty box weighs less and wanted to make sure the weight was good. I'm sure it took him no time to scan, print and cut down the front and back cover. He also carefully took off the top sticky label and reattached it. What I'm really trying to understand is the cellophane wrapping. Either it was re-wrapped or it was cut on a seam - slipped out then the copy put back in and sealed - which I find improbable. I know now I'll never buy a sealed MFSL that does not have the telltale signs of a lift-lock case.

I am going to return this one to Borders soon. It should be interesting. I do hope they have a record of returns for that store in Seattle so that they could track this person. I'm also sad that that it's probably an audiophile who has done this and that I now have one more thing to worry about when I buy a CD.

Just saw this article on "Return Fraud":
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/141964/return_fraud.html

 

That's an interesting little article. Back in my retail days, the customer service people had to start opening the returned DVD-R media. Crooks with a shrinkwrapper figured out pretty quickly that they could take a 100 spindle of DVD-Rs, put one DVD-R on top and 99 CD-Rs beneath it, then return it. It sounds like the Fragile crook is a few steps ahead of these guys. The cellophane is what stills boggles my mind with your purchase.

 

Any seasoned record store employee knows that you can open a cd w/o splitting the top seal by unhinging the front cd jewel case at the bottom and
lifting it up. Reshrinking/resealing... well, "locks are for honest people".... could be done.

If a store takes a "bogus" return like this, and it gets sent back to the distributor, it will get sent back out to another retailer and potentially sold to another buyer. There's lots of scammers out there, as we all know. I've seen this happen a time or two.

 

The Yes MOFI CD comes in a lift-lock case - this one did not. The cases were changed and the top seal was carefully peeled off the lift-lock case and put back on an ordinary case. I would have considered it a partial recovery if I was left at least a lift-lock case..