The Smiley Smile Message Board

Sigh. Why is nothing simple any more?

I have a dilemma. Here I am in the UK, and I want to buy this Beach Boys box thingy from a bricks-and-mortar store, and not Amazon. I just love walking out of a shop with a box set to look at — so shoot me — and I hate being at the mercy of Amazon's crappy, vague delivery schedules, lazy couriers that don't give a damn, and postal screw-ups. But in a moment of weakness, when the Amazon price was low at 66 quid, I put in a pre-order.

So: I have an order in with Amazon, at a low price. Way cheaper than it seems to be going for in the USA, for example. Great, you say, what's my problem?

Answer: the release date.

Universal Music in the UK say the UK release date is August 26th. That's what I'd expect for something released on August 27th in the States, which it seems has always been the release date there. Stuff is officially released in the UK on Mondays, whereas it's Tuesday in the States. That's how it's been for years.

But Amazon UK's release date still says September 2nd, a week later. And it's the same at all of the other UK-based retailers I've consulted, on-line and in real stores. The only one that I've found in the UK that says it's coming out on August 26th is Universal.

Is it a mistake? And if so, who's wrong? Universal? Unlikely - they now own EMI/Capitol, who made this damn box in the first place. So then maybe it's Amazon? But they're not the only ones to have the release date down as September 2nd. Everyone else in the UK does too. And also, the original Amazon UK date was August 26th, and they changed it later — suggesting that there was a deliberate alteration in the UK release schedule at some stage.

So unless Universal do have their date down wrongly, that means that they — the manufacturers, if you will — are offering the box a week earlier than anyone else in the UK. I can't explain this discrepancy, unless some dodgy deal was done whereby Amazon was able to offer a cheap advance price for a short while to encourage pre-orders, but at the expense of delaying the release by a week, to give Universal a clear week of direct on-line sales at a higher price (their price is 75 quid on-line). It would be nice to think that the later date for general UK retail is because the UK sets have an extra disc, like the GV set back in the day, or something unique in the box — but I don't seriously believe that. And anyway, Universal *are* selling it from August 26th, so that nixes that idea.

Meanwhile, just to throw further options into the mix, Amazon Germany has the set being released on Thursday, August 23rd - *days* before either the US or the earliest UK date. Germany is in the EU, so there will be no import duty... I could order from there... but the set is pricier there and also, the cost of fast-shipping it back to the UK, to make the most of the extra time I would have over ordering it from the UK, makes it *waaay* more expensive.

Here are all the options I'm considering:

Sainsbury's On-line
Advantages: The cheapest price anywhere, bar none. £63.99 (so about 73 Euros right now, and about 98 US dollars).
Disadvantages: Doesn't ship until September 2nd, and who knows how long it will take to get to me with Sainsbury's couriers.

Amazon UK
Advantages: I have a cheap order in already: not quite as cheap as Sainsbury's, but still good at £66.10 (so about 75 Euros right now, and about 101 US dollars).
Disadvantages: Doesn't ship until September 2nd, and my delivery estimate is September 5th. That sucks royally.

FOPP/other bricks-and-mortar store*
Advantages: FOPP is a local record store; i can walk right in on the release date and buy it. I'd much rather do this (that way, I get to walk out of the shop with the box in my hands, and to hell with the post or couriers), even though according to the guys at Fopp on the phone, it's a bit more expensive (75 quid: about 86 Euros, or 115 US dollars).
Disadvantages: FOPP won't have it until September 2nd, either. Sheesh.

*There are a few other record shops near me, but they're all planning to carry it at the same price and release on the same day as Fopp, September 2nd, so I lump them all in with the, er, FOPP option. Or should that be FOPption?

Universal Music UK on-line
Disadvantages: It's the most expensive UK option, more than FOPP or any of the other bricks-and-mortar stores round here (80 quid, about 92 Euros or 123 US dollars)
Advantages: It's the one UK retailer I've found that still says it's shipping on August 26th. Unless that's an error or an old date that hasn't been updated...

Amazon Germany (with standard shipping)
Advantages: It's out on August 23rd, assuming Amazon.de haven't screwed up the dates or failed to update something.
Disadvantages: Shipping from Germany to the UK where I live, although not as involved as ordering from Amazon.com in the States, will not be an overnight affair. I can probably reckon with three or four working days for it to be delivered, if I were to choose Amazon.de's standard shipping. And it's also not as cheap as ordering in the UK. With standard shipping, it's 83.48 Euros, which will be about 73 pounds, and is roughly 112 US dollars.

Further disadvantages: due to the time delay on standard shipping, even if the guys at Amazon.de get my order out on August 23rd, I probably won't have it until after that weekend, maybe not until the Tuesday. I could have it from Universal in the UK by then, although that would be more expensive, bizarrely.

Amazon Germany (with express shipping)
Advantages: If Amazon.de are right, it's coming out on August 23rd. And with express shipping, I might just get it in the UK by Monday 26th.
Disadvantages: Amazon's Express shipping from Germany to the UK is expensive, and makes for the priciest package of all those I'm considering here. It will cost a whopping 102.56 Euros: about £90, or 139 US dollars.

Fortunately, as I rather hoped it would, typing out all of the options and presenting them here has straightened out the confusion in my mind. I'm going to order from Germany, standard delivery, and cancel my Amazon UK order. That cuts out the possibility that Universal or Amazon UK have got their dates wrong, because I won't be ordering from either of them, and although it's a little more expensive than Sainsbury's or Amazon UK, I should get my box sometime around when everyone in the States does (but not before most people in Germany).

I do miss the days when there was a simple release date for something, and it cost a certain amount — and that was it. It feels as though on-line retailers worldwide will not be happy until everything we buy has a price that is subject to constant fluctuations and change, in response to supply and demand, like an airline ticket. In the cut-glass words of George Sanders' Shere Khan, from The Jungle Book:

"Oh no, I can't be bothered with that — I've no time for that sort of nonsense."

I ordered mine from Germany and will rely on other means while I wait.  :angel:

 I don't get why, after all the wait time now, getting this on the day of release( or prior to) os SO important! 

 I think I may have ordered it from Amazon( USA) but I don't even remember that. And if I didn't, I'll get it after the release date.
Is there some sense that if one doesn't hear the box on the first day, there will be a "Mission Impossible" happening and all the tracks everywhere will self destruct? 

Exactly!

For me, it's an old fart (although I like to call it Old Guy) thing. Similar to my feelings about cars. Used to be mine had to be cool. Now, as long as I get from Point A to Point B safely and as inexpensively as possible, that's all that matters.

With MIC, I'll get there late by waiting for Amazon.uk to deliver to the states, but with the money I'll save... ah, who am I kidding? I'll still blow it on something foolish.

What he said!

Where do you live? Isn't there a wonderful local record shop that would be glad of the custom?

My amazon UK delivery estimate is August 28th. woo.

Mine is two days later on the Friday 30th strangely enough.

I can wait the extra days (especially as I did get the £+/-60 price), but it will be a little odd reading through everybody's reaction to the release without having heard it myself yet.  Might even enhance the anticipation...

Don't really fancy downloading it, or even listening on Spotify before hearing it off the CD.  Just ain't the same!!

Mine is Sept. 9 but thats ok. I saved a lot of money buying from the UK

To answer your questions: near Cambridge, in the East of England, and no, they've *all* died. Believe me, I would *far* rather walk into a real shop and walk out again holding the box in my hands, as I said at length above, but all we now have is FOPP, and of course that's just part of the struggling HMV chain anyway.

I crossed most of England to buy the SMiLE Sessions box from an independent retailer, and would gladly do so again — their service was second to none — but the same shop has no plans to carry MiC.



Now that, I just don't understand. For months, Amazon UK has been saying the box's release date is September 2nd - and it still does (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Made-California-The-Beach-Boys/dp/B008XZKSRY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376884459&sr=8-1&keywords=made+in+california+beach+boys)! So how can they have told either of you that?

This is one of the many things I hate about Amazon. They often don't update out-of-date shipping info until it's too late. I have ordered things that still give an estimated delivery date of, say, Tuesday January 15th on Friday, January 25th...

In this case, it could be that it's the release date that's wrong and they've failed to update - but then why are they so rubbish at updating if that's the case? And why did my original order still say last week that it would be released on September 2nd and be with me on September 5th if it's actually coming out in the last week of August so that the two guys above can get their orders when Amazon say they're going to get them?

Crappy, poorly maintained databases that aren't updated regularly when things change - that's the only way inconsistent dates can be given to different customers like this.


Well, I'm just stoked to hear this thing. And I don't want to hang around for days after it's out, unable to hear it!

Some CDs, I can take or leave when I buy them. I just bought Paul Simon's most recent album this weekend, which came out 2 years ago now. I love everything Paul Simon has ever done and I will always buy everything he puts out — but maybe not straight away. With his stuff, I can wait.

But with the SMiLE Sessions, it literally could not arrive soon enough, and for me MiC is the same. Hey, c'mon, it's the BEACH BOYS, right?! More than that, this is previously unreleased, prime-time, voices-untarnished-by-the-passing-of-decades Beach Boys (or some of it is, at least). Why wouldn't I want to be able to hear that as soon as possible?

For me, that's like a call to arms. I gotta get it in the stereo as soon as I can. Your mileage may vary... and obviously does, but that's cool too. I bet there's plenty of Paul Simon fans reading this going 'he only bought 'So Beautiful OR So What NOOWWWW??????!!!!!!' Caarazzy name, crazy guy...' It was the same for me with the 'That's Why God Made The Radio' album. I got that one a few days after it was out, by wandering into a shop and picking it up. I still wanted it, but was less bothered. But MiC cannot. COME. SOON. ENOUGH.

You may remember Matt, people started recieving their Smile boxes before the release date. I'm hoping mine arrives on or around the 28th.

Indeed, I got my TSS from Sainsburys online and it arrived the day before release.

I'm flying to Japan on the 2nd so haven't ordered it yet for fear of it turning up when I'm gone and having to deal with the hassle of the Post Office to get it when I return.

HMV/Fopp are both saying Sept 2nd for a shop release so I'll wait til I'm back to get it unless those shops release early/same time as U.S.

Ian and Jon's Concert book was dispatched to me on Saturday afternoon by amazon despite having a Monday street date. I'm guessing all the amazon pre orders with have the set before the weekend after next.

Right, (Stephen), absolutely, I do remember that - but there wasn't a difference of nearly a week between the US and UK shipping dates given by Amazon for TSS.

TSS's official US street date was [sound of Wikipedia firing up and some typing]... Tuesday, November 1st, 2011, right? And in line with usual practice, the official UK release date was the day before this: Monday, October 31st. And some people got their boxes even before that.

Like I said above, that's how it usually works, for some reason I've never understood: new releases are usually out in the States on Tuesdays, and the UK usually gets theirs a day before, on the Monday, IF the release weeks are the same in both countries, obviously.

But MiC seems different. Amazon US gives the release date as Tuesday August 27th. With a US street date then, I'd usually expect it in the UK on Monday August 26th (or possibly earlier, like TSS). That sits with the German release date on Amazon.de, which is given as August 23rd (the day after tomorrow!)

But no: Amazon.co.uk has said September 2nd — the Monday of the FOLLOWING week — for some time now.

Sure, maybe stuff will ship early. But it looks to me as though the UK release is a week behind the US one for some reason (but the German one isn't, inexplicably for another country in the EU...!).

I have gift card cash in my Amazon.com account. I guess there is no possible way to transfer it to amazon.de?

Guess not, sorry.

Next Monday is a Bank Holiday, which might have something to do with it.

Amazon UK can sometimes do the impossible - I got Adam's excellent Go West album two days before the US release date and before he was even aware there were copies in Europe.  ;D

Amazon UK and Sainsburys both showing as preparing to ship since very early this morning. Those Brits who have been patient are about to have their reward. And those of us who forgot to cancel one of their orders are about to have their reward twice.



I hope disc 7 is worth it!   ;)

My says "Dispatching Now"  Huzzah!

Amazon are about to dispatch mine. Should get it tomorrow in time for a planned 3 day weekend.

"Not yet dispatched"

I'll check again after work.

Managed to scrap the Amazon order and stick with the cheaper Sainsburys. Thank you Amazon UK.

That means I've saved myself around £67 but my partner won't see it that way.

Just checked amazon.co.uk - 'Dispatching now'. Huzzah!

Here we go chaps... :happydance

Hey, the UK doesn't really act like they're also in the EU, do they? :-D

Hope you'll get MIC before the weekend in spite of that. ;D

My order is dispatched

My heart has soared

"DELIVERY ESTIMATE MONDAY 2 SEP 2013"

UGJHGJHGJYTUYGNHFJSKISLOUWEHGWHWGWG I WILL KILL SOMEONE VERY SOON.

Oh mate, I'm sorry, truly.

When did you order just for interests sake? Mine was July 19th. Maybe it's to do with that.

Anyway, if you're near York you're more than welcome to come and hear it tomorrow. As long as you're not actually Liam Gallagher  :lol

Hey Micha... you ever heard about the (possibly apocryphal) old UK newspaper headline? "Fog In Channel: Continent Cut Off". That kind of says it all...!

As I have noted here (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15760.msg396039.html#msg396039), I got my set on Tuesday afternoon. So ordering from Amazon Germany absolutely paid off for me. I cancelled my Amazon UK order early yesterday morning, so I won't be paying twice!

As I noted in the same post above, the whole thing is ridiculous, but six discs of Wilson-led wonderfulness are brilliant compensation. Finding myself alone in the house and with the neighbours away on holiday this week, I blasted the set earlier for a good while, LOUD. It sounds great!

I ordered 19th July too! But sadly I'm nowhere near York. I can hold off the temptation to source otherwise til monday, I CAN DO THIS.

If we ordered the same day, how on earth can they justify yours taking another 3 days???

They saw my profile Picture on here.

 :lol :lol :lol

Asked about MIC in my local HMV this morning, was told that it's out on Monday 2nd September, it would retail at £74.99, but they weren't ordering any stock because all orders with Universal are currently suspended ???

Amazon or Sainsbury's it is then, failing a decent independent...

Not Yet Dispatched

they must be holding out to see if I'll cancel since they gave that low price for just a little while.  ::)

Same xD

Still showing as dispatching now, delivery estimate is still 30th August. I also ordered mine on 19th July, why are we all getting different information?

Maybe it all depends upon the time of day we ordered. Or Something. I dunno. I blame it on Bob Dylan.

Same here. I've told my boss I'm, ahem, working from home in the morning

Only 11hrs until postie arrives.

I Dunno either. Are you in the UK? I'm not so maybe Amazon UK is taking care of the natives first.  ;D

Why does the Uk citizen not get preference :( Give the younger ones reasons to stay [I ain't goin' anywhere anyhow]

I'm in the US. Order placed July 19.

"Not yet dispatched. DELIVERY ESTIMATE MONDAY 9 SEP 2013 - FRIDAY 13 SEP 2013".

ha ha, well the UK citizen gets it quicker by virtue of living closer to Amazon UK distribution centers I would think. If US citizen
were given preference my product would have been mailed last week, so apparently that's not happening. I knew the penalty
for ordering like I did but there is some "consolation" available for those that wish to, ahem, seek it out -

Dispatch notice received!

I ordered mine on the 21st of July.  It's not yet dispatched with delivery estimate 5-7th of September.  I got my Smile Sessions delivered on the release day. I was hoping this would be the same.

Cool, so I didn't hope in vain! :-D

Mine's here. Fantastic book and photos. Just about to slip in disk 1 whilst I make breakfast. Happy days.

Mine's coming from Sainsbury's despatched yesterday. Waiting to answer the knock on the door and find Jamie Oliver standing there, demanding to know what I feed my kids before he'll hand it over…

Yeah, John, if you've got any Turkey Twizzlers in the house, your copy of MiC goes straight in the shredder...!

Halfway through disk 1, have to say I'm very impressed with the sound quality. All a lot clearer than my 1990 2fers.

It's here and in my hands. The packaging is A1 although annoyingly the tracklist at the back is separate so I'll have to keep it in a record sleeve

About to start Disc 1......

That was my experience on my first detailed listen yesterday too, (Stephen). So your ears aren't bleeding from too much compression either, then?

I know so much of this is subjective, or down to personal circumstances like ears, stereo setup, speakers etc.

It's just nice to know someone else is enjoying the sound of the set, too...!

I didn't get the 50 Big Ones package, or album reissues Matt, so a lot of this is new to me. Even in the mono cuts I'm hearing details I've never heard, since owning the original LP's through to know. Harmony lines, horn parts, even stuff like microphone pops. Another welcome addition is the tape hiss, very evident in a lot of the tracks. The removal of hiss in the original digital masters obviously took away a lot of these details I'm now hearing. (And I never had a good enough record player to appreciate the LPs)

Standout track so far is the stereo Wendy. Breathtaking in it's clarity. You can hear wonderful Dick Dale like bass line in the "future looks awful grim" part so clearly now.

Not too keen on the stereo Don't Worry Baby though, eq not quite right here, and too much modern reverb. Minor quibble.

Mark, Alan, if you read this, fantastic job! This is a set I will treasure.

My postie oesn't usually rock up here until about 1pm (we're in the sticks…) by which time I'll be on my way to "work".


I think it's also down to what you grew up listening to music on and what your ears regard as "correct".  If I could play these discs (when they arrive) on a 1960s Dancette, I'd probably be a happy man…!

Holy potatoes! Anyone seen this on the Hoffman board?

"UK iTunes store: Made In California boxset, including digital box set currently £7.99 !!! (7.99UKP) https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/made-in-california/id684704886

Not sure how long this pricing error will go uncorrected. Bought and downloading now!"

Thanks to Hoffman poster 'coffeetime'.

I have my set, so I don't need this, but for anyone still holding out, it surely can't last for long. Get in there while ya can!

By the way, I don't use the iTunes store, so I don't know the answer to this. The guy seems to be implying ("Made In California boxset, including digital box set...") that this price includes the physical set as well. Is this possible? I thought iTunes was strictly download only...?

No physical object, but there will be a digital booklet in .pdf format.

£8?! Jesus! Do i feel like a mug buying it for £70 now!

Ah, but you bought the physical thing, right? So at least you have the tracks on CD in full resolution and a nice big orange book full of groovy pictures.

That's more than sufficient consolation for me. A bunch of digits that can get corrupted or wiped and then be gone for good isn't worth even eight pounds to me — you'd have to pay ME to take them away...

Plus, the book is REALLY cool, right?

OK, yes, I'm a nerd for that kind of thing. So shoot me.

BANG! ;D

 :lol

Haha, I guess you're right... I could have used that £62 though!

Amazon still aren't budging on my order.

This just worked for me… postie was empty handed this afternoon and I wouldn't normally have bought the download as well as the physical issue but this will be awaiting me only return home… save me ripping it to iPod tomorrow!

Many sincere thanks indeed for the heads-up.

Still not moving on my order either Freddie. :(. I also tried to get the digital download from iTunes but no dice.  When I tried to download it the message says " this item is currently being modified"!  Oh well, just need to keep waiting!

I am now in possession of Made In California, just looking through the book now, will report back later.

You lucky hukflikdfsgfsegr\ajbsAASDNBNGH. My move to your area should have been sooner!

This is what you get for being a Southerner. In all seriousness it makes no sense that some of us have had our deliveries today and you haven't got yours - we all ordered on the same day!

Life's like that, isn't it? 
Only the other day, I was walking in the West End when, suddenly, I was set upon by hordes of fans and admirers who wanted to touch my toes

Nice non-sequitur Chris!

Me neither and since I ordered, July 20 the dollar has gone up in relation to the pound.

So... as dollar soars Amazon UK will make a little more $ - my price has gone up $2 since I ordered.  :-\

However thanks to my "secret weapon" all the tracks will be mine in about 30 more mins. he he.

Hmm… I got a sale confirmation message on my iPhone but haven';t been able to download the set, either on to the phone or my desktop. Would have been a sneaky purchase but it seems iTunes is being sneakier.  They'd better no have debited my account…

The set is now on iTunes UK for £59.99 btw…  short-lived error by all accounts…

Was fortunate to receive mine today...does seem unfair and no logic to it; I am 'Southern' and my name surname is at the end of the alphabet...

The set looks great, I made the mistake of trying to digest the whole thing in one afternoon/evening in between watching the Chelsea game (boo).  Gonna go back to disc one and take it a little slower over the weekend.

Yeah, didn't work for me either.  Now I have an itunes account to cancel.  Back to original plan - walk into shop on Monday and lay down the £75.

£59.99.  I don't get how they can charge a price so similar to the physical product for lossy mp3s and a PDF.  People have said at times that the set is so expensive because of the packaging, but then how can it be so expensive for a digital copy?

Thank God amazon have moved to 'Dispatching Now'. I did resort to sourcing MIC from other areas since the delay makes me feel justified, but I can't wait for the package - it's the most enticing part for me!

Wait until you see the photo of "Camel Toe" Mike, you may wish you'd gone for the digital option afterall.  ;)

Still nowt…

My set is "dispatching now".

A consolation is that I got "Surfin'USA" Japan Pastmasters cd in today!  I'll go and give it a blast! :)

They have a good player now named Schürrle. :wink

I didn't watch the game, was it any good?

Dispatched. But now I'll have to wait til monday any.

But Dispatched. I am happy..ish.

It was a good game, Chelsea were down to 10 men but went 2-1 up in extra time.  Defended quite well, but Bayern Munich finally equalised with the last kick of the ball in extra time and won on penalties!!

Mine also shows it has been dispatched.  :)

est. arrival Sept. 19...but I have found them to usually beat those estimated dates.

Mine says Sept 19 as well. Before it was "dispatched", the estimate was between the 9th & the 13th. Looking at the tracking information, I see the dreaded three letters that explain everything... DHL.

UK release date and the item's not in shops.  Hasn't been sent to them.  "Maybe by the end of the week..."

I have been informed my package has arrived. Now i have to wait 4 hours at work before i can actually get the darned thing...

Anyone had a delivery from Sainsburys? (Other than a crate of cornflakes?)!

Mine is here from Sainsburys, sat waiting post came no knock, was gutted .....

Then postie came back with it, he leaves the bulkiest items in the van. Just got it on now.
Order was placed 20th of July, priced at £63.99, free shipping.

mine came today too

Wish I had ordered from Sainsbury's now!  I thought I was getting a deal at £66 too from Amazon!

£66 ain't bad … and the music is priceless after all.

Sainsburys has delivered.

Farewell for now.

Happy listening John! :)

Having just returned from supermarket and finding Amazon UK parcel delivered by DHL, this is what I have been waiting for!

Total cost w/ shipping 90.14 US. Shipped  double-boxed (thank you, Amazon UK) and the condition is pristine.

I want to just look at it for a while in the shrink wrap before I open it.  ;D