The popular LP subscription club Vinyl Me, Please has come under fire for apparently "ghosting" their subscribers. The Denver Post published a report yesterday detailing weeks of alleged unfulfilled orders from the company, with dozens of frustrated customers saying they haven't been able to get refunds or even get in touch with customer service.
Stereogum reader Paul emailed us yesterday echoing many of those same complaints, writing: "I was a subscriber for ten years, but as I saw the writing on the wall, I discontinued my service in March. I have 2 outstanding, unfulfilled orders that customer service has not responded to, after 2 months. I can live with losing $75, but there are folks who are in the hole for hundreds & in some cases, over a thousand."
Vinyl Me, Please subscriptions start at $44 a month, with subscribers able to choose LPs from a selection of curated records each month. Now, their Instagram, Reddit, and Discord pages are flooded with folks saying they've been charged for months-old orders they've yet to receive, and that their emails to customer service have gone unanswered. Posts on Reddit also indicate that the Better Business Bureau hasn't been able to get a response from VMP regarding the potential fraud, either.
The once-thriving VMP hit a breaking point in March 2024, when its board of directors fired CEO Cameron Schaefer, CFO Adam Block, and CSO Rich Kylberg. The company then filed a lawsuit alleging that the former employees funneled more than $200,000 of VMP money to a new vinyl pressing plant of their own called Paramount Pressing, which now appears to be doing just fine.
Now some subscribers are blaming those firings for VMP's current truancy, though the VMP website is still being updated as if all is well. Meanwhile, they're pumping out some suspiciously ChatGPT-like "blog posts" for SEO.
UPDATE: According to this Reddit post Vinyl, Me Please recently began an assignment for the benefit of creditors as part of its liquidation.
VMP’s Notice of Liquidation
byu/Kidvictory inVinylMePlease
