Buzz Out Loud Lounge: Alternatives to the iTunes Store; eMusic

EMusic has other problems than selection

Support is utterly ridiculous.

A couple of weeks ago I posted a query using their web form:
--- Original Message ---
Received: 4/13/08 4:30:24 PM EDT
To: cs@help.emusic.com
Subject: Other Questions / Comments:

Contents:

I'm a previous subscriber to eMusic, and considering renewing my account for a short period of time. In the past, album art has not been available as it is with Amazon or iTunes. Does eMusic now provide album art either as part of the download or separately downloadable files? 
-----------------------

To which I received the following reply:
Hello:

Thank you for contacting eMusic Customer Support.

The label that owns the rights to the music you are looking for has decided not to make this music available in your region. Your region is determined by us based on the billing address of the credit card we have on record for you. If you are going to be away from your home location for a short period of time, you can still use your eMusic account but you will be subject to the availability in your home region.

If your billing address has recently changed, please let me know so I can update it for you to allow you to download the album(s) in question.

While we'd love to be able to offer this music to you, we are subject to what the label allows us to release to our customers as well as the region(s) where we can offer it.

With 2.7 million songs in our catalogue, we hope you can find something else to enjoy. I would be happy to help you find some other groups to check out if you like.

We'll also forward your comments to our Label Relations group to keep them up to date on what our members are looking for. Also, we encourage you to contact the labels of the bands you're looking for and ask them to get their stuff onto eMusic.

Please let us know if you'd like any help finding other artists to enjoy from our site.
Regards,



Amber-eMusic Customer Service

----------------------------

That response was so bizarre that I concluded that it was intended for someone else, and I responded with the following rather testy bit:

I have no idea to what this reply refers. I did not request any particular music, so it's unlikely that any label would decide not to make this unspecified music available in any particular area.

My question was, and is, if eMusic now has provisions for downloading album art -- cover art -- for its music. I have a lot of music which I purchased from eMusic, but had to scramble to find downloadable or scannable cover art for it. For most of it all I have is very low resolution, and frankly very ugly images.

So no, I do not need any help from you in finding other artists, since I'm not looking for any particular artist -- other than those I've already purchased.

Do you now have downloadable cover art for your albums?
---------------------------

That certainly woke them up, and they responded with:


Hello:

Thank you for contacting eMusic Customer Support.

Your eMusic account associated with the email address "XXXXX@XXXXXX.com" is now canceled.

I also escalated your issue to see what I could do for you. My manager has authorized an exception to our no-refund policy on your behalf. We have issued you a refund in the amount of $9.99.

Please note that your bank can take up 5-7 business days to process your refund once we issue it. If you do not see an adjustment to your account after this time, please contact us so we can research your issue for you.

To reactivate your account, simply log in, select the plan you would like, and follow the prompts to reactivate your account. Please also note that your download history will be removed from our database if you do not rejoin within 60 days.

Regards,



Amber-eMusic Customer Service
----------------------------
???????
I was beginning to get the feeling that Franz Kafka might have a hand in this. I tried again with:

I'm sorry. I simply have no idea what is going on.

I asked a question concerning album art. I received a response telling me that the music I was looking for could not be made available. I asked nothing about music.

I sent another email repeating my first question and questioning the initial response. I received this response telling me that my (inactive) account had been cancelled, that my issue had been escalated, and that a refund had been issued. I did not ask for a refund for anything. I asked a question about availability for download of album/cover art. And asked again. And am asking again.

If you don't understand the question, please tell me that and stop sending me responses which have absolutely nothing to do with the question.

This has ceased to be amusing. I don't expect that you would like to see this entire exchange posted for the world to see, but that is exactly what will happen if I receive another response which is totally unrelated to the subject of my questions.
-------------------------------
So they provided the following detailed explanation:

Hello:

Thank you for contacting eMusic Customer Support.

Our records indicate that you requested cancellation on November 12, 2005. We made an exception to the no-refund policy you agreed to when registering your account by issuing a refund in the amount of $9.99. for the charge dated January 11, 2006.

As for the charges that occurred prior to your cancellation request, we are unable to issue those refunds.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Regards,



Amber-eMusic Customer Service
------------------------------
I must confess that they did in fact issue me a refund of $9.99, though I'm still not sure why. But I still don't know whether they are now providing decent resolution downloadable cover art. I don't know, but I don't think I care anymore either.

That has to be the most surreal exchange I can remember. And I'm confident that their site is still as amateurish and awkward as ever, not to mention their limited (though admittedly sometimes interesting) catalog.