A happy tale (Changesone.co.uk)

Member Name: ermintrude

Product:	Changesone.co.uk
Date:	14/12/00 (199 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Absolutely fantastic service; reasonable prices; free UK postage; excellent range

Disadvantages: None, except you might get jealous if you can't make the live events

[Update] A bit of a sad ending to this happy tale - see end of story. **Also new contact details**. [End update]

Once upon a time there was a girl who would always go to HMV for her CDs. They had a nice big shop, and lots of stock, the prices were okay and they even gave her a student discount of 10%. But the girl wasn't totally happy.

The nice big shop was always busy, and service was a bit slow. And often she was working at the weekend so couldn't even get into town. Plus she occasionally wanted obscure CDs by obscure bands, and HMV wouldn't have them. Sadly, she realised that at the end of the day, she was just another faceless customer lining the pockets of a big company.

Then one day the girl saw a post to a band mailing list she was on. One of the other members was actually the owner of a record shop, and he was offering free postage and low prices on the band's forthcoming single!

"Maybe it's too good to be true," she thought, "but I should check it out anyway."

Some time later, on the exact day of the single's release, the girl got a parcel containing her CDs, a list of special offers, and a compliments slip with a cheery "Thanks!" Impressed by the service, she emailed an enquiry about some more CDs, and very quickly got a reply from Ian, the aforementioned owner.

"What a nice chap," she thought, and she sent off another order.

Time passed, and the orders and enquiries went back and forth, always with a friendly word or two. The girl was given a membership number, and from that moment on never had to send her credit card or address details again. On the band mailing list, incredible tales were told from far-flung lands of how the CDs would arrive in record time, and at far less cost than buying them on import. Some tried to test ChangesOne with *really* obscure orders, but Ian came up trumps each time. He was hailed as a hero by all
.

"Whatever did we do before ChangesOne?" was the cry.

"Pay loads and wait ages," came the knowing response.

The girl decided to check out the Changesone website. It was a vision in purple, with some fancy Flash stuff at the start, and she was quite impressed. There were forms for enquiries and orders, and hundreds of bands listed, plus lots of CDs at just £6.99 on the parallel changestwo.co.uk website. There was also a chance to join the shop's e-mail list, to keep up to date with all these offers.

At first, she was a bit disappointed not to find any photos of the shop or its heroic owner, but she conceded that these were hardly essential to the purchase of CDs. And she also had to admit that the site was very smooth and fast to use, which was the most important thing. But then she found some pictures buried further in the site, of bands who had played in the shop - they were nice to see, but she was puzzled as to why they weren't linked from the front page.

The girl did join ChangesOne's e-mail list, and was soon being tempted by all kinds of special offers, and chuckling at tales of Ian's shoplifter-catching exploits. Some of her orders came with a glossy newsletter, and the stories of live music and CD signings made her wish she lived a bit further North. Just before this tale was written, she received her latest order, complete with a handwritten ChangesOne Christmas card, and she was very happy.

The girl had discovered ChangesOne. And she would never darken the doors of HMV again. Needless to say, she lived happily ever after.

[Update] Maybe not happily *ever* after. The Evil Demons of Darkness (South Shields Borough Council) noticed the braveley-defended ChangesOne stronghold, and they were not pleased. "Those security shutters," they boomed "they offend the eye by sticking out six inches more than allowed. It is a blight on this neighbourhood. R
emove them!" Ian looked at the "fair neighbourhood, and shook his head. He protested. He fought. He struggled. His army of loyal cutomers protested and fought and struggled and made clear their support, but to no avail. The shutters had to go. Without shutters, there can be no insurance. Without insurance, there can be no business. Without business, the landlords will come knocking on your door for the rest of their money. It is a sad, sad ending to what should have been a happy tale.

There is one chink of light in this dark dungeon. Ian, the hero of this tale, has not taken this lightly. He has stripped back his business, and moved it back home. He has cut out the wide range of stock, and is concentrating on what he knows (and sells) best, including his own ChangesOne record label [note - this is the reason for the "average" product range rating, below, as ChangesOne will not stock what your average punter wants]. So, if you like The Cheesemakers, Diamond Dogs, B-Movie Heroes or Psycho-a-Go-Go, you should still check it out. The service is still as friendly as ever, and the prices are still low. ChangesOne: down, but definitely not out.

ChangesOne,
58 Denham Drive,
Seaton Delaval,
Whitley Bay,
Tyne & Wear,
NE25 0JY

ORDER LINE
0191 237 0251

[End update]

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