Kevin Bresnahan Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 (edited) Over on Steve Hoffman's forum, there is talk that Red Trumpet may have filed for bankruptcy. The only reason I bring this up over here is in case any of you have an order in with them. A few people have reported that Red Trumpet charged their credit card prior to shipping the item... something they have never done in the past. Also, they are no longer answering the phone or E-mail. If you have an item on order with them and they charged your credit card but have not shipped, I would cancel that order ASAP. If it's true that they filed bankruptcy, the courts may have your money soon. However, I don't know if I would cancel a pre-order that hasn't been charged yet. Who knows, maybe it was only chapter 11? Kevin EDIT: This is a touchy situation over on Hoffman's forums as a few people have said that they have received stuff within the last three weeks from Red Trumpet. I am not advocating cancelling your order, I am just saying that if I had an order with them, I would cancel it. You are free to do as you feel is right. If I had been doing a lot of business with them and was assured that things would work out, I might have a different opinion. Edited October 20, 2005 by Kevin Bresnahan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 Over on Steve Hoffman's forum, there is talk that Red Trumpet may have filed for bankruptcy. The only reason I bring this up over here is in case any of you have an order in with them. A few people have reported that Red Trumpet charged their credit card prior to shipping the item... something they have never done in the past. Also, they are no longer answering the phone or E-mail. If you have an item on order with them and they charged your credit card but have not shipped, I would cancel that order ASAP. If it's true that they filed bankruptcy, the courts may have your money soon. However, I don't know if I would cancel a pre-order that hasn't been charged yet. Who knows, maybe it was only chapter 11? Kevin ← Oh, Oh!! They charged my card for an item before shipping it, but then it finally arrived (that was a couple of months ago). I questioned it at the time & received a "vague" explanation. I have nothing on order with them at present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 Up for the red trumpet guy who posted here a while ago! Bertrand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 It would be a shame to see them go but there are no real bargains to be had there. I found Hiroshi's prices better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.W. Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 It would be a shame to see them go but there are no real bargains to be had there. I found Hiroshi's prices better. ← Maybe that was their problem. However, I've often ordered hard-to-find items from them, and their service was always excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 No arguments about service. Incredibly quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 (edited) It would be a shame to see them go but there are no real bargains to be had there. I found Hiroshi's prices better. ←Maybe that was their problem.← Can't say I've ever bought anything from Red Trumpet, and the primary reason was their prices. Sure, they weren't all that out of line with what Amazon, B&N, and Tower were charging --- but then again, their import prices always seemed high to me as well. Dusty G. was often as much as $8 or even $10 less per disc (for the same titles). Meaning I'd often see titles available for "mid-to-high $30's" at Red Trumpet and the others I just mentioned --- vs. "mid-to-high $20's" at Dusty -- again, for the very same discs. Usually something like $36 at RT vs. $28 at DG. Good (or even great) resource for hard-to-find imports - or not ---- Red Trumpet was always too rich for my blood. Edited October 21, 2005 by Rooster_Ties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 Well Red Trumpet has had some amazing sales prices on import discs over the years. When I can pay 12 dollars for Japanese Candid or Impulse cds, or 25 dollars for two cd Sony Miles cd lp facimile sets from Japan, I am very pleased! On top of that, their packaging and customer service are unparalleled. And they're an American company. . . I haven't yet sent dollars to a Japanese dealer, though there's nothing wrong with that, it does help to support an American business too. I hope they remain doing what they do. Here's a best wishes to Rick and his team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 I guess I should be glad that my birthday was last month and not this month, as I managed to score an audiophile pressing of a Ray Brown Trio album from them then. As everyone says, great service (Rick made it free shipping when he heard it was a birthday present for myself, even though I had removed the other item from the order and taken it down under $50.) As for prices, as Lon says, some great deals in the past. I wouldn't order stuff that wasn't on sale, but I've gotten some great stuff at excellent prices in the past, including a David Hazeltine Venus CD for only $14.99 (Cadence is usually best at $20) and I got a couple of Japanese Universal reissues of Argo/Cadet albums for $13.99. Japanese reissues at domestic prices = happy customer. Hopefully Red Trumpet will make it through this crunch period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 (edited) Well, maybe there were some bargains at RT sometimes - and I just never saw them (or they were on stuff I didn't want -- more likely). I just know their base-line prices were sky high. And when I see that, I rarely go looking for bargains -- cuz I figure the best they can do is to discount from "sky-high" down to more what places like Dusty charge -- which have much more reasonable base-line prices to begin with. Kinda like how I almost never go browsing for discs at Borders or B&N (in their physical stores) -- cuz even if I do find something I want on-sale, 9 times out of 10 their sale price is only about as good as what I could have found on-line, from half-a-dozen different places. (Or not even quite as good.) Exceptions to every rule, of course --- occasionally Borders has had some pretty decent "buy three, get the fourth one free" sales. And that make sense on mid-line priced discs, like RVG's and such -- as long as their base-line price is $12 each (like at Borders), and not $13 each (like at B&N). But even at "25% off", Borders' prices for full-priced CD's (like Conns) are so damn high to begin with (like $18, or even $18.99 ), it still doesn't even make sense to buy from them, even at 25% off. Same goes for their coupons, which don't even begin to make any sense until they're up to the "25% off" level. Anything less than that kind of discount, and I know I can do a buck or two (or even three) less per disc by going on-line. Edited October 21, 2005 by Rooster_Ties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 (edited) That said -- if I happen to find a disc I'm really looking for in a physical store, I'll pay more than I might otherwise normally do -- especially since I won't have to pay for shipping. Case in point - I just bought Andrew Hill's "Blue Black" for $15 plus tax from a store here in KC. Would $14 or $13 have been a more reasonable price? - sure, especially considering it isn't an import. But it was on an obscure label, and I didn't have to pay for shipping -- so I bit the bullet, and ponied up -- something close $16.50 when tax was added. Yeah, I'm a cheapskate - I'll admit it. But the only way I've been able to buy as much music as I have, is by watching every dollar. For domestic issue commodity releases (major labels, easy to find most places), my goal is to try not to pay any more than about $9 for used discs, $11 for mid-line priced titles, and $14 for full-priced titles. Guess I'm spoiled -- for several years I used to have a sort of "employee discount" at the local Streetside Records (even though I never worked a day there), just cuz I was in there so much, and knew half the people that worked there really well. I used to get full-priced stuff for closer to $12 or $13 per disc, every time -- and mid-line titles for like $9. Used to be able to go in back and see what hadn't been restocked yet, and new titles that hadn't been stocked, or what used stuff was waiting to get stickered and such. Never worked a day there, but most of the time I knew that store better than half the people working there. Bought some new releases on Mondays (with post-dated checks), the whole bit. Have I gotten far enough off topic yet?? Edited October 21, 2005 by Rooster_Ties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 Their delivery record is much better than Rooster Tie Records. . . . -_- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 Their delivery record is much better than Rooster Tie Records. . . . -_- ← Well, that's for damn sure. Then again, the stuff I was sending out was FREE -- so nobody's out anything either. I still intend to make good on all that, one of these days. I've got a huge project on my plate, that should wrap up within the next week or so -- so maybe I'll have a little time in early November. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 I agree that the sales are/were the way to go at Red Trumpet. It takes/took patience, but there are/were some great deals to be found. Plus, if you do/did a general search for "jazz" with no other parameters, you'll/you'd get everything they have/had, which from time to time includes/included some OOP LPs at quite reasonable prices. Service is/was indeed impeccable, and their packing should be placed in a museum somewhere to serve as an example of the heights of perfection of which humankind is/was capable. I kid you not. Here's hoping that they pull through/I sure hate to see them go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 As much as I liked the people and business generally, the only way I could ever justify Red Trumpet purchases was when they had a 25 or 30 percent off sale. Fortunately, this was just about every week. But the sales flyers have stopped coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 the heights of perfection of which humankind is/was capable.← Thanks Jim. That is/was a great post!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 I hope they pull through this. I've ordered stuff for export to the UK and Rick was always very helpful. Would hate to see them go. With this and Mole Jazz in the same month, it's a real downer.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.W. Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 There's additional info about this over on Steve Hoffman's forum. Red Trumpet's owner Rick Flynn filed for Chapter 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 That's very sad to hear . Thanks for posting, Hans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron S Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 I note from Red Trumpet's site that it apparently is a Limited Liability Company, which is similar to a corporation and a separate legal entity from its owner(s). If Rick filed for bankruptcy personally, that doesn't necessarily mean that Red Trumpet has also filed for bankruptcy, but may only mean that Rick's ownership interest is frozen pending the outcome of his personal bankruptcy proceeding. In other words, Red Trumpet could still remain a viable, operating entity despite Rick's personal bankruptcy. Certainly, the fact that the web site is still up and running--an apparently still taking orders--does not help clarify this. I know Rick is a member of this Board and posted within the past couple of months. Maybe he can offer some information here about Red Trumpet's status. Better yet, some sort of explanation should be offered on the Red Trumpet site, or it should be shut down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFrank Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 Gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.W. Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 Music Direct seems to have bought Red Trumpet, or at least its inventory. There's been some talk about this over on the SH Forum, here and here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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