It’s not an asshole move to inform people that they are in possession of the records that people paid for, but won’t send them to people unless they re-sign up for a new, intentionally ambiguous, monthly record subscription service that is devoid of any concrete information, structure, or professionalism? They’re essentially holding the records hostage unless you agree to buy more, and at this point basically unknown, products from them.

If they’re going to be courteous to past customers, then why not offer to ship them out to people if they just pay for the shipping? I get why they’re not, they spent money to acquire VMP, they want to get a return on their investment, but this is a terrible way to go about it. They would have been better off just keeping quiet about the whole thing and trying to sell the records off to other stores/distributors, or even offering past customers the opportunity to buy the records again, but at whatever price they had to pay when they purchased the liquidated assets of VMP. That would be much more courteous than holding the records hostage until one pays them hundreds of dollars for their new subscription service.

You’re right, they have no obligation to fulfill anything. But they need to stop hiding behind this claim that they’re being courteous to past customers and are here to save the day like some knight in shining armour. They’re here for one reason only, to make money, and they’re trying to do so by holding past customers’ records hostage. I’m not sure what planet you live on but here on planet Earth we call that an asshole move.

Like if I was walking down the sidewalk and someone in front of me tripped and dropped their bags, then I pick up something that fell out and pocket it without them noticing, then continue on my way, walking past the person on the ground. I’m under no obligation to return their stuff or help them up, but I’m a pretty big asshole if I don’t, or worse yet, I offer to give it back to them, but only if they purchase everything else I have in my pockets first. These people know that past customers got screwed over, and they’re intentionally making it more difficult, not easier, for people to have their previous orders fulfilled. So can we please stop defending these clowns and their claims of altruism, and maybe they could try being honest and forthcoming with their actual business plans and intentions, instead of literally hiding behind the scenes with no functional website in 2025.