Pony Canyon’s ‘sellout’ of Buono!

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Too bad the sensational Suzuki won’t be ‘available’ along with the rest of Buono! as Pony Canyon runs short of its ‘collector’s edition.’

Well, this is a first. Received an e-mail last week from YesAsia saying that my recent order for the collectors’ edition of “Café Buono!” has been canceled. Canceled? You mean … Pony Canyon ran out of product? That is hard to believe. Excerpts follow, and I can assure you this is genuine:

Dated March 13, 2008:

Cancellation of Out Of Stock Items
Dear geraldcarroll(at)hotmail.com: Thank you very much for shopping with YesAsia.com. Regarding your recent order 4996550, we regret to inform you that after an extensive search we have found that the following item(s) is/are not available at this time: Catalog No.: 1005179719; Title: Cafe Buono! (ALBUM+DVD) (First Press Limited Edition) (Japan Version); Quantity: 1. Our suppliers have informed us that the above item(s) is/are not likely to be replenished in the near future. As such, we are removing the unavailable item(s) from your order. We will notify you by email if the unavailable item(s) become available again. You order total is now USD 0.00. If you paid by credit card, you will not be charged for the unavailable item(s). For other payment methods (e.g., PayPal, check payment), we will refund the order total difference to you as soon as possible. For additional details, please refer to your Order Summary under My Account. Thank you for shopping at YesAsia.com, and please come again! Yours sincerely,Customer Service Department, YesAsia.com Ltd.

Momoko is better than ever as a part of Buono!, but she will be heard and not seen as the DVD version is ‘out of stock.’

Yeah, right. Some customer service.

I have a hard time understanding that the item is “not likely to be replenished in the near future.” I can also understand that a “first press limited edition” is bound to sell out, but less than a month after the album is released? If it’s a ploy to get me to buy just the plain CD, forget it, I’m not biting.

Miyabi is the third megastar for the outstanding Buono! trio, which has sold more than 100,000 copies of two singles and an album in less than six months.

The only reason I even ordered this (and it was pricy at $34 US) was to get the DVD element, which isn’t even a PV; it’s more of a collection of promo clips. I’m a DVD guy; CDs are passé in J-pop any more.

Bottom line: Pony Canyon had better attend to its bottom line with what could be a record-breaking album.

In any event, YesAsia has been a reliable supplier and I just wonder why this happens in a J-pop sales climate that is supposed to be cutthroat and ultra-competitive. No wonder downloading is such a problem.

This is Radicalipton signing off – for now.