CD customer wants HMV to face music
HONG KONG'S biggest music retailer, HMV, has been reported to the Consumer Council for selling a classical CD that turned out to be a rock music compilation.
Classical music fan Carla Brooks passed the CD on to the Consumer Council after sitting down expecting to listen to English composer Edward Elgar and being bombarded by rock star Bruce Springsteen instead.
But HMV has refused to apologise for the incident, saying manufacturer EMI was to blame for poor quality control.
Ms Brooks, a banker, bought what was supposed to be a recording of Elgar's Violin Concerto played by Nigel Kennedy from HMV in Central.
However, the disc turned out to be compilation of rock songs by artists including Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Blondie.
She said: 'I checked the packaging of the CD, the cover notes and the imprint on the CD itself. They all seemed to be in order and the clear plastic covering on the CD was intact before I opened it.' She said the imprint on the CD was actually covering another imprint, called Drivin' Hits.
'I know I will be able to get a replacement easily but would not trust a replacement from HMV,' she said.
'How would I know that it is a legitimate recording, even if the packaging and the label looked fine? I paid $145 for this CD and expected to get a high-quality recording.' Stuart Fraser, commercial director of HMV (Greater China and Southeast Asia), said: 'HMV is not a manufacturer. We bought this CD from EMI. EMI people made mistakes.
'Recording is one thing while pressing is another. Unfortunately, we can't test every single CD we buy,' he said.
Mr Fraser said HMV was prepared to replace the CD or fully refund Ms Brook's money.
No one at EMI was available for comment.
