This really is a brilliant album.
Greetings, scobb.

May sound crazy, likely to most here, but I've not heard a single note of "
Sinfonia", yet. I'll be saving it for another week and a half, still. Which is when I'll finally get to watch / listen to it -- 'til my heart's content -- without getting hassled by anyone and risk fcuking-up the
mood, getting pulled out of
the zone / headspace. Been looking forward to the listening / viewing experience, ever since it was first announced as a musical venture of
NMA's. I want to make it special, though, to really take-it-in, absorb and savour the release, to not rush through it. embarrassed soft lol, I still haven't touched the box it arrived in, for fear I'll cave. Thankfully, so far, so good. Just a little while longer, yet.

Being in Australia I also have to pay silly shipping costs. What really bugs me is that
Townsend Music should take the 20% VAT cost off the items
as they don’t have to pay it when shipping outside the UK.
I wrote to them before brexit and they basically told me to bugger off
(I assume they just keep the 20% as extra profit?).
I’m hoping that many Europeans (non uk) will also start complaining and, maybe,
Townsend Music will do the right thing in the future rather than gouging extra profit from non uk purchasers.
This would go someway to compensate/pay for the high shipping costs.
Crikey!

Twenty percent Value Added Tax? Hadn't realised it was that high! That's just fcukin' insane! I got
clobbered /
burned by oh, so many, many things. Let's see... there was Townsend's whopper shipping charges
(for some reason, with "Sinfonia", there was no other option. I was forced to use DHL. Yeah, they can get orders shipped out to people super-fast, but sadly, not so much in the greatest condition once delivered); there were the hefty customs fees upon order's arrival; the monstrous exchange rate; and quite possibly even VAT charges now, too.

I don't doubt that they tacked on VAT to non-uk-residing customers' orders. I'll take to writing to Townsend, as well, if I can find out for certain, whether I was charged VAT. I've been pre-ordering my
NMA/
JS merchandise through them, for years! It would suck, to discover that VAT was charged on any of my past or present orders.
I had no choice but to order "
Sinfonia" from Townsend. There isn't much choice here in Canada and Townsend had the exact items I was after, packaged as a bundle. Unfortunately, had to turn to them once again for "
Unbroken", too. At least this time 'round, I was given choice of three shipping methods. So I chose the least expensive, tracked option, which
(of course) ended up being the slowest of the three. As long as an order arrives well and intact, I don't mind that it's takes a little longer to get here.
Really appreciate you bringing up 20% VAT discrepancy on Townsend orders, scobb. Definitely wouldn't have known otherwise and certainly hope that all folk affected, will follow suit and complain in writing to Townsend

because that isn't fair practice nor very professional of them either.
.