Earache Records Reviews 

The staff were very friendly and helpful. Although I did not receive the correct item ordered (a CD box set instead of a vinyl box set), the staff did not argue, refunded the full amount paid (including shipping costs and taxes), and allowed me to keep the item for free. Thank you Tom.

Have been buying from earache records since the early 90s but companies that sell stuff they don’t have in stock are just the worse , if you are reading this you probably wasted time emailing them and waiting for your item to , I went to my bank for a refund and the chargeback was excepted , appreciated that but not the ordeal nor late replies that had an air of sarcasm. Life is to short and money is to scarce to waste with this company .

Ordered 2 Cathedral albums for Christmas, both arrived in time however a mistake was made with one that was sent out. Emailed customer services and dealt with Tom who was excellent. He apologised for the mix up and sent me the new which arrived within a few days. Kept me fully up to date about my order and was great to deal with. I would definitely use again.

Not had much issues previously but jeez this order is taking forever to even ship.
2 items both in stock at time of order (16th Deo) and as of 18th Jan there's no shipping info or progress. And I thought our local counowere bad! I've placed and received 3 orders from China in the meantime!
I've chased twice nd now asking for an immediate refund....thats been ignored so far.

I order quite a few vinyl records from Earache, and I've never had a problem until my last order. Last month, I had a shipping issue (the carrier's fault), and their customer service was exemplary in handling the problem with great responsiveness. I'll be back.

Ordered the Paradise Lost One Second T-Shirt through Ebay on Monday 5th January 2026 despite many messages no one got back to me until I told them I would cancel my order then Tom responded with the message saying on the 9th January & I quote "Hi, the estimated delivery date is 9th - 15th January, so it will arrive within that time. There's a minimum 5 working day handling time on all orders. Tom" despite this the T-Shirt still hasn't arrived avoid like anything I was prepared to give them a 2nd chance if it arrived today 15th January as they promised but they failed again and have failed to respond to any messages also.

Update 23/01/2026
How pathetic this company are they have now blocked me on Ebay just because I asked I asked for a refund I have contacted my bank to get the refund avoid them like the Plague as they never respond to messages they ignore people's requests (i have screenshots to prove this) they take an eternity to dispatch items also the customer service is let's say to be polite is very poor they are pathetic as they can't take criticism of any kind.

Update to the reply:
Numerous times I requested for it to be cancelled as they said messages was ignored then without my consent the T-Shirt was sent to me Tom replied it will be dispatched on 13th January be delivered on the 15th January to which I replied cancel the delivery as I brought the same T-Shirt from the bands website (I have the screenshots as evidence) also Surprise Surprise the T-Shirt didn't arrive on the date promised by Tom then a tracking number was provided to which I replied cancel the delivery as I already brought the same T-Shirt from the bands website again i have the screenshots of me saying this as evidence.

I purchased a defective vinyl from a local store, I wrote to the customer service and they sent me a new copy that sounds so much better withing a month. No questions asked, it was quick a kind. 10/10

Takes an absolute age to dispatch. Took over 2 weeks before they even sent it out, not cool.

I placed my first order on the Earache Records webstore on November 28, 2025 and waited for it to be shipped. While still waiting (and without any meaningful update), I placed a second order on December 8, 2025. At that point, my first order had still not been dispatched, which already felt concerning, but unfortunately I did not realize yet how bad the situation was.

I received a reply to one of my emails, where I was told that the order would probably be shipped the next day. However, a significant amount of time has passed since then, nothing has been shipped, and my subsequent multiple inquiries have gone unanswered.

As of December 22, 2025, both of my paid orders (28.11.2025 and 08.12.2025) remain unshipped. This is an absolute disappointment and without exaggeration the worst online shopping experience I have ever had. Complete lack of follow-through and communication is unacceptable. I strongly advise others to think twice before ordering from this store.

Contacted after 15 days without any order update and got "Sorry for the delay should be going out in the next few days".

Contacted again after 30 days and no reply.

A few weeks ago, I picked up Carcass – 'Heartwork' (Full Dynamic Range edition) on vinyl from a London record shop. Unfortunately, my copy was defective — super quiet with constant clicks, basically unlistenable. Definitely not what you'd expect from an FDR pressing, and as a longtime fan, it was a real letdown.

I reached out to Earache Records directly to ask if they were aware of any pressing issues. They replied quickly, acknowledged the fault, and without any hassle offered to send me the Ultimate Edition 2xLP of Heartwork completely free of charge.

The replacement arrived fast and in perfect condition. The sound quality of the new record compared to the faulty one is like night and day. I was genuinely impressed by how smoothly and generously Earache handled everything.

Massive respect to Earache for turning a frustrating situation into a great experience (responsive, professional, and no nonsense customer service).
I’ll definitely be digging deeper into their heavy music catalogue.

awesome seller good communication fast delivery would definitely recommend

I live in Austria, I ordered a record from Earache, London on Sep 23rd and after it went through customs I had it on my turntable on Oct 3rd.
It was carefully packed and came much faster than I expected.
I will definitely order from Earache again!

I can’t express my gratitude enough. I’m in Australia and ordered a limited edition album from these guys. Even though the tracking said it arrived at work, I couldn’t find it. Tom fixed the problem immediately and I’m over the moon. There was no delay in communication or action, despite the distance. I will use Earache first up before looking elsewhere from now on. 100% recommend these guys. Thanks again.

Great communication. I put in the wrong address and they changed it for me. The wait was long and there was an issue with the products arriving but after a while everything turned up and was good quality

My Ozzy tshirt didn't arrive so I got another one sent straight away which arrived really quickly free of charge as a replacement. Seller was great.

Earache Company is absolutely Ace ! I purchased the Rolling Stones Backpack and it was Brilliant! The material itself was strong with plenty of space. And the shipping arrived quicker than expected ! I've been disappointed many times when I purchased backpacks before. But not this time because this is Outstanding! And will last a very long time. This is a Brilliant Company who's kept me updated with shipping and was very accurate. Once again Fantastic Company indeed. Looking forward to doing more business with you soon. Thank You ever so much!

I ordered a "At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul"-shirt on 08-07-2025. When I received the confirmation I realised I made a mistake and ordered the wrong colour. (the classic colours instead of the black/white one). I emailed Earache that I made a mistake and if they could switch the order to the black and white one, instead of the classic colours. I received a prompt reply from Tom that's no problem and they will alter the order and send the black and white shirt.

On 22-07-2025 the package got delivered (two weeks from UK to the Netherlands which is more than fine in my books). Unfortunately, Earache hadn't altered the order and I still received the shirt with the classic colour design. Although I would've preferred the black/white shirt I'm still satisfied with the shirt I received. The shirt is of good quality and the colours are nicely printed. The picture on their website doesn't do it justice in my opinion. A bit disappointed they didn't alter the order after they said they would. However, I can't fault them too much because I made the initial mistake by ordering the wrong shirt. I'm still considering if I should order the black and white one as well, because that's more my style, admittedly.

All in all, I'm happy with my experience with Earache. Judging from some of the negative reviews some people need to practice some patience which seems to be harder and harder these days.

EDIT 12-08-2025: I gave Earache 4 stars in my initial review but I adjusted it to 5 stars, because Earache went above and beyond in their service. After realising they sent the wrong colour shirt they have send me the black/white shirt as well! Absolutely class! Thanks Tom and Earache! Very much appreciated, now I have two awesome shirts! :-)

Bought previously with no issue so thought I would get the same service....No. After 1 week of no item I contacted to see what was happening. I was told they would be sent that day or beginning of the following week and apologized. This didn't happen. Another message sent on the following Wednesday to see where my order was. Got a reply the following day to say it was being sent. 2 weeks to send items. Shambolic!

I placed my order on 6th July, today is the 14th I haven't received a dispatch notice, even after receiving a reply from Tom saying my order should be sent by the end of last week or beginning of this week, I've emailed twice and I am now being ignored this is a birthday present for someone shocking service