Yes, they were a legit dealer of ours.
However, we enacted a new policy which prevents our dealers from selling online. There are many reasons for this, but the important thing here is that dealers can not sell online. Music Direct’s business is online-only.
Music Direct and a couple of others still had some inventory last I checked. Music Direct decided to sell off what inventory they had a small discount. While we don’t like this, there isn’t much we can do here as they are no longer a dealer.
So, while they were a legitimate dealer, they are now a legitimate non-dealer. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy from them. In fact, they have the best deals for Nucleus/Nucleus+ at the moment, and if you can, do take advantage of it! The decision to cut them off was not due to a fault in their business, but due to a shift in our commercial strategy.
As for your experience, it doesn’t sound pleasant or typical. I will have @SteveSilberman look into this for you.