I have a question: Do you found the culprit and punished by pouring on him the tar and feathers

Disappointed - yes, but I think it's a major blunder rather than intentional. As long as full refunds are available, then that's fair in a legal sense. Hope management, and Avril, would release some other new or unreleased song to help improve customers' disappointment and frustration.

@goodbyelullaby123 Or early 2013.

It's a shame Hello doesn't exist but at least her fifth album will hopefully be released in 2012.

@UncleBob Thanks for the info

@Uncle Bob: Thanks for clearing this up, it's unfortunate but I guess we will just have to live with it...

UPDATE:

It's official. "Hello" does not exist. I just got the following email from my contact on Avril's management team. I don't know what else they can do other than offer refunds to those that want them.

"Hi Bob,

The track ‘Hello’ does not actually exist. Any mention of it was supposed to be removed from all messaging, but it appears this one news post made it through. Everywhere else the product was listed had the correct information, including the official store product page. It is unfortunate that this got out there and we are sorry for any confusion it has caused. It would be a great help to us if you could post on the forums communicating this information.

I hope you are enjoying the holidays"

@freaktheclown - First, let me say I am as disappointed as anyone that we will not be hearing a new track from Avril called "Hello". As I mentioned earlier, If you are not happy with your purchase, you can request a refund. Sorry to say, this may be your only recourse. I don’t have any good answers yet. As far as the condition of the CD case and the fingerprints... Well, I've seen CDs being manufactured and packaged. The process is entirely automated. At no time during the process is there an opportunity for a human to touch a CD prior it being shrink-wrapped. Needless to say, the way this batch of CDs were handled was "nonstandard". I can't tell you why. I could only guess. So, I'm just going to wait for my best sources of information to enlighten me. Keep in mind that a lot of people take vacation at this time of year.

I don't know if we will ever know for sure how this error occurred. I can only say that I am sure it was not part of a plan by the label to deliberately deceive anyone. There is no profit in that.

... The answer is on her twitter

So apparently Avril is doing something "Really Cool" lately... Wander what this is?

@freaktheclown: That's pretty bad... They are really no better than third-party sites like E-Bay or Amazon... Even my expanded edition came with a few scratches on both the CD and the DVD, but at least it didn't stop them from playing properly!

While they are trying to figure out how to handle the problem, maybe they should just beg Avril to write and record a song called "Hello". Or, maybe she could just cover Lionel Richie's "Hello". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiC7ZX5K9L4&ob=av2n

I do hope they make up for it somehow. :/

Now that they know they have a problem, they have deactivated this link...
http://www.avrillavigne.com/us/music/wish-you-were-here-limited-fan-edition

@Don_-58 Yup. It's exactly like that. Let's hope they are working on it now

@RachelAbbeyDawn: Sound to me like the guitar pick issue with the Expanded Edition of GL... Human error, they forgot to include it with the package... One of the many problems of online shopping... sigh...

Let's just hope they will do something about this!

@Don_-58 No. I'm saying that from emails people have received, it seems that we SHOULD of received Hello. But we haven't received it.

@RachelAbbeyDawn: So wait... Your saying that Hello DOES exist and some people have got it? That makes it even more unfair for those who didn't get it... Well lets just hope we get it!

@Don_-58 I went onto bandaids to see if any of the members on there received theres. Some of them have. I wonder if they did really make a mistake and Hello does exist.

As annoyed as I am, I will not cancel my order or refund it! Simply because I went through the trouble of ordering it and I don't want to go through the trouble of cancelling it!

Besides it's a limited edition, so if I do cancel, then I would not get a chance to order it again, should I change my mind! And wouldn't it be cool to receive an autographed postcard if I do get it.

Come to think of it I actually don't have an acoustic version of Smile... But it's not like I am excited to listen to it.

How many people have actually received their copy? It hasn't even been a week since they shipped it. And to those who have, where in the world are you, the US?

@WildForbiddenRose Email them for a refund

If you are not happy with your purchase, return it for a refund. Nobody is trying to cheat you. It would appear, someone made a mistake. As long as humans are involved in the process, mistakes are going to happen.

I just got my CD, and "Hello" really isn't on there. It's just songs we already have. >:(

I think we should all email the customer support people (like draiocht included above) and see if there's any way they can sort this out. We should all at least be given a digital download of a previously unreleased song, be it "Hello" (if that song even exists) or some other new song. This is seriously unfair. It's false advertisement and fraud, and I for one would not have bought this stupid single if I had known the real tracklisting. I'm disappointed, and all I want is a new song like they promised.

@Aline28th Let's just hope something is sorted

@UncleBob Ok. Thanks

@Rachel
Yes, you're right.. I have not explained precisly, what I think is that the companies shoul do the Avril's interests.. And if they lie, Avril (wich is the "image") would lose her credibility.. No?

@Rachel Although they might not like to be quoted directly, my contact at Epic has said within the last hour "the "Hello" track doesn't even exist, as far as I know".

@Aline28th It's not Avril's fault. It's nothing to do with Avril. It's the companies fault.

@UncleBob Thank you. Is it true that Hello doesn't actually exist though?

OMG! I'm really sorry for you all (and for me.. I was so excited..)
But I find this story strange.. There's no reason to lie.. Avril loses the trust of her fans, and not wirth it (is a google translator's traduction.. I dont know if you use this expression..).. I do not know what to think.. But now, wait, maybe Avril will say something about "Hello"

I don't know what is going on but, I'm going to find out. As we speak, my contact at the label is trying to figure how these tracks got posted. I think it is a little soon to be calling it "fraud" or "false advertising". Don't forget, there are humans involved here and they make mistakes. Remember the "missing pick"? That error was corrected. I'll let you know what I find out as soon as possible.

I sent inquires about this problem to the online store:
http://www.myplaydirect.com/avril-lavigne/contact/new

and Sony Music's contact:
http://hub.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.php

Does anybody have any better?

@OscarLovesAvril me too. I'm so disappointed and sad. I was looking forward to hearing Hello.

@Rachel: Hope they do something about it.

http://avril-l.org/ posted pictures from a fan who received hers. (her twitter is @makeupforever84)

Everyone email the company about this. This is false advertisment and they could get in serious crap about this. I mean, most people only ordered it simply for Hello. And now, it doesn't even exist.

@OscarLovesAvril I have no idea. I'm printscreening it as evidence in case they come back and make out that they never said Hello would be on there.

@Don_-58 In all fairness to Avril, it's not her fault. It's the companies. But I do hope Avril says something about this and hope they provide another b-side and offer it for free on Avril's facebook page like they did with What The Hell as an apology

Oh my God!! How come? Actually, I wasn't able to buy a copy of it, but I can't believe it. I was so excited about the new song. How can they make such a mistake?

Why?? The song is even listed here: http://www.avrillavigne.com/us/music/wish-you-were-here-limited-fan-edition

I'm really sorry for you.

I have not yet received my copy, but if it is the case, it's serious, because there is a fraud! Many fans have bought this edition only because it offered a new b-side

... Wait and see

Uhhhhh..... Say What!?...... I haven't actually received mine yet... I am surprised that some people have.

But I seriously don't think Avril can afford to be disappointing her fans at this stage.... oh dear.... I am no longer excited to receiving mine now...

I also received mine without "Hello." That wasn't the only problem with the CD, though.

The CD came loose in the box, not shrinkwrapped. So the case is completely scratched up and there are a few small cracks as well. The CD itself had fingerprints all over it and there was dust all over the inside of the case.

Pictures: http://i.imgur.com/4HGdp.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/Iig5o.jpg

Completely unprofessional to say the least. And the fact that they shipped a different product from what was advertised and from what I (and everyone else) ordered, is unacceptable.

Here is the email I received from MyPlayDirect:

"I'm sorry for any inconvience that may have caused. However, this issue has been noticed from our end and our Warehouse and Administrative department are working on it to resolve as soon as possible. Please provide us some time frame so that this can be resolved. As soon as the issue is rectified, we will notify you with further details.

Sincerely,

Sony Music Digital
C36H
Victor"

If they can't replace this with the CD I actually ordered, I'll be asking for a refund.

Also, screenshots of the news post and order page showing the track list containing "Hello":

http://i.imgur.com/iN8X5.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6Gv0x.png