Ross,
I'm out of the fanclub once my membership expires. I had some really great seats for the first round of US dates but the 2nd has caused me nothing but frustration. That along with the way the way the rehearsal show tickets were handled and the inability to secure any number of seats for events like the Tonight Show and Letterman here in the US basically makes the whole thing worthless to me. Plus many of the events involving Sting aren't even announced through the club. I've done much better in the past on my own and with tips from this list.
Now on another note... not that i'm a huge fan. But lets take Prince's fanclub. $25 to join for a lifetime membership. Member tickets are those closest to the stage. No convenience fees. You don't know your location until you arrive at the show. All shows have pre-sales - no rollover excuse. Anyway I decided to join and go here in LA. Picked up my seats and they were front row. As a matter of fact everyone around me had bought their tickets through the fanclub.
Herb
>From: Ross Viner <sting@shaw.ca>
>To: Sting <police@mailman.xmission.com>
>Subject: [Police] Fan club pre-sale tickets
>Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 07:23:25 -0700
>
>The Fan club president was kind enough to call me to explain why, the
>fact I did not get "best available" seats, is not their fault.
>Defences ran from "tickets were there, I should have navigated better to
>get the best seats" to "We do not select what are considered "best
>seats."
>
>I've tried reserving my judgement because as you know, many members have
>been highly critical of the way the membership is being run. I'm
>disappointed the way I've been treated. I feel my $100 premium
>membership for "benefits" was a poor investment. In summary, I did
>everything right, and still feel screwed. Whether by the fan club,
>promoter, venue or whomever. At the end of the day I do feel this was
>the fan club's responsibility. Instead everyone I spoke with evades the
>responsibility.
>
>For the Vancouver, GM place show, I went online 2 PM EST last Monday, to
>get the best seats possible like many others. However ""best available"
>seats were section 117. Not being familiar with the the GM place
>seating plan, I assumed that section 117 was indeed the best available -
>I was wrong. If you selected "section", you are taken to another menu.
> >From there you could access floor seats.
>Unfortunately, for this fan, I learned about this glitch too late and
>was not able to get 1st, 2nd or 3rd row, like I easily would have done
>had the website worked properly.
>
>As I said, Tina was kind enough to take the time to call me from the UK,
>but I was just re-assured by her the issue was not their fault, and they
>do the best they can. We argued for several minutes (at one point I was
>told I was "wrong") "agreeing" that the best they can do, simply isn't
>good enough (for me and many other fans). I suspect from her
>perspective this meant she is frustrated that some fans cannot be made
>happy regardless of their efforts.
>
>I'm afraid the only recourse I have is not re-renewing my membership.
>So I guess I won't. In future years I'd rather pay the $100 premium for
>scalper tickets, with less hassle, anger and frustration. The only
>other thing I ever got was the CD ROM and while somewhat "nice" it was
>not worth $100.
>
>I think I can say they do care somewhat about the fan club and its
>members (evidenced by the call), but I guess their hands are tied and
>cannot do much when something goes wrong. Like most human beings, it is
>easier to shift responsibility, than accept it. As my Dad says, "The
>name of the game is results."
>
>-Ross (out over $100).
>
>PS: Some of you who know me better, also know how I can take issues
>to the nth degree when I am convinced I am being wronged. I was
>tempted to buy the domain name "stingfanclubsucks.com" but my "anger has
>subsided. If that is the worst of my problems, then I'm doing all right
>and I don't want to escalate the issue, as it am afraid it will taint my
>love for Sting's music.
>
>But I am curious, how many of you will renew?
>
>
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