Well guys, what a fuckin nightmare!!

If anyone needs a spare ticket/guestpass for Thursday and has a spare for Friday then please send me an Orgnote and we can deal.

it said at the bottom of the disclaimer "tickets are limited"

calldapplwondery83 said:

Got a ticket by chance? If you aren't coming to the Uk - wait until the German tickets go on sale - if the same thing happens there you'll know how we feel.

This is the text from the disclaimer...

U MUST BUY A PRESALE CONCERT PASS 2 GET IN2 SOUNDCHECK AND GET A MEMBER LAMINATE! Buying tickets in the general public sale will not get u access. Tickets r limited. All presales r first come, first serve and we do not guarantee that every member will get a ticket 2 every show.

I've got a funny feeling we're not going to get a positive answer, if any, from the NPGMC.

I sent this email to them:

Hello.

I have to say that it's not often I get upset and annoyed as much as I am at the moment

This morning, I got online early enough (5 to 10) to be able to buy my tickets for all three London shows for the tour. Not only could I not get on to the site, but having checked on prince.org, many other members were having the same problem. After 1 and a half hours, I manage to get on, only to find that ALL tickets are sold out!! At no point during that time could I get on to the order page. This has really upset me because, after a year of what I considered an under-performing membership club, I was hoping that my $100 was going to give me the oppportunity of a lifetime to see Prince up close and personal. I'm not even going to be getting that now.

I know that there have been numerous messages on the prince.org site stating they were sending abusive and angry emails to you and whilst I don't think that's right, I can understand their position. Please please please, give the fans who are now upset and angry at this fiasco some hope by releasing more tickets for the London show. If the whole venue needs to be filled with NPGMC members, even for the soundcheck, then so be it. They're the ones who've made a commitment to Prince and they deserve to have that commitment reciprocated to them by the club.

I'm so hoping you're not going to dissapoint us.

Yours in hope

Rico.

Perfect emoticon for how we are all feeling...

I know a lot of you are angry and upset but it's not Prince's fault nor the clubs fault either.

There are no guarantees in life and nowhere on the NPGMC site has it ever said that every single member who wants tickets for shows will get them. What you get for your money is the opportunity to try and buy tickets for show 2 days before the general public. If tickets sell out fast it's not Prince's fault so sending his club nasty emails will get you absolutely nowhere. Sorry

calldapplwondery83 said:

Just so that you know, for my part I didn't write an abusive or hateful email to NPGMC. I explained my position, that I tried from 10am to get tickets and failed and that I believed part of their membership commitment to me was that they promised me premium seats on a worldwide tour.

And, to be honest, I don't care whether Prince knows about computers or not. If he doesn't, (a) what is he doing setting up an internet-based business and (b) can't you hire professionals to advise you on this type of thing? ... his organisation set this thing up, and they were happy to take our money. All I would like is the opportunity to purchase tickets before the general public, who haven't paid a membership fee.

Finally, I understand that there are limited places available to people on tours like these, especially with him playing smaller venues. I'm happy to take my chances and even be at the back of the member's section but what I'm not happy about is now having to take my chances with the rest of the people in the UK who want to see him and are not even fans and possibly not get in at all, or be at the back of the theatre. So, I'm hoping that Prince and NPGMC will do something about this for those of us who were unlucky this time.

jonpca said:

Well, it could be more of a dilema than I thought. Ive been reading people saying they got confirmation emails... I aint got one! I got a ref number after checkout but no email...

Should that be something to worry about I wonder?

Jon said:

Check the UR Account section in Retail... If you see it there I wouldn't worry too much

Al

Right for all you whingers out there, read the page where the tickets are advertised...

"Tickets r limited. All presales r first come, first serve and we do not guarantee that every member will get a ticket 2 every show."

To me he has delivered his promise, it depends on the venue on how many tickets are available and there are a lucky few, get a life, get a normal ticket and quit whining.

Its funny your all so quick to damn Prince yet if you got tickets you would be gloating to all those who hadn't

You all really disgust me with your selfish pathetic attitudes.

there is a post from an american fan on this site somewhere stating that it's all based on a first come first served basis. he set out the rules clearly and helpfully from experience. i decided yesterday that if i didn't get a pass then unlucky a ticket will do because someone else has been luckier. fair is fair. because i'm rational and a lot of you are just totally OTT and should be ashamed of yourselves. prince may oranise another pre sale you never know!! there are more important things in life. just go to ticket master and get a ticket. print off the floor plan of the apollo and choose your seat.

"tickets are limited" it said so clearly.

I don't see anyone gloating. Nor anyone being pathetic or selfish.
I do see a lot of people upset & feeling let down. After 4 years of waiting, and expecting to go to the soundcheck & afterparty, to then discover that you will miss out on that, I think we are entitled to be a bit upset.

All those of you trying to call those who haven't got tickets whingers are forgetting one thing. Fair enough if all the fans had an equal opportunity to order the tickets. If I was sitting here now trying to get on and order my tickets and they were sold out, but we were all here at 10 trying to get on and order our tix, some had even got as far as the "confirm" dialogue before it crashed out. They must have known the volume of interest in Europe, they must have learned from their experiences last year when the sites were overloaded whenever downloads were released, so increase the web site's capacity for the short space of time that the tickets were going on sale. Simple.

Right on Rico, could not have said it better myself.

The last thing I would do is gloat, I feel really bad for everyone who has been let down.

the main reasons for me to join the NPGMC were:
1. Sound-checks with possible "meeting" with Prince.
2. Access to aftershow.
3. Pre-sales, which I assumed meant that npgmc-members were guaranteed access as long as the entire arena wasn't sold out.
4. Preferred seating.
5. The cd's.

Now, I was lucky and got 2 tix for the 4th, but if I hadn't I would've been upset. It's easy for NPGMC to anticipate such a rush for tickets, all they have to do is look at the number of members living in the UK, and consider that he hasn't played here in AGES! So putting a small number of tickets up for presale is asking for trouble. They should keep selling tickets until the arena is full, and THEN say that it's sold out. Just put this info in the disclaimer, and everybody's happy. Nobody can complain when the whole arena is sold out, that happens with every artist. But at least give the members guaranteed access as long as there are seats available in the arena!

just got 1 ticket for fri night. Worth entering a qty. of 1 instead of 2- it worked for me, just means I can't bring nmy wife!

Goldtimer and Rico,
I understand your frustration and anger because I had the
same problems while trying to get a pass for Xenophobia.
In the end, I got in and they sort of admitted that it was a technical problem and I met some real nice people from
Holland who were very computer savvy and had the same problems, they said it was on behalf of the NPGMC.
Now I am not blaming the NPGMC and I understand that sometimes things go "pearshaped" (i.e things can go wrong)
but still, it was so much stress and literally made me sick.
I don´t even want to explain in detail how I had to drive
120 in MN back and forth from StPaul to Chanhassen three
times a day on the first day, but hey , it´s all good, Prince is still the Man and rocks the house like noone else on this planet, but the NPGMC needs to to something about this,I´m not sure if I´ll be able get my tickets for the German and Dutch leg of the tour.
If any fans from abroad need help or info in Germany, let me know, and thanks again to Exodus, BillySparxxx, Shondraye(lost your adress),
Maryann, hi to JoeandNataliefromArizona, hi to Ben and Matt,much love to those BayArea folks(Bobby the human powerplant...who needs nuclear power when you have Bobby in the house ??)
Getting the Xenophobia pass literally gave me an ulcer and
high blood pressure, but in the end, it was worth it.
Still, I feel your pain.

Food for thought: We who are members of the club are complaining... but this is how it is to be on the outside (copy/paste from another thread):

---
Eyeve just realized that he only cares about his club members!!!
The rest of us just dont count with him at all anymore!!
Its literally a "closed shop" society now with him!!! Offering first pickings 2 his club members, leaving the rest of us 2 pick up the dregs!!! Eye 2 think its wrong that his club members can have as many tickets as they like for as many concerts as they like!!!

Eye also experienced first hand last year, when we lived in Minneapolis, how much he cares more for his club members, that the rest of us, when we were waiting outside Paisley Park for the aftershow after the first Xcel Energy concert. They seperated the club members from the general admittance, which we were, and we stood like dummies, watching the club members all file in first, leaving us just standing there!!!
---

Maybe the club membership isn't so bad after all?

i feel for you all. but your luck will change if you send npg a nice email maybe.

That is bullshit.

Prince is allowing members of his fan club the chance to attend soundchecks and aftershows because we are members of his fan club, as for you left with the dregs how can that be, what happened before the NPGMC you got your ticket as normal and if you were lucky enough to find out where the aftershow was you saw that too.

Join the club, get the "opportunity" to participate in presales but if you dont then buy a normal ticket..whats the big deal?

starbass said:

Your first quote contradicts what you then go on to say about Prince delivering his 'promise' to you. Like you, I luckily got 2 tkts for the saturday show. (However, my job keeps me travelling a hell of alot so I'll probably not be able to make it anyway! In which case, I know where to come to sell them...) Anyhow, if the club offers more preferred seating, can I suggest the following (it worked for me)...

1. keep the member retail page open overnight (or sometime before the presale) rather than trying to log into the site from the moment the presale starts or close to it
2. refresh the member retail page when the time is right
3. enter 2 tickets in your preferred night
4. put your cc details
5. view cart if you wish but not necessary
6. check out as soon as possible
7. check your a/c for your tkts
8. wait for confirmation email to be sent

Best of luck, and for those coming on saturday, hopefully see you there at 5pm!

starbass said:

You make it all sound well and good then. But the fact of the matter is these people without tickets PAID the club to be a member. Its ok being a member of a fan club and being given an oportunity to extras. But when you pay money to be a member of the fan club under the premise that members get certain perks, then when those perks dont materialise and they have to queue up with Joe Public, do you think those members will pay that membership fee again next year? I certainly wouldnt if I was shunned like that. Thats no way to run a club like this. To keep its members and get new ones, it needs to keep its current customer base happy. In business its called churn.

If the membership has out grown the perks available then the business needs to expand to accomodate it. Its not the customer who needs to accomodate the business!

To quote many unhappy folk on here, this does indeed suck. The whole venture sucks and needs radical reform or it will go under.

alanhoey said:

And if they dont get a ticket at ticket master? Its not a very big venue you know, and they will sell like hot cakes! So your attitude to them would be "tough shit, never mind, better luck next time"?

Sure, but then that member wont pay to be a member next year. The club loses a large customer base and then you suffer too because the club will shut down.

But thats ok as long as you have your ticket eh?

Whether we have tickets or not. There is something fundamentally wrong with the whole set up. I dont care what the disclaimers say about limited numbers. The amount of unhappy people on the org right now is not just a limited few. Its a lot of people. Not forgetting all the members that dont come to the org.

Im sorry, but there is no defense for the club on this one. It is wrong to upset so many simply because those 'many' will walk away from the club. And at the end of the day, an exodus of fans will mean the club will close and we all lose out.

Prince needs to get his head out of his ass and employ some professionals to sort his business out.

my condolensces to all those who didn't get premium passes to the london shows. there were problems with tix here in the states as well, however, perhaps not as bad. i hate it for you guys, i know it's been a while since he's been there.

4 all those who have sent e-mails to NPGMC, has anybody got a response yet?

I will post if & when they respond to mine...

Rico said:

I'm right with you. I also don't think getting abusive helps. If I can't get a single ticket to Manchester, I'll be sending an email just like yours!

In the past I remember ringing up for a ticket as soon as I heard about the concert, and still ended up a mile away! I didn't even attempt it one year because I was so fed up with being at the back and watching the concert through binoculars. I was really just looking forward to being in the front quarter for a change, but now it's not so certain...

If he can sell out an entire venue with just club members, then why not?

metalorange said:

Metalorange, that comment is spot on.
[This message was edited Fri Sep 13 6:14:47 PDT 2002 by jonpca]

Rico said:

Nice idea Rico but I'm afraid it's not that simple at all. There are really only two ways that you can "increase a web site's capacity".

One is to install faster/additional hardware (costly and requires large amounts of maintenance).

Second is to increase the available bandwidth on your leased line. Depending on the size of circuit going into the NPGMC servers, this may not be an option (they could be maxed out already). I my experience, getting telco providers to give a temporary increase in bandwidth is difficult. Contracts need signed, minimum contract periods apply and the cost usually rises linearly with the required bandwidth. In other words, again it's costly and there is too much red tape for it to be worthwhile.

Having said that, my experience is with the UK telco industry (BT)... I guess US telco's may be more flexible.

Another option would be to use the existing bandwidth more effectively. Remove all the fancy graphics from the retail section (or have a concert only retail section with no graphics at all). It would be surprising just how much of a difference this would make.

Regards

Al

jonpca said:

It would certainly stop all the NPGMC nay-sayer's in their tracks... How cool would it be if he could fill a venue with members and Joe Public doesn't even get a look in?

Imagine the concert... Prince shouting "Where are the club members at?"