I dont understand that so many members can be so disgruntled
What did everyone expect? Freebies every month?
Isn't everyone happy with hearing the music and feeling the vibe?
Getting first refusal for good seats at concerts?

For me, I am happy with it, maybe I'm a lucky one who got what they ordered straight away.

But I gotta say 1 thing,
STOP BEHAVING LIKE SPOILT BRATS!!!

Dear Mary,

I a way you are right. But many people care deeply for Prince's music and even for Prince himself.

The club is for many a way to get closer to his music or even to Prince himself.

It is easy to deduct that deep emotions trigger emotional reactions to anything good or bad.

The truth is somewhere in the middle, I think. NPGmc is an elusive company and the site the operate is not as forthcoming as it could be (see my many posts where I point to the sites operated by Bjork and David Bowie; spot the differences)

mary, we expect courtesy and professionalism from a business which has taken our money yet provides no product, nor information on product release dates

Mary are U so stupid and narrow minded 2 think that all subscribers live near countries where he is touring or can benefit from the membership alone??.

..are U so blinded by the joy of your great seats that weren't apart of the $100.00 to begin with.. that you don't realize that in the past 8 months the loyal consumer at home still hasn't anything new ??

((laughing))

Don't you think after 8 months someone who invested $100 might want a refund or be thinking (oh here we go again another Crystal Ball fiasco)

I won't say you are stupid Mary.. but you are narrow minded. Would any of us fly with an air carrier that picked up half of its paying passengers and left the others back at the gate (who couldn't afford the first class extras) wondering if the plane left or not? No! But by your pin-headed philosophy you would call them spoiled brats.


Hmm.. if U pay 10$ a cd u can buy 10 different albums at the record store.. but no wait .. i can pay $100, wait til doomsday and get what 4?? 3?? One box set and some piano songs i got last year? ? Geeh I dunno because NPGMC reserves the right not to clarify these things.

((howling))

Savannah said:

Savannah said:

Xactly!
[This message was edited Thu Oct 10 9:01:05 PDT 2002 by talk2thejay]

eye just take it 1 day or another with NPGMC. eye'm starting 2 have WITHDRAWL siptoms like a CrackHead or sumthin' becuz it would b NICE if we had another CD sent 2 us. ONA as Brilliant as it is needs 2 b have a little Sister or Brother NOW!!!

lets' just have some more Music or DownLoads or somethin'!!!

PLEASE!!!

2 answer u'r Question... i just want more Music...

I need Prince to drop some Funk on my doorstep!

MaryD said:

Clarification, Mary:

Spoiled brats complain about not getting what they want when it's quite clear that they've already received more than they deserve.

NPGMC members, 8 months into a 12 month club, are still waiting on 75% of what they paid for up front.

Respectfully, and seriously, all I want out of the club is what they told us we would receive with a paid membership. So, it's only natural to express concern when we mostly get cryptic messages from the club on the status of things.

If you were in a book club, and you were anxious to get the title of the next book you needed to read, wouldn't you be a bit peeved if the book club spent more time updating its web site with cryptic messages about A.I. and sending out Satan's Claws e-mail messages?

Wouldnt it be cool if every month he would send us a mp3 from each city he went to? even tho he is sending out the 3cd live ONA..it would still be cool to get his best cut, or what he thinks is his best cut from each cd.. since it did say he recorded every show..!

LaVisHh said:

..

NPG2000 said:

Hey, I've had this trick pulled on me. Flaming bag. Step on it. Ends up that there's shit inside...

Mary, there are satisifed members out there. Don't let them fool you. The only thing is that the ones who don't complain are out enjoying life and not sitting on a message board waiting for a chance to dis Prince, the club and call us all idiots if we don't agree with them and be miserable. If you will notice, it's the same handful of names and faces. Not enough to fill a Manchester soundcheck.

MaryD said:

Agreed. Well said.

I've been a member since Year One and I'm quite satisfied.

I think some of these people either expected a personal visit from Prince or the option to control him like they had a personal joystick up his A**e.

Besides it's mostly illusion. There are a few disgruntled customers here, but as they post all day, every day and on multiple threads it appears as though there are hundreds of them.

It's just the way they enjoy spending their time. Sometimes I actually feel sorry for them. Afterall it can't be easy being an unbalanced obsessive who expects the world for $100.

Perhaps if they actually went out they would realise how little $100 buys.

XxAxX said:

1) You already have 'ONA'. NPGMC has provided product.

2) NPGMC does not take the money forcibly. People freely chose to join.

3) If you actually bother to e-mail NPGMC they will inform you that the 'ONA ... Live' box set is coming shortly.

4) If Prince tours in your locality, you recieve all the member tour perks. Just last week I saw 3 concerts in front-row seats, with full soundchecks and free access to all 3 after-parties. This could be considered as 'product'. Besides in my opinion the live experience I have gained was worth the $100 alone.

Mr7 said:

You saw all 3 concerts for the price of your NPGMC membership? WOW that is indeed a membership perk. Or is it more likely the case that you PAID EXTRA $'s, on top of membership to see the shows?

TheEnglishGent said:

I never stated that I saw all 3 concerts as part of my membership. However, the membership does enable you to purchase front-row seats. As a member you then have access to the soundcheck and the afterparties. That is common knowledge. My point is that access to soundchecks and free entry to afterparties are part of the membership perks and therfore can be considered 'product'.

With all respect, do not attempt to insult my intelligence with trivial questioning. Soundchecks, front-row seats and free after-parties are not avaliable without a membership.
Therfore in terms of concerts NPGMC is delivering as promised.

The remaining CD's are still to come, but as the membership doesn't expire until Febuary there is little point in making rash judgements. An accurate, reliable review of the NPGMC year cannot be made until the year is completed.

TheEnglishGent said:

It seems TheEnglishGent expects his $100 membership to include concert passes as well. This type of reasoning should reassure Prince that some of his "fans" are indeed hopelessly deranged.

TheMax said:

How on earth did I imply that I expect my membership to include concert passes? I simply made a flipant remark, to make the point that some members seem to think they have got something for nothing, when in fact they pay extra on top of their membership. All the membership buys, is the opportunity to possibly get preferred seating. I did get the benefit of preferred seating at 2 of the London shows, but I paid for the seats.

Let me tell you about my NPGMC concert perks!!!

The NPGMC put the presale tickets on sale at 10am on a work day - I managed to book a half day and gotto my computer at 11:30 and found all London tickets gone. I later discover thattehmajority of tickets have been bought by the same group of people hell bent on going to all the shows.

I settle for the fact that I will have to get tickets through the normal method and ring Ticketmaster as soon as the go on general sale. Repeatedly I am told thatthere is no show on 5th October and that I am wrong. Throughout the day I keep calling and get told the same thing by everyone I speak to - eventually,after about 6 hours, I get fed up and demand to speak to the manager only to be told that the majority of tickets have now been sold for the 5th...suspicious or what.

"Oh well I think,at least Im going" and I had a brilliant evening up until about he last 30 minutes when Prince decided to have the front rows sing "join the club" at the people upstairs and where I was sat. He then proceeded to state that he had to go and take his friends to the aftershow because thay had joined the club.

As you can guess I was little miffed as I have been a member since day one,didnt get a sniff of the presale tickets,had to fight for a normal ticket and then got teased by Prince for my troubles.

purpledoveuk said:

I feel for you on this point, and I emailed NPGMC about exactly this issue. I went on Thursday and Friday and both nights Prince started a chorus of "Join the club". I did not join this chorus as I knew full well that there were members who could not get the preferred seating tickets and were up the back, what a kick in the teeth. I myself was unable to get any for the Saturday show and had similar experiences with Ticket Master with the exception that I didn't even end up with one from them. Yes Prince, let's get everyone to join a club that can't even support all of the members it has currently, good one. If the venue had sold out to NPGMC members, then fair enough. But what is the point of a pre-sale if there are still only limited numers of tickets. They might just as well go on sale at the same time as the general public tickets.
[This message was edited Sun Oct 13 13:49:40 PDT 2002 by TheEnglishGent]

Mr7 said:

I never intended to insult your intelligence, I was only making a flipant remark to make the point that we have paid a lot of money for these privellages. Prince has not given us anything for nothing.

I made no rash judgments about the club and am indeed waiting and seeing before doing so. So far I am happy with the club but the fact remains that it is a very poorly run venture, that should be so much more.

cheers for the support mate - nice to know that,in your position,you noticed it. I dont know if you were a member of Controversy fanclub but their ticket system was much better - you had a time limit to get tickets in instead of a few tickets that could be bought by people not at work.

I sent in a review of the show to NPGMC and guess what,they cut out that bit an printed the good bits instead.

Oh well I had a brilltime but,stupidly,that hurt quite a bit.

I expect him 2 re-release one of the oldest songs "Just Another Sucker" in honor of .. THE CLUB

btw.. not only did Controversy fanzine put me in the best seats in the house for his shows, but they also had the most amazingly well organized conventions in Minneapolis. Its no wonder, Prince had nothing to do with putting it together.

Eileen Murton had the magic of affordable membership, reasonable offers, great monthly surprises as well as editing and filtering out all the religious fanatics.

Ahh the good ole days.
[This message was edited Sun Oct 13 16:29:12 PDT 2002 by Savannah]

I hate to say it, and it comes thru gritted teeth, but the words "rip-off" are starting to creep into my vocabulary when I think about the NPGMC.

I couldn't afford to purchase my tickets for the concerts via the club. It was just too expensive. I don't know what y'all do 4 a living but u must b making more money than sense. I paid £40 for my ticket to see Mr.Nelson. If i had bought it online it would have cost £70.
I have to have travel to the gig, another £25 and buy food. I even bought a tour programme... Do'ah! £15

I get virtually no vibe from the NPGMclub. So what have I paid my $100 membership for???
If we get this ONA live triple CD and then nothing after I will b quite saddened. I know Mr. Nelson wouldn't rip us off (but then again he did give us Chaos & Disorder, Rave & TRC) but the 'problem' is this is his club so he won't rip us off... ? please?

The NPG is a good idea in theory but in practice its another contract that he has to complete. And we all know how Mr. Nelson feels about CONtracts.

I am hoping that Mr. Nelson once again can produce some songs = to these: she's always in my hair; wasted kisses; the love we make; atwiad; sign of the times; solo...
I got so much njoyment from much of his back-catalogue but since Emacipation its gone pear-shaped ... but not from anythign since... give or take one or two medicore trax.

Waiting slightly impatiently and with a little tingle of doom.

Savannah said:

Now see I got royally ripped off by Controversy to the tune of $100 & I didn't end up with crap to show for it. At least Prince took my $100 & gave me something in return.

This:

http://www.prince.org/msg...&tid=24540

...or, if you don't feel like reading it: value for my money, a little respect and information for a paying customer, and delivery on items promised in advertisements.

What gets me is that satisfied club members spend most of their time dissing the non-satisfied ones and calling us oout for being whiners and complainers. I guess it's not enough for them to be satisfied in and of itself; they have to blast those that are questioning the value of this experiment by Prince. If I hear one more time: "well, nobody put a gun to your head...you WILLINGLY subscribed...etc" I'm going to go off.

Well, NO SHIT I willingly subscribed and nobody held a gun to my head. Nobody MADE me buy a fucking car either, but when I do and I feel ripped off, decieved and ignored then -call me what you want - but someone's going to hear about it. And rest assured, I will never buy that model car again, will NOT reccommmend it to my friends and will tell as many people as I can reach how shitty the deal was, particularly the dealer.

How rediculously naive do you have to be to make an argument like that - That "nobody held a gun to your head"? Jesus, nobody's ever held a gun to my head in my life. Nobody held a gun to your head when you ate at that shitty restaraunt, bought that piece of crap car, voted for that lying politician or enrolled in that awful college either. Should you just keep quiet and take it, or speak up and demand satisfaction and value for your money?

Sheep: Amazing animals they are.

MaryD said:

communication!! thats all i ask for...


and i dont think that I (or any other person on this site) is acting like a spoiled brat...i really hate how people nowadays in our society ignores listening or contemplating opposing viewpoints..debate is dead!! its all soundbites and oneliners...we as a people really need to grow up and learn how to interact with eachother...

constructive criticism is fine... name calling is petty...

ZaZa said:

Do U even know what your brainlessly babbling about anymore?

Uptown & Controversy were/are in business at least 9 years and won countless awards for excellence. There are dedication threads everywhere! Anyone who was a part of Controversy who read that fictitious fabrication u dreamed up in desperation is seeing how ridiculous u sound. $100? What did you order a dozen subscriptions sent to the north pole?

Rather than challenge u 2 make a bigger nitwit of yourself, i'll simply reiterate that my point was that a little English woman from Croydon could single handedly build and unite a whole world-wide community (for peanuts) that THECLUB could learn to model as an example to improve itself.

Smile. ...You'll love longer!

MaryD said:

Hmmm... what do I expect ?
I expect those things that were promised (and announced).
Nothing more (although..) but certainly nothing less !

Therefore I am a spoiled brat ?
Because I stand up and demand what was promised ?
Don't think so !