GoldiesParade said:

I hear what you are saying Goldie, but what about the people who were not as lucky as you or I?

Do you think that is fair?

There is only so long people can continue to forgive the mistakes in this "Xperiment". Its been going on for years. They have as many compliants as they do happy people. Thats not good for any business. The fact that the BBB and the NPG give time to this matter, shows how bad it is.

Soapstone said:

I firmly believe Cnote and X were done to avoid litigation.

I thank those who stood up for themselves.

Come on people, Xenophobia is renamed Xpectation on Jan 1st. Of course P was pissed. He should hang his head in shame for mis-leading.

I don't think u realize that Prince was operating on a smaller scale on a business level and it may have been difficult to get orders in om time.I am sure he would have delivered the cd's as promised he has spent enough time in court with his family due to his fathers death ...he damned sure does not want to deal with complaining members when he tried to get the music out TO ALL OF US...no wonder he shut down the club in the end it probably was more of a problem and than profit. I think he attempted to get as close of a relationship with us as members some people are just ungrateful. the problem is the website did not have good customer service but Prince had the best intentions with the music club .no complaints here

funkyfish and korin: you both are a pair of sad, stupid little puppies...

What Prince has done is with the very best of intentions, Im just pleased and gratefuil he has done what we only could have wished for. Yes there needs to be improvements on the information side, Prince announces things as final before they are even completed, he has a short attention span and things change all the time, that is frustrating. When you buy something you need to know what your getting, not what you "might" get. Its the carrot and the donkey again. But Im just happy we get something. Im pleased with what I got, we did get 4 printed cd's, 1 download album which turned out to be Xenophobia anyway and a world tour AS PROMISED and more. What we did not get was the Very Best of symbol and Madrid 2 Chicago albums - if they ever realy existed.

Information is the point Squirrel Meat was arguing about last autumn and I totally agreed with him and if the club could say this is what you will have and when, I think it would double its membership.

ivdf said:

no I am not a stupid little puppie, and these are the reasons why:
...what an argument you come up with.

funkyfish said:

I am speechless...FISH summed it up saying pretty much the same thing I was gonna say to the bastards that caused this...

pejman said:

You know for a fact that people who filed complaints led to the club shutting down or are you speculating?

If thats the case, then thank us for Xpecation and CNote as well because I will speculate that those complaints led to the release of them as well.

ivdf - may I just ask why you are so happy that the club is no more? It seems very selfish to take away the joy of the majority of Prince fans!!

spud80 said:

If someone wrote a letter of complaint because they had bad service at TGI Fridays, and the chain closed a couple months later, should that person be crucified and labeled selfish because of the thousands of people who love jack daniels ribs and potato skins?

Tom said:

That's kinda like asking do I know for a fact that George Bush just started a war or am I speculating...

BBB Reliability Report
"From June, 2001 to January, 2003 NPG had an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau due to an unanswered complaint. In January, 2003, NPG responded to this complaint.

Doesn't that say enough?

Prince slapped fans with petty lawsuits and threats numerous times over their fan web sites. This includes sites that did not have any mp3s or bootlegged CDs. Please keep this in mind when some of you consider us heathens for writing to the BBB. Because if you do something that rubs P the wrong way, history has shown that him and his letter happy lawyers will waste no time writing you a threat. How many celebrities' lawyers do you know by name? We all seemed to know who Londell McMillan was. Regardless of how much support his fans had shown him, regardless of how many CDs, how many tickets they bought, all the appreciation they spread of him and his music, he has frequently targeted sites for even using his name or any likeness of him. Before you call some of us ungrateful or selfish, consider who acted that way first. Fams who argue that Prince had every right to take legal action should not forget that we have every right to file a complaint as well. Sure it may sound like a shitty thing to do to someone, but so are some of the things Prince has done to his fans. What comes around goes around.
[This message was edited Sat Apr 5 15:03:35 PST 2003 by Tom]
[This message was edited Sat Apr 5 15:21:37 PST 2003 by Tom]

...Was/is there a CONtract involved? THAT's the shit I wanna know!

If peeps feel that they are not getting their money's worth - then sure, THAT is someone just plain 'disgruntled'. However, if they've approached said BUSINESS, (and let's not lose sight of this: however 'kool' and 'nice' it may be 2 get these perks, they ARE a business and they ARE taking Y/OUR hard earned ca$h!) and explained their complaint, and THEN not been happy with the response (if any!) then u better bet yo ass I'd complain!

If u paid $100 in-store 4 an item, and it was faulty (or get this - no item in the packaging/box at all) wouldnt YOU want 2 at least know...WHY? I WOULD.

I agree with Tom - 10 years 2 iron out all those creases is MORE than enough time 2 get their customer service prioritised and sorted. So as far as that goes, Im totally with the guys that felt they needed 2 complain.

4 the record though, all problems aside, it's definately an admirable on His part 2 give something back BUT He cant (surely?!!?) be naiive enough 2 think that He can just leave it in the hands of people with no business acumen? My one wish is that just 4 ONCE - that he follows through on his idea instead of getting bored and leaving it 2 rot - it'll take time, and above all - EFFORT & INVOLVEMENT.

CAN I GET AN 'AMEN' IN HERE?

Free speech rules!

bananacologne said:

AMEN!

U and me brother against the world!

"...Differnces, differences...we should be celebrating our similarities..."

Tom said:

you know I shoulda guessed that you were one of the peeps that contacted th BBB...who really needs a tissue...the nerve of you to still come into sites that like,love and support Prince and are satisfied w/ him...this ain't a us against Prince issue this is a bunch of haters in full effect issue...you have had a lot of BS tied up in yourself over Prince then release yourself...fly lil baby go your way...guess your two wrongs make a right theory worked but karma is a MF...hope your satisfied you winner...or um lemme rephrase that...nah you know what you are!

pejman said:

it was never a secret.
[This message was edited Sat Apr 5 18:10:42 PST 2003 by Tom]

I AM SWEET BUT NOT 2 THE MOTHER FUCKERS THAT COMPLAINED ...WHAT U NEED 2 DO IS HOLD ON 2 THAT FUCKIN WIG ...GIVE PRINCE TIME ... DAMN ...we got 4 cds ...NOW I WILL MAY NEVER SEE HIM UP CLOSE ...U FUCKED IT UP COMPLAINERS ...4 ALL OF US ...

I think the the biggest disgrace of this forum and some of the "prince fanatics" here is to blame the people that complained about the mistakes and broken promises made by the people that got PAID.

"NPG" waited more than 1 and a half years (!!!) to answer just 1 complaint, but some of you here still blame fans that PAID their hard earned money to a "company" that apparantly couldn't care less about customers satisfaction, or promises made. Then people even have the nerve to exegarrate and blame the ones that complained that the "never"will see prince live again, because of those complaints. what a bunch of bogus is spilled out in this forum. it is almost unbelievable.

There is only one party to blame here and that is the one that made promises in return of $$$ but apparantly and according to the BBB couldn't keep them like any company acting in GOOD FAITH would do..

What a shame that people are then blaming the fans that complained.

SHAME SHAME SHAME.


--
[This message was edited Sun Apr 6 4:23:00 PDT 2003 by huggy]

Here's the problem:

Define the product that you got for $100.

Define what would be considered a "bonus" for being a member.

Now, after you've wasted all your time, try to determine what the NPGMC OFFICALLY STATED what would be the product and what would be the bonus.

After you've done that, compare the product that you got as a member for $100 to what you would have paid as a non-member.

...

Oh, but you'd like to add in the value of the bonus material?

List the bonus material.

Compare that to what you could have gotten as a non-member.

Consider the number of members who never got to take advantage of the bonuses.

...

Now add in the professionalism of the NPGMC.

Now add in the delay in services.

...

Now tell me if this was a sucessful business venture.

I didn't say "DID YOU BENEFIT FROM THE CLUB," I said, "IS THIS A SUCESSFUL BUSINESS VENTURE."

The answer is absolutely not.

Prince needs a new business plan. And a REAL PLAN. Not a vision, a REAL PLAN.

simple as that.

"Now I'll never get 2 see Prince up close because of u..." whine, whine whine...

ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME,...

Would love 2 see what u selfish p*&%$s (thankfully, only the very few) would be like if the shoe was on the other foot and u were the ones who felt the need 2 'complain'.

Give it a rest, and get over it. Man, this shit is old.

"...Differences, differences, we should be celebrating our similarities..."

U just dont 'get it' do u? This aint no tirade against Prince at all - since when did it all become so personalised? There is no battle here 2 be fought.

I cant believe the amount of playa-hatin that goes on in here...truly pathetic. Get a grip.

Got yer back Tom...

bananacologne said:[quote]"Now I'll never get 2 see Prince up close because of u..." whine, whine whine...

ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME, ME,...

Would love 2 see what u selfish p*&%$s (thankfully, only the very few) would be like if the shoe was on the other foot and u were the ones who felt the need 2 'complain'.

Give it a rest, and get over it. Man, this shit is old.

"...Differences, differences, we should be celebrating our similarities..."

U just dont 'get it' do u? This aint no tirade against Prince at all - since when did it all become so personalised? There is no battle here 2 be fought.

I cant believe the amount of playa-hatin that goes on in here...truly pathetic. Get a grip.

Got yer back Tom... [/quote Considering you posted more than once in this forum on this subject alone it seems like neither you nor Tom has gotten over @#$%&* and when you say you can't beleive the amount of playa-hatin just don't forget that Prince is the playa and ya ass is tha haters!!! so don't trip potatochip...point being you give it a rest,QUIT FAKIN THE FUNK, and we can all celebrate our similarities because some of us don't have the word hate in our systems...When you say ME ME ME ME ME it was YOU YOU YOU YOU that was crying...so somebody please call WHINE ONE ONE cuz y'all need a MFing WHAAAMBULANCE...I joined NPGMC in October 2002 and I got my 4 CD's as promised, I was able to go to Vegas in December and sit 5th row at the show,I got a laminate pass from NPGMC which enabled me to go to the aftershow for free instead of paying $100, and on top of it all I was able to download Xpectation which I didn't expect at all w/out having to complain...in four short months I feel NPGMC did great business with me!!!So therefore I am satisfied!

PS: the 'whine one one' quip was kinda funny tho

bananacologne said:

pejman said:[quote]

bananacologne said:

Now that shit is funny!!

pejman said:[quote]

bananacologne said:

dont have the word hate in your system? what do you call this? love and happiness? lol.

Tom said:[quote]

pejman said:

ain't that an old Al Green song...your a lil late...the train has already left...Peace to you Tom maybe one day you will get over your gripes and be satisfied...but a lot of people are bummed out cuz of your actions...a lot of TRUE Prince fans...I think he's the best performer around, I've always thought it...I would never want to mess anything up for him especially with the BBB...I can't change your mind and you can't change mine...so whatever...if you care to read any of my other posts you will see that I don't hate, I appreciate...

I'll ad my .02 cents.


I did not joint year 1 because I was on dial-up internet with a slow computer. Downloading music just was not an option for me. Consequentially, I have never heard most of the music from year 1.

I very much looked foreward to year 2 with the announcement of pressed cds being sent out. I was unlikely to be able to take advantage of any "maybe" soundcheck or concert opportunities. The real value of the club was in the 4 cds of exclusive music.

Having gone thru many of 1-800 New funk/Prince fiascos, I was a little skeptical he would deliver on this seemingly "too good to be true" promise. I decided to wait and see. NPGMC had sent out questionaires about the possibility of there being 4 "quartly" cd editions of the NPGMC being sent out thru the year, though this plan was never "officially" announced, it was clearly the intention.

ONA piano cd came out on schedule, things looked good. Some said it was pretty short. Some said it sounded like demos. Some said it sucked, some loved it. But it was "Exclusive", new music. Granted, many tracks were from year 1 downloads. Since I did not get any year 1 songs, this was fine by me.

I decided to wait and see what the second quarter brought before I made my $100 committment. Sadly, 8 months passed with no new cd being delivered. Near the end of December, we learned that the 3 remaining cds were not the promised titles of new "exclusive" music as advertised in the tour books. Rather, the club members would get a 3 cd "live" set. Hmmm, not what I expected, but it is 3 more cds, and it is new and exclusive to the club, right? Unfortunately, NO. This set was going to be sold at stores, many memebrs would not get thier set until AFTER it was on the store shelves, a MAJOR dissappointment that I could identify with from the Crystal Ball fiasco. Also, to ad insult to injury, the store edition cost averaged to about $39.00 in my area. That would mean the value of the piano cd would be about $61.00 Doesn't sound like a deal to me.

I never did join the club. Nor did I complain to any BBB (how could I? I never joined.) But I AM upset that I got my hopes up for the 4 new "exclusive" cds, a promise that was not kept. And I am upset that Prince's business is still getting away with this kind of business practice after all these years. Had I joined, and gotten ONA piano, and the ONA Live 3cd set for $100, I would not have been happy, as that was not the spirit, intention, or promise of the club and it's advertising.

All that boils down to is that... I guess I am a little happy that the NPGMC is closed down for now. If Prince can't play fair, he shouldn't play at all. If you make a committment, you must follow thru. All the rest of the world has jobs and committments they must meet. Just because one man is a rich musician, doesn't mean he is immune to the rules.

I am just as anxious for new Prince music as anyone, but not putting my hopes and expectations into the hands of Prince and his business associates, I'm probably happier, and less frustrated.

I know that there are fans out there who dont agree, and feel that they would pay $100, and get nothing in return and they would be just as happy. Or, they would be happy getting whatever Prince mailed to them, whenever he finally got around to it. That's fine, but it's not reasonable to expect the majority to be that free with our money, especially when a specific product is promised and not delivered on.

Thomas