I remember seeing the NPGMC website always harping on the fact that ANY news about Prince releases would be announced FIRST on the NPGMC site.
With all the info coming in about the ONAL CD set hitting stores, including release dates and retail prices, I thought I'd ask NPG why we didn't get that info from them FIRST.
I thought I had a reasonable question, but NPGMC gave what I would consider a slightly less than polite answer.
Funny thing is, I'm NOT a member. If this is how they treat people who they THINK are members, then I'm glad I'm not.

Thomas
Los Angeles, CA

My Email:

Hi,

I thought the NPGMC web site was supposed to be the first place to find out news about Prince related things.

How come we are all finding out about the One Night Alone Live CD set being in retail stores along with the release date and retail prices from sites like CDNow.com & BestBuy.com?

Someone is dropping the ball.


NPGMC Response:

Hello
Sorry, we were spending r time trying 2 get u ur box set ASAP. If u prefer, we could stop doing that and try and get retail release dates so that people who r not members will know when they can buy the box.

Love4oneanother,
The NPG Music Club
www.NPGMusicClub.com
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +

ThomasBjj said:

They're assholes. Is this a suprise to you? LOL.

if you're not a member, then why in the hell did you bother emailing them in the first place?

Looks to me like their response was sarcastic.

Surprised? Not really. LOL

I emailed them because they do have a news section on thier site that they have repeatedly said will be the FIRST place to hear about upcoming Prince releases. There has never been any mention of this on there.

My question was not about the clus, it was about the website. However, club members should also wonder why they have gotten no info on any of this, but i guess they are used to sitting in the dark waiting for the next Prince morsel to arrive.

Touche'

Perhaps it's sadistic, but I thought their response to your email was kinda funny.

maybe one day Prince will learn the words Staff Training, customer care, business sense and offering a decent service package

and one day pigs will fly too

wouldn't mind a bet on which one would come first.

ThomasBjj said:

In theory, they did give us a warning back in August that the ONA live CD's would arrive at our 'doorsteps soon'--but it was over 3 months ago so who knows (or even cares) if it counts. It doesn't matter either way. I'm glad they're finally being sent out.

Maybe Prince is tired of sitting at the computer answer questions and shipping out our box sets at the same time. He probably has male pms today.

True, that really wasn't a polite response. I think NPGMC needs more help. I was under the impression that the people that write or post information on the web site do ONLY that; and that Guage Marketing was in charge of shipping the box sets. hmmm Princey, you are spreading your workers too thin.
[This message was edited Tue Nov 26 16:04:52 PST 2002 by TongueBox]

From what I heard from the workers at Paisley, Prince works
them pretty hard...
They are probably working more than 12 hour days to get this stuff
out before it hits the stores.
I don't think they are gonna make it though...
I might be wrong.

I thought their answer was impolite...but quite funny.
I laughed out loud.
...sorry...

Hey remember what they say "good things come to those who wait".

jtgillia said:

yes,and you know they have to be getting tired of all these
princequeefs emailing and whining"WHEN AM I GONNA GET ONA LIVEEE???"
sh*t,i`d go off on all of them/you too.
suckas.

oohhh snap!

I would have responded in the same way. What an inconsiderate pointless question.

LMAO!!!LOL

GO NPGMC WITH YOUR BAD ASS!!


LOL
THAT WAS A SLAP IN YO FACE

REGARDLESS,

This is non-professional and really pisses me off! What kind of professional business with customer service in mind would submit email replies such as these???

Fucking right we r hearing all the info about ONA Live from other webistes - bestbuy.com has told me the release date, price, soon-to-be cover art. What has the NPGMC told us??? Nothing...

The internet offers Prince the ability to do SO MUCH MORE with the NPGMC, so why doesn't he???

What difference does it make if this guy is a NPGMC member or not he's a 'FAM',his money is as green as yours or mine. I'm sure the people who answer these emails r not Prince, lets be real. The guys is right,NPG claims that FAMS will be the 1st 2 know and that's just not true. So guess the ONA Live will complete the cd's we are due this year, I thought we joined the club 2 get stuff others could not. Now why would I join the club next year???

NPGMC.. eye see ure truueee colorsss shinnin throuuughhh

Good NESS, that's RUDE. I don't care how "pointless" the question was, they could respond w/ courtesy & this ain't it. The "drop the ball" comment doesn't warrant this much attitude. I think the people who respond to these emails are new to customer service or something...

Another consideration was that I did not know that ONA Live was currently being shipped out to members, as I had not checked this site in a day or two.

I responded to thier email. I wont post the entire thing, but I told them that I would prefer to not get a smart-ass answer from the CUSTOMER SERVICE team. THEY are the ones who have continuously demanded that they are the "1st" place to find out about releases. I check there often and don't find out anything. Yet I stumble across the release date on BestBuy.com. The retail deal didn't just happen overnight, if they had taken a few minutes to post some REAL info back when this deal was first done they wouldn't have to scramble to try to do everything at the last minute, not that I believe the webmaster is busy packing cd's for UPS.

I've been a big fan since 1982 (I was 12 years old.) I've been to several concerts, was in the audience at the Arsenio Hall show, bought every release, including the Crystal Ball pre-order fiasco, been ripped off by 1-800-New Funk (MPLS cd single, The War cd, Beautiful Strange video, all paid for and never received), you name it. I'm pretty confident I've spent more money on Prince than alot of the NPGMC members.

The reason I'm not an NPGMC member... I had a feeling things would not live up to the promise. I love the music and always will, but the the man's business CANNOT be trusted.
Up until a couple of days ago, I REALLY did not believe that he would send out ONA Live as part of the Music Club. That would really be not in the spirit of the club agreement of exclusive music, not to mention the ads for Xenophobia and the remastered hits. The only possible saving grace would be if he still has 1 or more cds going out to members before year's end. It's still possible, but I HIGHLY doubt it at this point.

ThomasBjj said:

All the memebrs "know" their release date of the album because we have the "in progress" thing on our account. I know it is still "in progress" for the lucky ones who received it by now (grrr) but anyway it says when the thing is ready to hit!!!

Peace

eggy said:

i thik the man has a schedule also he is not always behind their back you know... It's lie administration everywhere: Seldom polite!!!

FirstAvenue said:

Still inappropriate...

SORRY THOM - that they were rude to you. I was once a member of the club and I check back every now and then to see what's happening. They were always rude to me when I had a question (besides other things) so I didnt join again. I say I'll rejoin when they get their act together but it seems like that isn't happening anytime soon. Anyway, I'm always more up to date on this sight than NPG & I really think all you guys got jerked being promised 4 cd's and in reality just getting 2.

We're all human, if someone was asking me questions when i was super busy, I too would clock them with a less than polite response.

But when you're at a job, part of your responsibilities is to have manners.

I'm suprised they didn't just ignore the email. They seldomly reply to my emails. Once in a while they will simply reply "High, thanks 4 ur input".

When u see that the employees are flipping out and scrambling at the last minute, it shows how half assed the club is being operated tho. How hard is it to pick up a copy of Access or Filemaker and keep track of the customers as they come in? I'm sure Prince can afford a computer and the software.

They are the most ridiculous bunch of mis-managed jackasses at NPGMC and bungled by the legal hot water they are in.

2 friends of mine in the USA who are new to the internet sent 10 EMAILS to NPGMC basically waving a hundred dollar bill in the air saying that they wanted to join.

They couldn't understand from the website anything pertaining to what exactly they would be paying for.

So they asked... 5 TIMES each.

And did NPGMC answer? nope

Did they even respond? nope

I shrugged and asked for copies of what they wrote.. did they send it to the right email address..? I couldn't believe what I was hearing.. checked the emails.. the final one was ranting a bit.. but the first 3-4 were very brief, clear and very polite.

I guess its too much of a liability 4 them 2 tell the truth