What is the point of 10C membership?

boyo79 · December 2011

Come June, no doubt I'll be renewing my membership and my faith will be restored. Right now my faith in all things Pearl Jam is at an all-time low.

After the latest ticket fiasco, really what is the point of 10C membership? Digital membership gets us what exactly? A ticket sale service that barely works?

Analog membership gets a vinyl single, a shitty t-shirt and ticket service that barely works. For 50 bucks.

Like I said, my faith is lost today. It'll come back once I get my tickets. Yesterday was my 1st attempt trying to purchase 10C tickets and it'll be my last time. My previous 6 times seeing Pearl Jam I've always gone through general sale and got tickets within 5 minutes and with no problems! I can accept tickets selling out quickly but I'm struggling to accept the shoddy service 10c provides.

Spags · December 2011

It gives us the chance to dream.

When the Euro Tour was announced we all imagined ourselves with a 10c wristband, down the front watching the greatest band on the planet! Travelling from country to country, meeting fellow fans and having new experiences. We had that for at least a week...

Yeah the reality is I'll maybe manage a ticket to Manchester and be up in the roof, but for a while there I believed.

Its like organised religion here tbh and that shit dont come for free!

onebadbootleg · December 2011

A bunch of people around here worship 10 club. Most I would say. Until something goes wrong for them personally. Then there are the younguns who weren't around when the fanclub actually felt like a club. So they have no perspective. For me the downfall started when they started offering VIP packages (maybe for the Hawaii shows? Don't remember.). But yeah - they haven't been the same for years. It is what it is. They switched to a money making operation instead of a fan appreciation club. People will say I am stupid, but I have seen this happen, have been around for 18 years of it, and speak from experience. Yes - the fellows deserve to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But no - the fanclub is nothing like it used to be. Not even close.

cippociappo · December 2011

boyo79 wrote:

Yesterday was my 1st attempt trying to purchase 10C tickets

You're already burned after 1 attempt?

I've been through Madison Square Garden and Eddie Vedder Pre-sales.... now THAT was hard :shock:

Anyway... just messing around with you... I know it CAN be disappointing, but don't let it bring you down

Bigda · December 2011

onebadbootleg wrote:

A bunch of people around here worship 10 club. Most I would say. Until something goes wrong for them personally. Then there are the younguns who weren't around when the fanclub actually felt like a club. So they have no perspective. For me the downfall started when they started offering VIP packages (maybe for the Hawaii shows? Don't remember.). But yeah - they haven't been the same for years. It is what it is. They switched to a money making operation instead of a fan appreciation club. People will say I am stupid, but I have seen this happen, have been around for 18 years of it, and speak from experience. Yes - the fellows deserve to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But no - the fanclub is nothing like it used to be. Not even close.

Agree. and even in this regard they are below expectations. just poorly managed and organized. could do a lot better or stop doing it at all. only letting go is not trying.

boyo79 · December 2011

onebadbootleg wrote:

A bunch of people around here worship 10 club. Most I would say. Until something goes wrong for them personally. Then there are the younguns who weren't around when the fanclub actually felt like a club. So they have no perspective. For me the downfall started when they started offering VIP packages (maybe for the Hawaii shows? Don't remember.). But yeah - they haven't been the same for years. It is what it is. They switched to a money making operation instead of a fan appreciation club. People will say I am stupid, but I have seen this happen, have been around for 18 years of it, and speak from experience. Yes - the fellows deserve to enjoy the fruits of their labor. But no - the fanclub is nothing like it used to be. Not even close.

I have no problems with them being a money making operation. But they don't act like that. It's still run on an amateur level.

cippociappo wrote:

boyo79 wrote:

Yesterday was my 1st attempt trying to purchase 10C tickets

You're already burned after 1 attempt?

I've been through Madison Square Garden and Eddie Vedder Pre-sales.... now THAT was hard :shock:

Anyway... just messing around with you... I know it CAN be disappointing, but don't let it bring you down

Like I've said elsewhere, I appreciate that there is more demand than tickets. This is fine. If tickets sell out in 5 minutes and I miss out, I can accept that too. But for every tour, they put tickets on sale and everytime it fucks up. That's what annoys me. We're paying them an annual fee for a service that they can't provide properly.

Spencer · December 2011

boyo79 wrote:

Come June, no doubt I'll be renewing my membership and my faith will be restored. Right now my faith in all things Pearl Jam is at an all-time low.

Why?

Nothing will have changed between then and now.

onebadbootleg · December 2011

Of course the club should make money. Have no problem with that. But am pretty sure the band makes enough money as it is. This club isn't for "fans" anymore. It is to make money, or recoup costs at least plus more. The difference between now and ten years ago is ridiculous and hard to justify. Maybe we outnumber them by way too much now, but I remember when e-mails were actually returned by the club. Those days may never come back and I suppose I understand why they may not really care.

Captain Futura · December 2011

Try as I might I still can't come up with a reason - something that makes Ten Club membership actually worthwhile, never mind value for money.

Only bit the bullet and joined just over two years ago and have never been successful getting tickets through TC - and that's the main reason I joined.

Ten Club sells itself mainly on access to tickets and that's why many of us are members. I've never been in a fan club before in my life.

They just seem like rank amateurs. I don't understand how anyone can defend them by saying they are trying to do a good job. They must have a turnover of many millions of dollars - more like a global corporation than a cosy club - and an expectation of professionalism comes with that.

They are charging professional fees to provide no service. Yesterday's pre-sale was riddled with basic planning errors that anyone worth their salt could have forseen.

But what is totally unforgivable is the terrible communication and the attempts by Ten Club to blame Crowdsurge - even the homepage says message from Crowdsurge.

Make no bones about it, people: We have paid Ten Club to provide us with a service, which TC outsourced to Crowdsurge. TC should have satisfied itself that Crowdsurge was up to the job. End of. If you can't do that, then don't promise it.

It's been a tough year for us financially and I thought long and hard before renewing, and eventually went for digital membership. I doubt very much I will renew again.

And what about this outcry from fans over the handling of this. I've seen the odd bland comment from the mods on here but not even an attempt at an apology. It truly seems that Ten Club and the band really do not give a shit about us and what we think.

The events of the last 18 hours have opened my eyes.

Bigda · December 2011

100% true. could not agree more.

Pry To · December 2011

Well stated, Captain.

I don't expect to get tickets, even as a fan club member. I realize that demand is huge and that it's hard to fulfill that demand. But the lack of communication is absolutely unacceptable. That's just wrong. I was planning to hit six of these shows, but I've already changed my plans and will probably go to three. Had I not already purchased a ticket for Belgium, I might skip the whole thing. I have to fly to Europe from the Middle East (since PJ is too scared to tour this part of the world, unlike Metallica or, say, Janet Jackson). That's an expensive proposition -- several thousand dollars -- at a time when no one has money to burn. (Well no one except millionaire rock stars who work maybe 20 weeks per year, if that.) Shit happens. I get it. But not giving any information at all is just wrong. I love PJ, but I'd rather just spend the fan club money on a scalping fee, as I usually get lousy seats from 10C that I end up selling at a loss after I've purchased decent seats from a third party. I don't expect tickets, but a simple e-mail or post from this organization is not too much to ask at all. The fact that they don't get this has me thinking it's time to pack it up and invest my time and money into a band that cares enough to have decent people running its organization. I've been increasingly put off by PJs business practices in the last few years and you can't have it both ways -- you can't charge corporate prices when you have Mom & Pop running the store. It's one or the other. This debacle is one of many slaps in the face -- and I'm a little tired of paying for the "privilege."

Captain Futura · December 2011

Well guys. I guess frustration just boiled over and I... I.... I...

Created a Facebook page to protest. Here it is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Love-Pearl-Jam-hate-Ten-Club/328884587122807

Like it if you agree. And please leave comments. Maybe they will listen if enough of us join. Or maybe they will shut us down.

Bigda · December 2011

U got my "I like this" but only here since i am "Facebookless":)

boyo79 · December 2011

Passim wrote:

Well stated, Captain.
I don't expect tickets, but a simple e-mail or post from this organization is not too much to ask at all. The fact that they don't get this has me thinking it's time to pack it up and invest my time and money into a band that cares enough to have decent people running its organization. I've been increasingly put off by PJs business practices in the last few years and you can't have it both ways -- you can't charge corporate prices when you have Mom & Pop running the store. It's one or the other. This debacle is one of many slaps in the face -- and I'm a little tired of paying for the "privilege."

Excellent post

You sum up everything I'm feeling today. I love this band more than anything but the way 10C handles things is ruining it. We should have known it was on the slide when memberships went up and they provided a shitty t-shirt as part of the package. That was a slap in the face.

It does feel like we invest all our time and money but they don't. To have no official word from 10C apart from a copy and paste message from CrowdSurge is just pathetic.

dunkman · December 2011

yip... just some info would be great!

and if you charge £50 per ticket to a show I would expect that you can afford to use a major company to handle the sale of those tickets... how much are they skimming from the £50 to pay Crowdsurge? 1p?

Sweet Oblivion · December 2011

I think that in order to send a message to the club, people need to start taking action with their renewals. I'm very close to not renewing this time around and the deciding factor will be what the t-shirt looks like. Basically, it'll have to be a very good shirt for me to stay on since I was on the border this year and almost regret renewing it since 2011 was just disappointment after disappointment. These days, I feel I get ZERO benefit from this club. From useless ticket presales to allowing non-members to purchase limited goods to 2010 Christmas singles arriving in October 2011, what is the point?

boyo79 · December 2011

Sweet Oblivion wrote:

I think that in order to send a message to the club, people need to start taking action with their renewals. I'm very close to not renewing this time around and the deciding factor will be what the t-shirt looks like. Basically, it'll have to be a very good shirt for me to stay on since I was on the border this year and almost regret renewing it since 2011 was just disappointment after disappointment. These days, I feel I get ZERO benefit from this club. From useless ticket presales to allowing non-members to purchase limited goods to 2010 Christmas singles arriving in October 2011, what is the point?

I'm seriously considering not renewing but unfortunately my membership doesn't run-out til June. And I'll renew again then, because I'll be caught up in the euphoria of seeing Pearl Jam live again. If I had to renew this week there would be no way I'd renew.

Your are right though, they know people won't leave. We just accept their failings and throw our money at them. Every year.

veddertown · December 2011

If you need to start a thread for the real answer Ian you must have missed the point. It's obviously because they know how to make us feel special and that we are getting value for money!

Tboz51 · December 2011

It is for bitching.

dimitrispearljam · December 2011

im not here for the tix or the holiday single.i can be in the venue i want to go..ill find the way.
.only cos of the friends and support the band i love..but need to solve the problem from the moment membership offers fan club tix..if they cant smooth ..dont offer them
simple as that..

boyo79 · December 2011

dimitrispearljam wrote:

im not here for the tix or the holiday single.i can be in the venue i want to go..ill find the way.
.only cos of the friends and support the band i love..but need to solve the problem from the moment membership offers fan club tix..if they cant smooth ..dont offer them
simple as that..

10C have screwed this up big time. Could get tickets for Manchester via o2 Priority/Ticketmaster an hour ago....

theserialthrilla · December 2011

boyo79 wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

im not here for the tix or the holiday single.i can be in the venue i want to go..ill find the way.
.only cos of the friends and support the band i love..but need to solve the problem from the moment membership offers fan club tix..if they cant smooth ..dont offer them
simple as that..

10C have screwed this up big time. Could get tickets for Manchester via o2 Priority/Ticketmaster an hour ago....

but the 10c staff need their sleep

Hub. · December 2011

theserialthrilla wrote:

boyo79 wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

im not here for the tix or the holiday single.i can be in the venue i want to go..ill find the way.
.only cos of the friends and support the band i love..but need to solve the problem from the moment membership offers fan club tix..if they cant smooth ..dont offer them
simple as that..

10C have screwed this up big time. Could get tickets for Manchester via o2 Priority/Ticketmaster an hour ago....

but the 10c staff need their sleep

That's what I kept thinking during my reading.

dimitrispearljam · December 2011

boyo79 wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

im not here for the tix or the holiday single.i can be in the venue i want to go..ill find the way.
.only cos of the friends and support the band i love..but need to solve the problem from the moment membership offers fan club tix..if they cant smooth ..dont offer them
simple as that..

10C have screwed this up big time. Could get tickets for Manchester via o2 Priority/Ticketmaster an hour ago....

yeah,,you are right Ian

boyo79 · December 2011

From another thread:

wolfamongwolves wrote:

ArriveLikeButterflyz wrote:

I got a reply from Crowdsurge, they stated there will be an update on the website and via email by "late afternoon GMT"

I responded to this email by saying it was not sufficient or adequate to respond to a specific query or complaint with a cut-and-paste answer that effectively told us nothing new. I asked them again if they were going to allow those who had tickets in their baskets to complete their transactions.

I got this back:

Hello Damien,

Our communication with you is being controlled by the fan club so apologies that we didn't come back sooner, we understand it is frustrating and of course it is also frustrating for us.
The solution that we hope to be able to communicate later will explain how we are not just going to go on with another presale. We cannot guarantee tickets for you however the fan Club have told us the size of allocation we have is large enough that they are comfortable it will service the fan club members.

We are sorry this is still vague and doesn't answer all your questions but please be patient and await the info from the Ten Club later this afternoon.

...

Kind regards,

So 10C are controlling communication but we have to wait til they can be bothered sending any communication out? What is it now, 17 hours or so since the pre-sale got postponed? And still nothing. It's alright 10C, Pearl Jam's European fans have got nothing better to do.....

Brisk. · December 2011

Ya 10c in Europe is useless really unless you queue for super long for the 15 min early entry.

SoonForgotten2 · December 2011

We really need some "Ten Club sucks" chants going before the band hit the stage for their European shows.

PearlJamaholic · December 2011

I had no plans of getting tickets or going to europe but just wanted to check the pj boards and see what is new. wasnt even aware the tickets went on sale already. i think one way to fix this problem is to do full tours and announce all shows at once, so people can plan it out. if they only play 6 shows or whatever like its been of late everyone is gonna try to go to the closest show to them. then later they announce another 4 and if one of them happens to be your home town of course youll try for tickets.

and on yet another major failure by tc i can honestly see them getting sued one of these days... which is probably gonna jack up our rates again and the poor services pulled. but how often can you sell a service and not have it work and get away with it? imagine paying for cable and it only works when less then 1/5 of the subscribers are trying to watch tv.

we are basically paying to use a heavily moderated (censored) forum and get two songs that arrive whenever they feel like it.

rival. · December 2011

i got a backpack out of the deal

but haven't scored 10c tickets since 2003 (when they were using the old money order system). thank god for ticketmaster!

boyo79 · December 2011

theserialthrilla wrote:

boyo79 wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

im not here for the tix or the holiday single.i can be in the venue i want to go..ill find the way.
.only cos of the friends and support the band i love..but need to solve the problem from the moment membership offers fan club tix..if they cant smooth ..dont offer them
simple as that..

10C have screwed this up big time. Could get tickets for Manchester via o2 Priority/Ticketmaster an hour ago....

but the 10c staff need their sleep

They are awake now. A thread just got locked

Kat · December 2011

The Ticketing discussion is in one place now. Please use the Ticketing Issues thread, thank you.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=178670

What is the point of 10C membership?

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