16 replies to this topic

[Vanna]

Did showmasters underestimate BR's popularity and not get enough photos for him on Saturday? If not, I'd like to know why I was told in no uncertain terms by the crew member who was taking the money for him that as I had brought an item of my own for him to sign, I could only have one other photo (I paid £40.00, and expected to be able to get a free unsigned photo in addition to the one I was having signed).

I had to choose the photo in a hurry too, because BR was about to leave for the photo sessions, and consequently the whole thing was rather rushed, but don't get me wrong, that was understandable, and is not what I'm unhappy about. Brandon was lovely, and made a beautiful job of signing my item and the photo I chose, despite the rush.

My complaint is about not being able to have an additional photo. Having paid the same as anyone else I felt I was entitled to one, and if it wasn't for the rush I would have made more of a stand about it.

Overall though, a great con showmasters. I loved (almost) every minute of it!

[A007]

I had the exact same thing happen, I had 4 of my own things to get signed and only got 1 "free" photo. The lady explained they didn't have enough photos to go round. I wasn't too fussed about it myself, but I totally understand where you're coming from.

You're right though Brandon was great!

[Charisma]

See you pay for the autograph the photo is kinda a added bonus really.

[Poppy]

Exactly, so the photo should always come as part of the package.  If someone kept their own stuff under wraps and just picked up the photos saying you want 4 things signed, and then when at the front of the queue got all their own stuff out, would the photos be taken back off them?  A free photo is a free photo and if you pay you should get exactly what you pay for, which in this case is a free photo with each purchased autograph.

[teroknor34]

Yes there was a shortage of photos due to the fact that due to Brandon also deciding to do the Monday at short notice it became apparent that there was going to be a lack of photos for Monday if everyone took their free photos when having their own item signed which would then mean they may have run out of photos on the Monday.As most of the dealers had also sold theirs already don't think that was an option.

This was explained to us by the crew when we were in the queue for VQ tickets on the Sun morning ,hoping that people would understand.But I was in the very early part of the queue and perhaps the message didn't get to everyone.

[Vanna]

Charisma, on May 6 2007, 05:10 PM, said:

See you pay for the autograph the photo is kinda a added bonus really.

From the "ANSWERS to FAQ" thread:

How much are the 8x10 pictures that the show provides?

The 8x10 pictures that the show provides for you to get signed are FREE. You get an 8x10 picture FREE with every autograph you buy.

I understand that BR signing for an extra day meant that SMs would indeed be short of photos, but they knew about the extra day's signing by May 1st (that I know of) giving four days notice before BR's arrival - surely someone could have arranged for more photos to be made available in that time?

It seems pretty penny-pinching and mean to withhold photos where people have brought their own. It also is hardly likely to make a lot of difference (I'd have thought) to the overall shortage, as in my experience, most people do not supply their own items.

Also for Charisma's information, according to the FAQ thread, an 8x10 photo should be FREE with every paid for autograph and is NOT an added bonus.

Edited by Vanna, 07 May 2007 - 01:41 AM.

[A007]

teroknor34, on May 6 2007, 10:36 PM, said:

Yes there was a shortage of photos due to the fact that due to Brandon also deciding to do the Monday at short notice it became apparent that there was going to be a lack of photos for Monday if everyone took their free photos when having their own item signed which would then mean they may have run out of photos on the Monday.As most of the dealers had also sold theirs already don't think that was an option.

This was explained to us by the crew when we were in the queue for VQ tickets on the Sun morning ,hoping that people would understand.But I was in the very early part of the queue and perhaps the message didn't get to everyone.

This WASN'T even metioned to us between 7am and 9am on SATURDAY morning queueing, we only found out when we were handing over our cash! I'm not really fussed about not getting the "Free" 8x10s, it just would have been polite of SM to tell us in the queue (as it seems they did on Sunday) or put a sign up to let everyone know the situation. Plus the poor lady taking Brandon's money probably would have got a bit less grief from punters!

Edited by A007, 07 May 2007 - 08:30 AM.

[teroknor34]

I do think though that we all have to step back a bit and consider a few things about this;

1) As far as I am aware Showmasters is the only event where if you pay for an autograph for a personal item you can get a free photo.All the others I have gone to this is not the case.

2) In all their events so far this is the only time I am aware of that they have taken this course of action.

3) Would you have liked to turn up on Monday to be told it was now personal items only as there were no photos left and they were unable to source anymore ?

4) Yes Showmasters made a mistake in their ordering of photos but we all still got the autograph we wanted at the end of the day be it on a photo or personal item.

5) Does this topic need to go on any further ?

[A007]

I don't have a problem with any of your points, I agree with you. My only point is that we should have been made aware of the situation at the beginning of Saturday in the queue, thats all!

[Raylenth]

A007, on May 7 2007, 09:50 AM, said:

I don't have a problem with any of your points, I agree with you. My only point is that we should have been made aware of the situation at the beginning of Saturday in the queue, thats all!

I know Showmasters and crew would have been very busy but maybe they could have found 5 mins to write up a sign to put at the front of the queue to prewarn people - as others have said it would have made everyone aware and saved the assistants getting hassled.

[frank]

In this instance, if you had personal items signed, why didn’t they just take the cost of the photograph off the price?

The profit margin wouldn't change at all, and it would have provided a fair solution to both parties.



But in all honesty, as the image file is probably digitally stored. Is it that difficult to get more printed?.

[Vanna]

frank, on May 8 2007, 12:22 PM, said:

In this instance, if you had personal items signed, why didn’t they just take the cost of the photograph off the price?

The profit margin wouldn't change at all, and it would have provided a fair solution to both parties.



But in all honesty, as the image file is probably digitally stored. Is it that difficult to get more printed?.

Agreed.

[Queen_Sindel]

The One Hour photo store was already busy with the photo session pictures, I guess this was part of the problem why they couldn't simply get more pictures printed on the day. Especially on Saturday the delays were bad enough - see several threads on this on the forum.

As for personal items being signed at a lower price, there are reasons why Showmasters are doing things the way they are doing them. You're paying for the autograph, and as it has been said before the picture comes as kind of a bonus.

[surfy_sah]

it needs to be understood that 8x10s provided for autographs don't cost SM the £2.50-£4 one would pay if buying from the dealers. they get literally hundreds printed and it works out as a matter of pence per photo so how can you say "charge us less for the auto" in all honesty do you really NEED an unsigned 8x10? I've picked them up before from when meeting ST Voyager actors and getting my print signed because it's part of the deal for getting an auto but I think they are shoved in a folder some where cause I had nothing better to do with it!

you say SM had 4 days notice - do you have any idea what it's like to run a massive show like Collectormania? it's not just a case of "oh we'll just nip down the printers and get some more images"

perhaps TT needs to change the wording of the FAQ re: one 8x10 free but it does not mean to imply "oh so you've bought 4 or 5 of your own items to be signed, we'll give you 4 or 5 of our 8x10s" it means they will provide you an 8x10 to get signed per auto you have paid for, the key words here being TO GET SIGNED   personally, I think that's quite greedy expecting to have 4 or 5 free 8x10s when you have your own items

surfy sah xx

[Big_Pants]

Yep I paid for 3 Brandon autos over two days and only took one free photo which I got signed.

[Vanna]

surfy_sah, on May 23 2007, 02:07 PM, said:

it needs to be understood that 8x10s provided for autographs don't cost SM the £2.50-£4 one would pay if buying from the dealers. they get literally hundreds printed and it works out as a matter of pence per photo so how can you say "charge us less for the auto" in all honesty do you really NEED an unsigned 8x10? I've picked them up before from when meeting ST Voyager actors and getting my print signed because it's part of the deal for getting an auto but I think they are shoved in a folder some where cause I had nothing better to do with it!

you say SM had 4 days notice - do you have any idea what it's like to run a massive show like Collectormania? it's not just a case of "oh we'll just nip down the printers and get some more images"

perhaps TT needs to change the wording of the FAQ re: one 8x10 free but it does not mean to imply "oh so you've bought 4 or 5 of your own items to be signed, we'll give you 4 or 5 of our 8x10s" it means they will provide you an 8x10 to get signed per auto you have paid for, the key words here being TO GET SIGNED   personally, I think that's quite greedy expecting to have 4 or 5 free 8x10s when you have your own items

surfy sah xx

I fully realise how little SMs probably pay for their photos - I just thought it would have been a nice gesture for them to take, say £1.00 off the cost of the autograph under the circumstances, although I don't really see why a big organisation like SMs couldn't have found the time to send someone to get some more printed off. Surely they have the images stored somewhere on a computer - it would have just been a matter of ordering and getting some gofer to collect them.

I think it's kind of beside the point what you do with your unsigned photos, but as you decided to enlighten me on the subject, I'll tell you what happens to mine - my daughter collects them, and was looking forward to getting one of Superman. She got one anyway because I couldn't have let her down like that, but I had to get it from a dealer, which is what annoyed me the most. I'm not one of those who takes 4 or 5 free photos having brought that many of my own items, but I do like to take one (which I still consider I was entitled to do having paid for two autographs and provided one item of my own).

Considering that most people (in my experience) don't supply their own items anyway, I only hope SMs managed to eke out their supply of 8x10's through Monday, and I hope that that single photo I didn't get helped in some small way...

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm actually quite a nice person really.   Anyway, unless I feel the need to defend myself, these will be my final words on this subject. Kinda bored with it now anyway.  

[surfy_sah]

hehe I USED to put them up around my room etc etc but having been to every SM event since C4 (CM, GMEX and LFaCC) not to mention SG conventions, shows in B'Ham and Docklands, I have far more autos and unsigned 8x10 photos that I have wall space for

as for charging £19 instead of £20 because people couldn't take an 8x10 when they weren't getting it singed, that causes huge problems for the crew and the people that deal physically with finances of the event because they can not deal with change. if some one pays for an auto with change, say 5 £1 coins (and a £10 note), the crew are to get rid of that change as soon as possible (normally by giving it back to another customer as change). also as SM don't pay £1 per 8x10, as we've established, so it's effectively a huge loss of hundreds of pounds because hundreds of people met Brandon and got autos!!  

I'm sure that for every 8x10 you and the hundreds of other people didn't take over the weekend helped Brandon sign autos for fans on Monday  

and, as a finishing point, Too Tall has confirmed that he will be re-wording the "free 8x10" statement on the FAQ

surfy sah xx