56 replies to this topic

[Cookie]

I usually don't say anything, but this time i have a "complaint".

On saturday morning, something was definitly wrong with the gold passes.

First: a guy tried to hand them to us outside, as we were queing... With the wind blowing, i was afraid they would be lost, the whole bunch of them.. and from the back of the small queue there, couldn't hear the names the guy was calling. He realized (after dropping the 3 times on the floor), that it was not a good idea and got them back inside..

We were then allowed to enter (at the same time as the early birds, as planned).

Second problem: We spent like 25 minutes waiting for our passes to be handed to us, at the organizer's booth!
Some friends of mine who were on the back of the "on the day ticket" queue were tapping on my shoulder as i was still standing in queue to get my pass!!! So all the "early birds" were in already, as well as many "on the day" peple!

When finally i got my pass in my hand, i was told to "come back later" for the free signatures pack, as they weren't ready...and no goodies bag either....

My question is: why doesn't Showmaster send the gold passes in advance to the people who bought it, like the photoshoot tickets??
Theres' your name on it: no risk of getting re-sold and the photoshoot are registered mail, so if they send it the same way, no risk on getting lost or stolen in the mail...

Would avoid the kind of "glitch" of saturday...

What you think?

[jael001]

Surely it doesnt matter when you go inside and if early bird people get inside in front of you since you dont need virtual tickets and can join any queue whenever you like?

I've had a Gold Pass a couple of times in the past, not this time though, but it's always been done the same way, you pick it up from the Organisers Desk and have to wait while they find your pass. Did you get a goodie bag at all this year? Last year they forgot them and we didnt get them at all. We were offered a photoshoot for another event if we wanted one instead as compensation, which was gratefully received.

[gobo1979uk]

jael001, on Jul 20 2008, 11:19 PM, said:

Surely it doesnt matter when you go inside and if early bird people get inside in front of you since you dont need virtual tickets and can join any queue whenever you like?

I've had a Gold Pass a couple of times in the past, not this time though, but it's always been done the same way, you pick it up from the Organisers Desk and have to wait while they find your pass. Did you get a goodie bag at all this year? Last year they forgot them and we didnt get them at all. We were offered a photoshoot for another event if we wanted one instead as compensation, which was gratefully received.

After the trouble with the goody bags last time I think it's just auto packs now. There were no goody bags at Collectormania and none were given out at the weekend either. Its always been the same problems with issuing of gold passes - nothing ever changes so no point complaining really.

[dufresne]

No point complaining   Idiot !

Every year it's the same. Why can't they have everything for each person (laminates included) in envelopes in alphabetical or numerical order. Same old ham-fisted half hour at the organisers booth, with 200 people who HAVE to buy photoshoot tickets at 9.00am queued around the block, complaining that we are getting in the way. I can't understand why these people can't just walk up to an empty booth a couple of hours later .....

Anyway - the hand-out in the morning is consistently the only (and for that matter significant) problem with gold passes. Otherwise a very good system - but the goody bags were only available on the Sunday (I know two people who got theirs). It wasn't very exciting though - a copy of that free Heroes mag (stacked up by the 1000 to anyone who wanted one, gold pass or not) some unsigned prints left over from Eclipse, and a graphic novel. Hardly exciting (or varied).

Edited by dufresne, 21 July 2008 - 08:52 AM.

[gobo1979uk]

dufresne, on Jul 21 2008, 09:46 AM, said:

No point complaining   Idiot !

What a charming individual Dufresne is. What a turn of phrase. The very reincarnation of Oscar Wilde in geek form. He certainly told me - I really have no possible comback from being called an idiot.

Although...as far as I can see, no amount of whinging and suggestion for improvements on this forum has ever led to any changes being implemented at the shows. So if you still think there is a point to complaining or if you just like to get things off your chest then you go ahead.

[dufresne]

gobo1979uk, on Jul 21 2008, 10:01 AM, said:

dufresne, on Jul 21 2008, 09:46 AM, said:

No point complaining   Idiot !

What a charming individual Dufresne is. What a turn of phrase. The very reincarnation of Oscar Wilde in geek form. He certainly told me - I really have no possible comback from being called an idiot.

Although...as far as I can see, no amount of whinging and suggestion for improvements on this forum has ever led to any changes being implemented at the shows. So if you still think there is a point to complaining or if you just like to get things off your chest then you go ahead.

I apologise for that slight on your character gobo - so not like me. I just think we have to keep posting that we are (still) unhappy with stuff so they know they still have to work on it. They are nearly always very good at noting forum comments (and guest suggestions). I've only ever had gold for London - it as pissy-abouty at other SM shows ?

[nosfer2]

gobo1979uk, on Jul 21 2008, 10:01 AM, said:

as far as I can see, no amount of whinging and suggestion for improvements on this forum has ever led to any changes being implemented at the shows.

On the contrary, much has changed as a result of complaints, for example the way the crew work with disabled people, and the way the queues were let in. Unlike other shows I could mention where when you make suggestions for improvements they just tell you why they won't change things!

Edited by nosfer2, 21 July 2008 - 10:04 AM.

[Cookie]

So my only suggestion is:

Please send the Gold Passes in advance like you do with the photoshoot tickets.

[mightymax]

I had a Gold Pass for the first time this year, I didn't experience any problems getting it, I think that was due to the time arrived though at 11am because the trains were all screwed up!

[mpharris]

But why is it such a problem that you had to wait a bit to pick up your pass? It's not like you had to rush off to get VQ tickets or talk tickets and wouldn't it be more of a hassle if they posted it to you and it got lost in the post?

[Cookie]

I doesn't like the idea i was paying 175 £ to be allowed in -after- everybody, almost.

Yes, i could jump from one queue to the other, but i would have been able to grab low number VT by getting an "early bird" ticket, no need then for a Gold Pass!

Yes, i could attend talks for free, but just 2 of them you had to pay for, so the fact that they were included didn't made for the price of the Golden Pass, as they were basically free of charges.

Next time, i won't actually bother, and just buy an early bird ticket.

I was not the only one Gold Pass member wondering why they couldn't send it by post, as we waited...

That's all i'm asking :)

[mightymax]

mpharris, on Jul 22 2008, 06:15 PM, said:

But why is it such a problem that you had to wait a bit to pick up your pass? It's not like you had to rush off to get VQ tickets or talk tickets and wouldn't it be more of a hassle if they posted it to you and it got lost in the post?

Got to agree, my time was made so much easier with the pass, I didn't have to think about oh i better be at such an such place because of my ticket number etc... I just turned-up and done! Works great on the photoshoot  

For the talks I really appreciated it as well as I was front row for all of them I usually get stuck right at the back. If the guest line-up etc.. is as good next year I will definitley be getting another one

[Cookie]

mpharris, on Jul 22 2008, 05:15 PM, said:

But why is it such a problem that you had to wait a bit to pick up your pass? It's not like you had to rush off to get VQ tickets or talk tickets and wouldn't it be more of a hassle if they posted it to you and it got lost in the post?

Basically, i was paying 175 £ to be allowed in -after- almost everybody. See why i felt a bit "annoyed"?
25 minutes we all waited...

As for the advantages of the GP:

Yes, i could jump from one queue to the other, but i would have been able to grab low number VT by getting an "early bird" ticket, so no "real need" there for a Gold Pass!

Yes, i could attend talks for free, but just 2 of them you had to pay for, so the fact that they were included didn't made for the price of the Golden Pass, as they were basically all free of charges.

No goodies bags. No one told me that they would be some available on the Sunday, so zip for me.


I was not the only one Gold Pass member wondering why they couldn't send them by post, as we waited...

And they cant get lost in the mail.. if they are sent registered sign-for mail (as the photoshoot tickets are)! They can't get resold either, as they are nominative, and even with pictures...

That's all i'm asking: please send them in the mail, as you do with the photoshoot tickets :) :)

(And note that it's the first time such a thing happens - never had any trouble getting them before - it's my 4th GP already-... maybe it's because they sold 75 instead of 50? I dunno..)

[dufresne]

mpharris, on Jul 22 2008, 06:15 PM, said:

But why is it such a problem that you had to wait a bit to pick up your pass? It's not like you had to rush off to get VQ tickets or talk tickets and wouldn't it be more of a hassle if they posted it to you and it got lost in the post?

We were stood in another queue for the first half hour of the show - not really what we hoped for when we booked ! And I know we didn't have to rush off or VQTs or talk / photoshoot tickets - but we DID want to get the hell out of the way of people who DID. We maybe wanted to get a look at the stalls (maybe first dibs at the bargains) or maybe check out the props and other displays in peace ... or maybe we just didn't want to spend another half hour in another blasted queue. Not a  lot to ask .....

[Cookie]

Thanks Dufresnes :)

[jael001]

Cookie, on Jul 22 2008, 07:14 PM, said:

And they cant get lost in the mail.. if they are sent registered sign-for mail (as the photoshoot tickets are)!

Oh dear, you are quite naive arent you? As someone who ran a business that relied on sending things out by Recorded and/or Special Delivery post, I can tell you that they can and often do still get lost in the post, even if they're not high value. Not everyone who works for the postal service is honest, and they dont know till they've taken your item what's in it, so it doesn't matter if they can't use it, it wont ever get to you once they've opened the package to see what's actually inside.

[mightymax]

Just a thought, the CD that we receive at some point in the near future of photos from the weekend can anyone confirm the following:

1. How long does it usually take for them to arrive after the event?
2. Does the disc have any of the talks on them?

I appreciate they can't supply the disc straight away as they have lots to sort out after the event

[jael001]

In my experience the disk with pics comes months after the event, and it's just pics, no video no.

[mpharris]

I still don't see why it matters that you were let in 25 minutes after everybody else, but if it's that important to you then so be it. Yes you could have just got an early bird ticket and got there early enough to get low number VQ tickets (although that's no guarantee you'll still get to see everyone when there's people signing at Christopher Lloyd pace). OK so most of the talks were free, you still didn't have to go through the hassle of picking up tickets for them. The goodie bags I'm with you on, they are part of the pass and should have been provided when you picked it up. It seems to me that you're saying that you didn't want the gold pass for all the actual benefits it provides (queue jumping, front of queue for talks, shoots etc.) only to be let in early.
As for not getting lost in the post if sent registered post. As a former Post Office worker I know for a fact that there is still a percentage of Special Delivery letters that get lost (Inland registered hasn't existed for about 10 years) and recorded is worse, all that gives you is a signature on delivery, there is no added compensation or special treatment on recorded.

[dufresne]

Of course we want the other benefits as well, but can you not see yourself being annoyed at having to spend an extra half hour queuing after shelling out ?

..... I've made my point.