Avengers7 Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Hopefully this will be read by Showmasters management soon. Ive been purchasing Gold Passes for the last 5 years and have never had any trouble. It is something I save up for as a treat especially when attending LFACC. I felt anything but special at this event. There were soooooo many passes available that even the Gold Pass q for entrance and for Photoshoots was massive. The Gold Pass room was shocking. I have photos of a dirty room, a bin that was overflowing. Water was changed regularly but not nearly enough for the amount of people using it. there were people using it who did not have passes, partially due to the fact there was No signage on the door. Biggest problem was lack of chairs. There were 5 chairs on Saturday, by Sunday only 3 remained. I did go and speak to a member of the crew who said he would try and sort it but we never saw any change. It has seriously damaged my faith in the Pass and will have to seriously think about whether to purchase it again. Too many passes sold, exclusivity disappeared. Guests however, were brilliant. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jademara Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I also had a problem with my silver pass which I paid not little money for. On Friday when I clearly showed my confirmation e-mail to the staff and also told them I had a silver pass, they sent me to queue with the regular pre-ordered ticket holders. After getting to the building I had to queue 2 more to finally get my wristband. My friend buying tickets there got in earlier. On Saturday when I went to Stan Lee's signing area I was told, that I needed a VQ even though the description of the silver pass says I don't. After all the poor treatment I decided not to go for Sunday, which means I spent less money on the event I than I originally wanted to. Will anyone compensate that I didn't get to enjoy the advantages I paid extra for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockstar6662 Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Kinda have to agree. As usual it really helped me get things done and ease the stress of queuing as I'm especially subject to that at the moment but with so many sold it doesn't have the exclusivity and I've said it before but the "pack" you get isn't really worth it. Went through the autographs and even my friends didn't know who most of them were. With thevent getting so big and so much to do, even being able to have the paid talks included isn't as useful as it was. I only got to two talks, one of which was paid and the other I had to leave half way through for a photoshoot in the other building. Would much rather have some vouchers to put towards a photoshoot or autograph or something like that, maybe a discount for the food areas (Although I appreciate these are run by the venue). Something that ads actual useful value and keep the number sold lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsjones1 Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 You make vaild points, when you spend nearly £200 for a pass you expcept to be treated to some exclusive extras but if they issue too many of these passes out then whats the point?! Im still thinking whether I should get a pass in the future or not. I am hoping that this year was just due to Stan Lee attending and not part of a pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avengers7 Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 I usually buy the pass at it does take away some of the stress about queuing amongst other things. This didn't work this time and I have just arrived at home very stressed and troubled. Yes I met most people I wanted including Stan Lee, Terry Farrell, Carrie Fisher, Ian McDiamond etc but still felt stressed out buy the whole experience. Don't get me wrong it was an enjoyable weekend with the guests but stressful which it shouldn't have been. For once the my autograph pack was mostly good with autos of people that I have wanted to meet in the past but couldn't, but there are also autos of at least 3 guests who I have never heard of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2k Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 The comic gold pass was not worth the paper it printed on - highly missold ,highly disappointed a lot of people with service complaints and a lot of angry emails are being prepared. I'm too tired to go into it all now but I am shocked by how the comic gold were treated compared to regular gold. Goody bag was laughable gold - pack of autos about £100 comic gold cheap trade and 3 comics = £15. If had known that the meet and great would not happen ( from an almost 1 min per 15 people only) to a q and A to all the other exclusives etc being able to be brought for less money. If had brought normal gold the same time I would still have gotten stan lee auto exactly the same and had bonus goodies and talks . Going to shut up as getting angry again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avengers7 Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 But maybe it shoudn't have been sold. Like I said too many passes seemed to have been sold. You are asked on the internet what pack you want but even this was mixed up. The man in front of me didn't even have the pack he ordered because there weren't any left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loxias Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I had the comic silver pass. I wanted the gold pass (not comic) but it was sold out at the time so I bought the silver as it was cheaper. To be honest, I only wanted it for queuing privileges and I had no problems with this at all - no one questioned it and everyone seemed to know what it was. Yes, the goody bag was a waste of time - 3 comics! - but I never expected more having been a normal gold pass holder in the past and not thinking much of the bags then either. I picked mine up at 6:10pm on the Friday with no queues and no real problems (just a 2 minute wait while they tried to find the woman with the wristbands). I then arrived at 9:45am on Saturday and Sunday and walked straight in. Silver didn't let you in the chill out room - but that doesn't seem like a bad thing this year! As everyone else has said, simply too many of them were sold this year. I hope they just stick to limited gold passes in future and the price goes back down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr nick riviera Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I've been to a few events over the years, and spent some hard earned on a gold pass. What a waste of money. On the Friday evening, I spent 80 minutes at the organisers booth waiting for passes to be tracked down, then a single copy of a spreadsheet was passed between voulenteers, it was farcical. The photo shoots didn't have a gold pass acess as advertised, and I was turned away from a couple of queues for autographs. What is included in the Standard Gold Pass? Free entry for all 3 days - I skipped Sunday after the debacle that was Saturday Access to and priority seating in all talks free and paid (this does not include the Audience with Stan Lee) - nope Gold pass can be used instead of a virtual queue ticket (Apart from Stan Lee if bought after 22/4/2014) - nope Priority queuing for photo sessions - nope Access to the gold pass chill out room - stretching it to call it a chill out room Autograph pack - got this If that's how you treat your customers, I won't be going again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avengers7 Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 Well there were silver passes using the chill out area. Providing you sat on the tables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animefan1984 Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 (edited) my only criticism of the comic gold pass is that bought it back in december with the promise of a exclusive event which later turned into a general access event and the goody bags perceived value. I did want to swap it for autograph pack having spent same amount as the standard gold anyway but couldnt. On the plus side i at least managed to get photoshoot done faster and see who i wanted to see. If i had known back then i would have gone for just normal gold which is what i will stick to next time. Edited July 13, 2014 by animefan1984 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charmer Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 I totally agree with the chill out room. At the very lease there needs to be maybe 50 chairs which should be more than enough as not everyone is going to be in there at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wall_E Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 What was in the goodie bags you get with the passes? And which autographs? I'm curious to find out if they are worth them at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animefan1984 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 in the comic goody bag was a stephen king graphic novel and few random assorted comics but no exclusive items Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
only_jay Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Having the Gold Pass certainly helped me a lot, doubt I would have got everything I wanted without it! Didn't use the chill out room but by the sounds of it wasn't missing out on much. My main issue was actually getting the pass in the first place was hard to to track down the person with the wristband which was frustrating as people were being let in at the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicAvatar Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I agree that the number of different passes issued made the GP a little less special than usual, but I'm hoping this is an anomaly due to Stan Lee being present. For the most part, though, it did the job as usual and I'll continue to get one, given how many guests I tend to see at the LFCC. (I completely forgot the goody bag, though, as I was so busy. D'oh.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avengers7 Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 I agree that the number of different passes issued made the GP a little less special than usual, but I'm hoping this is an anomaly due to Stan Lee being present. For the most part, though, it did the job as usual and I'll continue to get one, given how many guests I tend to see at the LFCC. (I completely forgot the goody bag, though, as I was so busy. D'oh.) Yes I agree it did the job but It was less special than usual. Too many passes- at one point even some of the crew found it difficult to know who was who between gold, black, green, yellow and white passes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostboy1981 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I always go gold, but with the promise of a VIP drinks reception/meet and greet with Stan Lee, and exclusive items in the goodie bag, I chose the comic gold. No exclusive items at all, despite there being some limited exclusive items being sold (one being a stan lee celebration book limited to 250, maybe that coulda been included) and the VIP meet and greet turned into a standard on stage q and a. Don't get me wrong I was in no false hope of having some sit down chat with the man, in fact after the long days the guy had I think it was in his best interest the way it was finally done, but if that's what it was gonna come to then don't try and sell it as something different. As for the goodie bag it was pathetic, some stuff they had left over, at least when I go standard gold pass the auto pack has some value even though it's not the whole reason I buy one, which leads me to my next point, queuing, the main perk of the gold pass for me is not having to, this time I had to argue with several rude crew members about the comic gold still giving you this advantage go join the shorter gold queue at photo shoots and not needing a VT, I was told on several occasions "your pass gets you stan lee and that's it" well, no it doesn't otherwise I wouldn't have spent £400 on two of them. I saw on the forum others had this problem on Friday and they were assured this would be rectified on Saturday yet it was the case all weekend with some crew. Whilst I did get done what I wanted, none of it was an enjoyable experience, I understand how busy stan lee and the other guests would be, but I didn't go there to be screamed and shouted at like some military camp, to be told abruptly "no this no that, you can't do this, you can't breathe or fart" yes I understand rules and I can read,and quite happy to follow them if it keeps things happy for everyone. It was an event I had looked forward to for a long time, yet it's become the worst iv ever experienced which is a shame as I usually praise SM. I realise this is a business to make money, however it was obvious by Saturday that it had become more about greed and squeezing every penny out of fans, far more than the experience,enjoyment and welfare of them. I had a lot more money to spend, but in the end I just didn't wanna be there anymore. So maybe it's time to take a different business approach. I won't be going to Lfcc again without some drastic changes. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamerGraph Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) Comic Gold surely is a dead dodo pass now due to that being created for this year. I can't think of any other guests worthy of a comic gold / silver being in existance. I would love to see a GOLD GOD PASS where you have access to everything and every guest is free and you have absolute power and no walking through the sea of crowds.... MEWHHAHAHA MORE POWER ... Gold room was awesome on sunday only becuase I watched as Micheal Madsen walked out of the room opersite regular gold service will resume at the next london event enjoy them, many will not be buying those again I can't remember Stan Lee's helper friend he has but without him on Saturday night I think it would have got a lot worse, he was doing what he could and doing much more than all the other showmasters team were doing that evening. VIP drinks reception.... Take notes here Showmasters, I've been to the BAFTA Video Games Awards as a paying ticket holder and the drinks reception was a billion litterally a BILLION times better. You had a big space, seating and tables. You had people walking arround with drinks having a good time and staff / waiters what ever there called doing an awesome job of taking drinks round, if you wanted something you asked and they would go and get you another drink it was beyond epic! Proper service, glasses and a ton of drinks to choose in big portians or whole bottles. Comic themed goodie bag was a little on the nose dont you think?! By putting in comics... themed would have thought figures, dvds would have been a better choice. It would have been even better to include a few books about stan lee. dvds and other stan lee merchandise, i dont know but not comics! meet and greet dont advertise it as part of it and get people all excited for seven months before the event, put it as depending on prior commitments. It seems like Sale of goods act and gambling acts are being looked at on this forum by many at the moment, on saturday night very few wanted to complain as they didnt want to ruin there day and just enjoy whats being thrown at them. its a catch 22 situation sit back and do nothing and dont spoil the day, or let loose and be heard and make things worse. Having been to the sunday talk, stan lee was more lively more joyful than he was with only a few hundred of us there. He feeds energy of a large crowd, and he is amazing for that! in fact someone needs to do a special comic for the lfcc stan lee weekend and call it The Amazing Stan-Lee! Issue 1 - Friday, overtime Stan... go on fans are here for you. Issue 2 - Saturday, wow big numbers are here to see you Stan but you've got a long day ahead. Issue 3 - Sunday, its the last day take it easy not so many people today and you've got another talk with a much bigger audience. Issue 4 - Flying home today, back with the wife. Edited July 14, 2014 by GamerGraph 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lostboy1981 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I agree, none of it was Stan Lee's fault, hope I'm still as sprightly if I ever make it to 92! And in the end I just felt like he should just be allowed to go have a rest and not push him so much, at the end of the day it would be great for everyone to meet him but surely his welfare comes first. The comic gold pass being created purely based on his appearance was originally a good idea I thought, yet I coulda done exactly the same with a normal gold. It just didn't live up to its promotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumpyghostface Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 The photo shoots didn't have a gold pass acess as advertised, and I was turned away from a couple of queues for autographs. The crew member sorting out the David Hewlett photoshoot on Friday did take Gold Pass holders straight to the front of the queue. (What could have made this even better is if he'd left a space at the front of the queue to put them - as it was all the rest of us regular punters had to shuffle backwards every time, which got quite muddled as we were zig-zagging up and down a small area.) Anyway, I'm surprised this didn't happen at the other shoots - I just had a regular ticket, but I can understand why you are so annoyed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adriangill Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 The photo shoots didn't have a gold pass acess as advertised,It should have been, and certainly was in one area on Saturday. Did you speak to the crew in the area concerned? And/or the pit boss (red crew shirt)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrong Name Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I never had a problem with photos or autographs with the Comic Gold pass on Sat and Sun (I wasn't there on Fri). I was taken to the front of the queue if there wasn't a dedicated lane for Golds on all photos and allowed to join the back of all autograph queues I wanted. The only times I was asked not to join queues were a couple of times when guests were about to go to lunch or take a break etc. which is fair enough and I just went to see another guest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsEllacott Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 The photo shoots didn't have a gold pass acess as advertised, and I was turned away from a couple of queues for autographs. Yes, they did have gold pass access. I had a different pass but when moved to the front of queue for photos, I was stood with mainly gold pass holders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenGreen Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 The photo shoots didn't have a gold pass acess as advertised, and I was turned away from a couple of queues for autographs. Yes, they did have gold pass access. I had a different pass but when moved to the front of queue for photos, I was stood with mainly gold pass holders. Yes, Gold pass holders were definitely given priority access for photoshoots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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