Some very unhappy news about the Propaganda Code letters

[doctorwho]

The way they charged us $20 for Propaganda or $40 for this U2.com subscription, it boggles my mind that they ship 3rd class where there is no forwarding. I missed a Propaganda issue once because I moved around the same time they FINALLY sent an issue. When I told them this, they said it was "too bad and I'm out of luck"! What type of service is this? Why not forward? God knows we pay enough (especially now)! And why not spend the whole extra $1 to resend the magazine or, now, the letter?

I subscribed to Propaganda for the freebies and the tickets. But overall, I wasn't much a fan of it. I think it was great in the 80's, but U2 were right to discontinue it. However, I've never seen a magazine issue come so infrequently, never had such issues with the lack of forwarding and never had such unhelpful staff members.

I'm hoping I get a letter soon, but I have a feeling I won't. And I do think if we get enough people together, we could get a lawyer to assist us. It may not be for big $, but it sure would get publicity - "FANS SUE U2!"

 

[anitram]

While it would be tough to prove our subscriptions as Propaganda never accepted checks (so we can't just go look back in our accounts for an old check), I think this speaks of some class action lawsuit. We were promised 4 issues - we didn't get them. Instead, we were told we could subscribe to a website for $20. However, to do so, we need some sort of "letter" - yet many of us don't have this letter. Why? How come?

I think if you have your Propaganda ID, that's your best bet for getting involved. And I'm sorry, but as big of a fan as I am of U2, I'm not above suing them to get their act straight. They can't treat their fans this way. They have a lot of older fans who are now in their 40's just like they are. The advantage there is that we now have the $$ and the intelligence to sue - so U2 better get themselves together 'cuz this could get nasty.

I am with you 100%.

This is disgraceful behaviour, and when you add up how many people have been ripped off by $20, I am willing to bet it is quite a respectable sum.

If U2 and their people have no qualms about pursuing legal action against fansites hosting things like guitar tabs, then why should we feel bad for legitimately starting a process which would return to us the money that is owed?

 

[U2_Muse]

I was very fortunate (I suppose; I'm not actually counting on getting tickets out of these idiots!), but I feel really badly for those of you who are still banging your head against the wall.

Aside from legal action, what about drafting a letter to Principle Management and maybe cc'ing it to some interested publications?

Sometimes, there's nothing that gets the ball rolling like bad publicity.

 

[doctorwho]

That's probably the ultimate irony here.

Even those who get the Prop. letters and sign up to U2.com at a reduced price with the promise of "good tickets" might have a very limited selection. For the PopMart tour, I got some great tickets at face value. I also got good Gold Circle tickets for the last tour. However, I heard a lot of fans didn't get great tickets from Propaganda on those tours. In the 80's, people would get outstanding seats - not as much any more.

Furthermore, for the last tour, we were very restricted with tickets. We would have to pay up front and send in our selections. We could only get something like 2 tickets for one show and 4 total. If they didn't have the tickets in the area you wanted, they simply refunded your money.

For me to get into the heart on the last tour, I went through online scalpers - and I have a feeling I'm going to have to do this again. As such, I'm not horribly worried about getting tickets through U2.com. I'd love to have it and hope I can, but I get the feeling that the good seats will still be scalped.

 

[U2_Muse]

I also got good Gold Circle tickets for the last tour. However, I heard a lot of fans didn't get great tickets from Propaganda on those tours.

I got Gold Circle tickets for Elevation from Prop, too. However, they were almost worse than the seats I had in the second tier at a stadium during Popmart. I was ambivalent about the kind of tickets I'd get from U2.com anyway, but with Fanfire's handling of the memberships, I'm not convinced that their "promise" that U2.com members will get tickets holds any water to begin with.

 

[martha]

If you pay $40 anyway just to get tickets, you're giving these idiots your approval for this scam.

You know the online ticket sales will be fucked up. They were last time and this Fanfire bunch of yahoos weren't even involved.

 

[u2valleygirl]

Dam it!!! I just got the same fucking letter. I am going to file a complaint with The Better Business Bureau!! This so fucking sucks!

 

[tawanda]

this is a load of shit!

I do not understand how my membership that I signed up for in 2001 lapsed.

Because of this crap I will not join the site.

I am truly unhappy with this whole situtaion.

my returned e-mail.

[q]Dear Iris,
As requested we referenced our list of current and active members for
verification of your status, but, unfortunately were unable to locate any
information. As a result, at this time we are unable to provide you with a
discount membership code. All Propaganda letters to current and active
members, whose subscriptions have not lapsed, have been mailed out. Please
note that if your Propaganda membership had expired, you will not be
receiving a discount letter in the mail. We are sorry if your subscription
has lapsed, but, encourage you to check out the new U2.com. For your
convenience these are your membership features you will receive once you
join:
Guaranteed priority ticket booking for the 2005 tour
U2.com membership card in silver, red and black
An email account with an @U2.com email address
**Coming Soon** rare and archived video including clips from earlier tours
Special downloads
On-the-road reports and diaries from the 2005 World Tour
Exclusive interviews with U2 band member including: audio and text
Zootopia Discussion area (Forum)
Digital content including: screen savers, on-line calendar, and other great
tools
And on top of everything else you will receive 25% off on your first
purchase from the U2.com Shop.
You can check out all these benefits at www.U2.com/subscribe
Best wishes,
Rob
U2.Com Customer Service [/q]

Same response I got. What a crock of shit!!!

 

[tawanda]

Just a thought...do you think this is their way of thinning out the membership so it isn't overloaded???

 

[U2_Muse]

Just a thought...do you think this is their way of thinning out the membership so it isn't overloaded???

I don't think so, because I don't seem them turning away anybody willing to pay the full $40.

 

[ascender_RS]

Does anyone have an actual email address for an actual person within Fanfire or one of the old Propaganda offices?

 

[pianorocker]

Does anyone know why they charged my credit card $43 instead of $40? I mean, $3 isn't a big deal, but if they did it to a lot of people then it starts to add up.

If you're in the US, you have to pay state sales tax.

 

[Monkey79]

So after reading the posts in this thread, it appears that most of the people who haven't received letters are the people who joined in 2001 (like ME -- May of '01). I called last week, and again yesterday... they took down my info yesterday and said someone would get back to me within a week. But it looks like I'm in for the same response you guys are getting.

On a somewhat related note, do you think they are just gonna give out a generic password for a Ticketmaster pre-sale? If so, you know it will leak and thus be somewhat useless anyway. I'm kinda torn as to what to do, especially after this Fanfire fiasco.

 

[Monkey79]

And another thing while I'm on a roll.... And flame me all you Bon Jovi haters if you wish -- but American XS (which offers the Bon Jovi ticket presales & extras) charges $10/year for a membership. Anybody out there know -- what do other bands charge for their fan clubs and offers of ticket presales?

Do you guys think the U2 machine has finally gotten a little out of hand and out of touch?

 

[ramblin rose]

I will be replying to Rob, Fanfire, Signature Networks etc, however, if I did it yesterday it would have been a meanlingless email with a slew of obsenities which I didn't think would get any attention.

It's obvious that the root of the problem is the membership database that fanfire received from propaganda, it was not only not up to date with respect to actual membership but also contained extremely outdated addresses.

They must have realized this once they started received telephone calls regarding outdated addresses, but instead of getting to the root of the problem they chose to ignore the obvious flaw, work with this outdated database, and as a result basically "steal money" (for lack of a better term) from current and active prop subscribers.

I think they have analyzed the issue and believe that they can and will get away with it. They are probably right, except I do not intend on making it easy for them.

 

[Tania]

I don't know if this is relevant or not, but I received two "test" emails from subscriptions@U2.com today. Did anybody else?

 

[beatlesboy]

Like everyone else in this post I am in the same boat and PISSED!!! I would love to be involved if there is any sort of group action being taken on this matter...

 

[lazarus]

Does anyoe know the cutoff from when the subscriptions would LEGITIMATELY be lapsed? The first thing I received from Prop was the Hasta la Vista Baby CD. And I remember seeing two Prop issues after that, which is only 3 issues.

I haven't received any email or letter yet, and have left my addresses and ID with fanfire twice in the last 2 weeks.


laz

 

[U2SJ]

Im in the same boat guys
This sucks.
I have left my old info and my new info multiple times now with Fanfire, and also have emailed the old Prop emails I had a million times in the last few months. Still have heard NOTHING.

So those of you that got that letter emailed to you..... had you called and left your email or they randomly sent it from your old info they had?

 

[U2_Muse]

Does anyoe know the cutoff from when the subscriptions would LEGITIMATELY be lapsed? The first thing I received from Prop was the Hasta la Vista Baby CD. And I remember seeing two Prop issues after that, which is only 3 issues.

Forgive my memory if this isn't correct, but from what I recall, when I subscribed to Propaganda, the fine print essentially said that your subscription would remain current until you had received four issues of the magazine (as they did not print it with any regularity whatsoever, and therefore could not limit it to a specific period -- ie. a yearly subscription).

Which, in a nutshell, means that if you did not receive four issues of Propaganda, your subscription should still be in force. Meaning that this line about lapsed subscriptions is bullshit and is meant to shut everyone up.

 

[beatlesboy]

Forgive my memory if this isn't correct, but from what I recall, when I subscribed to Propaganda, the fine print essentially said that your subscription would remain current until you had received four issues of the magazine (as they did not print it with any regularity whatsoever, and therefore could not limit it to a specific period -- ie. a yearly subscription).

Which, in a nutshell, means that if you did not receive four issues of Propaganda, your subscription should still be in force. Meaning that this line about lapsed subscriptions is bullshit and is meant to shut everyone up.

Yep!

 

[chango]

not only did it state that you WOULD get 4 issues, but that you would also get at least one premium such as one of the club cds.
i paid for my prop sub, all i got was two issues and no premium... and so far no damn letter from them giving me a code for the privilege of giving them more money to honor the original agreement.
pretty unbelievable... i mean, isn't u2 supposed to be about some sort of integrity? this is just really, really bad form.
boo. hiss.

 

[Acrobatic]

Hey all. . .this may be news or repetitive. . .sorry!

I've had an active Prop membership for a long time (15 years) and had at least 2 issues due to me from my last renewal (in 1999).

I joined U2.com (subscription) then called Fanfire to relay the fact that I never received my letter with the $20 promo code. They said they'd check the database and get back to me in 24-48hrs and if they found my name they would credit me in some form, the $20.

I know some of you have mentioned they have checked the db to no avail but it seems like they are trying a little harder, at least the Fanfire rep I spoke with seemed competent, then again he could have just said that to get me off the phone. . .I guess we'll see.

 

[U2_Muse]

so far no damn letter from them giving me a code for the privilege of giving them more money to honor the original agreement.

I think this is part of what's really bothering me about this whole thing. They did not fulfill the terms of the original agreement (for those of us who were left with unfulfilled Prop subscriptions), and then we not only have to give them more money, but the entire system is bogged down in incompetence.

It's absolutely inexcusable for the fanclub of a band of U2's stature.

Acrobatic, a friend of mine has called Fanfire on numerous occasions over the past couple of weeks and has been told that they cannot find her in the database, and they would look into it, to no avail. They don't seem to be in any hurry to rectify the situation for her, either. But I wish you luck.

 

[KentK]

So those of you that got that letter emailed to you..... had you called and left your email or they randomly sent it from your old info they had?

Yes, I gave them all of my info over the phone, including email. That must be the only way that they got my email address since they apparently have no record of me in their Prop database.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

I too had called them prior to me sending an e-mail to them about this whole situation. I spoke with a lady on the phone and provided her with all of my information. She did not bother to look any of it up. She just wrote my information down and told me she would pass it along and some one would call me back. No-one ever called back.

 

[BostonAnne]

I know some of you have mentioned they have checked the db to no avail but it seems like they are trying a little harder, at least the Fanfire rep I spoke with seemed competent, then again he could have just said that to get me off the phone. . .I guess we'll see.

How hard can you check a database? Type in last name, first name - check addresses. Fanfire's list is obviously shy some data and it doesn't appear that Fanfire cares all that much. Telling us that they are working to resolve the problem would be a lot more realistic than taking our info over and over again.

How many people here had to argue that their subscription didn't expire as the rep implied?

 

[BostonAnne]

I'm hoping I get a letter soon, but I have a feeling I won't. And I do think if we get enough people together, we could get a lawyer to assist us. It may not be for big $, but it sure would get publicity - "FANS SUE U2!"

I would hate to do that. I hope this gets resolved soon.

 

[DiGi]

How could this mean your subscription lapsed? Propaganda lapsed!

Seriously.

I have been wating and waiting for this thing to come. To say that a sub lapsed is bogus. Prop was not operating.

Now I have to decide if its worth sending my money to people who obviously have no idea how to run a membership service.

 

[DiGi]

can some one post the email addresses of these donkeys? This is just not acceptable.