I actually re-upped at the last minute myself haha

 

Wow.

I can't tell you how gutting this news was to me. I work directly for the marketing department in my company. Don't ask how the IT department ended up reporting to marketing. But when I read this, it translated immediately into, "HOLY CRAP! HARDLY ANYBODY RENEWED AND WE NEED SOME MORE PEOPLE TO JUSTIFY THIS CLUB!"

Maybe it's just my cynical side talking, or the rough week I'm having, but if they were really burried under requests for renewal, something tells me they would not beg for more renewals.

 

From fan club Brian to me...

>Look at the title of the email, it says update to all TCC members. That
>means it goes to everyone.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Sir:
>
>I renewed my membership at least a week ago, and received a confirmation
>email from a member of your staff. Since then I've received at least two
>'reminder' emails...are these sent out to everyone no matter what?
>Either way, could you confirm my renewal again?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Bryan Lee

Yeah, I renewed, andI'm thinking I'm a sucker. But is it just me or was the response I got totally dick? Or am I really the idiot he implied I am for checking this?

 

My question is, why is this "reminder" to renew going out to existing members? It seems that this kind of news would be better suited for higher-profile news sites like TFW2005 here.

Even though I've renewed myself (over a couple weeks ago), I too, got the impression that the response for renewals have been underwhelming from this latest email. Extending the deadline because you have too many orders simply does not make sense. Extending the deadline because you hae too few orders does (in a way).

Even though I realize that it's a really expensive undertaking to run a club, it continues to baffle me that MC doesn't see anything wrong with so many people stating that the club is not really worth it. Looks to me that they would be trying to get the club to a point where it is worthwhile, but that's just me.

 

That does seem rather short... I mean, it could've been worded better... But from a customer service standpoint, it does seem "off..."

 

I gotta agree with the majority here. If the statement is true, they really need to hire a better PR person. Cause it doesn't take too much to see this in a negative light. Don't hate on someone who tells you how he sees something. He might have a point you may have missed.

That said, based on quoted statements from Brian and FP and the general complaints (you'd have to be blind not to see) from many Fan Club members, I'd have to say the future of the Club isn't looking too good.

And you just cannot blame the fans. It is up to the people who are responsible for the club (FP) to put out a product that will attract and keep fans as members. To do otherwise is like shooting yourself in the foot.

Glen went down this path and look where it got him. (now I'm not implying that Brian is like Glen so don't go there I'm only talking about the business of running a club) I mean it's one thing to promise something and run short and have to recind said promise, shit happens. But don't be surprised if a few fans don't renew. Just be up front and fix the problem and then reoffer the promise when you can. Most fans will most likely come back.

And when a LOT of fans have a problem with your service (shipping charges for foreign fans) don't tell them there's nothing you can do about it, work with them to try and find a solution. If ya don't, don't be surprised when they don't rejoin.

And as a special note, if you do tell someone that you can't do anything about a problem and they can show you how you can, expect more than a little bad press and publicity if you steadfastly ignore them.

Like I said earlier, it looks to me that FP needs a PR person to deal with this. Cause if you don't have any plans to listen to your customers and act on the complaints you get, then you should at least have better worded press releases.

That said, I rejoined a few weeks back. But only because I'm going to Botcon and I wanted the free toy (which isn't really free to me since I don't want or need the Master Collector.)

 

Also, there are those that are more informed than you that know otherwise. Please don't assume the things that you believe are actual truths, and not opinions.

Karl

 

I wonder how many International mebers didn't reknew due to Brians combined responces reavealing that the International memberships are overpriced because its less work for Fan Productions to use overpriced shipping options than to actaully get value for money that could then be passed onto the members?

I mean its not like most International members would mind a administration cost going to Brian and co to cover doing the extra work if the result was a $20+ reduction in the overall cost of the International Memberships... (which should be feasable for many given the actaul cost of shipping if you're willing to do it properly)

 

Incredibly rude and obnoxious, aside from being a PR disaster as he has obviously bugged you with this curt response, he is illustrating the haphazard and lazy way the club is run. One mailing list for all is not an impressive way to run anything.

 

What's the over/under on the fanclub combiner ever being finished?

4 years is a long time.

 

As long as they pay their licensing fee there's no reason to think they won't be around for that long.

 

I'd expect it'll got the full 5 years, though if it isn't profittable I don't know if MC would renew beyond that...I'd say the fewer people that sign up the less we'll see outside of the Botcon sets...so the store exclusives (that I've been hoping to see some sign of) may never materialize or become fewer and farther between (once they do start). Of course that'll result in even lower membership. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's certeinly not that I don't want to see the club do well, quite the contrary, I see so much potential there that it just isn't hitting. But I'm not going to tell my friends to get on board when there's very little for them except a hope for better things in the future. Meanwhile I see other peers, and friends frustrated that they don't feel like they are getting anywhere near their $'s worth.

(But, hey, I've paid $40 for a basic before...this one just comes with an occasional magazine)

 

*That email reply certainly could have been worded better, but honestly do you want Brian Savage spending his time carefully wording every email response so not 1 feather of any touchy fan gets slightly ruffled or do you want his time spent making all the plans for Botcon, the club, and the exclusives?

*Packaging has advertising as shown

*Overall Negative response ON MESSAGE BOARDS.... if this is all the information you've got, you need to realize the bias... the "squeaky wheel gets the grease", complaints are louder than praise, and from all the Transfans I've met in real life people act like bigger asses on any message board. So don't forget your grain of salt.

*Increased membership could still be people who don't like the club but will pay for $40 to say $50 if they're attending Botcon

*It's not hard to believe membership is increasing... I don't know the message is absolutely true, but such skepticism and criticism seems unfounded to me.

 

Except, it wouldn't take any effort or time for him to cut that response by several words and come across much more politely. A simple response of "Yes, this email went out to all current club members" doesn't come across snippy and rude at all, and would have taken no effort at all. A tiny bit extra effort would have been, "Unfortunately, at this time, we only have one mailing list for all club members." Wow, that single sentence would have really sucked up a bunch of his time.

I say this as someone who has email and phone contact with customers on a daily basis. And, even though it's not in any way, shape, or form, my job to deal with them, I do, and do so politely. Maybe Brian should consider having email forwarded to someone with more patience, or more in touch with how to deal with customers. Appearances at the moment are that he sees his customers as problems and a nuisance, and that's not a good impression to give people.

Do you know a lot of people who are members of the club that aren't talking about it on some message board? Because I don't. And, it's far more likely the club organizers will see the complaints on the message boards.

I think the people complaining on the message boards have valid complaints, and have been going out of their way to word those complaints in a non-threatening and non-ass way. If it was just ranting and raving with no point, I would agree with your assessment. This is not.

Unless you've ever dealt with marketing from the perspective of the marketer themselves. Then you learn quickly to read between the lines in other people's marketing. And there is no way that if you're swamped with orders, your going to ask for more orders. It just doesn't happen. And while it sometimes appears the organizers are out of touch with the fan base, I do not see them as people out of touch with reality at all. And every piece of evidence points to membership going down at least by a little, probably by a lot.

That's not to say they didn't get swamped right at the last minute. But I doubt the swamping was what they expected, or they wouldn't extend the deadline. I know most fans put off the decision because it was a tough call to make. The club has been disappointing, but everyone wants it to succeed. How do you balance your needs against the possibility of having no club to sign up for next year?

I don't think the club should be viewed with rose colored, nor with black, glasses. But I do think we should keep a realistic perspective.

 

That one sentence takes a little bit more time, multiply by how many emails and it's a bigger chunk of time. Many complaints are valid, and while it may be true this is somewhat rude, is it a worthy complaint? Can't people have skin thicker than a millimeter?

Yes I do know plenty of Transfans that aren't on message boards. This is my point. People who spend too much time on message boards probably have a distorted view of the matter. I'm not saying there aren't valid complaints, I'm saying if you're gauging overall reaction to the club by ONLY message boards, you've probably got some biased data. I'm not talking about how to get the message to club organizers, just that the overall impression of reaction to the club can be distorted by looking at this. I know I said it twice, but now do you understand my point there?

Yes neither rose nor black glasses should be used. But taking into account message boards probably are black glasses, as well as the Botcon discount effect, I don't think it's hard to believe membership will have increased. I don't know it's true, I don't know it's false. As for why would they open up to get more orders at the last minute when they're already swamped... yes in one sense that sounds backwards, but look at it another way, they're extending the deadline because people are probably procrastinators. If you haven't been getting any orders, then 2 days before a deadline are flooded with them it *might* make sense to extend the deadline so people don't just get cutoff by a day or 2. LOOKING at all those sides is the way to get a "reaslistic perspective" in my opinion.

 

I changed my mind and renewed mine. I wasn't going to, but I've gotten good use of the store and they were far better than the ebay rip off prices. Due to the poor TF distribution around here, if it wasn't for the store I wouldn't have some of my alternators.

 

Is the license paid a year at a time?

I'm just curious, because if the club doesn't make any money, or even worse LOSES lots of money... they wouldn't want to renew annually, thus leading to the incomplete combiner.

That was my train of thought.

 

I've spent years ignoring what people say on the internet, 'cause, well, it's the internet...but now I gotta say I don't think wondering if he was rude consititutes thin skin. I've made it through two wars and I work as a civilian with long-term orthopedic rehab patients, many of whom are senile, drug abusers, or just plain unpleasant. My skin is plenty thick. Maybe if I'd pitched a fit about it, or freaked out...but I didn't.

And expecting a polite individual response to a single email isn't unreasonable. I get it from Amazon, I get it from Benjamin Moore Paints, I get it from Blackhawk Products. For $40 a year, I can get it from Brian at FP.