Buyers of ‘Meet and Greet’ passes to receive partial reimbursement from organisers amid negative reviews
ALL VVIP ticket holders who attended the Blue LIVE in Malaysia concert are set to receive refunds for the amateur treatment during its hasty “Meet and Greet” session with the British boyband.
The negative outpour started when fans leaving Dewan Wawasan Convention And Exhibition Centre, Cheras, started to question the RM598 (RM200 extra from VIP class ticket) price tag for the sold-out pass considering the experience they had had.
In a move to calm the situation, a statement was issued by co-organisers KC&Friends and TerryandTheCuz.
“Fans were notified in advance and closer to date about the terms and conditions, on both website and social media. We understand the disappointment and frustration of fans being unable to share a more intimate experience with the artistes. With that being said, we want you to know that we hear you and your concerns. Therefore, we will be issuing refunds for the difference in amounts of the VVIP Meet & Greet and VIP tickets.”
One international fan, Kay Nopakun, said, “My sister and I flew in from Bangkok, Thailand, especially for the meet-and-greet but it was disappointing. When we were in there, we kept hearing ‘No’. We can’t take selfies or videos for Instagram, or even take out our phones or even attempt to keep the boys in a conversation, else we would be escorted out by the security.
“The concert itself didn’t go smoothly as it should too. The sound system was absolutely awful. The boys obviously had trouble with their earpieces. It was so bad that they had to interrupt and told the sound engineer to fix it mid-concert,” she added.
Shared another fan, Elishia Leong, “The organisers’ Press release was such a dismissive statement. There were so many issues that were also pointed out and it seems like what the organisers took from it was that we are only unhappy about the meet-and-greet session.
“We didn’t come from Petty Betty land. We are also unhappy about how Blue must have felt. It brings a bad image to us all. The icing on the cake was when they deleted comments (referring to the ticket holders posts being removed on the organiser’s social media page).”
Many shared how it was nothing more than a “see and cheese” slot where fans could not even gain an intimate moment with members of the band and were robbed of their opportunity to savour the time granted.
Concert-goers vented their frustrations on social media after the show, flooding co-organiser KC&Friend’s Facebook page and complaining about how the organisers were misleading them by marking the VVIP tickets as “Meet and Greet”.
“Awesome show! Disappointing meet and greet! Session went faster than me tapping touch n go,” commented Amadeus Chin who even brought his collection of Blue cassettes but did not get a chance to get them autographed.
Personal photos were restricted during the session with the organisers claiming it was due to time constraints. VVIP ticket holders were eventually grouped together in a seated photo op mimicking a class photo setting.
“I have no words to describe the picture that I got from their ‘official’ photographer. I didn’t post any on my social media accounts because I don’t look good in that. Nothing to be proud of,” shared Evy Dyana.
“A group picture with strangers for the meet and greet? Not only that, I can’t greet the band members properly, not even get a signed poster or anything yet the C grade celebrities have a chance to hug them?” wrote Rafael Remy, addressing the guideline that was imposed.
Harsher criticism came when fans noticed preferential treatment was practised towards certain guests to privately meet-and-greet the band.
Malaysian celebrity, Kilafairy, particularly was put in the spotlight for this reason as she was seen seated at the same VVIP section. Fans unanimously took offence at the idea of how the organisers view other paying customers as a joke.
“If people say ‘Meet & Greet’, we (concert-goers) expect interaction… A quick chat or a selfie at least. But all we got was what seemed like a few seconds,” shared Ezreen Nik.
“To make it worse, there were local celebrities mingling around, snapping photos and hugging each member. That means time was never an issue to begin with?” questioned Ezreen Nik. “The boys were amazing but the management need(s) to do better and try to be fair to everyone.”
Organisers have also responded: “We may not be able to give you back your moment but we can choose not to monetise it.”
Affected ticket holders are requested to wait a period of seven days for the organisers to announce the refund process.