Just got an e-mail from rs.com regarding renewal of my membership to "Platinum" member (which of course means that I, for the first time, signed up about one year ago). I am not quite sure if I should renew it, as the price is so high and I must admit that I do not spend much, if any, time there checking out videos etc. However, I was very happy with the tix I got through the membership and that would be the main reason why I possibly will renew it. I am, like so many others, hoping that they are coming back to Europe next summer as rumour has it - and if a membership can get me "first in line", so to speak, to get tix....well, go figure. But if I have almost as good a chance getting tix without being a member and saving those 100$, I would go for that.

What would your advice be? Are you going to renew your membership - why/why not? I am new in this rs.com thingy, so I would appreciate any input on the subject from you guys, who are much more experienced in this matter. Thanks! :-)

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Literally 965 kilometers from being "Born in an Arctic zone".

Going by last year's experience, if they repeat the same way of distributing tickets, I would say save your money and be patient. I'd only consider it if they were having small shows, but you cant trust them to announce them (and if they are, then you still have time to rejoin at a future date).

The timing of course is very appropriate with the likely announcement of 2007 shows in the next few weeks as most members in Europe would have joined up this time last year just after the 2006 tour was confirmed. Guess its too much to expect these e-mails AFTER you know theyre touring and where....

I decided not to renew last year (I'm in Toronto) but was still able to get very good seats for the Wichita concert in October. The tickets are expensive enough without having to pay $100 US for membership renewal.

I am with Gazza on this.

No membership for me.

The fanclub sucks big time...

They dont even update the site on a regular basis I mean you would expect them to be the first with any news ....
Last year the info coming from them for fans who held tickets for cancelled shows was a complete disgrace ....


If there are theatre shows will they be like beacon - Remember there was no presale for RS.com members.

It was also amusing to see they went to Stones Doug & The Shidoobeeans to get extras for the Beacon shows as opposed to asking the $100 paying members of their own fanclub... Says it all really.

Of course, you do get a refund if you dont use your passcode. Which is one thing.

The problem is resisting the temptation to use it when theres a presale, in the hope that you'll get something at least as good later on. When they announced this tour last year, the reason why most people joined was in the hope of getting access to presales for the promised theatre shows, which didnt happen. So, you then end up seeing a stadium or arena show go on sale, you have an unused passcode and the temptation is there to just say "fúck it, may as well use it anyway", which is exactly what rs.com want you to do.

Worth remembering also that for Europe the passcodes are only good for selected countries. If you activate it for use for a show in Spain, for example, and then decide not to buy, you cant use it later on for a show in the UK or somewhere like that. So, I certainly wouldnt recommend it for European fans if theres only going to be one show in your country and that show is in a relatively large venue.

very good point Gazza - i'm going to hold off, until i see something credible, that resembles a 2007 summer schedule.

Gazza I think I heard they have change the refund policy this time .

You only get 3 months after joining to ask for a refund as opposed to holding on indefinately and knowing if that last minute theatre anouncement does not come you get your money back.

So anyone joining this month would only get till Feb to decide if they want to cancell.

JUST SAY NO!!!

My first thought was to cancel the membership due to your mentioned reasons, so I am glad to see you share that opinion. Then I will, as Steven advises me directly to; "say no".

Thanks for the feedback! I knew I could trust you people. :-)

I get everything I need from this site.

My own take on the entire fan club membership business and the supposed advantage it gave you in terms of access to good/better tickets in the presales is quite simply that there WAS no advantage whatsoever !

I tried to use a presale code to get good tickets in the seated "tribune d'honneur" section (price category 1 or 2) for the August 8th Nice show. Absolute rubbish, the moment the presales started there were NO tickets available in either of those 2 price categories, and not for at least 2-3 WEEKS afterwards. I was very very lucky that weeks after the general public sale had started, I looked at the website very late one night and there just happened to be 4 for sale in price category 2. But for absolutely WEEKS there had been nothing, not from the VERY MOMENT the presales started.

For the Porto/Portugal show on August 12th my friend Beast used a code, and the seats she obtained with that code were awful. We ended up moving to better seats just before the show started as it happened, but the point is that what she bought with the code were truly AWFUL seats - about two thirds of the way back from the stage end of the stadium.

We never got to find out where our Valladolid seats for the August 14th show were (because the show was cancelled and the tickets were WILL CALL) - but based on our Portugal expereince, we've no reason to assume they would have been any better, and the purchase of them ALSO consumed a code.

And for the 5 UK shows I attended I bought all my tickets on the American Express presale - and great seats at the right price they were too. No rs.com presale codes used or required.

The conclusion I've drawn from all this is that the fan club membership and the corresponding codes haven't for me personally been of the slightest benefit to be quite honest, and although I currently have one lonesome rs.com membership running (which I took out for the fall 2006 USA leg of the tour and which at this time remains unused), I'm really trying to think of any possible reason why I should bother taking out yet more memberships and getting more codes for Europe 2007. And I can't think of one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-11-15 16:30 by paulywaul.

Thanks for the tip madmaxx, the fúckers move the goalposts so often, its hard to keep track of it all (remember their clever little move some months ago to automatically and quietly default everyone's account to 'automatic renewal' even though when you signed up there was no such option?)

I had 3 memberships and similar fruitless uses as those that Pauly had.

Membership 1 - got a pair of presale $160 tickets for the 18/1/06 show at MSG. All well and good. However, a day or two later when the tickets went on sale for the 20/1/06, I used a free AmeriQuest or venue passcode (cant recall which)that someone had posted on Rocks Off and got two seats again. Same block, exact same seat numbers, two rows further back. (row C instead of A). So, what I paid $100 for was of no greater value than what someone else had access to for free.

Membership 2 - bought this the night before the Twickenham 1 show went on sale. Unfortunately, theyd changed the method of advising you how to find your passcode since the US tour shows had gone on sale. No presale code arrived in time. Missed the start of the ticket sale. Wasnt going to pay £150 for Block B or tiered seats, so skipped it. Ended up getting £60 tickets in a public sale, 4th row A2 about three months later when TM mysteriously 'released' extra tickets. The £60 tickets were excellent. I eventually used the passcode to get 5th row in A4 when Twickenham #2 went on sale a week or so after the first gig was announced.

Membership 3 - Glasgow. Thought it would be a piece of cake getting great seats for this one in a public sale as it would surely be the slowest seller of all the UK shows. Got online for the presale the second they became available. Nothing for £60, the 'best available' was £150 about 25-30 rows back. I passed and decided I'd skip the show entirely. A week later, happened to be reading IORR at 3 am on a Saturday morning and someone posted that the secc.com site was selling front block tickets for £60. Got a pair in the 4th row centre, mostly thanks to the fact that I have insomnia. The rs.com access was useless. Still have the code - kept it in case of theatre shows..hah! - and have kept it in case they put UK shows before it expires in a few weeks. Knwoing how this doesnt work, it'll probably be invalid even if they do.

Gazza Wrote:
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> Of course, you do get a refund if you dont use
> your passcode. Which is one thing.

Me, I'm still waiting for the refund...My memership was renewed wothout them asking and I cancelled it and got refunded but never from the first one. Just wrote again yesterday.

No new membership for, too! According to their statements concernig the refund of my membership fee, should have beeen paid many months ago, I've to say that I've never got ´refund by rs.com.

Keep on rollin'
Gangster

Almost a year for me too, used the presale for Ullevi, Gothenburg, which of course, never happened...
And no fan club-dvd in eleven months, worth the wait..?