An Open Letter To Green Day

[IscoredWaddlesgoals]

I wouldn't bother doing a letter. I did one last year ( pretty much exactly a year ago) and never got anything for it. I feel like a complete prat now because it just got ignored.

[netty]

the only thing I can advise is that you send a copy of the email/letter you had stating that they would refund the extra money to Warner/Reprise and to ArtistArena and request that they fulfill their promise. I have offered to help myself. or you could ask the admin here to contact the bands management on your behalf.

I always find it sad that any thread on these forums about the Idiot Club either involve questions that we do try to answer on the IC forums or basically are just threads to slag the fanclub off. shame nobody actually tries to improve things about it.

[Hermione]

I always find it sad that any thread on these forums about the Idiot Club either involve questions that we do try to answer on the IC forums or basically are just threads to slag the fanclub off. shame nobody actually tries to improve things about it.

There's been a few suggestions in this thread. But since they have paying customers, isn't it their job to try to improve it? I'm not sure how we can improve things about it unless they decide to start taking suggestions on what we'd like.

[netty]

suggestions like making the t-shirt optional? its been suggested. plus adding it to the store instead as the one in the old site version was. the decision had already been made.

bring the videos back? sadly the last people that ran the IC have the best copies and ripped copies have been offered. I dont know whether its down to some dispute between the last admin and current or legal reasons that is proventing them being used.

doing new ones? I passed that and multiple other ideas on. the thing about asking the crew questions was one of mine but hey. maybe the crew dont want to be under the spot light or something.

competitions for all members was an issue we bitched about under the old admin. we were told it was down to gaming laws or something. and before anybody does the "if other bands can do it..." I know! thats why we ended up with the comp where Dorie and Tracy and somebody else got signed gear from the band. still say my banana was the best!

pre-sales/sound check/band photographer were also things that bugged the crap out of members outside the US and Canada. I know that the sound check thing was divided between IC members and sound check for other companies winners.

I`ve been bugging people for years for things to be changed! its just gets on my nerves when people just bitch about things but dont actually do anything about it/pay attention to advice they are given/or just bitch for the sake of it.

[Nova-Caine]

*hands Netty a large stiff one*

[**nobodylikesyou**]

*hands Netty a large stiff one*

hmmm a large stiff what ????

[mallorymaloney]

;She starts a slow clap.;

Seriously, though, I'm so fucking glad I'm no longer a member of Idiot Club. The only reason I joined when it first opened was because they had all those awesome exclusive videos ... Which you couldn't watch anywhere else, due to YouTube not being around yet/not being popular yet. ((I don't remember which.))

After the videos stopped, though, I just let my subscription run out, because there was nothing else of interest in the whole fuckin' club.

Like, oh, boy, I get to chat on a forum with a bunch of douchebags! Pfft. No thanks, man.

I can do that right here on GDC for free.

((I'm just kidding, BTW. ))

[Heidi Holiday]

This letter represents exactly why I left the IC in October of 2006...lol

Green Day should switch labels to Adeline Records and get their music catalog copyrighted to Adeline because warner doesnt care about the fans, all they want is money

Can I get another amen?

[nicicky]

I agree with what a lot of people have said in this thread, and it sucks about the bank charge rip-off, but I think the cost of joining the IC is very reasonable.

I sometimes manage to spend the same amount on Mcdonalds in one day or something equally as stupid, so considering you're paying that for an entire year of membership- it's quite good.

There might not be a lot going for it right now, but you have to be a part of it just to take that chance that something might come up and you might reap some kind of benefits in the near future.

Things can sometimes change last-minute, and if you're not a member you could miss out.

[Moxy Crimefighter]

I still think the idiot club should be free, some of us have better things to spend $20 a month on other than a message board that, admittedly does have a pretty good deal when it comes to tickets.

I just want that damn Q&A video they did several years ago that was exclusive to the club

But good on you, Maybe you could throw a parade and throw the letter and billions of copies of it off a building or something....

[Jimmy Strummer]

Oh my God, thank you so much for that. I was coincidentally thinking about asking my mom if I could join the Idiot Club the other day. Your open letter really convinced me otherwise. It is most likely a Warner marketing scam. Although Green Day are more so signed to Reprise which is only a Warner subsidiary, not Warner themselves, I do think what you went through is still a rip-off. Good show, lil' British bird. You tell 'em!

[DeJennsitized]

I still think the idiot club should be free, some of us have better things to spend $20 a month on other than a message board that, admittedly does have a pretty good deal when it comes to tickets..

It's $20 a year.

I don't think it's a huge amount of money. I don't know anything about what you get for being a member, but $20 for 365 days sounds alright to me.

[Isabel]

Yeah, it costs about 6 cents a day.

[DeJennsitized]

^ Or about 3.5 pence a day. Or 4 cents in Euros.

Out of interest, what all do you get in the Idiot Club?

[Isabel]

well it's about 6 cents in euros because you have to pay a shipping charge now when you renew.

[Tubbie Head]

Yeah, but for what it is, I would much rather spend those 20 euros in something else

[DeJennsitized]

well it's about 6 cents in euros because you have to pay a shipping charge now when you renew.

Ohh, lol. My bad

[Izzard]

I only had to pay $20 a year.....not to shabby.....but the IC has really gone down hill.....i wish they had some more exclusive vids and stuff for us members

[Fuzz]

While i realize how frustrating it is to have overdraft fees, especially when it's not by any fault of your own, it's not Artist Arena's responsibility to pay you back for those. They refunded the money they took out. Your bank took out the rest, they're the ones you have to talk to. Show them it was charged incorrectly, and later refunded, and ask them to remove those fees. It's because of your bank/credit card company that resulted in you losing that amount of money and not being returned.

It does suck to see that the Idiot Club isn't being run that great. There is a large part of me that wishes I could take over because dealing with Green Day fans is kind of my specialty. There's also a part of me that see's their shortcomings as our opportunity to make something better here. But there's two major setbacks - 1) They can offer presales, which is very worthwhile for those who want to join for that reason. 2) They are profitable, we are not. We make no money off GDC and the site as a whole has never been a very financially strong business.

So we can't do nearly as much as we'd like, but it's a shame that they do make a decent amount of money from there and seem to do less than we do, with the exception of presales.

[saraHsunshine]

I love the letter.

Print the letter off and throw it onstage.

Jokes. Just don't renew your IC next time.

THIS!

I never got my t-shit. It is not a big deal but it sort of pissed me off.

While i realize how frustrating it is to have overdraft fees, especially when it's not by any fault of your own, it's not Artist Arena's responsibility to pay you back for those. They refunded the money they took out. Your bank took out the rest, they're the ones you have to talk to. Show them it was charged incorrectly, and later refunded, and ask them to remove those fees. It's because of your bank/credit card company that resulted in you losing that amount of money and not being returned.

It does suck to see that the Idiot Club isn't being run that great. There is a large part of me that wishes I could take over because dealing with Green Day fans is kind of my specialty. There's also a part of me that see's their shortcomings as our opportunity to make something better here. But there's two major setbacks - 1) They can offer presales, which is very worthwhile for those who want to join for that reason. 2) They are profitable, we are not. We make no money off GDC and the site as a whole has never been a very financially strong business.

So we can't do nearly as much as we'd like, but it's a shame that they do make a decent amount of money from there and seem to do less than we do, with the exception of presales.

We can stage a coup and you can take control

[Harinezumi]

I got my ticket through IC so I'm not complaining. It was the only reason why I joined it last fall anyway. 20 euros is like, the same amount of money that I spend on three drinks at a bar. Four if I'm lucky.

[musse]

It does suck to see that the Idiot Club isn't being run that great. There is a large part of me that wishes I could take over because dealing with Green Day fans is kind of my specialty. There's also a part of me that see's their shortcomings as our opportunity to make something better here. But there's two major setbacks - 1) They can offer presales, which is very worthwhile for those who want to join for that reason. 2) They are profitable, we are not. We make no money off GDC and the site as a whole has never been a very financially strong business.

So we can't do nearly as much as we'd like, but it's a shame that they do make a decent amount of money from there and seem to do less than we do, with the exception of presales.

I agree. GDC should be the official fan club ^^

I'm not a member if IC simply because I couldn't find any reason for joining. I've never liked the idea of Idiot Club, it feels a bit like Warner is just taking advantage og GD fans who think they have to join to be "good fans".

The letter was really well written, I just hope someone who can actually do something would read it

[Bastard of 1967]

I only had to pay $20 a year.....not to shabby.....but the IC has really gone down hill.....i wish they had some more exclusive vids and stuff for us members

Ditto here. To their credit, they've hooked me up with stellar bowl seats for three concerts in a row now, but that's sadly the best I can say for them (aside from the occasional fans-only contests they run). The forums are nowhere near as well organized, as well moderated, and as well participated-in as we're privileged (dare I say blessed?) to have here on GDC, and I agree with your view on the lack of members-only content. For the most part, IC just looks like a mirror copy of the official greenday.com site.

Still can't thank 'em enough for organizing the tix presales though. That alone makes it worth the price of admission, but *sniff* only during years when the band is on tour.

[Ila Reto]

hahah that was an epic letter, i really wish someone out there would actually see it!

p.s. why DID they call it the idiot club?

when i was younger i thought it was refering to American Idiot but it is not because the idiot club has been around since the Kerplunk era (i think)

back when the IC was cool, they'd give away free stuff to its members. now they charge its members and give really nothing in return

(except for presale ticket opportunities that this letter has proven to be more hassle than its worth).

[bollard_11]

I agree with everythin this letter said. I joined back in August and i was made pay another membership fee there in November that i still have not got my money back.

Simply put the IC is a joke and a waste of money