The petition reads in part: "We, the disappointed members of Backstage with Jon Bon Jovi, sign this petition after much patience with and tolerance of the new fan club. We believe that the new fan club is not acting in the best interests of its members, in particular: 1. Promises made in exchange for the annual 06-07 membership fee, such as contests and online chats with you, have not been delivered 2. The fees charged for tickets, ticket packages and fan club events are heavily inflated 3. The online ticketing system is unreliable, taking an average time of 2-3 hours to purchase a ticket (comparable to 5 minutes for some other artists) with many issues and grief to fans 4. Local fan club members are unable to get tickets to local shows." 

Many fans are apparently afraid to speakout against the problems with the club over a fear of being bannished. We did manage to speak with one member who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity and this member laid out some of the major issues that spawned this online protest against the Bon Jovi fan club which says, "we seek an ethical and modern fan club that offers value for money that can be enjoyed by global fans from all demographics."

Despite the heavy censorship on fan club message board where we are told it is difficult for fans to find out what is really going on because "the admins of the board keep deleting the fan complaints," the biggest complaint that fans have against the club is the fan club tour packages and their inflated prices, thus taxing fan loyalty. 

The fan told us that "some have packages going for $300+ which means a seat in the first 15 rows and you get 3 songs on stage with the band. The other packages are $170 a ticket, which is $45 above face value. A little high. For example, Pearl Jam charges less than $5 per ticket bought and they have upwards of 1,000+ fan club members at every show. To add insult to injury, the ticket systems basically crashed and many of the local Canadian fans did NOT get tickets. To put it mildly, if someone were to go to a concert, and take their significant other, it would cost each of them $50 to join the fan club and then another $45 on top of face value for a decent seat. It should be noted that the tickets, unlike the old Aerosmith model, are NOT overnighted to the fans but are picked up at will call. So why the exorbitant fee's?"

The fan continues, "The fans were complaining, but alas many of the posts were deleted. Apparently, one of the rules of the fan club is that NO ONE can criticize the fan club or any other member or they will be banned. The fans are upset that the fan club has gone from a organization about the fans to one that exists to only line the pockets of Jon Bon Jovi's brother who runs it."* 

Because of the censorship within the fan club not many of the members are aware of this online petition and have to find out about it on public message boards devoted to the band. The fan we spoke to asked us if we could help get the word out about the petition and we agreed because no fan deserves a slap in the face for their loyalty and they should be allowed to express their discontent if the put their hard earned money out to become part of a fan club. 

You can read the online petition and sign it at this address http://www.petitiononline.com/bswjbj07/

*We were unable to confirm Jon's brother's involvement but did find quite a few references to the fact that Jon's mother founded the fan club and ran it. We do not know if she still does or if Jon's brother took over. If you have information about this, please let us know. 

More News for Bon Jovi

Preview and Purchase Bon Jovi music

Bon Jovi Tour Dates/Tickets
 

Today's Headlines

Rant or Rave? Your turn, post your comments and thoughts on this news item. But hey keep it clean, we wouldn't want to have to wash your mouth out with Old Spice.

register | forgot your password?

Posted by JoviGirl
I'm in the fan club and the prices are ridiculous!  A front row ticket costs $3000!  C'mon!  Plus, locals can't even get a fan club ticket in their own city.  We shouldn't have to compete with someone across the globe for a ticket when the show is in your own city. Yes, we were promised lots of things we never got...chats with Jon....letters from Jon (we got 1 dinky little letter from Jon in the last year)...special contests, perks...yeah whatever.  As it is, we pay a high dollar amount just to be IN the fan club ($50).  That's the highest I've seen.  Most artists charge about $25.  The list goes on, my friend......
 

Posted by  BonJoviFan
I have been a member of this fan club for years, and I never really get involved in putting blame or putting it down.  However, there is too much real bad and deceiving things going on with it right now.  I have been to the fan club trips that promise surprises, only to find out that we are going to get nothing.  I have also been to the fan club get togethers that promise you that you will see Jon himself, only to have him walk in one door, not be able to take the crowd, and leave in less than two seconds.  I spend lots of money on this band, believe me, and have seen them more times than I can count.  However, I am so sick and tired of the lost promises of the fan club, along with the inflated costs for tickets, that I have had it.  Fan clubs should make fans feel welcome, and should be awarded for their loyalty.  If any fan in this fan club really sits down and thinks about what they get for what they pay, they know in their heart that it isn't much.

Posted by joevgirl
Yes Matt runs the fan club, but I must respond to the negative things here. First, it seemed many of fans were upset because Jon was not at the birthday party at Elements, Matt and the fan club so kindly put together for the fans, but it stated Jon would not be there, so why be upset when Jon did not show? Secondly, the Tiger Jam was an excellent show, but fans don't seem to realize it was not just a Bon Jovi show it was in fact a Tiger Jam fund raiser, therefore how could they expect Matt or anyone else to have control over the seating arrangements. The "Fan Club" as I have grown to love is still there. I admit it has changed a bit, but so has the way venues and ticketing is done for the shows. "FANS" should take this into consideration before they decide to come down on the Fan Club(s) and realize it's not easy to satisfy millions of fans. I am sure it is not easy nor cheap to run a fan club of this magnitude. Ask yourselves this before you sign, what other way would you have a chance to get be a part of such a great rock n roll experience? Many times your able to hear the music before the Albums are released, possibly win an auction or two of autographed memorabilia, maybe purchase a ticket to be entered in a raffle to win an autographed guitar or album, and last being able meet the great people that care enough to run it for the fans, even when many fans do nothing but complain. And may I add, this only a small part of what the fan club does for the fans, there is so much more to it than meets the eye, just no one opens their eyes wide to see the whole picture.

Posted by Steve
This is a new thing...and ZZ Top have a similar new fanclub that has dishonored dedicated lifetime members of the original ZZ Top fanclub.

Posted by dma
Jons mom retired last year. His brother Matt now runs the fanclub.

Posted by PegJovi
Yes, Matt (JBJ"s youngest brother) does indeed run the fan club now. Its all about the money now. Sad that it has come to this after 20 + years. His comments to us via the boards, basically told us Like it or Leave it. Looks like most will leave it. Its cheaper to buy tiickets thru Ticketmaster and you even know WHERE your seats will be!! (ugh) Dont get me started. This is the thanks we get for the 20 something yrs of dedication to our band.

Posted by  keavinon 2007/10/18 02:49:55
Thank you to all of the members that have written in about this. The more we learn, the more shocked we are. We will have a follow up article within the next few days. It may simply be a special letters to the editor with some of the emails we have received. As being an outsider I am rather shocked by what I am hearing as it appears much worse than the person that approached us made it seem. Don't worry we will stay on this and we do have a large readership including many in the industry. Plus hopefully other publications will report on this as well. Feel free to email the article to other music sites, they are free to reprint it or use it as a source for their own article. The goal here is to spread the word so that they feel enough pressure to right the wrongs that are currently going on with this club. 

Posted by  Old'n'Bold
As a Backstage member, I can confirm that Jon's brother now runs the fc. And top priced tickets are $3000!

...end