LK starts off with this email: As a current member of RipOffWithJBJ, I'd like to question the top ticket price you've quoted in your article. Top price is, in fact, $3000. It includes dinner with the stage crew. Forgive me if I'm totally underwhelmed. Dinner on a Backstabbers event consists of a finger buffet, if you're lucky. At the O2 event in London, they even forgot to arrange that!

Matt Bongiovi now heads-up the fan club, having taken over from his mother last year when she retired. Fans are now secondary to the mighty dollar and ticket sales have become a scalpers playground. Fans are being shut out of sales by inadequate servers and staff incompetence. If you make any complaint on the site, you are banned. If you PM the management team, you are ignored as your PM is not read. If you e-mail the management team, you are ignored. The new fc ethos is "This is the way it is, so tough!"

Sad to see a once great fan club die, but that's what's happening. More and more fans are either refusing to renew memberships or being banned out of hand for daring to voice an opinion. I personally will not be renewing. I can't afford to pay both fc dues and a huge mark-up on prices. European ticket prices have been rising for many years but, if the New Zealand show prices are anything to go by, Bon Jovi are no longer a blue-collar band who keep prices affordable. Jon Bon Jovi has always said that the last word on all things band related is his. Does he not have enough money in the bank? Does he now need to rip-off the fans who made him? Thank you for bringing this situation to the attention of the ticket-buying public. Someone has to!

LB says: The fans have gone way overboard on this one. I have belonged to other fan clubs for a lot higher price that give you nothing compared to what Backstage With Jon Bon Jovi offers to their members. I have belonged to this fan club for 2 years and have been treated terrible by some of the members on the boards. The administration has been awesome.

I purchased a ticket to a local concert without a problem and was in the 5th row center at a price of $107 total, probably better than Ticketmaster with all of their outrageous fees. The local venue had to call Matt Bongiovi on July 4th to confirm a request for me and it was resolved within 90 minutes, and that's on a holiday!

The other event I purchased a ticket for was an AFL game and I had no problems with that transaction either. The trip was wonderful, but the fans did not follow Matt's instructions on how to act when Jon entered the room so his visit was cut very short. I was very disappointed with that, but it was the fault of the members and not Matt or Jon. I returned a few months later for another game with my husband and we sat in the first row in the end zone. That ticket price was purchased during a buy 1/get 1 free and my sister bought it for me as a birthday gift, so I don't know how much it was but she was thrilled about it at the time.

Jon Bon Jovi has always treated his fans very well as far as I am aware and I am afraid that this may just be the straw to break the camel's back, as they say. I would never sign a petition like this.

JG writes: First let me say, this email is being sent anonymously. If you think the Soprano's were tough, try taking on the Bon Jovi organization!! Jon's mother started the fan club and now his GREEDY brother Matt runs it. If anyone goes against them publicly, we are banned from the fan club. Now this may sound silly to you, but to life long, die hard BJ Fans, that is the worst! We have enjoyed 20+ yrs of Fan Club trips, seeing friends from around the world, and having the best seats in the house! But this has all changed since Matt took over last yr. The tickets "packages" are over priced. They range from $300 ish to $3000!!! We have no idea where are seats are until the day of the show.....cant sit with our friends...... don't get the things we were promised when we signed up..... the FC membership was raised --plus they took away the magazine -- and we were supposed to be sent a laminate card with our name and number on it for the price we paid... but I personally never got one. AND those that did... they were either the wrong one, it came 6-8 months later, and no names were on them. We emailed and begged Matt for changes, help, anything--but nothing. Finally this week, a member was brave enuff to post our concerns on the FC board and this is what he said: (His answers are bolded, the concerns are before the answers. **comments are from JG who emailed this to us**)

1- We no longer have face value tickets. There is now a markup even on straight tickets. (the mark up covers tax, and box office fees) **JG: $3000 worth???***

2- Packages. Although, yes, they are selling, people feel forced into it and during a tour, for people who travel to a lot of shows, it will limit their choices. Why not sell the extras as just that "extras" and not as a package (We do as told by management)

3- Wristbands that are free for everyone else, the FC has to pay for (the chances of getting a wristband is slim since for the most part you have to WIN the chance. We offer them but keep in mind we also have to have a Staff at every show to take care of this. People don't work for free) ***Wow I need THIS job, it must pay well!****

4- $3000 for a package? (Matter of opinion)

5- On line ticket sales seem to be locking out local fans. SO many different alternatives have been suggested to solve both issues but no one has commented on them (matter of choice. We have to do the work involved and had many issues from venues having to pay their people to do it for us. Also it comes to the fact that anyone has a chance to see the band anywhere they may want to.)

6- 2 tickets per member salae. How is that beneficial. It only locks out even more fans. (when we did 1 ticket we were told people were not happy, we do 2 tickets people are not happy. CAN'T MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY, though we try.)

7- Server issues � well, WELL..... I KNOW.... DRIVES US NUTS TOO...TRUST ME...

8- Questions regarding things we were promised that werent delivered such as contests, chats, etc. (We are going to start with contests soon. The chat is in the plans but scheduling has prevented us from doing it. Though we love OBIE but our idea of doing a chat is with JBJ not a staff member.)

9- The fact that we do not know where our tickets are. How can we even be expected to pay more than TM and NOT know where are seats are? ( We narrow it down as clo se as can be regarding seat locations. Also we are not the only club that does that)

***so in other words--like it or leave it. We know you will pay it.***

Laurie Huey writes: I have been a member of the fan club for about 15 years but a fan for over 20. Just renewed my membership for another 2 years. I have been on many fan club trips including the one the Jon's brother ran to Vegas this past May. It was a fantastic trip and everything that was promised was delivered just as with the fan club membership. Yet when I got home from Vegas there were many posters on the website complaining they did not get what they were promised.

Their were complaints about the Vegas trip because we did not get sound check, it was never promised. People assume the word "suprise" in the ad to mean sound check, that wasn't the suprise. The suprise was that we got to listen to the new album, Lost Highway befor it was released. That is not what they wanted the suprise to be so they did not get what they wanted.

The prices of the packages that are being offered are higher than face value. The use of Pearl Jam as a comparison is laughable at best. Pearl Jam is not selling out multiple consecutive nights at arenas and would never be booked to for a Giants Stadium show unless there were 5 other acts on the bill. No where were face value tickets promised as part of the fan club or any pricing structure of tickets.

I have purchased packages on the website for 4 shows at "the Rock" in Newark, NJ and the Vegas trip, I have not had a problem yet with getting tickets online. The fan club tickets for "the Rock" shows were sold out. For those who are complaining about the Canandian tickets being sold out - it was only for certain shows, as of yesterday there were some available and as they added dates(extra shows), more packages were added.

If the fan club packages are selling out, I think that speaks for itself. It is a global fan club, everyone has an equal chance to get whatever ticket they want. The complaints about local fans not getting tickets is not valid. What do you do with the fan club member who never has a local show? What exactly is local - if you live half way between New York and Philadelphia, which location is local? Everyone wants to go to the Jersey shows because it's Bon Jovi's home state, I have never had a problem getting a ticket from the fan club if I wanted it or from Ticketmaster.

The Fan Club Admin has been more than patient & tolerant with the way some fans treat them. It is disgraceful. Jon's mother did run the fan club for years but last year she retired. She ran it with volunteers including herself and the family priest - all for no pay. Everything was done manually mailing in postal orders for trips/packages that were at high prices. But they also offered fan club tickets available at the venue for face value, if you wanted these especially in NY/NJ market you need to sleep outside Giants stadium for at least 24 hours - this was never on a weekend always during the week. Proves difficult for those of us who work.

The fan club was going to go away after Jon's mother retired. Matt, Jon's youngest brother, took over the fan club so that would not happen. Matt changed up the fan club and we get all information on the news webpage, have access to a chat room, message boards, and merchandise store. The tickets from the fan club are now available online as opposed to sitting in a parking lot. Matt also has staff that will be at each arena stadium to hand out the fan club tickets and works as the moderator on the board. Why should these people work for free, I don't, you don't and the other fan club members don't.
The reason they are not mailed is so that you don't know where you are sitting and this deters scalpers/brokers from buying or participating in the fan club.
I doubt this will go anywhere because it is not a juicy story but it is the truth.

PB writes: The prices in your article are for the Canada shows. The New Jersey shows are outrageous. $600 for a ticket in the first 15 rows, signed tour program, and a wristband to get onstage. A ticket in the first 15 rows costs $375, buying it off ticketmaster costs $303, not including fees. THANK YOU for the article!!!! You are a SAINT. I hope some negative media attention will help the C members. [In a follow up email commenting on what members are promised on the sign-up page of the club's site PB says] We have not been offered special event access even though the band has played several special shows this years. We have had NO CONTESTS!!!!! They keep promising that things are in the works. It does take 3-4 hours to buy fan club tickets.

We end with a message we were also sent by several people that was sent out by Jon's brother following the Canadian ticket problems. Here is what he said: Dear Members, We are well aware of the issues we are facing with regards to the ticket system. Our staff has been working straight though it all with no sleep in 36 hours trying to fix issues with the system. While we were in the process of upgrading the system getting ready for the upcoming tour the band announced the Canadian tour. As most of you know the tour was not to start until January. Needless to say without notice our upgrading deadline was pushed way up. I am not here to make excuses because we are as upset as you that the programming failed. The issues have been resolved. Unfortunately there was no way to anticipate these problems.

As far as actual tickets go, the club offers straight tickets as well as packages. We are given an allotment in each market. We spit the tickets accordingly based on packages and straight tickets. There will always be situations where people may not get tickets just because they sell out. Some have asked "why not go back to the old system"? Well, we have leveled the playing ground giving an opportunity for you to see a show in a city such as Jersey that in the past you may not have been able to see because you had to line up at the arena months before. You are a member of a world wide fan club and should have the ability to see your favorite band anywhere in the world and not just in your home town.

Unlike in the past there will be a Backstage staff member at every show there to help you with receiving your tickets, programs and getting on and off the stage.