An Open Letter to Backstreet Boys, Ground Control and Jenn Souza

We are writing to you with the aim of expressing the rising level of dissatisfaction and  disappointment that we, your fans, are feeling towards Ground Control and the service they provide as your representatives.

Over the last several months there have been a number of concerns raised by members of both BackstreetBoys.com and NickCarter.net. Individual complaints made to Ground Control have largely gone ignored which is why we are now trying to bring this to your attention as a group. Some of these incidents include -

* Tickets for the Miami Acoustic show were cancelled due to the event being oversold. While this is not a direct reflection on GC, those members whose tickets were cancelled were emailed and told -

"we want to make this up to you as best we can. We would like to offer you a complimentary Bronze VIP package the next time Backstreet Boys come to a venue near you, or a credit toward the purchase of a higher level VIP. All you need to do is contact us at support@groundctrl.com or call us at 877-GND-CTRL Monday - Friday from 9:30am - 5:30pm PST whenever the Boys are coming to your town, and we will gladly accommodate you with a Bronze VIP or VIP credit to your show."

Members who have been trying to take advantage of this offer are reporting that despite trying to contact GC repeatedly over the last few weeks their phone calls and emails are not being responded to.

* Numbers for the Miami acoustic show tickets M&G photos were changed partway through the photo session. As a result groups ranged in number from 3 to 12. This was despite the photos being clearly advertised on the website and in emails as groups of 5. It cost members an extra $100 to have these photos and in the end many people ended up having photos with people they had never met before. This issue was raised with Eddie Meehan at the time but despite the fact that GC were clearly not delivering on what was advertised, these complaints were ignored.

* The membership gift for those joining NickCarter.net was advertised as an autographed poster. Many members waited months for this gift and were repeatedly told that the posters were on backorder. When the orders were fulfilled members received a mousepad instead of the poster. Those who queried this were simply told that the gift had changed and nothing would be done about the poster. Further complaints from fans about not receiving what was actually advertised were not responded to.

* The 2011 BSB Calendar is being sold with the promise -

"Each calendar will include an extra 3 month membership code to the BSB Fan club! (code will be sent via EMAIL)"

It's been two months since the calendar went on sale and despite repeated requests those who purchased the calendar have not received the code for the 3 month membership. A member who enquired recently was told that she won't get the 3 month code until she renews her membership for another year. She explained that she could not afford to renew her membership straight away but her complaint was dismissed. Again this is not what was (and still is) advertised on BackstreetBoys.com

* A fan who purchased an autographed copy of I'm Taking Off from NickCarter.net was disappointed when she got her CD and it wasn't autographed. When she complained to GC she was told that the autographed CD's were issued on a lottery system and she simply lucked out. This seems highly unlikely when you consider that not one other person has come forward to say their copy wasn't autographed when they received it and the lottery was never mentioned anywhere on the website. When the fan in question asked that she be refunded the $10 difference between the autographed and non-autographed copy GC refused. This matter was only resolved several days later when a GC staff member became aware that she had escalated her complaint to the Better Business Bureau.

* Fans requesting information on the status of their NKOTBSB tickets are reporting that their emails and messages are not being responded to.

In addition to these incidents many fans are beginning to question what their yearly membership payment actually pays for. The official websites are rarely updated and there is more information freely available for fans on the Internet. For example, no photos have appeared from the BSB Cruise or even from Nick's recent trip to Japan. There also hasn't been any updated information for those who have pre-ordered the Cruise DVD and are still expecting it to arrive in February. More and more members are now saying they're having trouble justifying the expense of renewing their membership for another year.

While we understand that the Backstreet Boys and Ground Control have undoubtedly formed a good relationship and friendships over the years we hope you can acknowledge that this is ultimately still a business. Many fans have to save hard to purchase their memberships, tickets and other products in support of the Boys and we ask only that we receive what we paid for, as it was advertised. We shouldn't have to start making complaints to organisations such as the Better Business Bureau simply to get what we paid for but at the moment it feels like we are being taken advantage of by Ground Control who change orders and do what they please without any regard for us. The fact that we have even had to write this letter should indicate the level of frustration that we are feeling. We hope that you will take this letter seriously and take action to help improve the situation.

Your fans always.