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Former official Roxette fanclub still owes money to its members

Written by Lars-Erik_Olson on September 28, 2006 to .

NEW YORK - As The Daily Roxette reported back in March, the at-that-time “Official” International Roxette Fan Club (OIRFC), based in Holland for most of its 10-year existance, shut down it’s operation. Based on comments left on various Roxette discussion forums and here on the pages of this newspaper, this came as no surprise to many fans around the world as the organization had been plagued by complaints about poor service for at least the 12 months before it finally folded and increasingly, signs of life became few and far between.

  But even though a half-a-year has passed since their announcement, there are still many unresolved issues about money owed to people who where members of the fanclub – most of which revolve around credit for membership fees paid based on a contract for a certain number of issues of the group’s fanzine. The group claims that all orders for merchandise from their Fanshop have now been fulfilled.

  Several people have asked questions in these discussion forums over these past six months as to when people can expect refunds on their membership/subscription fees. At the beginning of June, Sarah Plunkett, a fanclub “team member” who has emerged as the only remaining spokesperson, said in an email message to several fans that refunds would have to wait until after the summer. It was assumed at that time that people still involved with the group were taking the summer off. With summer now over and October just around the corner, there has still been no word on either the Roxette.nl site (currently under the control of hackers) or via email or posting to the TDR SmallTalk or R2R forums.

“Unless the group [registered as a non-profit organization in the Netherlands] were to declare bankruptcy and/or formally disband in a civil court, then they are still legally obligated to fulfill the terms of these membership contracts,” said Dan Goldfarb, a lawyer in New York who has some familiarity with Dutch law, to TDR.

  An article on March 3rd on the OIRFC website said:

  “We are working out the finer details of closing up the shop and sorting out outstanding services (i.e. fanzines). Please do not spam us with requests as to what is happening with your credits. We are fully aware of them and finding the best way to meet everyone’s needs in an efficient and practical manner. Watch this space concerning Fanshop news!”

  Six months have now passed and still there is no sign of those finer details being sorted. Many fans have reported contacting Roxette’s management company, and writing to the fanclub repeatedly, but without any response. The fanclub’s demise, and all the trouble associated with it, prompted Roxette’s management to issue a statement saying that they would no longer endorse an “official” fanclub.

  “I think all that fans really want is an honest answer as to when and how refunds will be paid,” said Alison Lowther, a fan in the UK who has been active in the discussion threads about this topic. “Many may not want the few euros they are owed, but others might think differently.”

16 comments

tevensso (moderator) said on :

I think I predicted this, didn’t I?

eBay said on :

Deceitful Liars!

Txiqui said on :

this is really sad, they had plenty of time to solve all this stuff and close the site.

Roxrider_USA said on :

It’s just a really bad situation. Really weak and horrible management.

Good thing i never trusted them. I really feel sorry and sad about all those roxers who trusted them and had faith in the now dead fan club.

Is it really realistic and possible for all those Roxers who have to still receive materials and/or refunds to get what they are owed back ?

It looks like. a complicated situation to say the least.

The hacking of the site just makes it feel even worse.

Take care!
Carlos E.,New York.

Sparvogamarie said on :

I don’t understand why Roxette’s management aren’t getting involved here...? If the FC are having money troubles etc doesn’t the responsibility fall back on EMI? Actually that is an interesting question...who does ultimately have the responsibility here? The president of the NL fanclub, EMI, Roxette...who? If it went to court, who would have to face the charges?

Jud (moderator) said on :

the FC was not founded / owned by EMI so I’d say they have very little to zero responsability here.

pwbbounce (moderator) said on :

Well, I can’t believe it’s gone on this long to be honest. They should never have had the summer break, and should’ve been made to sort the problems out before the fanclub closed. Wasn’t all the orders finally sent, and it’s just the outstanding balances left?

Roxrider_USA said on :

The ex FC seems to have gained control of the site again.

Take care!
Carlos E, New York.

Sparvogamarie said on :

Jud: but if the fanclub was official, who gave the permission for it to be so? Or did Ronald and the gang just start up a fanclub privately?

In other words...who owes the money ultimately? Ronald? Eugene? Someone else?

Jud (moderator) said on :

In order to run an official FC you only need the permission from artist + record company, which is nothing more than that. Of course, no artist/record company will sign anything that says they are the ultimate responisible if a fanclub goes bankrupt.

Lars-Erik_Olson (moderator) said on :

The following comments were incorrectly posted to a News page insertion that merely was intended to let readers know that, as we previously indicated, TDR is using the Features page:

Royalball: Give those members a free Rox Box set. That’s an idea!

Ferdan: We can suppose that those funds have been in a bank gaining with the interest rates.

whateveriam: If they even exist at all.

flowersonthemoon: There’s a message at roxette.nl site

pwbbounce: Well, 2 months to use up your credit.

steven: The “Phase 1” & “Phase 2” scheme is confusing. In my opinion, full refunds should be forthcoming. To hell with the terms and conditions that members signed up to... the fan-club lost all merit and rights when they folded. Anything less than full and unconditional refunds would be an injustice.

ernes: Well, two months to use your credit and order something but, how many months until you receive anything? Do not trust these people too much, you’ll be dissapointed again .....

Intel_Inside: It’s a huge scam! Another deadline and when 2nd phase starts they will tell us they couldn’t handle it. They will probably blame it on the postal services around X-mas. And of all, it’s a real mob thing to tell people that they HAVE to order something or else they will lose their money! ( What if there isn’t anything left to buy????? )
It’s actually against the law in the Netherlands! If they don’t put a time limit on the money in the first place, they can’t come up with one afterwards. It’s a shame people have to buy things they don’t actually want cause of their laziness in keeping up a fanclub. (Chris hands up, even though you weren’t such a smartass) If I had money on their bank account, I would certainly take them to court for screwing innocent fans! I am amazed how you all give them another chance after so many already and all in vain.

royalball said on :

Thanks for keeping mentioning my comments.

per_mson said on :

Strange that it has to be brought up here before something is happening. Despite what the FC team says on their now updated homepage I still believe it would be dead silent without TDR’s article.

AURYTE said on :

Let’s hope that things will work out this time...

ally77 said on :

Just to point out.... I actually wrote this article not Lars, however he seems happy to take the credit for it... (Ermmm is that not copyright?)

It was slightly edited but pretty much what you see written here is what I wrote!

I still have the original article saved to my PC!

…. And you wonder why people get pissed off with TDR!

monrv said on :

sad.

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