Fans are angry about Oh My Girl's latest fan signing situation because member Arin had to cancel at the last minute because of health issues.
A lot of anger and criticism have been posted on an online forum about how WM Entertainment handled the girl group's latest fan event. Fans were surprised when the company said that people who went to the in-person fansign could switch to a video call fansign to talk to Arin.
However, the price to go to the in-person event was twice as much as the price to go to the video call event. Fans felt ripped off by this apparent attempt to give a cheaper alternative.
Before the in-person event started, WM Entertainment kept fans in the dark until three minutes before it started. That's when organizers told fans they had to leave the place if they didn't want to take part in the in-person fansign.
Fans were really mad about a rude comment made by a staff member: "If you leave the venue now without taking part in the in-person fansign, we will talk to the retailers and give you a refund." Do all of you want that?"
This last line of speech came across as condescending and unnecessary in the original Korean. The company was trying to "speak on behalf of the fans" while thinking that the fans probably wouldn't want a refund enough to leave the in-person fansign. One fan said, "I couldn't believe my ears."
Additionally, the business said that returns would only be given if the Season's Greeting calendars and special photo cards bought as entries for the contest were kept unopened for six weeks before the event. Fans thought this condition wasn't fair given the length of time and the fact that each package cost 42,000 KRW (about $31 USD).
Fans said that the staff members were rude, because "they were treating fans as if they were 'being Karens' and asking for something too unreasonable," someone said. Some of the people who went to the in-person event said they were even international fans who had come from places like Japan to see Arin, but were only given a cheaper choice instead of a full refund.
"Are they crazy?" is one response from a netizen.
"Do they really think that the fans are that dumb enough to be treated like dirt?"
"This is too much" "They should have at least made the announcement that the fans will be receiving a full refund"
"Whoa they sound like bullies" "LOL they just think of their fans as a money pipeline" "I hope they get sued" "The fans should just report them"
"Oh my god" "They are treating their fans as nothing more than an ATM" "I can't believe that they tried to sell fansigns with mere Season's Greetings in the first place" What's your thought?
Source(1)
