My heart goes out to all the Kpop fans out there who are pulling their hair out over TGM Entertainment’s handling of the BTS Highlight Tour, the Kim Tae Woo concert, or the Eric Nam tour (I'm one of them). I feel terrible for the bands who have been forced to disappoint some of their most loyal fans. And, frankly, I’m tired of TGM Entertainment getting away with it. It’s time to get up off our collective asses and do something. No, not sign a petition. It’s time to really do something.
Signing a petition isn’t a bad thing. It’s just not going to accomplish anything in this case. The problem with Change.org is that it is built on a model of swarm culture. Once a petition gains hundreds of thousands of signers, it typically garners enough media attention that the inequity they seek to address becomes politically burdensome to the organization in question. I’m sorry to say, but 10,500 signers (last checked October 2) is not going to register as even a blip on the radar. The story has been picked up by a few Kpop news sites, but it’s depressingly under-reported. Even if this petition manages to give TGM a black eye, it’s nothing that a successful marketing campaign couldn’t overturn in a matter of days. In this instance, Change.org isn’t going to bring any change.
There must be a better way. And there is! So sit right down in front of your computer and follow along with me. Step one.
File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB, while not perfect, has been mediating disputes between customers and businesses since 1912. The BBB should not be confused with a government agency; it doesn’t have the kind of power that many people assume. It is, however, very successful at mediating disputes and pressuring companies to practice honest business.
As of the writing of this article, TGM Entertainment is not yet in the BBB system (don’t worry, I added them). In the next few days, you should be able to search for TGM Entertainment in Los Angeles, CA (where they are registered), and file a complaint. In the meantime, if your search returns no results, you can still
file a complaint here. You’ll need a bit of info about TGM. Here’s their business filing for the state of California.
Please note, I do not post this in any attempt to “dox” anyone. I condemn the practice of doxing or using any information to make another person fear for their safety. The information that I am posting is the actual business filing for a limited liability corporation.The best email and website I can find for TGM are
hello@tgmevents.com and
http://tgmevents.com. The website is especially useless, but it’s good to include in any complaints.
So, after you’ve either selected TGM or added their info, list your complaint. Be as detailed as you can in your complaint, but do not put any personal info into the narrative description. After you submit your narrative, there will be an opportunity to release your order number, ticket purchase price, etc. to the BBB, should you choose. Make sure you save your BBB narrative, as you can reuse it in steps 2 and 3!
Okay, we filed complaint number one. Guess what’s next? Another complaint! This time, with the California Department of Consumer Affairs. This is actually the more important of the two so far, as this department does have the potential to revoke a license or penalize TGM in some way.
File your complaint here. Use the same TGM info listed above, and complete the form. That simple.
Step 3. Guess what, it’s another complaint form! This time, we’re hitting up the State of California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General. In other words, the lawyers. This is specifically a consumer complaint against a business.
Start your complaint here, and once again, fill out your info, TGM’s info, and copy and paste the narrative. And there you have it.
Straight talk, here. These steps are not guaranteed to produce results. I can’t promise that anyone will get their money back. But I can promise that the Better Business Bureau, the California Department of Consumer Affairs, and the State of California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General will all do everything in their power to resolve your issue with TGM Entertainment. At the very least, TGM will have three very powerful agencies knocking on their door asking for an explanation. That’s a lot more than I can promise with Change.org.
[Update: This article has been updated to correct the number of petitioners signed on Change.org.]
Zander Stachniak is a southern-born, Chicago-based writer who first discovered Kpop through ShoutCast Radio. His biases are f(x) and Block B.
