Message from Hot Topic
Posted by Twilight_News - 12/11/08 at 06:11 pm
To all of the supporters of Hot Topic and fans of TWILIGHT:
Although no explanation will correct the situation that occurred in Chicago today at the Orland Square Mall, I wanted to attempt to explain what happened from our point of view.
We do many signings all over the country with large crowds so we have processes and systems in place to ensure a smooth experience for our customers. The mall developer was a partner in the planning; however, as of two days ago, they told us they would not allow any fans to line up prior to 6AM. They required them to be off the premises.
On Monday at 6AM at the San Francisco event, the fans became disorderly and stormed the mall entrance. Mall security, numerous police, fire officials and our team from HT stepped in to calm the crowd and create a safe environment for the fans. The event was revised and went forward with the exception of the planned Q&A.
Monday’s event caused all of us to re-group and review the process. Allowing a “mob” to develop was dangerous and frankly, not an option. The mall developer (GGP) consented to allowing an orderly line to form prior to 6AM outside of the remainder of the malls on the tour. When our crew arrived yesterday at midnight, approximately 500 people were already lined up to purchase tickets. By 1AM, there were 700 people in line. It was about 30 degrees and raining. We had to make a call. We knew the first 500 would get wristbands and felt it was the right call to allow those waiting beyond 500 to go home and avoid the cold, wet weather for the remainder of the morning. Given the demand, anyone arriving after midnight would have been too late to obtain a wristband.
We understand your frustration and anger, but from our standpoint, we had no choice but to change the rules after Monday’s event. We knew some would feel it unfair as they were told one thing and when arriving on the scene, something else was reality. But given the choice of risking a disorderly crowd, a dangerous situation and canceling of the event, we made a decision that we felt was the right thing to do. I support our team and the mall for making safety and, given the weather, health the priorities.
There are two remaining locations for “Edward” appearances, King of Prussia in Philadelphia and Square One in Saugus, MA. Both malls have consented to allowing an orderly line form early, first come, first serve. Exact line-up locations are posted on the hottopic.com website.
We sincerely apologize and hope that the facts help you to better understand the situation.
Betsy McLaughlin
CEO, Hot Topic
« Hot Topic Adds Event | Home | Now For Something Completely Different… »
Um…just to let you know a riot is a situation that is set into chaos…and i do know what happened because I had friends who i was on the phone with them while everything was going on. Sure a couple cops were a-holes but then that it was a bunch of twilight fans freaking out. It’s really getting tiring listening to people go on and on about how they were treated and how the tickets were being sold early and how they didn’t get tickets…it’s like get over it…it’s over it’s done with there is NOTHING you can do to change what happened and the ones who didn’t go couldn’t care less…My friends who actually went didn’t freak out this much about it, obviously you haven’t gone to very many of these type of events because if you did you wouldn’t care as much.
The event is over and if you had a bad personal experience, it sucks. Just think of how bad it could have been if a mod mentality had taken over? Think of how smooth it could have been if things were better planned? Stuff like this happens and it is unfortunate. It was actually very fan friendly for that company to issue an apology. Not many companies around now could give a flip about customers. While a lot of you will not accept the apology because you missed out on what you consider a once in a life-time opportunity, just think about the fact that there is a possibility for more to come from the Twilight series. 4 books could mean 4-5 movies and more chances to meet celebrities or have awesome things happen in your lives. Missing or being denied entrance to this event is not the end of your life…
It’s over. Go watch the movie and re-read the books. All that matters is that you enjoy the series.
…..life
…..goes
…..on
…..and so should you! Life’s too short. Glass is half full…etc. etc.
Be thankful for what you have…
At first I was disappointed that nobody was coming to Vegas, but now I’m a bit releived. I’d love to go meet some cast members but I don’t know if I could handle that kind of madness…
Wow. That just sucks. Sorry for all you fans who got who got played.
Well I already met him at Comic Con San Diego so I’m not that crazy anymore. Trust me ladies he aint worth meeting that much.
I think people should be able to call in.
I live two hours from Minneapolis and there’s a possibility I might go see Rachelle, Edi, and Taylor tomorrow. I don’t want to be driving two hours and get there tomorrow and them tell me they sold out, because that’s not fair for people who actually have to SKUP SCHOOL to go to an event and not have any wristbands for them.
This thing has been so disorganized from what I’ve been hearing.
Plus, Celine and all those other Twilight fans:
Please don’t be bullying Angelica. How would Stephenie Meyer and all the rest of the cast think if they saw a girl making fun of a girl for her opinion?
You guys are becoming more pissed off than Caius in a pissed off mood.
So, seriously, as Esme would say “Play nice” and just be nice to each other.
Guys abd Girls calm down and lets use our heads. Now, sorry to all those who got trampled at San Francisco. First of all if you really love these books and the cast then we all have to calm down, I was pissed of as well about it but my friends and I have seen that making a big fuss out of something like this isn’t going to help. As for Hot Topic I don’t know what to say,they should organise it better but Twilighters we really need to stick together. The media will just try to paint the whole thing as if America just got placed in a gas chamber. The movie is coming out soon so we all might get a better chance at that.
Poor Rob. He is constantly having to deal with effing crazy screaming, immature fan girls.
So what if it’s a little disorganized. That’s life. It’s pretty ridiculous that we have another group of people who are “threatening” to not do something just because things didn’t turn out the way they wanted – not going to buy from HT again “EVER”…sounds like the same crackhead “fans” who threatened to never buy another one of Stephenie’s books because of Breaking Dawn, and then the issue with Midnight Sun. Thanks for the repeat performances. It’s highly entertaining. I give you 5 thumbs up for it…er, rather, eye-rolls.
I live in Pennsylvania and a few hours ago tried to get wristbands to meet Rob in King of Prussia. When we arrived at 5:00 a.m. (we were told wristbands went on sale at seven. I called the store multiple times to confirm this.) wristbands were sold out. People were in line with tents and explained that they were given tickets at midnight to guarantee their wristbands. I asked a police officer and a Hot Topic worker who was just getting to work, and they confirmed this. Camping out in November is where I draw the line, but I have to say that this was one of the worst advertised and planned events ever. Hot Topic should have changed their procedures after the first event was so chaotic. THey should have clearly explained their procedures (even the updated instructions were vague) and the intelligent thing to do would have to been to sell tickets in advance. It’s a shame that the people who followed the rules and went that morning got the short end of the stick.
I completely agree Lauren. As soon as I had found out that they were officially allowing people to line up early, I called the store at 11:45pm and they told me they had sold out already. It is highly unfair to the people who were following the rules. Why bother making the rules if they weren’t going to even try and enforce them?
Pre-selling the tickets online would have turned out much better.
so anyone know how the houston event with taylor is doing?…i wonder if they’re sold out yet?..
hmmmmmmm i’d put my 2 cents in but, a lot of other people have already done… (i wish there was a thumbs up, thumbs down thing i can press when i agree with a person..) but i’ll still put my 2 cents in… Get a grip to the people that are bashing hot topic. Act mature and adult-like when going to the events, not screaming and stamping like little kids???!?? i mean seriously jeez,… it’s way over our heads, what could we do? Run the event yourself?? Hot topic made the decision based on the security and safety of everyone. case closed.
Why are people being so incredibly nice? The whole thing was poorly conceived and wrongly organized from the start. Amateurish doesn’t even begin to describe it. When 6000 PEOPLE showed up out of nowhere at one of of the first events (ComiCon), what did they think they were dealing with?? They had AMPLE forewarning about the magnitude of what to expect. Summit Entertainment should never have anything to do with HotTopic ever again. Summit Ent also needs to realize that the’ve graduated to the big time with this. Get real. Nothing has improved about the events… they’re just putting the fans through utter hell, in large part b/c they made totally unrealistics limits of 500.
by the way, these are only happening on the good side of the vampires if i heard correctly somewhere in the comments?? (i.e. robert, kristen, kellan, ashely..i don’t really know who’s doing the tour..)
while the bad guys of twilight…(taylor, edi, rachelle, and cam) aren’t having problems at all???
OOOOoooohhhhh yeah its the fans for sure.
AND furthermore, if crowds just HAD to be limited to 500 – - in this day of INTERNET, tickets could easily have been sold on-line so that people wouldn’t have to drive hours for nothing and stand in line all night.
This apology really doesn’t do anything for me. All it does is show that Hot Topic only cares about their image. Once again they are blaming the fans. Unless you were there and know how this went down then you really have no say in this situation. We weren’t a mob and we didn’t storm the doors. All Hot Topic cares about is money. The fans there were very friendly and polite. If anyone was disorderly, it was the people in the front. What do they expect, that we be happy from being lied to and bashed? Twilight fans have more backbone than that, sorry Hot Topic. I sent a feedback emailt to them on their site and they emailed me back claiming that they were “sorry for my bad experience” and that “it had been canceled but then they decided to put it back on randomly at 3 pm.” They also said that there “was nothing they could do” and that they “begged and pleaded with the mall to keep the event going.” To me, all of these are just lies. I hope Hot Topic enjoys the revenue brought in by the event in San Francisco because that’s all they will be getting. It just shows their complete lack of respect for their customers. “Mob”? “Stormed the doors”? Wow, what lies.
Also, we all were aware of the fact that not all of us could get the wristbands and shirts. We took that risk, but the many of us who would have definitely gotten them or close to getting them are very angry. We were lied to and completely lost our chance. If you are put in a situation like this someday, you will understand our anger.
I’m not understanding why there are such comments being thrown around about HT only “expecting crowds of 500″ – I’m sure they were expecting more, but only TOOK THE FIRST 500 PEOPLE IN FOR THE SIGNING. And “following the rules” by showing up at designated times? Oh please. Let’s face reality. Fans camp out to be first, so all of this crap about “being lied to when we followed the rules” is just bogus. Be mad at yourselves for not thinking of the obvious and camping out.
I don’t really know who to believe but Hot Topic isn’t really saying what time we should get there now. So…we should/shouldn’t come really early? Because I’m going to the one in Saugus tomorrow and I’m confused.
Ok we are seriously complaining about this
frankly in my opinion Twilight fans are getting out of control
I used to be proud to say I was a member of this fandom, but if enough of them START A MOB because they can’t get into the mall HOURS before Rob comes, I am seriously questioning my alligances.
They were going to be let in soon, but they riot literally riot
Rob doesnt think this is cool and neither do I
Take a chill pill everyone hes not a God he doesn’t even like the series that much
read the interviews
Sorry to say again, but whether you or I or anyone else wanted be present or not, and I did not. The huge fan base has been a well known fact for months. Hot Topic was simply not equipped for the job and as Rob P. himself observed, the Malls are not adequate to the task. Hot Topic is also being very unprofessional in blaming fans for their own inadequacies and lack of proper planning and foresight. I will NEVER go into one of their store after seeing how the people who are their own target customers are being treated.
Good grief. Let’s quit the whining and b*tching about Hot Topic and swearing to never shop there again. It just shows a marked lack of maturity. Get over yourselves. In the grand scheme of things, it’s really not a big deal.
Gah… All the complaining gives me a headach. I think that everyone needs to put this into perspective. It’s over. We can’t change what happened. Honestly, is it so hard to show a little class in a time like this? I really think that people need to get over it. If the Twilight movie does well (and I think with this many fans, it will) we still have New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn and possibly even Midnight Sun (if anyone watched the MTV interview w/ Catherine about that, you’ll understand what I mean) and so Rob will no doubt be out and about for those, too.
It’s ok to not see him. He’s coming to MA tomorrow, and I’m not going to go see him. Even though I don’t live terribly far from Saugus. And Kellan is coming on the 21st, and I’m not going to see him, either. (Though I want to go to that one really, really bad.) Yeah, it’d be really cool to, but they’ll probably be back.
Does anyone know if people have had problems at the Taylor/Edi/Rachelle signings? I haven’t heard about any problems.
What time are people going to the miami one? I’m thinking around 6. Is that okay?
who is going to the mall of america tomorrow?! And what time do you plan on going?
This was a COMPLETE DISASTER…. the problem was that security measures were put in place BECAUSE of the San Fransico event….and that message was sent out to everyone : you will be ARRESTED if on grounds before 430am; tickets will be sold at 6 am
then to sell them as early as 10:30 the night before to people who were breaking the rules and camping out when they were told not to…. is down right INSULTING…. if you want to risk your health by sitting outside thats YOUR FAULT….and if the mall security and police did their JOBS then they wouldnt have a long line …..
For all those who followed the rules and got SH@$ what were they supposed to do???? bend over and take it?? sorry I dont think so…I got there at 1 am and tickets were sold out….it is NOT the mall managers decision to sell tickets early it was the HT manager/press tour managers fault and I hope they loose thier jobs….they have SERIOUSLY underestimated us this whole tour…. Dallas followed their own security measures and it went of PERFECTLY
BUT on the flip side I will say this…. no I ddnt get my autograph and people WHO DIDNT DESERVE IT did…. I got to stand RIGHT IN FRONT of Rob during the Q and A!!!! so 30 seconds and an autograph…. or 30 mins of pure awsome… I’ll take the later thanks
p.s. IF YOU WERENT THERE YOU DONT KNOW
I will say some people WERE immature….but others were not so dont put the blame on us….
Manage better and follow your own rules = GREATNESS
Tell us ONE THING and do another, claim you “didnt know it was going to be this big”, and blame the fans = YOU FAIL
simple
Hey, I just got back from the Saugus stop on the Twilight Tour and Hot Topic did an awesome job organizing it. The lines were very organized, and later they even passed out pizza, water, hand warmers, and hot cocoa. It was not chaotic at all. Everyone was really positive, and even though a ton of people were told to go home because there were already to many people, msot everyone was happy. Thanks Hot Topic!!!!
I also just got back from sleeping over at the Saugus Square One Mall, and it was such a great experience and the hot topic workers and security guards were so great and courteous to all of the excited fans. They were realy helpful and answered all of our questions and thy also brought us pizza and coffee and hand warmers!
The workers said that they had learned from the other stops on the Twilight tour and were so much more prepared (no broken noses or anything) Overall, it was so much fun, and I would totally do it again! Thanks, Hot Topic and Thank you Square One Mall Security! <3
When will you get it through your heads?
TWILIGHT SUCKS.
yeah thanks for the stupid fake apology you still cheated everyone and all the people tht we saying it was good are just happy because they did not wake up early and they are rubbing it into everyone elses faces your apology mean nothing because even thought you said you did not want it to get crazy it woud of alrady started to get crazy if it was going to! so thanks for lieing and not holding your word! I AM NEVER SHOPPING AT HOT TOPIC AGAIN
well, I for one agree with you all in the sense that …Hot Topic is just spitting out whatever crap comes to mind in order to make an attempt at covering their own asses.. “Great Job Hot Topic .. you’ve seemingly repressed the anger of THOUSANDS of fans with yout BS apolohy” *claps*..snd if you didn’t get it.. that was sarcasm >.>