ALTER BRIDGE BOX SET

[Mr. Slash]

lol...Fret12 is Mark's company. Of course they're better.

Whoa, didn't knew that. Mark really knows how to do business.

[AB23]

I hope the band reads what I say about DC3. They'll be like "finally someone gets it."

Its not even that many box sets lol. 3 freaking thousand. THREE THOUSAND. I could have done it by myself by now. Just an fyi.

[Dan Dando]

I suppose the saddest thing is that the folks producing this box-set are never going to learn, grow and improve going forward due to the siege mentality of sorts that they have against those who are unhappy with them. If they ever produce a box-set for another band I wouldn't be surprised if they have the same problems and make some of the same mistakes.

[Ryan]

They did some for Sully Erna and didn't have any of these issues.

[WkdSelina]

True in a way but there were other issues

[Andy92]

Oh have you read the reviews on the Sully one? It was delayed (albeit not this long), and it got generally lackluster reviews. I read some product reviews of it one day (I think on Amazon), and people were saying the box itself was falling apart due to poor build quality.

[TremontiFan4Life]

Oh have you read the reviews on the Sully one? It was delayed (albeit not this long), and it got generally lackluster reviews. I read some product reviews of it one day (I think on Amazon), and people were saying the box itself was falling apart due to poor build quality.

I was just going to say this. I actually remember back when the box set went on sale, I remember wanting to get one at the time because I really loved Avalon, glad I never did. I read those same reviews on Amazon shortly after we first started experiencing delays with the Alter Bridge project and I just remember chuckling to myself, I was so disgusted I didn't know what else to do

[AB BATMAN]

Actually, the Sully Erna box set had the same issues. Massively late shipments, damaged product, vendors not paid, fighting with unhappy customers online...

This company doesn't learn from its mistakes.

[DC3director]

I thought I wold jump in here and answer some of these questions and shed some light on this situation.

First- let me once again apologize on how the box set turned out. By now, you will see that we have stayed true to our promise that we would see this through to the end and have had people working on this project non-stop to make it all right. This has been done at great cost and time. The last box sets, as promised have finally been shipped and now AFM and our company are working together to send replacement units out and the new books. Our company has tried our best to make each customer happy. Although a few on here keep complaining and spewing crap like it was a complete disaster, it certainly was not, as thousands of fans are VERY happy and for every Sharpie comment written, we get 50 positive comments. The "X" Facebook page and the over 450 emails we have received form happy customers is a testament to that

With that being said, I can not just sit here and watch these malicious attacks against me and my company anymore. How quickly some forget the hundreds of hours of amazing footage we have produced of this band and also the 2 DVD's, dozens of webisodes and 2 music videos that were released without ANY issues whatsoever. It is funny that some of the biggest shit talkers on these boards were the very same people who complimented us on these projects and have copies in their collections. These very same people would also constantly hang with me at shows and call me, text me and email me all sorts of compliments for years. It is a shame that a few bad seeds (yes only a few and we all know who they are) ruin things for others. The negative people who continue to spew shit, even over a year later have ruined a lot for the band and for themselves. Not for me at all. You see, I DON'T WORK FOR THE BAND! Yes- just so you know I have funded every project and it is the other way around- they work for us! I have invested over $1 million into this band and this fan base, only to be ridiculed and bashed on over one project, where the issues were out of our control. Do you honestly think that my investors or any other company will want to do business with this band in the future when they see how their fans treat companies & people who work with them? Why do you think the band has had 4 different record labels and two sets of Managers by now? The bad seeds on these boards make it very unattractive for any commercial entity to ever do anything here. God forbid there is an issue. You will get attacked by a bunch of immature people who love to hide behind their computers and spew negative energy. Yes- they all hide, as when these people have been face to face with me or any employee of mine, they hug and kiss us or walk the other way. At least I have the balls to face issues and people head on.

The time for this entire thread to end is now. You are just hurting the band! Alter Bridge was less than 1% of our overall business and they have never paid us a dime. You are doing nothing but harming the fans who want stuff to be done with this band and also hurting the chances of any other company ever wanting to do a deal with them. Just so you know - there aren't a line of companies lining up to do videos for these guys, so congrats on spoiling the one deal they "did" have.

I love how people keep making comments like they really know what is going on and act like that have some kind of inside knowledge. It is just silly and these people are liars and not in any way affiliated with anything we are doing (the only people who really know what the status is currently work for us or AFM). Our Company does not rely on AB business and in fact, we have never even made a dime off this band or community. We only invested over $1 million into it out of our love for the band and our desire to see them become larger than life. Who could possibly blame us now if we choose to never do anything with them again? Why would anyone put up with the trash talking from these same 8-10 trash talkers? Who needs that? In case you haven't noticed, we certainly don't. We not only have been winning award after award in the Documentary field, we are in the middle of a major TV Series, working with artists far bigger than Alter Bridge. We are also currently doing multiple live concert projects and since we started the Box Set, have done dozens of other projects, all without one issue. The fact that people trash talk City Drive and DC3 like we don't know what we're doing just makes them look like the morons (or disgruntled ex-emplyees they are). We work at the highest level and have standards higher than anybody we know. We are very proud of our work and have amazing relationships with Artists and fan bases.

I am very proud of the work we have done with AB and all the bands I have worked with. In 20 years, I have done over 200 music videos, 150 DVD's and 100 TV specials. I have never had issues like I did with the AB Box Set. We only have seen manufacturing issues on "maybe" 2-3 other projects out of over 200 in my career. Not bad odds. I also have never experienced so much hatred and negativity in my life. Hats off to the fans who try to stop these so-called "haters" from doing what they do. Shame on the ones who do spread hate and negativity. Over 150 people were involved in the creation of and making of the AB Box Set. They put a lot into it and no one intentionally made a mistake. It is a shame that instead of people thanking them for their hard work and dedication to the band, they get shit on by a bunch of losers. Yes- losers. If you were real fans of AB, you wouldn't be shitting on the one company who actually cared. You also wouldn't fill these message boards and the rest with your constant ridicule and crap talking. Negativity does no one any good. People looking to do business with a band, usually will RUN from negativity. You are causing people to not want to work with this band- trust me.

I'll leave you with this one last request. Keep it up. I can't wait to see where AB is in 5 years with all of you continuing to show the world how classless AB fans can be and also how much you shit on the companies/ people who support and work with the band. For me, I don't really care anymore. I am over it and have already moved on. You aren't hurting me or my company. We don't make a living off this band- and NEVER have. However, the next time you complain that no one gives AB a chance or Myles needs another 2 years off to sing with Slash, or why Brian is selling real estate, or Mark rather play solo shows- you may want to look in the mirror and ask yourself why this is happening?

Next time you see some of the "hate crew" - make sure you shake their hands and thank them for alienating so many people. Maybe, even give them a Sharpie for a good laugh. Why don't you ask them to put up $500,000 to shoot the next DVD so you can have a great keepsake of your favorite band. Let's see how that goes and how much of a big shot they are then.

Respectfully,
DC

[RoelSmoel]

I would love to fly over to LA, NY or wherever you are and tell right in your face what I think of you.
It just isn't worth all that money.

I thought we all were done with it and this just flew over, thanks for bringing it up again. I really hope you enjoyed writing that down, I also really hope those awards didn't get damaged that much because of your tears. Oh and yes, thanks again for blaming everyone else of this, especially the fact you are blaming AB in this whole story is wrecking my nerves.

Disrespectfully,
RG

[riemslag1]

I'm afraid this thread after 112 amazing pages just reached its alltime low. Just unbelievable !

[Timotheus]

However, the next time you complain that no one gives AB a chance or Myles needs another 2 years off to sing with Slash, or why Brian is selling real estate, or Mark rather play solo shows- you may want to look in the mirror and ask yourself why this is happening?

We're not a hateful fanbase, just a passionate one. A lot of AB fans are incredibly loyal who go to their shows as much as possible and who own most of their albums multiple times. Your company got hate from a lot of AB fans because you simply did not deliver. The fact that your implying that we're to blame is laughable and incredibly childish. Companies like Army of 12 never got hate from us, because they do deliver every single time. Quite frankly, your company is the only company that received such a backlash from us.

Respectfully,
Timo

[TremontiFan4Life]

How quickly some forget the hundreds of hours of amazing footage we have produced of this band and also the 2 DVD's, dozens of webisodes and 2 music videos that were released without ANY issues whatsoever.

I wasn't going to say anything but I feel like I just have to. The last two DVDs did not come out without issue. Live from Amsterdam took two years to finally be released. The copy that I currently have I had to win in order to have it in my hands today. The only DVD that we as fans feel lucky enough actually came out on time was the Wembley DVD.

I can only speak for myself here but a lot of what is disappointing to me is that release dates are given for products and never seem to hit them.

The Milan DVD is an example of this, a release date was given for a product that has not been released. Excitement was built and then we as fans for whatever reason were let down. I completely understand that the band may not have been happy with their performance, but it would seem to me that release dates should not be announced until the product has been finalized.

The same can be said about the Creed live deluxe box set, that all but disappeared without a trace.

The problems surrounding the Alter Bridge box set in the beginning could be explained by weather but then there were issues with the design which added tremendously to the delay, as well as people receiving damaged and missing items. In my personal opinion I think the number of people that have had problems with the box set is larger than you say it is. It sure seemed that way So I do not believe you are dealing with a small group haters at all

Respectfully
Mark

[BSC]

I'll leave you with this one last request. Keep it up. I can't wait to see where AB is in 5 years with all of you continuing to show the world how classless AB fans can be and also how much you shit on the companies/ people who support and work with the band. For me, I don't really care anymore. I am over it and have already moved on. You aren't hurting me or my company.

It's funny how a director of a company can accuse a group of people of being classless, after writing an essay on why his own customers are damaging the band they love.

I hope you realise that we'll never be able to hurt you or your company as much as you've damaged yourself and your company through the way you've handled this entire situation. I hope the band sees this.

[AB4Lyfe]

Calling a group of people "losers" is incredibly unprofessional, that's my only comment.

[Timotheus]

Things were messed up from the beginning, even before all the weather problems. The pre-orders were delayed for months because "the artwork needed to be approved". Makes you wonder what those 150 people were doing in that time, because I could've come up with something better in only a few hours on my own.

It's been 2 years of this. Everyone who bought this box set has the right to complain, and calling us losers because of it is really disrespectful.

[Andy92]

First off, I'll admit I didn't even buy a box set, so I don't really have a dog in this fight. But since a lot of things have been brought up over the past couple days, I figured I'd offer my two cents on all this for what it's worth.

As big of an ordeal as this whole thing has been, I actually think Dan is a decent guy. From what I've seen of him, he does do a fair amount of respectable things. I remember following through the story of Ricky when the DC3 team helped him and his family out a lot during his time in and out of the hospital. I've noticed enough things about Dan to make me think he's a decent guy. At the end of the day, I don't know very many people involved in this whole thing personally outside the internet, so I've learned a lot throughout this to not really rush to judgment about who we think people are based upon what's said over the internet.

I do feel like the fans who ordered this product have a right to be upset over how long the process took. If I recall, the pre-order for this started around November 2013, and some people have just gotten the set over the past few weeks. That's a year and a half removed from the original order date which I find to be quite daunting. I don't know what all logistics go into putting together a 20 some disc set, and I'm not going to pretend like I do. But I do know the delays went on for a good length of time.

Dan, I would mainly ask that you try to give the fan base the benefit of the doubt on some of the things that have been (and are being) said. If I was sitting at the airport and a flight got delayed, I would probably get on social media and write about how I was ticked off at the flight delay. Doesn't mean it was all the airline's fault, but because I'm upset and they supply the flights, they're the ones who get the brunt of my frustration.

When it comes to music, I'm a fairly simple person. I like to listen to albums and watch the occasional concert DVD. I usually go to a handful of live shows every year. But out of all the fan bases I've seen, the Alter Bridge one is pretty unique. It's full of blue-collar Americans (and insert similar term for you overseas folks) that for whatever reason feel a really strong connection to this band's music. They take pride in every piece of music, merchandise, and memorabilia they own. And given my social status, $250 isn't something you can dish out without giving some thought. A lot of the ones in this fan base are in the same boat as I am. Sure, that number is nothing to a business that makes multi-million dollar transactions, but it's a lot to us.

I'm not a fan of posting off the cuff remarks just for the sake of stirring stuff up. I'm human, so I'm sure if you dig through these 112 pages, you'll find some junk I've said too. But all in all my point is, I don't think either side of this ordeal needs to turn a bad business transaction into personal attacks. I've seen it from the fan base admittedly, but I don't think calling a group of customers "losers" is very professional either.

I've been a member of these boards for about 5 years now, and I wouldn't stick around if the whole fan base spewed crap everywhere. I've seen a few loudmouths come around over the years, but for the most part, everyone here has good intentions. I've met a lot of great people on this site, and they were simply looking for the product that they paid for.

As far as the future goes, I'm not sure what Alter Bridge will continue to do as far as music, live shows, etc. But that isn't my main concern. I just ask that you wouldn't judge the fan base as a whole over this, Dan, because I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt and not judge you.

Regards,

Andy

[AHart96]

I'm with Andy, I didn't buy a boxset, so I don't have a dog in this fight either. I would've liked to when it was first announced, I was interested in buying this product but didn't have the means to do so. All this time later, and I can honestly say that I'm glad I didn't go through and buy the set. Firstly, and this is not a personal attack, but based off of many comments, the prodcut just did not deliver, in many ways. I'm not gonna beat a dead horse into the ground regarding the product. However, I'm even more glad I didn't buy this set after seeing all of this unprofessionalism. There's simply no excuse for the way Dan has handled the sitation and the criticisms toward him. I refuse to support a company that talks to their paying customers the way that they do. If a larger company like Apple had a product disaster like the boxset and then called the customers a bunch of "losers" and blamed them for the situation, their stock would massively drop and take a gigantic monetary and reputation hit.

So, as an 18 year old about to enter college and study business, thank you Dan for already teaching me some valuable lessons on how NOT to run a company. I sincerely hope AB continues to work with Fret 12 in the future, a company who:
a) Delivers a superior product ON TIME
and
b) Shows the utmost respect for their paying customers

I wish Dan and his company well in the future, but there needs to be a major change in attitude among DC3 first and foremost before that can happen and I hope AB does not collaborate with DC3 in the future, it will be best for all parties involved. A company simply cannot run successfully with this level of unprofessionalism.

With respect,
Andrew Hart

[devv88]

Holy shit. That was the single most unprofessional thing I've ever seen or read.

Bravo, sir. You are one in a million.

[Rosenblaetter]

I did not buy the box. I wasn't even aware of any hatred directed at you.
But I do feel insulted as a member of this community and as a true supporter of this band.
This statement, Dan, is completely unfair to us as a worldwide community and - kept in a huffish tone - completely unprofessional.

I understand that your dedication makes you emotional on this. But I cannot stand the tone of condescension towards the band you decided to use.
You claim to respect and love the band and yet you underline several times how lucky they are to have such a great company on board, working for free where no one else would. If writing this isn't classless, I don't know what is.
I believe that no professional company would ever write such stuff about the band they're working with (even if it's true). Also I'm convinced that no serious company would make business decision based on what a certain fanbase is like.

This fanbase gave you credit and compliments over the years because we were happy to have you on board. This fanbase ignored delays and poor audio and artwork quality on both DVD's. And now we are called losers.

I guess we all lost then.

Oh, and for the record. It's not you working for the band or the band working for you.
It's your company working for the customers, which would be us.