Our fears about Jumpcon summed up here/coming true?
GreyCoupon has gone through the Jumpcon forums and done pretty extensive research on the whole Jumpcon issue. With this past weekends Fedcon crisis this seems even more problematic for first time promoters to pull off. We want to thank Shayna for doing all that work. We still hope Jumpcon does indeed happen but she sure points out a lot of distressing things.
Oh and the Jumpcon website? Now down. Hate to say, we saw this coming weeks ago We will update as things progress.
UPDATE: Richard “JAWS” Kiel points us to the New Website for Jumpcon. Why the new site?
June 17th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
JumpCon’s new and better website is up and running as jumpcon.net
They are still adding exciting guests. I look forward to signing photos, doing photo ops and having dinner with guests at the first show in Kalamazoo,
Richard “Jaws” Kiel
June 18th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Why the new site? Anyone who saw the old web site would say the new web site has better graphics and is a lot more exciting.
I am glad you posted the new website address (click on new website above) so people can see that for themselves.
Richard “Jaws” Kiel
June 19th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I plan on attending the JumpCon in Kalamazoo. Honestly, there are no guests I’m particularly interested in seeing, but given how cheap the general admission passes are I thought I would take the opportunity to do a little recon work. After I write up my thoughts in my blog, I’d be happy to drop a line here.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:50 am
Why the new site?
My guess is so they could erase all of the negative issues on the forum. I find it very convenient that Jumpcon’s sudden new layout has killed all of the forum links that Greycoupon had dug up.
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Jumpcon did not send the fee they suggested two weeks before Kalamazoo and I am no longer listed as a guest?
I see that others are no longer listed?
Richard Kiel
June 24th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
That’s really too bad because I was looking forward to seeing you. Someday I hope to see you at a Con and get an autographed pic from you in “The Human Duplicators”
June 25th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I have noticed in your forums that Jumpcon is claiming that former employees made contracts without the knowledge of the higher ups. I noticed that my contract for 19 shows was signed by Donna and questioned it. She sent me a letter from the main man giving her the authority to sign agreements.
So, there is no excuse for what has happened except that after promising 40 plus guests and luring fans to buy tickets Jumcon has decided to “audit” the contracts (cherry pick) to see who they can book that doesn’t cost them as much in terms of fees and airline tickets, etc. They offered to pay me a substantial fee of their choosing and offered first class tickets for my wife and I. Apparently they decided the cost that they had proposed was too high.
No attempt was made to renegotiate these terms in good faith.
Very unprofessional people. I will not consider doing a show for them in the future because of this way of handling things and will tell all of my celebrity friends what happened.
Richard “Jaws” Kiel
June 26th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Richard, I think there’s something fishy going on. Your assistant left a message on my blog about you being removed from the guest list. I posted a message on JC’s site asking about this and other things. My message was deleted. I posted again and was given a phone number to call.
I was told, among other things, that a former booking agent had gone - and I quote - “apeshit” and was having all of her friends come on board as guests. I was told by Alan that in your case, the agent said “Pick a number and we’ll pay you that” and you came back with a completely insanely high amount and she said “ok” and you were a diva, wanting all kinds of extra perks and she said yes to everything.
I spent over an hour on the phone with them, long distance. And that’s not cheap, as I’m not a rich person.
They lied directly to me. They lied up one side and down the other, and blamed everybody else, including you, saying that if you weren’t so - again, I quote “greedy” - you would have been there. Again with the “greedy” they said that the woman went to you with 20 dates and you took them all, except for one you wanted off for a birthday party.
They made their crap sound convincing, but now it’s all coming out. They’ve canceled their first two shows, in addition to a whole boatload of others, and they’re laying the blame on the actors, the fans, the booking agent, and everyone but the people who actually make decisions.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:42 am
This is from Shanes myspace page. I’m surprised his new slick PR/Management convention salvage ppl haven’t strongly advised him to take it offline. A quote from the “Emperor”
“He is the perfect man for the position of convention organizer; he won’t play the game, he deals with everyone with respect but gives them enough rope to hang themselves. He is a straight shooter and will let you know were you stand at all times. If you try to screw him you are out on your ass in no uncertain terms.
Some of the classic phrases that Shane uses on a regular basis are the following:
“F*** them, move on and Next”
“Own your problem and fix it”
“What the F*** is this and what is your malfunction?” and the most endearing is
“What the hell? Why are you pissing on my leg and telling me it’s raining”? ”
Obviously this ultra professional style didnt work for his convention organizing.
It’s amusing that ppl continue to be so codependent on their website and complimenting them still. Like Lambs to slaughter.
I suspect that the almost complete absence of really negative comments is the result of their new moderated message board. They should move their conventions to China.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:55 am
Mike, you’re not wrong. They are moderating all comments and not allowing anyone to make new posts. Any negative comments are not let through. Alto, the moderator, claims she emails all comments to “the Emperor” so he knows what people are saying … but nobody else does.
Isn’t this exactly what happened with FedCon USA around the same time it went boom?
June 27th, 2008 at 3:13 am
Im amazed that fans continue to support them. They are surely cracking under the strain in that JC office. Hotels stay in touch with other hotels. When the rest of them get word about this they are going to demand payment up front. Perhaps that millionaire involved with nothing to do with his new found money can whip out his checkbook now.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that Shane really knows very little about conventions or the running thereof. When I first saw what he was trying to do an eon ago when Boston was first announced I did a little number crunching and couldn’t imagine that he could break even with the thing, let alone turn a profit.
I think he has a couple of misconceptions about the whole con running thing. I don’t think he’s aware what celebrity guests charge for their appearance fees, and when he gave Donna carte blanche to book people he could very will have been thinking “how much can these people want? hotel room, airfare and $500 bucks a day?” IMO he’s not thinking of the guests as people, he’s treating them as commodities, there was no down time for the actors in any of the schedules that were originally put up for Boston. I also get the feeling that he thinks that every fan who turns up to one of these things will fork out a few thousand dollars in photos and meal ops, on top of whatever travel expenses they have. Not going to happen, wouldn’t have happened when the economy was good, certainly isn’t going to happen this year.
Not to mention the fact that he has styled himself as “The Emperor” speaks volumes about his professionalism and maturity.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
If we are to be believe that Shane is as wealthy as he claims and has lived a privileged life, I think that may explain a lot. Shane neither seems to know how to communicate with people nor does he seem to understand the vast majority of fans do not have much, if any, disposable income. Not only is there a lack of business sense with JumpCon there is a lack of common sense. In a lousy economy where people are struggling to fill their cars with gas, shelling out thousands of dollars is not something to be easily done. One of the reasons for Dragon Con’s success, besides an excellent reputation, is that it’s a relatively cheap con which travel being the largest expense.
‘The Emperor’ seems to be out of touch with reality and now reality is biting him in the ass.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I doubt the whole staff has two nickels to rub together among them. Trust me - theres no millionaire there. Just someone that thought he could be.
June 29th, 2008 at 2:30 am
now the emperor speaks after 24 hours of silence with no explanation.
“Sorry folks….
We have been going over everything that needs to be done and finalizing plans for implimentation. As soon as their is more of a development we ill let you knopw.”
The arrogance of this group is STUNNING.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:03 am
FYI: Network solutions Whois lookup shows jumpcon.com as registered by Shane. Jumpcon.net shows as ‘bluehost’. Minor, but the site may also have been moved under a corporate name for legal reasons, as well as the aforementioned communications control issue.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:27 am
It’s sad to say how we’ve watched personal feelings get in the way of professionalism when it comes to Jumpcon. My client has been deleted from the guest list due to extreme demands from the staff and bad blood in the past. Jumpcon is due to fail. Many celebs are debating about even attending anymore due to the fact the Jumpcon has begun renegotiating all the contracts. It’s going to be interesting to see what our lawyers say once they read the contracts and decide on course of action against Jumpcon.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:29 am
It would be interesting to know why agents have been banned from all Jumpcon events when the very staff members that book the talent are agents themselves and put their own people in the show. Would that not be a conflict of interest????
July 7th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
To my knowledge only 1 person on the JumpCon staff claims to be a booking agent. I didn’t realize they had hired others.
Out of curiosity, who do you represent?
Moyra, any news from Mira on if she’s gotten her travel and such?
July 7th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I have not heard that she has, no.
I’m 99% sure that if she had, she would have let me know.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:35 am
JUMPCON- dead
July 8th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Martin, please contact me - email’s on the website.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Yes Jumpcon is a pain in the a** and has had alot of problems, i want to pass judgement but unfortunately we haven’t had a show yet to bash, Working for them also makes it hard to say too much since i could get fired.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Well, if one staff member or all of the staff claim to be agents, all it takes is one to constitute a conflict of interest. Most of this persons clients have been contracted to be in the shows for Jumpcon. Or is it “ChumpCon”? I was told by this staff member that agents, as I am, are not allowed to attend any of the Jumpcon events. Ever. What makes them so special? Every convention on the planet allows anyone into their shows. Although, any business has the right to refuse admittance to anyone, I know this person personally and it has come down to nothing more than a personal vendetta. I was told in person that I could not even attend the show as as a fan. So, now my money isn’t good enough either? How strange that they would turn down fans who want to spend money in THEIR show! Now, I’m reading several blogs by celebrities that are very upset at the unprofessional actions of Jumpcons and it’s staff. They have overextended themselves and now the very guest they have invited are paying the cost.
It will be very interesting to hear the comments of unhappy staff members once this is all over!
Shame on you Jumpcon. Shame.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Amanda, I don’t think you really need to be all that concerned with the firing issue since I don’t think they have the money to their “professional associates” in the first place.
Feel free to contact me privately — greycoupon@livejournal.com
July 9th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Robert Picardo is stating on his website and on MySpace that he will not be attending JumpCon in any form due to their not fulfilling their contractual obligations. Seems at 5PM EST on Friday he will be having further updates.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Martin I agree with you. I know they have someone named Emily as their booking agent and from her home page she apparently has learned from the likes of “JCB” which reading on boards many organizers have had noted problems with “JCB.” And as far as I’ve seen many agents attend events to support their “clients” in some way and have never been turned away. The only time I’ve ever seen a problem was actually at DragonCon when “JCB” tried to gather con packets for people she claimed were her clients when they weren’t and there was a bit of a scene at registration as a result.
And if you visit the DragonCon forums they appear to no longer want to do any business with “JCB” anymore (or at least that was what was implied).
BTW, if you go to Emily’s homepage (www.emilydanyel.com) she’s not what I would call a serious professional and if anyone is using her as a booking agent…well….. Her “professional” site is http://www.tribooking.com and she also has a couple of sMySpace pages.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I wonder if Emily’s clients have been paid? They may be the only ones showing up at the Jumpcons.
Zion, thanks for the information about JCB. I’m no fan of hers and my last two years at DC I was aware of quite a bit of drama surrounding her, but wasn’t clear on the specifics. One fond memory I have from last year is the image of a very large Klingon bitching about her to some other attendees. Her decision to handle autographs for her clients differently than autographs for every other attendee was a disaster. I’m not surprised if DC has had it with her.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I must admit, the news from Robert Picardo was no surprise to me. He is, in fact, one of my clients as well. Now I have two clients that have backed out of JC. I see they have many guests still coming to the event, but the chatter about the JC organization is truly undermining it’s ability to look legit. As far as the JC staff and it’s member or member who may be agents, I truly have to question their ethics. Richard Kiel, Robert Picardo, Ellen Muth, and many others have been seriously and unfairly treated. It still amazes me why these people have not gotten together to file law suits against JC. Robert Picardo’s contract clearly states that if JC cancels a show, he is due a 10% cancellation fee. As well as all other guests. Two shows have now been canceled. Where are their fees??? Guests were supposed to receive 10% of the total contractual agreement fee prior to the show. None have been delivered. Phone calls go unanswered, and I have been lied to about attending any show. What the hell is going on with these people???! Why isn’t there a campaign to boycott this event??
My one client is still awaiting word from the lawyer we’ve contacted. I should know more soon. Very soon….
July 10th, 2008 at 12:02 am
its very odd that any of the guests still want to atend. A free trip to Boston I guess….
July 10th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Jason Carter will not be attending JumpCon (Boston, Pittsburgh, or Washington DC).
Jason’s name is still on the JumpCon website and tickets are still available for purchase, so because he is not attending do not purchase.
If you did purchase a ticket for Jason, per Shane’s post on the JumpCon forums regarding refund/changes:
“Email sales@jumpcon.com or call 603-249-9002 for what you would like to change.”
Thank you,
Joellyn Crowley
Webmaster & President
The Official Jason Carter Fan Club
http://www.jasoncarterfanclub.com
July 11th, 2008 at 2:18 am
the Jumpcon clowns themselves have done FAR MORE to undermine their ability to look legit than any amount of “chatter” ever could.
July 11th, 2008 at 3:13 am
New Message from Bob…Please visit his official website and MySpace for details..
July 11th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Another message from Robert Picardo (thanks Webmaster)
It’s sad but if that’s the way Jumpcon conduct business, everyone’s better off without them on the scene. IMO, the more times this happens, the less guests and fans will want to get involved then everybody loses.
Message From Bob
A few Days ago I emailed the Jumpcon promoter for a status update and received no reply from him.
Subsequently, I posted some information here regarding Jumpcon conventions not meeting their contractual obligations.
It now seems Jumpcon has removed me from their site for the Boston event.
My goal is to always conduct myself in an honest and straightforward manner with every promoter and I appreciate those who extend the same courtesy to me.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Update: I just checked this morning and Jason’s name has been removed from the guest list. However, his name still appears on the ticket purchase page for Boston and DC…but no tickets are available. This is a good thing as it avoids majority of the confusion on if he is attending (to be 100% his name would also need to be removed).
I did this based on the update on Robert’s website, thanks for posting the update webmaster. I didn’t see Robert’s name on the ticket purchase page for Boston so that is a 100% not attending for my mind.
So unless a guest, or a rep for a guest, comes out publicly and confirms that they are attending or not attending, everyone will have to wait for the convention to publish (or publicly state) their confirmed list, and for Boston I hope that is today.
Joellyn Crowley
Webmaster & President
The Official Jason Carter Fan Club
July 13th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
John Billingsley has officially dropped out.
http://www.johnbillingsley.net/
http://geckoforums.isomedia.com/Topic14088-31-1.aspx
Quoted from GeckoForums:
“Hi everybody! In addition to posting this brief note on my website, I’ve asked for it to be circulated where it might be seen because I want to announce that I will not be attending Jumpcon in Boston on the weekend of the l8th, l9th, 20th of July. I have asked the promoters to take my name and Bonita’s name off their website. If our names remain on their website after the 11th Jumpcon is clearly engaging in a form of fraudulent advertising. Jumpcon’s willingness to promote their conventions with such gusto in spite of the fact they clearly don’t have sufficient funds to meet their contractual obligations would certainly lead me to question whether this is an organization that fans should in any way support. I understand Bob Picardo has also posted some remarks re: Jumpcon that might be of interest to people. Thanks, and my deepest apologies to anybody who was looking forward to spending some quality drinking time in Boston with us this weekend. xox jb”
July 14th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Mr Kirkpatrick. Question? Why is there some extra added sentences to this post..as the posting Mr Billingsley has posted on his website does not match what you have listed here ? These sentences below were not on his website but were added to the forum post and here ????? Could someone have added them to the forum post? Just wondering?? Although the statement rings clearly true..But did not come from Mr Billingsley..
“Jumpcon’s willingness to promote their conventions with such gusto in spite of the fact they clearly don’t have sufficient funds to meet their contractual obligations would certainly lead me to question whether this is an organization that fans should in any way support”
July 14th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Note that he copied the post from here
http://geckoforums.isomedia.com/Topic14088-31-1.aspx
““Hi everybody! In addition to posting this brief note on my website, I’ve asked for it to be circulated where it might be seen…”
Note he says this is more detailed than the note on the website.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I wonder why he would put more detail in something on a forum rather than on his “official” site. Doesn’t make sense to me.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I was approached in January about booking guests into Jump Con. I was floored when I received the contracts detailing what they wanted from the actors and what their projected attendance was for their shows. They were totally unrealistic in their approach to putting on events, but the people I blame the most are the greedy booking agents that gave this disaster in the making life. All I kept hearing was that the promoter was rich and he did not care how much money he lost. The only thing these agents saw were dollar signs thinking they were going to be rich and not having the foresite to see what was really going on. At that monent I knew there would be problems, too ambitious and too arrogant and not using their heads in respect to planning, so I did not book any of my clients into any of their events. It is amazing how many actors have been calling and emailing me telling me that I was right. I’m sorry that this has happened. It would have been great to have another outlet to book actors into so their fans could meet them.
Best,
Bob Catalano
July 14th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I am so sorry to hear about all the problems with Jumpcon and all the stress it has cost the actors and agents.
I would like to say that Vulkon Entertainment is having a Fabulous convention the same weekend as Jumpcon’s Boston show and we would love to have you all attend.
Bring your “Boston Jumpcon ticket” and I will give you 1/2 off admission!
Meet Jonathan Frakes, Nana Visitor, Cirroc Lofton, Aron Eisenberg, Duras Sisters (Barbara March & Gwynyth Walsh); George Lowe and ME!!
We at Vulkon would love to have you!
Luv,
Terri Tripp
event at Altamonte Springs Hilton
Altamonte Springs (Orlando) Florida
July 14th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Boston to Orland is a long trip. Will you pay for my plane tickets too
July 14th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Yes Bob, I find it remarkable that anyone bought into that “rich promoter” thing. There were also SOOO many obvious clues that they didn’t know what they were doing. The ragtag staff was completely unprofessional from the start. When crunch time came, they found themselves in a heck of a mess.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Listen to this for a chuckle or two:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/podshock/DW__Podshock_Aftershock_080302.mp3
July 14th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
For the agents posting here -
Here’s the central question:
For everything Jumpcon wanted, were they willing to pay what it was worth? Or were you required to suggest an amount you/the talent wanted to do all that work?
July 14th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I just know that with my luck if I don’t go, it’s going to be a fantastic con. And as long as there is a chance for me to meet Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonell, I will be there Thursday night
July 14th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Sophie, I’m pretty sure there is no chance in hell of this con being “fantastic”.
As for EJO and Mary, that I don’t know. I’m getting into Boston on Thursday afternoon.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
To all of those who think they KNOW what is going on with my 12 year old business as a booking manager, I would like to clear the air:
1) I have no affiliation with Emily Danyels, who was in my FAN CLUB, period. I have been dealing with her because Kevin Sorbo, who had already agreed to appear at Jumpcon before he started working with on conventions asked me to. Emily has tried to be as honest as possible about the situation, but I have NEVER, and to my knowledge SHE has NEVER said that I trained her to do anything.
2) I am not banned from Dragoncon, I am bringing in 12 guests! I took myself off the website because I can’t appear and do my job. I asked to be removed so that I could look after my actors properly and not be asked to do panels. And by the way, I did NOT have a problem picking up the con badges, some were missing, which was an error on Dragoncon’s part, and some were for the guests of the actors but Dragoncon as always was most gracious and took care of everything. I look forward to bringing the fans amazing guests this year.
3) Kevin Sorbo does not want to disappoint his fans but based on the renegotiated contract and the fact that there is still no flight or money, at this point, the ball is in Shan Senter’s court.
And for those of you who keep posting misinformation and slanderous comments about me or my company, please be advised to cease and desist or I will take whatever legal action is open to me to combat this very malicious conduct.
Thank you for those of you who have written to me to alert me to these statements. I suggest people keep their comments to what they actually KNOW.
Julie Caitlin Brown
July 14th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Baby Doll,
I’m not sure about anyone else but this is happened in my case.
When they came to me originally, they asked how much would it be for my clients to attend. I gave them the standard price that would be given to any promoter for a standard appearance. When the 4 page contract was sent to me detailing what they wanted, (the actors were to attend multiple Breakfests, Lunches, Dinners, judge art, costume contests etc), I informed them that the normal fee would not apply in this case. They asked me how much would the actor want to perform everything in the contract. I discussed the contract and and the new fee with the actors , I told them what the actors wanted and I did not hear back from the promoter’s rep again.
Bob
July 14th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
MITCH,
Yes, they did lie to you. I proposed attending the conventions in Stamford, Conneticut, Detroit or Kalamazoo. I told them that I required airfare, hotel and ground transportation. They sent a sample contract with all the required appearances which included my signing 1,250 photos.
They suggested my doing their shows on a fee basis. They proposed an adquate fee and first class airfare for both my wife and myself.
Am I greedy because I accepted an offer that they came up with?
The contact as they wrote it called for them to pay me my fee two weeks in advance and if they didn’t cancel 60 days prior to the scheduled convention they would pay me 25% of the proposed fee within 10 days of cancellation. They didn’t pay the fee in advance nor did they notify me of their intent to cancel and they didn’t pay the cancellation fee.
I never asked for any special “perks” unless you consider someone my size asking for a non-smoking room with a king-sized bed a special perk.
I originally had inquired about doing three of their conventions but with the terms that they were offering I decided to do as many as I could. I did not sign up for all their conventions because I had made commitments to other promoters and they had already started advertising that I would be there. You see, I am a man of my word. When I make a commitment I keep it.
That certainly cannot be said about Jumpcon.
I would have done Dragon Con if I knew that they were going to cancel my appearances and by the time I got back to Dragon Con all table space was gone so I will have to wait until next year.
I will be at Lazy Dragon Con in Texas as it gives me a chance to see my relatives there and to meet some fans. Star Trek in Vegas and The next Hollywood Collectors Show in Burbank as these were all commitments that I had made previously.
I hope that this serves to clarify what happened to me and apparently to many other actors. In addition to causing actors to miss doing other shows Jumpcon has hurt other honest promoters of conventions by giving fans high hopes that there will be a convention nearer to them. This served to prevent many people from making alternative plans that would have meant more business for the honest promoters who have been putting on good shows for many years.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
It’s funny after reading all of this and the more research I do, I am just appalled. Jumpcon has deleted their Live Journal. They are deleting, deleting, and soon they will be gone?
July 15th, 2008 at 1:00 am
Thank you Richard for your comments. I’ve met you many times and feel you are a gentleman and man of your words. As an agent, I was never approached by Jumpcon to ask about fees. In fact, I was told by the agent for Jupmcon that guests were contacted by Jumpcon only and never go through agents. Plus the fact that they advertise many guests before they are commited to going is appalling. I stand by you, Richard and you have my support. I only hope what ever happens this weekend, the fans get what they can from it and realize they are supporting a very deceptive convention.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:13 am
All the dates and cities for 2009 disappeared too. I bet they’ve cancelled those as well. they must be up to their necks in cancellation fees.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:21 am
From the very beginning, a just another *fan* I was bothered the guests would have to be doing every meal with the fans. It just seemed like too much. Everyone assured me it would be okay, but it still seemed excessive. And they wanted to do that for the same price as a “normal” con? That’s ridiculous!
I’m still relatively certain this con will go forward. The big question now is, will any guests actually attend?
July 15th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Announced today!!!! Nichele Nichols cancels her appearance at Jumpcon!!!
July 15th, 2008 at 2:12 am
They’ve probably used whatever resources they currently have by sinking $$ theyve received for all the cons to pull Boston off. If they have a small attendance and managed to pay enough guests it might be great afterall for the ppl that show up. They are probably banking on that to create renewed interest in the rest of the cities so that they have money for those.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:35 am
That’s what I said in the cancellation pool. These people are so clueless, they probably think if they can only get Boston to happen, it will bring in so many people at the door, they’ll have more than enough money to pay back the later events. Which would (probably, I’m not an expert) turn it from a fiasco, into a pyramid scheme and make for some entertaining legal fallout.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:44 am
Hi Everyone! Please go to http://www.robertpicardo.com
For Bob’s latest message to his fans regarding Jumpcon !
July 15th, 2008 at 5:16 am
Sophie:
Re: John Billingsley’s posts on his website and his forum, the forums have people John has met with before, so he probably feels a little freer with his recommendations to not support Jumpcon there than on the more-obviously public front page of his website.
John is A-1 all about the fans, period.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Martin, where did you see this because no announcement is on her official site and JumpCon still has her listed for Boston and is selling tickets.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:59 am
where was it announced that Nichelle Nichols has canceled?
does anyone know if Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonell are still coming?
July 15th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I’ve already sent an email to jumpcon sales asking for a full refund. We’ll see when I actualy get it
July 15th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
In regards to most of the comments people make about you, JCB, well, people know by what they SEE. I’ll just leave it at that.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I have also asked for a full refund stating that since they said it was possible and the con is no longer what I signed up for even if they won’t admit it to me, then I won’t be going. now all that leaves me with is a non-refundable flight but hey, I’m going to go to vulkon instead!
July 15th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I’ve heard that Vulcon was having some problems too
July 15th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
JumpCon has canceled Pittsburgh and Chicago.
Pittsburgh was to be next week!
Again, no official announcement.
http://www.jumpcon.com/?q=node/13
July 15th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
No problems here…..other than 5 kids, husband and staff that have resigned. Come out and see a great event for this weekend!
We are going to have a great time.
As for Julie Caitlin Brown, I disagree with Jerry’s comments. Some men can’t handle a strong woman. Julie has to be tough as an agent and in this industry. I find her a very respectful woman and great at her job!
July 15th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I just want to point out that it’s only slander if it’s false.
With that said, I did have the opportunity to meet JCB at Dragon*Con two years ago. When she was “on” as a guest, she was smiling, warm, and very friendly to those around her. When she was “on” as an agent for others … she was the complete opposite. She didn’t smile at all, she was barking orders, and yelled at people trying to take pictures while getting autographs. It wasn’t the impressionof her that I wanted to leave with.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Hi there. It sounds like Jumpcon bit off more than it could chew, put foot in mouth and all the other analogies that come with it. I’m still stunned that they didn’t do the research about their Atlanta date. COME ON….
Vulkon’s actually doing quite well and it should be a good show.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Both BSG guests have now been canceled, Edward and Mary are now not attending ANY JumpCons.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
http://greycoupon.livejournal.com/280969.html
I posted the email I got from MaryAnn.
If you know anything about Edward Olmos, you know he is pissed.
The online store is now empty as well. Boom she goes.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I can’t access livejournal from here
July 15th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
GreyCoupon @ Livejournal reports from her sources that Jumpcon Boston is officially cancelled, and that an official announcement from Jumpcon is forthcoming.
This follows on from the just-released news that that Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell have cancelled all Jumpcon appearances.
http://community.livejournal.com/jumpconcons/
July 15th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Didn’t Shane claim to have the money to pull off these conventions without any other backing?
July 15th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Yes. Several times he made those claims.
July 15th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
anyone hear anything about when they will be issuing refunds? I know that several people have recieved their refunds for previously canceled jumpcon events.
July 15th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
jumpcon has cancelled boston now and I’d expect that it for their whole run and they’ve said they are issuing ticket refunds now. if terri is happy to get a few more attendees at half price she’s got me now! I’ll be heading to vulkon as I know and trust those conventions. in fact, my best convention experiece has been at vulkon. terri, is that half price on all the tickets or only on general admissions? I’m working out which one to go for now….
July 15th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I got an email from sales saying that they were working on sending out refund checks. I don’t like the idea of getting a check back when I payed through paypal. A check can bounce
If Vulcon will pay for my airfare I will definately go there
July 15th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
i really hope it isn’t through the mail as I am moving/have moved house since I paid for my tickets and have no idea what address they have for me as it’s a possibility of 3 different ones! I am trying to get through to jumpcon about it but god knows what they are playing at right now…
July 15th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I emailed sales@jumpcon.com and they get back to me very quickly and the person who answers is actualy nice
July 15th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Sophie:
I so wish…….but maybe you could plan for our Halloween show!
July 15th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Official statement from Shane Senter RE: Boston
http://jumpcon.net/?q=node/604
“Message from Shane Concerning JumpCon Boston
“Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 13:36 Boston
“Announcement to fans coming to JumpCon Boston:
“I regret to announce the cancellation of our Boston event. Many factors that needed to come together to make it happen simply did not. We tried everything humanly possible and were unable to overcome the insurmountable obstacles. This is not to say that I don’t take the blame myself, I do. I wanted to see this succeed so badly that I was blinded to some warning signs that should have been obvious. If I have learned anything through this process it’s that running a convention business is far more intricate and fraught with peril than it seemed at the outset. I fully apologize to all the fans who’ve been inconvenienced by this late announcement and assure them that we’re in the process of getting you all refunds. I know there are airfare and other considerations for which you will be liable and for that I am truly sorry. I wanted to let you know today rather than keep trying to pull this off and end up like FedCon USA where the fans were already in attendance. Please accept my humble apology, but I’ll understand if you can’t.
“To all the consultants and industry experts that were brought in to help; I thank them and hold them blameless as they advised me and tried to do what they could to help. They should not be held accountable for my actions, they should be lauded for what they did try to accomplish based on what they had to work with.
“To all of the media guests that were to appear at our events; I want to say - I am sorry that this has happened and has put some of you into your own troubles by declining work, saying no to other conventions, and other issues. My intentions were honorable and I expected to be able to salvage things but at this point it seems I cannot.
“Sincerely,
“Shane Senter”
July 15th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
and….boom goes the dynamite
July 15th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Statement from Fernando is now up
A Message from Fernando Martinez
Submitted by admin on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 13:47
* Boston
To all fandom:
Please be advised that despite all my efforts to try to salvage Jumpcon, as of today - I see absolutely no chance of this event happening.
When I was hired by Jumpcon, I was assured that the Boston event would happen and that the funding was all arranged. I spent countless days and hours negotiating new appearance contracts with the stars and their agents to try to save the event, only to find that Jumpcon was unable to fulfill it’s financial obligations to the stars after all.
I regret that the stars were financially harmed by not being paid their appearance fees or cancellation fees.
I regret that the stars representatives, who were so nice and gracious, were not paid for their time and ended up looking bad to their clients. And I especially regret that the fans were harmed financially and (although not intentionally) were betrayed when they placed their trust in Jumpcon. I have been promised by Shane at Jumpcon that he would return every penny to the fans, I hope that is one promise he can keep.
Lastly I do want to thank: Lolita Fatjo, Erin Grey, and Julie Caitlin Brown (they were the agents representing the stars). They all went above and beyond to help salvage this event and to try to work with Jumpcon to the very end - in their efforts to protect the fans and their clients/stars from this event being cancelled. Although he (Shane) failed, it was not do to any failure on my part or the staffers or the other consultants, it was all due to Jumpcons inability to pay.
I know Fandom is resilient, and I know there will be other events, but every time something like this happens - all events lose fans who become jaded or give up, not wanting to attend cons anymore for fear of another cancellation. But, consider this, if we all give up there may be no cons to go to eventually, and that is a no win scenario for all of us. So please use this as a lesson learned and continue to support the events that have withstood the tests of time. I do recommend (and this is only my short list) the following events: San Diego Comic Con, Dragon Con, Creation Conventions, Shoreleave, Florida SuperCon, Vulkon, MegaCon, and FX. I know I missed a number of other great cons, but you can find them on the internet, and I do hope you will support them.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
See you out there.
Sincerely,
Fernando Martinez / Former owner and promoter of Vulkon and Seatrek
and an email from the sales dept confirms ALL JUMPCONS ARE CANCELED.
July 15th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
It just reaffirms my belief that the best cons are the fan & volunteer run, not-for-profit conventions that find guests not through agents and appearance fees but by actually talking to people. The “big name, big event” conventions (Jumpcon, Fedcon, Flanvention/Booster Entertainment, many, many others) never live up to their promises. No convention should plan on spending thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars just to bring in a “guest” and then hope that people will show up because of that name. Don’t pay someone to show up until the money is in the bank.
Besides, how many people really attend that type of convention? Really? What was Jumpcon hoping for attendance? Or FedconUSA? Or Flanvention3? A thousand? Two thousand? And what were their plans if only 500 people showed up? You can’t pay for all that on credit.
July 15th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
i haven’t heard anything from jumpcon since last night when they tried to change my meal package. I’ve emailed twice to no response. right now i’m very much hoping to get my money back but it’s worrying me now that that might not happen either.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
I already got some of my money back, for the extra autographs I had bought. Now waiting on the money for my emperor’s club ticket
July 15th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Linsey, I’m surprised they haven’t answered you. I’ve been emailing back and forth with Stephanie for the better part of two hours now and I’ve already gotten some of my money back
July 15th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
sfx tried to run a convention in the UK a few years ago and twice lost a headline guest so the attendance went way down but they did the decent thing and got back up guests at the last minute and still ran the con. for those attending for the back ups we had a great con but their business flopped. luckily since it was the magazine they were able to pick themselves back up again but it shows what can hinder a con overall.
jumpcon clearly set their sights too high after all. like I said though, i just hope shane and co realise now how difficul it is for the fans to know they spent up to 1000 dollars or more going to the con and in the economy these days we need that money. 850 of mine went to jumpcon’s pockets and that’s 850 dollars I need back if I’m getting nothing to show for it thise weekend.
i think there’s going to be hell to pay if refunds don’t go out. i’m also hoping paypal will come in handy if they don’t get it back to us too.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
i take it they sent you it back through paypal then if you got it already? maybe you can keep us updated at the moment!
and to think. i came home from work ill today and have now ended up spending the afternoon chasing up jumpcon issues instead of resting with a shiny season 4 atlantis box set….
July 15th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I’ve already gotten the money back from all the extra autographs I bought. Now I’m just waiting on the emperor’s ticket itself and the Thursday night hotel room. If I don’t get it back one week from today, I’m going to file a claim with paypal and contact my lawyer friend
I think if Jumpcon as a first time convention had just planned ONE event instead of two dozen, it might have actualy happened.
I was looking forward to meeting Edward James Olmos and Mary Mcdonell SO MUCH!!! At least we found out ahead of time that it was canceled and not when we were already there
July 15th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I am currently working with Megafest to do their Framingham Massachusetts Show (near Boston). I hope to see many fans there.
These people have always lived up to their commitments and I highly recommend their show to those who were planning to come to Boston.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
when is it, who is coming? Is there a website?
July 15th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Wow. I knew very early on that there was no way this show would happen, but I had no idea that it would be as dramatic an end as all this. Coming on the heels of FedConUSA in Dallas, this really deals a blow to the confidence of the fans to hit new shows.
As an aside, I represent Jerry Doyle, and they had him up on the site as appearing in DC before even contacting either of us regarding the appearance. I had to threaten legal action in order to get them to take him off the site.
I urged caution to any celebs I spoke with regarding this show, too many horror stories along the lines of Dave Scott/Slanted Fedora with promises of riches only to be stiffed in the end. As the saying goes, “If it’s too good to be true…”.
I put on a “first show” in Florida this year (www.wrathofcon.org), and am gratified that we took a good idea and implemented it well and honorably enough that everyone there (around 350) had a great time and I didn’t lose very much money on the deal. We’re going to flip it into an annual event, and invite everyone to come next year. Hopefully the actions of irresponsible people like this guy “Shane” and “Tim” from FedConUSA don’t sour the barrel for the rest of us.
I hope you all get refunds, although if I were you I wouldn’t hold my breath.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Sorry, it’s actuall called Super Megafest. It’s tentatively scheduled for the 4th weekend in November. They haven’t posted their new wesite yet as they want to get all their ducks in a row.
I have done two previous conventions for these people. One in Boston and another in Chicago or New Jersey.
They live up to their obligations and do a great job.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
If I haven’t seen or heard or had an email from jumpcon by friday I will be phoning them about my refund. According to a guy who posted on their site they are refunding by convention in order so the boston ones should be processed first.
i’m hoping therefore that they keep most of this simple and refund people the same way they paid. refunding by paypal takes a few clicks. if I don’t hear anything soon I’ll be getting annoyed.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Linsey, I’m sure the refund basis is also determined by how payment is made. If you wrote a check and sent it in then it will take longer than someone who paid online.
In addition, if you want action faster then it is recommended YOU contact them instead of the other way around. The squeeky wheel gets the oil.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
For the local New Englanders - Bob Picardo is confirmed to attend ConnectiCon the weekend of August 1-3 in Hartford, CT, as are Ethan Phillips and Ellen Muth (hi, martin).
Ethan and Bob will be performing a play, “Housecall” on Saturday night.
Hope to see some of you at ConnectiCon in 3 weeks!
Really sorry to hear about everyone’s issues with JumpCon and the catastrophe that has happened there. When I first heard about JumpCon I was nervous for everyone involved.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:28 am
Thanks! (mathew)
I would also like to confirm that all of our clients, Ellen Muth, Robert Picardo and Ethan Phillips will be at ConnectiCon ! All flights and travel have been arranged and booked! To all the fans who were looking forward to Jumpcon, please consider coming out to ConnectiCon! It will be a huge event and we will all be glad to see all the fans and welcome you all. The staff at ConnectiCon have been top notch and very professional with me and my clients. This convention will be a blast and we want you all to come out and meet the stars and party with us! ConnectiCon will be amazing. Don’t miss it!!!!! Ethan and Roberts play is something you really need to see to believe! It’s histerical !!! ~~~ See you all there!
July 16th, 2008 at 7:20 am
I had tickets to attend JumpCon in Washington DC. I called their Sales Dept. today after the announcement from a rep of Adrian Paul (who was enroute to the con) and Peter Wingfield’s fan club stating that JumpCon was canceled and both men would not be attending.
I was told that refunds for Washington DC would come AFTER Boston and Pittsburgh and would happen in 2-3 weeks via check, not PayPal (even though I paid that way).
I am not holding my breath after reading this blog that I will get my money back if actors are now due a cancellation fee for all the cons dumped today. Don’t get me wrong, I do not begrudge any actor their fees, they were defrauded by Shane and his group too, but JumpCon had to have known weeks ago these events were not going to happen and should have been upfront and honest about it. (As someone who was a part of a convention committee - for a small local media convention - I know that once you lose respect and trust in the fannish community you are doomed and no fan will ever trust Shane/JumpCon again). It is a shame as the idea was inventive, but the execution was unprofessional and immature.
July 16th, 2008 at 11:26 am
For those who were attending for the Highlander guests, please note that HIGHLANDER WORLDWIDE will be running an event next year. In over a decade of events we’ve never cancelled a single convention weekend and we will be bringing forward the announcements/launch date so that anyone who is wondering where they can go next/instead can get clear, accurate, honest information and the option to join us.
The announcement will be made in the next week or so and further information can be found at: http://www.highlanderworldwide.com as it happens.
July 16th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
so what happens if they send me a check, but it bounces? Does the amount still go into my account? I’m not sure how that works
July 16th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
If you get a bounced check, no you don’t get the money because that means there is no money in the sender’s account to cover the check. In addition, you may get charged a fee for the bounced check. You need to contact your bank for full disclosure and process in such cases. You may find this info on your bank’s website (if they have one).
If you paid via PayPal you should be able to work with them providing you meet the qualifications for them to get involved. If you paid by credit card, there is another avenue of support.
If you read this blog and some of the forums around, folks are stating they are getting refunds already, and in a couple of cases without making the inquiry yet into a refund. So they are coming.
Information is getting out on the order of refunds (by event date). I would say if you do not see a refund or received any contact from JumpCon at least a week in advance of the event you were to go to then contact them via email and phone to check on status. I know it will be tough but try and be calm and not abusive…you’d be surprised at how well this works and can get you what you need sometimes faster in any situation.
Also, keep in mind there were around 7 shows canceled and 2 shows postponed prior to the Boston cancellation. Refunds were probably in the works for some of those shows which is why some folks may be getting refunds for later shows (Pittsburgh and Chicago) over those folks in Boston.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I already got a refund for about $100 for a few autographs. I’m still waiting for the $1,000 for the ticket and hotel. I had tickets to the Boston event so I should be one of the first ones to get it. I’m just concerned why they decided to send out checks instead of paypal. With their already established history of being something of a scam artist, it wouldnt surprise me if they were sending the checks without funds behind them.
July 16th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
According to the blog listed below, the Boston Sheraton was never officially notified by Jumpcon that the show was cancelled. They found out the same way everyone else did: on the web.
http://ursula-and-olive.blogspot.com/2008/07/jumpcon-is-fraud.html
Doesn’t surprise me, really…
July 16th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Hate to break it to everyone but there is no one working in the office anymore they all lost there jobs because, big shock, there was no money to pay them
July 17th, 2008 at 3:40 am
I have tried to open a paypal dispute but paypal says it’s not eligible for some reason. I think because they want one filed with 45 days of the original transaction and I’m at about 60 since ordering my tickets in may.
I got my form email from lois on behalf of Shae Senter saying they were ‘in the process’ of issuing refunds but they’d confirm later about it. I have emailed AGAIN saying I need to know about method of refund as I have changed address since I paid and will soon be living in another country so I really need to know a more specific how and when. I’m just annoyed they aren’t talking to anyone. Silence is the worst, I’d rather I heard something from them
July 17th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Call them.
From the JumpCon website, Contact Us:
JumpCon Control Staff Office Hours: Monday to Friday 10 AM - 6 PM (EDT) Address: JumpCon 53 High Street Milford, NH 03055-6733
Phone:
Operations: 603-249-9001
Sales: 603-249-9002
Fax: 603-249-9008
eMail: manager@jumpcon.com
July 17th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
So he had an office and people getting paid even though he hadn’t pulled off a single event yet? So where did the money come from, or will a lot of people find that out when they don’t get the refund he promised?
July 17th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
con_watcher, see post above from AmandaGamer on 07/16.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I saw it, she says they’re not working ANYMORE cause of no money, which means they were getting paid before. So apparently there was money to pay them but not to pay any of the contract obligations to guests or hotels.
July 17th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I was supposedly a staff member (not a volunteer) until I resigned. I was NEVER paid.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
United Fan Con is coming to the rescue of fans in Boston.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Randolph, MA. – July 17, 2008 – United Fan Con Inc., a small not-for-profit fan-run group located in Randolph MA, has stepped up to give the fans in Boston the fun-filled weekend that they were anticipating.
On Tuesday afternoon, July 15th, the Milford, NH based event promotions company, JumpCon LLC, cancelled a large Science Fiction / Pop Culture event scheduled for this weekend July 18th-20th at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. This is a second time in the last two months events like this have collapsed at the last minute, in June Fed Con USA in Dallas , TX canceled the rest of their show during the actual event itself.
United Fan Con has been producing fan-run events in Massachusetts for the past 17 years and knows when events are canceled like this it leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouths; it hurts everyone involved: actors, agents, hotels, other promoters and especially the fans. This time it is different, a lot of fans that were planning to attend the now canceled Jumpcon Boston have rallied together to put on their own mini convention. It started with online forum posts discussing the situation and then moved to the realization that many people were still coming to Boston regardless of the JC cancellation. These fans decided to organize and started planning a mini fan event. United Fan Con stepped in to help the fans make it happen, giving the fans the funds to rent space at a new venue and use of any and all equipment and supplies needed to host an event. In addition UFC is contacting actors, agents and vendors with the hope of making this an exciting weekend.
This Fan Con will be free to all attendees and include; games, videos, fan panels, auctions, vendors and more. The event will take place at the Hilton Back Bay, located at 40 Dalton Street, Boston MA (directly across the street from the Boston Sheraton). The event will run from 3pm – 10pm on Friday, 10am – 6pm on Saturday and 12pm – 6pm on Sunday.
Here is what is being said about the fans efforts:
“It’s really cool that you are trying to help these poor fans”. - Bob Catalano, Westland Productions
“I hope you can make something happen with the fans, thanks for doing this.” Julie Catlin Brown – Illumina Productions,
“How nice of you to reach out and see what can be done. We greatly appreciate your thoughts and willingness to try and make something positive out this fiasco Thank you”. Erin Gray - Heroes for Hire.
What we need is you, the fan, to get the word out! Tell all of your friends and tell us how you can help. This is a true FAN CON!
If you wish to help plan this event please join us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jconcons/
July 17th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Thanks Bobalouinc for answering my question and to the other agents who have been posting here and letting the fans know what’s gone on.
You guys did the right thing by setting the rules and standards and cancelling when the contract terms weren’t met. That’s what will keep quality conventions operating.
That’s the way fans can know who they can trust spending their money on in the future and who they can’t.
As long as all of you insist on promotors meeting their responsibilities, it protects the best interests of everyone involved.
Thanks to the guests and agents for hanging in there and bending over backwards to make things right. And thanks again for letting us know your side of the story instead of leaving us to play guessing games per the failed con organisers newsflashes and spin doctoring.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
You know what the worst thing about all this is? What happens if another company wants to put on a con, but it’s actualy a GOOD company, with money and they pay their guests, nobody will trust them.
July 18th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Here is some great news about fandom pitching in to help out people stranded by JumpCon in Boston
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Randolph, MA. – July 17, 2008 – United Fan Con Inc., a small not-for-profit fan-run group located in Randolph MA, has stepped up to give the fans in Boston the fun-filled weekend that they were anticipating.
On Tuesday afternoon, July 15th, the Milford, NH based event promotions company, JumpCon LLC, cancelled a large Science Fiction / Pop Culture event scheduled for this weekend July 18th-20th at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. This is a second time in the last two months events like this have collapsed at the last minute, in June Fed Con USA in Dallas , TX canceled the rest of their show during the actual event itself.
United Fan Con has been producing fan-run events in Massachusetts for the past 17 years and knows when events are canceled like this it leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouths; it hurts everyone involved: actors, agents, hotels, other promoters and especially the fans. This time it is different, a lot of fans that were planning to attend the now canceled Jumpcon Boston have rallied together to put on there own mini convention. It started with online forum posts discussing the situation and then moved to the realization that many people were still coming to Boston regardless of the JC cancellation. These fans decided to organize and started planning a mini fan event. United Fan Con stepped in to help the fans make it happen, giving the fans the funds to rent space at a new venue and use of any and all equipment and supplies needed to host an event. In addition UFC is contacting actors, agents and vendors with the hope of making this an exciting weekend.
This Fan Con will be free to all attendees and include; games, videos, fan panels, auctions, vendors and more. The event will take place at the Hilton Back Bay, located at 40 Dalton Street, Boston MA (directly across the street from the Boston Sheraton). The event will run from 3pm – 10pm on Friday, 10am – 6pm on Saturday and 12pm – 6pm on Sunday.
Here is what is being said about the fans efforts:
“It’s really cool that you are trying to help these poor fans”. - Bob Catalano, Westland Productions
“I hope you can make something happen with the fans, thanks for doing this.” Julie Catlin Brown – Illumina Productions,
“How nice of you to reach out and see what can be done. We greatly appreciate your thoughts and willingness to try and make something positive out this fiasco Thank you”. Erin Gray - Heroes for Hire.
July 18th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Just so you know con watcher JumpCon had a finacial backer but they pulled out ofter FedCon went down, it was a blow and the employees will be the last to see there money. We were given bad checks several times, i can’t tell you the numbers about what most of us are owed but lets just say between three of us its enough worth sueing over.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Mark Goddard to appear at the new Boston event
UPDATE: July 18, 2008 - Actor Mark Goddard, who portrayed the character Major Don West in the TV Series “Lost In Space”, will be joining us this weekend at our Fan Con event. Mark is very concerned about recent events and will be making an appearance Friday, July 18 around 5pm and possibly Saturday, July 19, 2008, time TBD.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
He may have told them he had a $ backer but I don’t believe for a minute that he ever did. What makes them think he was telling the truth about that?
July 18th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Why does anyone believe anything Shane says? Nothing he’s said yet has had any truth behind it. Was there ever a backer? Why would there need to be one, since he kept going on and on about how much money he had inherited.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Please see my comment under “Fans still have …” dated 18 July. In the words of the great Stan Lee, ’nuff said.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
<>
Where are these deep pockets when fan-run cons solicit sponsorships? *grin*
July 18th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
*ahem* I don’t speak the right code for this system…
QUOTE
JumpCon had a finacial backer
END QUOTE
July 18th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Is this guy amazingly cool and convincing in person? Cause every time somebody writes about what Shane was promising, I shake my head that anyone believed it for a minute. Mystery backer for a ton of fan-run cons? Burning through a big inheritance? ORly? I’d laugh in his face before any checks had a chance to bounce.
And the more I read, the more I move from thinking self-deluded fan to con artist who targeted a specific audience.
July 19th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Even when he had no choice but to fall from the sky last week he apologized but blamed others. No one gave this guy bad advice. It appears to have beem all about him. If you looked at all of the stuff he said on line, the podcast interview and his ridiculous MySpace page (hes cleaned that all up recently but STILL has jumpcon ads on it LOL) one assumption is that he is a pathological liar.
July 19th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I would really like to hear from one of the “staff” folks at Jumpcon about their take on this. Especially the ones that kept reassuring fans up til the last minute and then disappeared a few days before the fall out.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Ditto. I’d also like to hear again from the staff member. It sounds like they’ve been hurt too. I see that at least one of them was a genuine fan with ties to the Doctor Who community, as well as the woman known as “AltoTrek”, a Michigander who was helping out.
July 20th, 2008 at 1:43 am
yes Alto Trek was a bit over the top in her downright creepy worship of Shane. He must have been feeding her bull 24/7.
July 20th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
anyone heard anything for the last few days or so? I’m going to try calling this week but I have very little hope of getting anyone or an empty mailbox as I’m assuming the office is likely closed up or something.
It might be nice of people update here when they hear things about refunds. I know not EVERYONE is here who had a ticket but hearing something good might help folks.
By the way, Vulkon’s convention this weekend was awesome. I felt weird thinking I should have been in Boston and had it not been for an original line up Jumpcon had tauted I would have always planned to be at the Vulkon orlando event in the first place.. Had I been less naive to begin with…. hindsight is 20/20 and all that.
July 20th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Agreed - people need a centralized spot to track refunds — for anyone else who came in late, another place to post information would be the Livejournal community “Jumpconcons” - http://community.livejournal.com/jumpconcons/
July 21st, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Edward James Olmos is now a guest at DRAGON*CON. Yay!!!
July 21st, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I have seen that people want someone who worked for jumpcon to answer your questions well I’m all ears. What would you like to know first? I can only answer qestions i have the answers to, I’m not gonna lie i still don’t know the entire truth to some things.
July 21st, 2008 at 5:39 pm
thanks Amanda. No one from Shane’s camp seems to be talking.
Did Shane misrepresent his own financial situation to the staff too? I still don’t believe he had a backer. Was there a treasurer or accountant or did he control the purse strings?
Were the staff with him or all in remote locations?
Does he have the $ to refund everyone ?
Before Fernando came was anything being organized? It seems like Fernando started with a blank canvas. Everything else up to that point was smoke and mirrors .
How did he surmise that he and this small staff were going to travel every week for months at a time and have everything organized too? That travel budget alone would be mighty high.
Why were the forums shut down permenantly with no explanation?
Does the original guest booking person have anything to say about the allegations that she was at fault? Is this the first time she had ever done this?
I find it hard to believe that after boasting about all his perfection and expertise that he was the victim here.
Thanks for posting. I doubt we’ll hear from Shane anymore but I wouldn’t believe anything he would say at this point (never did really after hearing him interviewed by the Dr Who folks). It’s interesting to note that he removed all of the over the top description of himself on his mypace on the same day that Boston was cancelled.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I’d also like to know the following:
Why did Jumpcon not say a single WORD about the two-day relaxacon that other fans put together this past weekend to take the edge off for those people who had already purchased tickets?
Why did Jumpcon say nothing about guest cancellations even when guests (Mary Tamm, Bob Picardo, John Billingsley, Colin Baker) were already mentioning it on their own websites?
Why did Jumpcon, when it accidentally published the “convention hotel manifesto” months ago (the list of hotels and the “perks” Shane Senter was going to receive form each of them, widely circulated thereafter on the Internet), not address the fact that it was expecting TWO THOUSAND ATTENDEES at each site? In places like Kalamazoo and Montgomery, untested convention grounds, natch?
Why did Jumpcon not allow fans to discuss their own plans for the Boston weekend on their website, after Shane announced it was over?
Why did Jumpcon not announce publicly that all conventions were canceled (as indicated by Jumpcon customer service emails), and not JUST Boston (as Shane indicated)?
And finally… why did Shane Senter indicate publicly that he was able to financially support these conventions, then contract hotels, contract guests and advertise to take money from the public, when in fact he was using “backers,” one of whom he said had “pulled out” after the FedCon debacle?
These are important questions. This is a matter of interstate commerce. Shane Senter is lucky the Department of Justice isn’t investigating this…
July 21st, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Good questions Joey although I’d bet a years worth of paychecks the only money there ever was was whatever was sent in by the fans buying their tickets to all of the cons listed. I’m sure he was counting on that to get them through. As it turns out, it wasnt enough.
You have to take risks in business but it was foolish to risk attendees money for such a huge undertaking and make them believe there was already boatloads of it to cover everything.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:53 pm
OK this is going to be a long post so here we go:
First, yes Shane misrepresented himself i started the end of may and was told by no less than 3 people that this guy had the money to back up all his financial plans. You see i was hired to work because the gaming department was having problems getting off the ground and with only a month to go till launch they needed results quick, i was told i had a $75,000 budget, i questioned at first but then i saw how much money he was spending everywhere and assumed he had the money.
Second, yes there was a backer i can’t tell you the details but i know they guy personally I’m a friend of the family and i know exactly when and how that all came to be and the backer wasn’t just money he was the credit to get loans as well.
Third, All the staff worked out of the office except the guest booking person Donna who is the one who screwed up.. i saw the contracts with my own eyes she was an idiot… let me put it to you this way there were spelling errors in the contracts and they were not done with the advice of a lawyer i mean who does that. She was booking people at crazy prices to pull off large commissions. Also Altotrek and louis from the pod cast didnt work onsite either but they were updated daily on the goings on of the operation.
Fourth No he does not have the money at this time to refund everyone who he owes money too, hell he still owes me 900 just for 2 weeks back pay, i don’t expect to ever see that money.
Fifth, The details were not worked out before Fernando showed up i know this because i almost got myself fired early in June for asking how we were possibly going to handle all the stars, checking people in, security, the scheduling of events etc. To tell you the honest truth we were further in the gaming schedule than any part of the con we had the entire gaming daily schedule done for the first 3 shows by the second week of June.
The forums being shut down was a combination of 3 things: first they were planning on cancelling a show the were worried about not being able to control the flow of info, second sorry but it was kinda my fault for freaking at people and threatening Shane to tell them all the truth of the situation, and third Altotrek couldn’t keep screening the posts there were just too many.
The reason people have been in the dark since July 15th pretty much is because the entire staff quit after our second paycheck bounce…we said that we were done listening to the lies and that we could bear to talk to people who had been so disappointed we told him to clean his own mess cuz he didn’t pay us enough to bullshit people.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:28 am
Amanda, have any of you who haven’t been paid contacted the state of New Hampshire in any way?
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:27 am
so Amanda you are saying he lied and he wanted you to “bullshit ” people?
I’m especially annoyed by this Alto trek woman. What made her so adamant about Shanes good intentions? She became the spokesperson for the validity of all his claims- WHY? What is it that made her believe she was right?
Again Thnx for your honesty. Don’t ever let anyone think youre a cad for beiong a whistle blower. The truth needs to come out.
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:32 am
I still don’t believe the backer was backing. Where is this coward that can’t come forward to explain his reason for backing out? The fas that won’t get their money back deserve the whole truth.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:32 am
The backer has been gone since the second week of june he’s not in the fold anymore… As for Altotrek that poor poor person i feel so bad that they bought into the lies as well, all Altotrek knew was what Shane said why would she doubt it? She like the people i worked with had no reason to raise eyebrows until the consultants showed up and starting throwing over rocks to find everything he had managed to hid somehow.. Please don’t blaim any of them, the two consultants who will be called M and S because there could be hurt in the industry if i name them did everything in there power… I picked them up each day and they worked 12-14 hour days just trying to figure out how to get out of the quagmire, Fernando as well was lead a merry chase. These people had no idea the mine field they were stepping into. When i was working there i felt like i was in a crazy cult following some leader trying to fill our heads with bullshit every time you ask a logical question the answer either was”…were working on it..” or “..why do you always have to questions Shane?…” i felt very alone until the consultants stepped in and said umm hey you do see a problem here right?
And to answer your question several of the staff members are sueing for the money but i feel its not worth the pain and agrevation I’m lucky because i was just doing this for fun i have a college degree to fall back on alot of the people i worked with were counting on this job and now they are screwed. If i don’t have my money by the end of the month i’ll report to the state labor division but i bet he’ll be in jail by then for bad checks anything over $1,000 is a felone (trust me he has enough out there).
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:38 am
Amanda, is the ex-backer the gentleman who owns the pizzeria? (His name is already on some of the other paperwork from earlier this summer - tracked down online - so it’s a matter of record that he was involved.)
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:32 am
What was Shane spending so much money on? We know it wasn’t the guests or hotels, so what?
Thanks for filling in the blanks, so much of what we suspected seems to be true, unfortunately.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I have a feeling that the hotels aren’t going to just let Shane off the hook if they had actual signed contracts with him. The actors (and their agents) realize this guy would take money from refunding the fans to pay their contractual obligations, and so may not be as quick to go after him, but the Sheratons, Marriotts and Hiltons of the world won’t worry too much about that aspect.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I agree re: the hotels. But I believe Shane incorporated just before the cons were cancelled, right? If so, then the corporation should be liable for the funds, not him personally.
Although laws/regs in NH may be different from that, so others can comment.
But yes, the hotels will expect to be paid, especially if the event wasn’t formally cancelled.
Worse for the fans - if the event wasn’t formally cancelled, you won’t be getting money back for hotel rooms, as they held them for you and did not give them to other people - and in Boston, which tends to be full up on most weekends, they certainly could have given out those rooms. At a minimum, you’ll owe the first night.
I strongly suggest that people contact their credit card companies and protest the charges. See if the credit card company will have some pull re: getting your funds back from Jumpcon.
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Amanda, no offense or anything, but I find it hard to believe anyone with a real “college degree” would spell as poorly as you do. Your posts on the JC website were atrocious, filled with incorrect spelling and enough grammatical errors to give any English teacher a stroke. That’s not even taking into consideration just how poorly you personally treated anyone (including me) who dared question you or JC. I know that you personally drove a number of people away, so you certainly did nothing to help the situation.
What are you gaining by being here? Are you trying to apologize for the way you treated paying customers?
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
How are we to get our refunds when he says he doesn’t have the money for it? So he sends us checks and they all bounce, what do we do about it then? If the check bounces are we just SOL, or is there a way that we will get our money. That bastard still owes me $1,000!!!!!!!!!
Has anyone had luck with paypal with filing a claim with them? I started a claim but it’s over 90 days since I bought the tickets. I haven’t gotten an answer from paypal yet
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I filed a “claim” with Paypal (I funded my $300+) payment to JumpCon with my Amex card through Paypal.
Because it was over 60 days they just closed the claim. No further response from PayPal.
I did get a “pending” refund from JumpCon/shane but as he is not funding the bank account attached to that refund it will never come.
So last night I called Amex and had them start the charge-back process, they told me no problem and it will take about 30 days to complete.
All I had to provide was my “due diligence” that I tried to get a refund myself (the 9 emails, 2 phone calls and some info direct from the JumpCon site about cancellations awas all they asked for).
I recommend anyone who funded their payment through Credit Card to do the charge back process (one of my friends already got his $500+ charge back money from his CitiBank card).
Do not wait for JumpCon/Shane to refund you - if he has staff not paid and bouncing checks to them - you have to use whatever method you can to get your money back.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I’m not too sure how this works then. My paypal is funded from my checking account. Would my bank be able to get the money back?
did you call anyone at paypal? I heard that someone at paypal said if they got a lot of claims about the same company that they would begin an investigation and it would increast the chances of people getting their money back
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I wanted to specifically thank Amanda for her answers! It’s much appreciated.
I have one question for you basically Amanda; you worked closely with Shane I guess; in your opinion, did he honestly think that he was going to be able to pull all of these Cons off, or do you think he was essentially taking people for a ride from the start?
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Oh and as for Altotrek I wanted to say,
I’ve talked to her a lot via email; I’m a forum moderator for another convention, as she was for this convention, so I felt a lot of empathy for her, and, when I felt she was getting in a bit over her head, I tried to offer her some advice.
Talking to her as much as I have, I do believe she was totally duped by Shane, and I would only fault her for, possibly, being so enthusiastic and so wanting this Con to happen, and possibly a little naieve about how professional Cons operate, that she ignored some of the warning signs before it was too late. Altotrek had nothing to do with the planning or implosion of this Con, and was simply unfortunate enough to be duped into being a mouthpiece for Shane for a time. As she’s posted elsewhere, she’s out money too.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Sorry, Amanda, but those are rationales and justifications, not answers. (No, I don’t blame you - I know you don’t have to say anything and I’m not being testy toward you…)
When you go into business, you do your homework. Shane Senter presented this entire thing from the start as a done deal; he said he had the experience, the financial backing and the operational support to throw these events. He did not indicate something had gone wrong to the public until the last minute; instead, he was still advertising an event (Boston) he was almost certain was never going to happen - and was taking money for it - until a week prior. And now people are told that they may not get refunded?
That is not a ‘moral failure’. That is not a bad situation. That’s fraud.
More importantly, he conducted business across state lines for this convention. That’s fraud in conducting interstate commerce. That’s a Federal crime. As a single holder of what I believe is an LLC (versus a corporation or partnership) he may be personally liable for all costs that ensue. I could give a cr*p about hotel contracts that need to be honored… PAID MEMBERS need to be refunded completely. If not, I expect he’s going to face lawsuits, and potential DoJ investigation.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Incidentally, there is a website for people to visit who have been defrauded via the Internet, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). The website is located here:
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Sophie, you can try your bank, but I’m not sure how much they can help you. But it’s certainly worth a phone call.
This is the very reason why I back my PayPal with my credit card, and not my bank account. Credit cards offer fraud protection, and will back you up, as a card holder, if someone like Jumpcon doesn’t provide a good/service that you paid for via the card.
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:50 pm
you know what realy sucks about this….I looked online, and the refund that jumpcon owes me is exactly what it would cost my husband and I to go to vegas for the closing of the experience…hotel and airfare *angry*
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
My company was on hold in early 2008 to do the photographs for each of the Jumpcon conventions…..yes, we were very excited based on Shane’s promises and expectations for conventions he had never produced.
We were lucky, we dropped Shane when we realized he had no money back then to pay a small deposit for us to move forward. Good luck, all.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Maybe Shane’s lead Event Planner can answer some questions….
Laurie C. Payne, President
In Short Order Worldwide Meetings & Events
12905 Meehan Drive
Austin, Texas 78727
01.512.300.0817 o
01.832.287.7407 m
“It’s not too late at all. You just don’t know yet what you are capable of.” Mahatma Gandhi
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
For those who are filing with paypal CALL THEM. I filed a dispute online with them and it was immediately closed because it was past 45 days. So I called their customer support center and the guy there who was very nice reopened the case and said they would investigate it. He also recommended reporting them to the internet fraud site. So if more people call paypal about jumpcon it would help each other get the refunds!
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
It looks like if all this plays out as mentioned above, I will be out a considerable amount of money and I did not pay via paypal, debit card or credit card. I just hope this works out, because I really do not want to have to go through draconian methods.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Yes I have terrible spelling Mitch I wasn’t an English major I was a chemistry major. The only reason universal spelling and grammar were adopted was the printing press, sorry I tried to help but it seems every time I try to tell people what’s going on I get either insulted or attacked. Your right Mitch I shouldn’t even bother I mean why I should say anything, you guys all have fun trying to get your money back
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Amanda, I’m simply pointing out the irony in your postings. You’ve commented about Donna’s “spelling errors” in the contracts with guests, while at the same time having your own issues. You don’t see the irony there?
I have problems with YOU because of your responses directed at me on the JC forums. Others seem to overlook them, that you have something valuable to say. If so, by all means, say it. I’m rapt with attention.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Why is the Jumpcon website still online? Why is the fourth item a solicitation of PAYMENT? Why has there not been an official statement about Jumpcon going out of business?
More importantly, why isn’t this being investigated yet by the FBI? The mind boggles.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Shane has said that he is still trying to “revamp” and try again. What an idiot. Who would go to that now?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I too was very annoyed with you at one time Amanda - but you are the only one who has come forward to inform anyone and now I respect you for that, regardless of your reasons for doing so. Please remember that people are incredibly angry and hurt by this baffoon Shane and we lash out at whatever target is within our reach since he has decided to disappear after yet again making false promises.
To respond with “have fun getting your money back” is a really bad response but I can understand your total frustration with the entire matter when you are at least trying to give an honest appraisal of the situation. Understand the anger and ignore the insults. Thats a lot to ask but do it anyway.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Thanks mike for being so nice about everything. As for the spelling mistake, its one thing for a person to make a couple of errors on a online posts its another story when its a legal contract. I’m just as angry as you guys about everything, my summers ruined too and I’m out $900 and unemployed its hard to get a job in the market today. I understand the frustration and i felt worse for you guys because at least i know what happend and whats going on. As for Shane “revamping” the situation the last i heard he was bringing in the agent for the highlander cast to try and take over and fix this disaster….all i have to say the her is good luck. I can only hope that someone like the BBB or FBI gets involved i require blood to make up for what he did to me and my very close friend who also worked for jumpcon. I can not believe someone could be so stupid as he was in the situation, he never took the consultants advice why would you hire people who experts at this sort of thing and then ignore them what a waste of money.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:11 pm
he is trying to put on another show? Who would go to it now?
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Regarding contracts and Donna… Amanda, did you really SEE these contracts with their spelling errors? My understanding is that Donna was given the contracts by Shane and was only in charge of having them signed - she did NOT draw them up. So if there were any “spelling” errors, it was not because she made them… and frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit at this point if Shane cut corners and drew them up himself without benefit of legal advice.
Whatever you think about her, she was not trying to rip people off with large commissions - she can support herself nicely and honestly, and has done so for years, thank you.
Also, with all due respect - anyone who has a college degree and is working in a professional capacity, whether it’s online or in print, knows that what you type needs to reflect that - it needs to be error free and grammatically correct.
Jerri
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Thanks Jerri,
What I find odd is that she didnt defend herself (and still hasnt as far as I know) when she was made the scapegoat for at least the guest portion of the con. I would be livid and shouting from the highest trees to protect my reputation if someone presented me in a very negative light to save himself.
However, not knowing all the circumstances and perhaps shes weighing other options as to how to respond, I’m inclined to believe you and that it was ultimately Shane’s doing and she was just another “whipping boy” if you will.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:24 pm
when someone is posting something online related to their jobs yes it should be correct. but when people are casualy chatting online who cares? I have a college degree. When I send things professionaly I use spell and grammar checkers, but when I’m just bullshitting online who cares?
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Sophie, the people reading it care… it’s harder to read a text that’s full of errors. Just because it’s a casual “chat” doesn’t mean that the foundation of written communication isn’t important.
Also - even when Amanda was posting on the JumpCon site in her “official” capacity, she wasn’t presenting herself that way through her writing. It made her look less professional.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
that’s the one I’m talking about, while she was posting through jumpcon it was part of her job. Yes she needed to be professional. But here an ocassional spelling error is not the end of the world. You still know what people mean. And spelling errors don’t mean that you’re not intelligent or not educated
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I wholeheartedly agree that this did not help to present Jumpcon as a professional organization among MANY other things i.e. silly titles, Shanes myspace and the copmplete lack of details that were always promised and never came and on and on ad nauseum.
Could we agree that some ppl care and some ppl dont about the spelling grammer thing. I think the point has been made.
Just sayin….
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:45 pm
complete that is- ROFL
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:26 pm
so has anyone heard anything else from Jumpcon about refunds?
July 24th, 2008 at 1:43 am
I haven’t heard anyone say they got a refund from Shane. However, I have heard several people say that they have called their credit card company and both Paypal & Amex have offered to give them a charge
back which menas they are refunded for their loss.
So this is good news!!
sheryl318@aol.com
July 24th, 2008 at 3:29 am
Hi all,
Having the due diligence of trying to get my JumpCon tickets refunded thrust upon me, I got brave today and called the JumpCon phone number this afternoon. Well, actually, I called both numbers still mentioned on the web site:
Operations: 603-249-9001 Sales: 603-249-9002
I totally expected to get no answer. Trying the first number elicited what I expected — no answer. But, after 6 rings, there *was* an answer on the second.
Shane, himself, answered. I’ll spare you the details of the tragi-comedy of a very shy person speaking with a very defensive person who was feeling quite sorry for himself, and just tell you of the important things that got said:
When asked directly if all the JumpCons were cancelled, Shane said, “Yes.”
When I told him that that should be said publicly on his web site, Shane said he’d get to it as soon as he could.
He also said he is still working toward getting refunds for everyone that is due money back.
Those were the important things. This next bit is both sad and comic IMHO… he said he was busy liquidating office supplies (he might have said equipment, too — I was nervous and can’t quite remember) and was out looking for a new job in order to get the money for refunds.
To me, it certainly appears that it will be a long time before we see any $ from him.
– Nora
July 24th, 2008 at 4:06 am
so much for Mr. “I write the checks” . I have no sympathy at all and thats exactly what he’s looking for. He’s a slick one.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I hope everyone is reporting jumpcon to the internet fraud website. Its possible that if enough people report him they will help us with getting money back.
Has anyone gotten paypal to give them their money back even if the payment was made more than 45 days ago?
July 24th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Nora, as someone who has worked with conventions for a long, long time, I might actually feel sorry for Shane. I might think, yeah, this guy’s dreams have been shattered.
Then I remember back to the ‘hotel manifesto’ as many people have called it over time. Have you seen this document? It lays out two years’ worth of what Shane Senter wanted from each hotel as ‘perks’ for booking there. Comparisons of one package to another. Criticism of how much more elegant “the Emperor” was being treated by one location to another.
That document, compounded with the facts that (a) it was stated on their forum that Mr. Senter was “independently wealthy” and was financing Jumpcon himself and (b) several conventions have reported that their guests canceled to attend Jumpcon, totally blows the argument of a wounded man out of the water. The audacity, the nerve, the ego! This is a man I feel no sympathy toward. My sympathy is toward the fans who are out hundreds of dollars of useless “emperor’s club” seating with actors they adore, and many hundreds more for airplane tickets which are at record hights.
July 24th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
After his “Im so sorry and Im a victim ” letter that someone wrote for him we havent heard anything since. This seems to be standard procedure for failed ventures. A “heartfelt ” letter comes out expressing all kinds of anguish then poof - silence.
If he truly cared about anybody’s money (or prehaps had any to refund) he would be posting updates regularly or just put himself out of his misery and state that he has no more money to refund, close the site and be done with it. It’s amusing that he can’t give these fans 2 or 3 minutes to post anything and that “he would get to it as soon as he could.”
July 24th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Joey wrote:
“Then I remember back to the ‘hotel manifesto’ as many people have called it over time. Have you seen this document? It lays out two years’ worth of what Shane Senter wanted from each hotel as ‘perks’ for booking there.”
Is this still available to view anywhere? I’m very curious.
For the record, I’m doing more than just calling Shane. I’ve contacted PayPal and my credit card company. A certified, return receipt requested, letter will go out to the JumpCon address tomorrow.
I have a lawyer friend who is talking with a lawyer in NH about other ideas for legal recourse, and they are trying to get a handle on how many people overall bought tickets and are seeking refunds, and also a total dollar amount that Shane/JumpCon received in payments from these people. Does anyone in-the-know have that sort of information? Amanda?
Thanks for any and all help.
July 25th, 2008 at 2:44 am
To tell you the truth i don’t know the exact amount of tickets sold but i know for a fact that 900 were sold for boston alone….There is a lawyer that is working with Ed and Mary and the consultants i will get the contact info and post it so that you all can contact the lawyer who is putting the case together here in NH, look for the post before the weekend……
July 25th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Thank you Amanda.
I have another picky question… Would the package tickets like the Emperor’s Club Tickets have counted as just one ticket, or would it be counted as two since it was for two people, or would the individual items that were specially ordered as part of the package, such as meals with certain guests, and the Friday and Saturday night hotel rooms have counted as multiple tickets — one for each meal, one for each hotel night, etc.?
Thanks again.
July 25th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I would think that it was all under one payment it would be considered one item
July 25th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
If Shane Senter presented himself as “Independently wealthy” , and misrepresented himself as such in order to entice people to buy tickets to his shows, then a case of fraud could conceivably be made against him. That is something that would be of interest to any AG or DOJ. Other things would be a number of people coming forward with evidence of loss because of this misrepresentation. No DOJ is going to mount a serious case without the numbers.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Shane Senter contacted me in April 2007 asking about booking my clients for his upcoming “new twist” on conventions. We spoke for over an hour and Mr. Senter did indeed tell me he was wealthy and need no backers to put on his conventions.
I was asked to submit a list of actors and their respective fees, including autograph fees etc. I was told he was in the process of buying and/or leasing a private jet to get his guest to his conventions and back.
Names and fees were submitted to Donna and Shane and I had several conversations on the wonderfulness of Shane.
In my dealings with Donna I found her blissfully unaware of what was actually going on and irritatingly uncaring. The contracts I received had greatly exaggerated fees I never asked for and a work schedules that were like the task of Hercules.
When I questioned some of the guest obligations I was told that was what Shane wanted and/or Shane will not be happy. Donnas’ attitude was take it or leave it rather than helpful. In fairness to her it might have just been the way she was being treated or the suspicions she had about JumpCon.
My clients were booked far enough into the future not to be really hurt by the cancellation and demise of JumpCon so we will not make any claim on the deposits and cancel fees owed us.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
The truth is indeed more fascinating than fiction. Its all so over the top I can almost understand anyone thinking he couldn’t possibly be telling such gargantuan tales.
Almost…
July 25th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Each order was treated as one ticket, if you ordered an Imperial passport it was counted as one order, that is how the system divided it up by individual items and by number of orders. It would have been hard to get an exact head count because of how the system was set up but there were over 1,000 people total effected by JumpCon if you take all 15 cities into account.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
that averages less than 70 attendees per city.
I have kept snippets of answers to fans concerns over the months. Some of my favs are from Altotrek (Im going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was incredibly naive and now must be mortified.)
From her post April 30th I believe:
“Any time an upstart company appears on a scene such as this, naturally there will be doubts about its validity, its sincerity, and of course its resources. Therefore it relies on fans like you to spread the word to other like-minded fans, as well as the traditional marketing methods, such as mailing, television commercials, and Internet banner ads. All of which you will be seeing shortly if you haven’t already. Nevertheless, the response received to date, even with a limited marketing roll-out so far has been nothing short of phenomenal. Everyone, from fans to celebrities to the JumpCon staff is very excited about the launch this coming summer. What started as a low rumble is building to a roar and tells us that the industry has been waiting for something like this for a long long time. Yes, it’s ambitious, yes, it’s unprecedented, and as such is bound to have doubters
Also rest assured that the future of JumpCon is in very good hands, as our beloved Emperor has created several highly successful (and profitable) business ventures in his storied career. He is no fool and you needn’t be concerned about the depth of his pockets. The guests are signed (and still signing!), the venues are booked, the fans are coming. Just sit back and enjoy the ride that is and shall be: JUMPCON! “
July 25th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
CC’d from the Yahoo group —
… I contacted a consumer law expert in NH who referred me back to the NH Consumer Protection Bureau, where I spoke to someone. Apparently they ARE getting complaints about Jumpcon in the Attorney General’s office. No doubt, the more they get, the faster they’ll act.
Nora: Search for Jumpcon and RFP. Someone might have a cached version of it saved. Highlights are on on Greycoupon’s livejournal.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I contacted paypal today (so far… it’s my first chance in days to get anything done) nd they’ve told me that despite my claim being automatically closed for being over 4 days, it is technically still open and they hope to get me my money back within 6 months. Not great news but is still something. He stillr ecommended trying other avenues though and letting paypal know if I no longer needed them. They apparently first try to get the money from the account it was paid to, if not they then start using agents nd send out notices etc until thet get money. Not sure how that can be done in 6 months though.
Still not holding my breath on the paypal front though and next up is the credit card company.
My concern is from being foreign. I’m wondering if it gets more difficult for us international to get money back. For myself it comes down to constantly moving around and closing various accounts etc and which to keep open and how to keep track of American Law decisions since I don’t know how the system works.
Right now I’m on the bandwagon as I want my money back but any help pointing me in the direction of what to do is appreciated. Tell me to phone someone and I’ll try and do it to keep the number of voices/complaints up!
July 25th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
jumpcon just cost me a trip to the convention in Las Vegas. Two FREE tickets just fell into my lap I would only need to pay for hotel and airfare…..which is just about the exact amount that jumpcon owes me. You have no idea how mad I am right now
July 25th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
I’ve been reading through the posts and getting really disgusted by the way Shane approached a business enterprise as if it was an autocratic fiefdom. Also, I’m curious how much liability Shane’s financial backer holds for Jumpcon transactions that took place prior to his pull out.
And just to set the record straight, the representative for the Highlander actor met with Shane to assess the situation and the probability that any of the fans would be able to get refunds. She was surprised (to put it mildly) that Shane was representing the meeting as a try to revamp Jumpcon. Absolutely untrue. Besides being a megalomaniacal crook, Shane must be truly delusional.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:38 am
yes - hes a little boy that wanted to be famous. A sick man.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:44 am
someone from one of the hotels told me he had an idea while he was there that he wanted to start a reality show in addition to Jumpcon about him filming his site inspections of all the hotels and showing him critiquing them. Yea, Hotels would agree to that.
He desperately needs professional help.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:49 am
there was no financial backer - he is delusional
July 26th, 2008 at 1:50 am
RE: Emperor Ticket as one item? This is an interesting question as my emailed receipt shows each part of that ticket (ie: hotel room Sat, breakfast Sat, Breakfast Sun, Lunch Sat, etc….) as separately numbered Andale items. Of course, there were those other extra photos, autographs, and extra night hotel.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:17 am
900 tickets for Boston alone? But ‘over 1000 people’ affected for all 15 cities? I’m not so sure 900 separate people signed on for Boston, to be honest. That would actually have made Boston quite viable as an event, depending on the level of ticket those 900 were buying, and that wouldn’t count the local ‘day of’ attendees.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Each ticket wasn’t an individual person, some people had up to 5 seperate orders depending on when they bought certin things, if you added an item a week after buying tickets it was viewed as a seperate order. There were 900 orders for boston but not 900 people more like 500 or 600 seperate people but you have to include in the 1,000 all the other cities we had sold almost 300 orders in New Orleans and there at least 100 orders in Pittsburg.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I also didn’t mean to imply that Highlander was putting there hat into the ring so to speak. I simply heard that they were having a meeting; Shane implied that it had to do with them taking over, I should have been more clear.
July 27th, 2008 at 12:45 am
Shane seems to say and imply a lot of things that are blatantly untrue. To represent the meeting with Carmel by saying that she was going to take over - what a load of crap. In his dreams maybe. He needs to face it, Jumpcon is dead and he’ll be lucky to avoid criminal charges with the way he’s been bouncing checks.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I for one can’t wait for Shane’s “next” show
I hear that he’s trying to get some of his “consultants” to help him get a “new” company started with a new name with him as a silent partner. Something about incorporating out of Nevada (don’t know why… maybe less stringent fraud laws???). In defense of the “consultants”, i’m told they are all laughing at the idea.
But… you can’t keep a good idea (or man) down… and god knows that Shane is convinced that this is a good idea and that he’s a good man (haven’t you heard? None of this is his fault. Everyone took advantage of his good nature. He’s the most innocent man since… well, maybe the most innocent man ever
July 27th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Definitely a narcissist. He’s just plain pathetic. Im sure these “consultants ” are interested in a penniless, ignorant, uneducated full of himself silent partner that owes tons of money to fans and hotels. When will he wake up ?
July 31st, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Things seem to be a little too quiet on this subject. B-D
July 31st, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I’ve been emailing him every other day asking about the status of the refunds……NOTHING, no answers at all
July 31st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
There are currently 10 claims filed with the NH Consumer Protection Dept. Link to see file dates and # go to:
http://www.egov.nh.gov/consumercomplaint/index.asp
To file your own claim with the NH Consumer Protection Dept., and for more information, go to http://doj.nh.gov/consumer/index.html for information.
My guess is Shane will not be answering phones or emails right now (still try if you haven’t already, but if you have many times you may want to just send a emails going forward).
I’ve posted this in a Yahoo Group…everyone should document every attempt to resolve the refund matter and the outcome (include dates, copies of emails, notes from phone conversation, etc.) and then go to your own bank, credit card company, and PayPal (if within claim window and you need to ESCALATE that claim) to initiate a claim as well. This will help show, if you do go to the Consumer Protection Dept., that you’ve done all you can on your side to resolve the matter. It also shows the bank/credit card company/PayPal that you have done your best to resolve before attempting to enlist their assistance.
July 31st, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Paypal was unwilling to help at all despite all the evidence I gave them. Their answer was simply sorry it’s past 45 days, have a nice day.
my own bank was more helpful. Even though it was past their windon they still opened up a claim and told me they woud work on it.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I will be filing my complaint to the NH very soon, being that I have not received any responses to my e-mails of 7/22 and 7/29. At this time, I have gotten all the necessary data and will be faxing it this week, if not tonight.
If there is a class action suit against this individual, count me in as part of it.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:08 pm
me too
July 31st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I understand that NH Attorney Genera’s office currently has 10 complaints for JumpCon.
sheryl
July 31st, 2008 at 10:14 pm
If the fax number to the Attorney General is 603 223 6202, it is now at 11.
My fax of eight pages has just gone through.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Shane logged on to his myspace yesterday (still chock full of Jumpcon references) and his mood is “adventurous”. That sounds a bit scary coming from him. I wonder what his next venture will be?
I’m thinking that if he has time to play on myspace and can’t respond to anyone about his financial obligations he doesnt much care about it and people should probably forget about getting a dime from him directly.
He has to find new $ sources to pay the rent / utilities/ food/entertainement etc. since the Jumpcon income has dried up for him and hotels wont give him free trips anymore.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
what is his myspace? I want to leave him a comment asking for my refund
August 1st, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Sophie,
Try this:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=51951859
August 1st, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I wonder about this site too…
http://www.gobignetwork.com/profiles/shane-senter.aspx
August 1st, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I wonder about that too, especialy this part
“I am in the process of purchasing several rental units and commercial enterprises in order to create space to build a 80,000 sq foot building that will have 30 commercial spaces and 60 residential condo’s - plus there is land to be subdivided into elderly housing or for condo’s ”
is that where my refund is going?
August 1st, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I don’t know Sophie. That might have been a dream from long ago.
I would like to know where all the refunds are.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:51 pm
The Chelsea J real estate is posted as a startup in 2006. probably been closed ages ago.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:54 pm
its all a bunch of ego maniac crap. He lies about everything. He would steal the shitball from a blind tumblebug, give him a marble and put him on the wrong road home.
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 am
Uh oh, now his profile is set to private. Wonder why?
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:03 am
http://www.myspace.com/cwtnh
Hes obviously reading these blogs - between yesterday and today he made his myspace private. But you can still see a stupid pic of the fool if you go to it.
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:14 am
how much you want to bet the gobig profile disappears too?
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:52 am
As self-obsessed as he is, I’m not a bit surprised that he’d be reading all about himself.
It’s funny. He doesn’t even answer his phone anymore. He only owes me 26 bucks. Now, he owes my dad over a hundred, but I’ve emailed and emailed and called and called for that tiny amount, and he keeps bullshitting. He told me over the phone (and our call was recorded, so I have it for any pending lawsuits that might be coming) that I was the very next person who would get a refund, that I was on the “top of the pile” and to expect it by the end of the week. The end of the week LAST week.
If he can’t even afford the measly little 26 bucks it would cost to get rid of me, then he seriously needs a job and needs to stay off the internet and checking up on himself. He’s got way more problems than his bloated image of himself.
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 am
he will never pay anyone. He lived off of fans money and probably continues to with whatever is left.
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Unfortunately, I suspect Mike is correct. No one is going to see their money unless they go after him.
His profile in myspace was already private when I went over there for the first time.
The next thing I suspect that will happen is that the phones will be out of service, then the jumpcon site will go down.
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Well, we do all know where he lives. Just saying.
August 3rd, 2008 at 3:18 am
the jumpcon site is no longer up anymore. again, just after it was said here, it happened. shocker.
August 3rd, 2008 at 3:29 am
As though that’s going to stop anything. We still have his address. Is he going to move? Cuz someone could show up on his doorstep with the police. After all, what he’s done is fraud. And since he accepted and cashed checks that were sent via the mail, he’s committed postal fraud on top of plain old fraud. It’s called prison time. Hope he enjoys being the prison bitch.
JumpCon Control Staff
Office Hours:
Monday to Friday
10 AM - 6 PM (EDT)
Address:
JumpCon
53 High Street
Milford, NH 03055-6733
Phone:
Operations: 603-249-9001 or 603-769-4803
Sales: 603-249-9002 or 603-769-4914
Fax: 603-249-9008
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Linsey.
The Jumpcon site is still up. I was just forecasting the events as I believe that they will take place.
I said that I suspect that the next things will happen is that the phones will go out of service and the site will go down.
As of Sunday morning August 3, the site is still up.
Best,
Samuel
August 3rd, 2008 at 5:38 pm
One thing though, the Andale store has been disabled from the Jumpcon site, so I doubt that Mr. Senter will be taking any further orders from this site.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Why anyone would want to have his name go down in history as the organizer of one of the biggest debacles in fandom is beyond me.
August 4th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
The phones have now been disconnected.
August 4th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Mike, which hotel was this “reality show epiphany” at?
I have no doubt Shane reads this. I know he reads the LJ comm and I believe he is on my mailing list as well.
The idea of him even trying to regroup is really scary.
BTW, should I share the articles about Shane’s previous charity venture?
August 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Yes, the phones have now been disconnected. This is sounding more and more like fraud all of the time.
Shane seems to be following Steve Miller’s song: Take the money and run!
I have not heard anything from the AG about this. I think it is time we give the office of the AG in New Hampshire a call.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
hes likely had his giant ego stroked by the fact that hes just famous (infamous)now - regardless of whether hes successful or an incredible thieving pathetic jerk. Them that crave attention don’t necessarily care how they get it.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:51 am
==BTW, should I share the articles about Shane’s previous charity venture?==
Don’t tell me let me guess, he tried to raise money to finance another Star Trek movie,lol.
Please share, we can never have too many Shane was a snake-oil salesman no on should have trusted stories
August 5th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Was I just never able to find things out before they went sour? Or is there a reason I never saw the stories surface until about a month before the con was to be held?
Part of it was probably a mix of my being a it naive and very hopeful for such a great ‘idea’ of a con to go ahead but I swear I never saw things around in May when I bought the tickets. Wish I had because I would have held out until the bitter end to book i that had been the case. Just like so many others had planned on.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
HI Everyone. I just filed a complaint with the Ma Attorney genrals Office. I also have comPlaints logged with the NH BBb And the ftc. I hope he is made to pay back the money. I would nver trust any event he plans again.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Shayna-
Shane was all about a reality show months ago with a Texas hotel- it wasnt after the failure of jumpcon - it was during the site. They obviously turned him down flat. Hotels took a chance on him because his cons were only a few months away and he was as convincing with them as he was with the fans.
He showed up at one hotel with “some girl” and asked when he checked to give her a room too because she was working for him. At some point she asked the hotel for a job while she was there. Jeez.
All of the hotel sales ppl that I talked to that dealt with him couldnt stand him but in this business that doesnt mean anyones conning you - it just means you have to deal with a lot of egos. As it turns out, he conned everybody. He pretended to be so sure of himself they actually thought he was possibly telling the truth. He even convinced the fools at Dr Who he was legit. In my city, they cancelled his site inspection in Sept of 2007 because they smelled a rat.
I was told he was “slovenly. arrogant, a jerk, pompous, rude, a hillbilly wanna be, full of himself”, and a number of other adjectives by a number of hotel people. But they still were too afraid to cut him off and quit spending money on him just in case. He was clever and knew exactly what he was doing. It will definitely have a negative effect on any other new cons that want to book with a hotel. It’s all over the industry.
I would imagine he’s already using the rest of the money to create a new scheme if theres any left.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Go ahead, Shayna, share what you know about that previous venture.
And folks, if you’ve been financially affected by this fraud, please call the consumer protection division of your state’s and NH’s Attorneys General. I’m sure they’ll also tell you which Federal agency to contact, depending on how you paid for your tickets.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:06 am
==Or is there a reason I never saw the stories surface until about a month before the con was to be held?==
I get more and more annoyed every time I see some agent or staffer post more of Shane’s ridiculous fantasy. Sure, congoers can be a little naive, a little too eager to pay too much money when a con claims it has a super exclusive guest lineup and big ticket events but it’s not like they have that much to judge by.
OTOH the people who “work” in con organizing and heard claims like private jets and obscene appearance fees and have to know that that just isn’t the way things work behind the scenes? And still made deals for the actors and promoted the events to the public? Inexcusable. Did they really think for a minute the market would support a traveling con with dozens of guests every week and that everyone would get paid and every ticket honored? Have they never heard of all the other corporate groups that tried it on a less bloated scale and still fell back or failed and disappeared?
They enabled “The Emperor” and gave him a means to charge exorbitant ticket fees he couldn’t have otherwise. They need to accept a share of the blame.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:33 am
His other “business ventures” included an effort to collect charity donations from retailers for a game. Problem is that he never registered with the Attorney General Office and he had the wrong type of bank account. It was reported in the the Manchester newspaper in NH in 2004.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I concur with con watcher. Fernando is a friend of mine who I have not seen for some time. Now I wonder how much did he know about Shane’s shenagians?
There may be a lot of enablers here, but I want to withhold judgement until I get all of the facts.
I plan on calling the AG’s office in a week or so to get an update. I have heard nothing from them. Has anyone who has filed a complaint against JumpCon hear anything from the AG? Or from BBB? Or anywhere else you have filed a complaint?
August 8th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Before you start calling the AG’s office for status, please read: (Samuel, per your previous post you only submitted your complaint on 07/31, it has been 6 business days since you filed and per below they need at least 3 weeks)
BTW, 17 complaints currently filed and pending per the site.
From: http://doj.nh.gov/consumer/process.html
Understanding the Complaint Process
File a written complaint with this office. For more information and a copy of the form, see Filing A Complaint
Your complaint will be read and reviewed in the order in which it was received. The Bureau will respond to your complaint as quickly as possible. Please Note: The Bureau receives over 3,000 complaints or inquiries and approximately 30,000 phone calls per year. Ordinarily, we try to review and assign a file number to a complaint within three weeks of receiving it. However this timetable may vary according to the volume of complaints being processed at any given time. For this reason we as that you
Please put all of your correspondence in writing and reference the file number assigned to your case when making inquiries about the case.
Please hold any inquiries about the status of the case until a file number has been assigned.
A paralegal and an attorney will review your complaint to determine the best method of assisting you. Based on the review, the following steps may be taken:
the Bureau will keep your complaint on file for future reference;
you may be advised to contact a private attorney or small claims court;
you may be referred to another state or federal agency;
you may be advised that your complaint is suitable for mediation under the Bureau’s mediation program or
in some cases your complaint may become the basis of an enforcement action by the Bureau.
Please Note: If the Bureau initiates such an action based on your or other complaints against a business, the Bureau cannot act as your attorney, and you may wish to review your legal rights and responsibilities with private counsel.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
March 23, 2004
Questions raised about Manchester-area charity
Author: MARK HAYWARD Union Leader Staff
Edition: State
Section: Local
Page: B2
Article Text:
MANCHESTER — A Manchester-based organization that is asking retailers
for donations is not properly registered with the state, according to
an official with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.
The organization — Benefits for Humanity International — is asking
merchants to buy a square on “The Game of Manchester,” a gameboard
similar to Parker Brothers’ “Monopoly” with familiar Manchester
landmarks and businesses. Proceeds will go toward computers for needy
children in Manchester, according to a solicitation letter.
Terry Knowles, registrar with the Division of Charitable Trusts at the
New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, said an application that
Benefits for Humanity filed on Feb. 5 lacks a number of key items,
including financial information and confirmation of a bank account.
If the organization is soliciting donations, it is breaking state law, she said.
“We don’t have the information a consumer would need to make an
intelligent choice about giving,” Knowles said.
An official with the organization was not available late yesterday to
respond to Knowles’ remarks. Earlier in the day, Shane Senter
identified himself as the president of the group and said its
international headquarters is at 816 Hanover St.
“We’re looking for locally owned businesses, we prefer them,” Senter
said. “They help stimulate the economy, the local businesses do, and
that’s what we’re here for.
“We’re not here to be a drain on the local economy like most service
clubs. We have eight grant writers to raise our money . . . but we’re
hoping to get some community awareness with the game,” he added.
Several questions remain unanswered about the organization. In an
undated letter to merchants, the organization said it hopes to provide
computers “to children in need of them and hopefully to all the grade
school children in your community.”
Manchester school Superintendent Michael Ludwell said he has never met
or spoken to anyone in the organization. A letter may have crossed his
desk, but he does not recall it.
Given that between 6,000 and 7,000 grade-school students are enrolled
in city schools, the organization would have to raise a substantial
amount of money to meet its goal, Ludwell said.
“You think I would have gotten a phone call,” Ludwell said. Ludwell
said he would never participate in such a fundraiser unless he
discussed it beforehand with the business community.
Senter said he sent a letter to the school department but hasn’t heard
back from anybody.
He also said “we’re buying a few things” on the “wish list” for the
city library. Senter said he spoke to “the main gentleman” at the
library. John Brisbin said he’s never heard of the organization.
Senter said his group is a 501(c)3 foundation, which gives it
tax-exempt status with the IRS. But the organization’s Web site –
http://www.bfhic.org — contains only a copy of its application for 501(c)3
status. As of Feb. 5, it did not have tax-exempt status, Knowles said.
Senter volunteered the names of several businesses that have bought
squares on the game board.
Glenn Krull, owner of Glenn’s Maytag Home Appliance Center, confirmed
he bought a corner square, which Benefits for Humanity sells for $319.
Krull said he paid for the square by check on March 1. He said he
spoke to the group before sending the money but said he did not want
to discuss the conversation.
Knowles said a charitable organization must have its own bank account
under state law. But in its Feb. 5 application, Benefits for Humanity
said it had been unable to open a bank account.
If the organization continues to solicit, the Charitable Trusts
Division will contact Benefits for Humanity again, Knowles said. The
attorney general has the power to issue a civil subpoena and take an
organization to Superior Court if it continues to solicit without
being registered, she said.
– Union Leader reporter John Clayton contributed to this report.
NewsBank Search
Charity will return money if asked
BYLINE: MARK HAYWARD Union Leader Staff
DATE: March 25, 2004
PUBLICATION: New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
EDITION: State
SECTION: News
PAGE: A20
MANCHESTER — A Manchester organization stopped accepting charitable
donations Tuesday while it attempted to sort out its legal status, the
organization’s president said yesterday.
Shane Senter, president of Benefits for Humanity International, also
said he would refund earlier contributions if requested. On Tuesday,
The Union Leader reported that the group was soliciting donations to
launch a “Game of Manchester” board game but had not been properly
registered with the Charitable Trust Division of the Attorney
General’s Office.
“If they (donors) don’t want to be involved in this, that’s fine,”
Senter said. “They want their money back, they’ll get their money
back.”
Yesterday, Senter said he was close to being properly registered with
the Charitable Trusts Division and planned to hold a press conference
next week.
Terry Knowles, registrar of the Charitable Trusts Division, said only
one holdup remains before the organization is properly registered. Its
board of directors must adopt a conflict of interest provision that
signifies that directors are aware of conflict of interest provisions
in state law, Knowles said. After that takes place, registration would
quickly follow, she said.
Senter blames the lack of registration on a paperwork mixup in
Concord. He said the Secretary of State’s Office had been sitting on
his incorporation certificate since December because it needed more
information.
Benefits for Humanity International hopes to sell squares for $209 to
$319 on the “Game of Manchester” to businesses and other
organizations. The game, similar to Parker Brothers’ “Monopoly” would
then be sold in the community.
Senter said he hopes that proceeds from his activities will provide
laptop computers to all 17,000-plus Manchester school children. The
effort will require more than $10 million, and he said Benefits for
Humanity has full-time grant writers working on the project.
As of Tuesday, the organization had a net worth of about $1,000, he said.
On Tuesday, Manchester school officials said they have not endorsed
such an effort.
Yesterday, Senter said he had been in contact with the mayor’s office
throughout the process.
“They mayor’s office was fine with it, they said ‘anything that can be
done to curb the school budget,’” Senter said. He said he also wants
to help the Manchester Library and the Greater Manchester AIDS
Project.
David Scannell, a former aide to Manchester Mayor Robert Baines and
now a community liaison with the school department, said he did talk
to Senter when he was at the mayor’s office.
Senter spoke to him about the “Game of Manchester” and Scannell gave
him some leads, including the Small Business Administration and the
names of some corporate benefactors. But Scannell said Senter never
discussed what organizations would benefit from the effort.
Copyright 2004 Union Leader Corp.
The information on this site is copyrighted and cannot be reused
without the permission of The Union Lead
Union Leader, The/New Hampshire Sunday News (Manchester, NH)
New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
August 9th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
LOL- wow. Delusions of grandeur - the false belief that one is famous or publicly important or is a god.
August 9th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
why has this man not been arrested before??? It is clear that he has scammed the people of NH not once but many times!!! soliciting money for a game which is copywrited by Parker Bros, selling real estate, and the list goes on. Surely the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General’s offices have records on him? Why is he allowed to continue scamming? This time with the JumpCons he has received THOUSANDS of Dollars not just from MA & NH but from all of US and England! Where did all the monies go? Employees received rubber checks, scheduled actors/performers saw $$$$$nothing$$$$, the hotels saw nothing. Where did the monies get deposited? What account, what BANK!!!, surely someone somewhere should know. PayPal will do nothing to return your money as there is zero in the bank account. Credit cards may return the monies but will they raise their interest rates? do you have to pay even if there is a dispute? This is a very big mess and really sours me on attending anything that is not sanctioned by HLWW.
August 9th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Jo-el,
When someone sends a fax to anyone, don’t you think it is appropriate to get a response saying we received your fax, we received your complaint.
I will be calling them next week asking them just that.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Samuel, I can see your point but this is a government department you are talking about.
I have gone through the complaint process and I didn’t even get a letter regarding my claim until 3 weeks later. That later confirmed receipt of my complaint and the actions they took. My issue ended up being resolved within that week.
If it was any other typical business, especially Customer Service, to at least acknowledge the claim. But again this is A GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.
If you start bugging them outside of their posted timeframe then you only damage the relationship who frankly will not want to deal with you very much. When I worked in a lawfirm I had a lawyer who stopped taking their client’s calls because they called daily sometimes 3 times a day.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Jo-el,
I don’t plan on calling them daily or three times a day. Just once in a while.
I went through this in 1976 with another government issue with mail fraud and followed that procedure, and guess what? I never heard a thing. Nothing as to whether they caught this thief.
And the same thing will happen in this case if people who were defrauded by this don’t file and follow up the case. The longer the time goes, the less likely it will be resolved and the person will get away with it.
Time is working against us, and the likelihood anyone will recover anything gets slimmer all of the time.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
We are up to 19 complaints. Keep them coming in folks.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Samuel do what you like, but all I can say is if the site says at least 3 weeks then I would not start calling them to bug them until the 3 weeks was up. And given I already filed a claim with them just a month ago and it was just about 3 weeks to get a response I’m speaking from experience with this exact group.
So do what you like but I can tell you you can quickly tick off a group when you ignore their information on their site. You want to win friends here and get attention…not annoyance.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Jo-el,
I am speaking from experience and I can tell you that you will get lost in the shuffle if you do not follow up on issues like this. It happened to me before (US Post Office Inspector) and it can happen again.
Has your complaint been received? Has it been assigned a reference number? Pray tell, how can you know the reference number when you have not been informed of it? A simple answer to did you receive my fax/complaint will suffice for me.
What does the site say? It says that they will “try to review and assign a file number to a complaint within three weeks of receiving it.” ZThat still does not address the issue as to whether or not your complaint has been received, much less being reviewed.
I suspect that all of these complaints will be grouped together under one file number, that is usually how these things work, because if this ends up being a fraud case with substantial amount of money, it could end up being a case. Of course, they could tell us all to go separately to small claims and good luck.
If you want to discourage people from finding out what is going on, that is fine. A polite phone call solves all issues, and it does not take long. You are citing an extreme case in that someone that would bombard an office with calls several times a day, and that is not the case here. I doubt that anyone here who has filed a complaint wants to intefere with the process, but I don’t think they want this to be swept under the rug, either.
This leads me to my question to anyone who has filed a complaint with the NH AG beyond the three weeks. Have you received a response for your complaint?
It is sad that victims are considered as annoyances by some people.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:30 am
By the way, what would really be annoying if the NH AG started to receive duplicate copies of complaints, IMHO, which is another good reason why I believe they should acknowledge receipt of complaints.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I was just at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention. I ran into a LOT of people who were supposed to go to Jumpcon in Boston who are out a lot of money. Fernando also had a table there and we talked to him about it. He said that he was able to rearange everything into a working convention and that it could have happended. But Shane took all the money he had for guests and put deposits on all the hotels that he had booked. If he hadn’t done that the Boston convention would have happened
August 13th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Samuel,
You are really reading things into my statements and putting words in my mouth and I suggest you stop it.
When a department is requesting that folks adhere to their policy around contacting I do not believe that is unreasonable. And for someone to expect any government agency to acknowledge every item that comes into their department when they could be getting hundreds a day is unreasonable.
You wanna make your phone calls about your claim and status go ahead. But right now there are 19 claims posted on the site as pending with an unknown # still probably being processed just for JumpCon (and not considering any other claims being submitted for non-JumpCon issues).
I’d rather see focus being put into processing the claims and working towards a solution than taking people away to answer your phone call to confirm they got your claim and provide you a status on where it is before the 3 weeks has even come up. This is NH and it is a small office with limited resources.
Once your 3 weeks has passed and you haven’t heard a thing that is when I think a phone call is due to verify receipt of the claim.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Its interesting that neither Shane nor Fernando made any public statements again after the cancellation speeches and Shanes famous” bad advice” excuse. Are we now to believe that the bad advice was to give money to hotels that he contractually agreed to give deposits to? With no deposits to venues he would have had the money to pay guests but where would the convention be held? I’d love to know what Shane’s expenses were during all those months since its now quite obvious he had no other income but fan money coming in. I doubt most of the hotels ever got deposits.
What rubbish.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Jo-el,
What words did I put in your mouth, the ones where you responded (to my inquiry if my complaint was received) with an example of a client calling three times a day to a law office you were employed at annoying the lawyer so that there was no response.
Or was it the paragraph when you responded to my desire to call once in a that I could “…. quickly tick off a group when you ignore their information on their site. You want to win friends here and get attention…not annoyance.” You see where I am coming from?
You are correct in that it is wise not to have all 19 of us descending on the AG calling at different times. If you had said that, your point is valid. As I stated in my previous posts, all I wanted to make sure is that my complaint had been received.
The bottom line if we are to read literally what the guidelines state, none of us should contact them for a status of the case until a number has been assigned to the case. I also agree that all of these complaints will probably lumped into one case number.
Now, if I wait until the three weeks pass and call at that time (as you say is due which it is isn’t) call and I find out that the complaint received on July 31 was not mine, but someone elses, and my complaint was never received. Then I go back to the end of the line, start the process all over again and you can imagine how frustrating that could be.
I would be very happy if someone among us stood up to the plate and called from this forum. Since you feel so comfortable dealing with this office, Jo-el, why not you? If you have a complaint already in there, and if mine is among them ( I am still unsure, even though I did fax the 8 pages), I certainly trust your judgement and intelligence.
You are correct in that we all would like to see the focus into processing the claims and working towards a solution, but I have a bad feeling about this. You are far more optimistic than I, and I would be pleased as punch if this works out. I believe we are going to be told that there is insufficient evidence or something to the sort and that we will have to work it out with one of the options they presented on their website, such as the five choices presented.
My gut feeling is that they will not believe this is a strong enough to bring a criminal case to against Shane Senter.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Samuel just do whatever you want. To be honest I’ve given up on you because you seem to thrive on doing whatever you want even though as it comes across as highly annoying and nagging and seem to be very negative about everything which is why so many folks got upset with you on the Yahoo Group.
I’m going to be ignoring your lengthy posts from now on.
Have a great day.
August 14th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Jo-el,
To be honest, it just seemed to me that you have come across as highly condescending in giving your views and when given a response which would be positive, and you choose to continue to provoke me.
Have a wonderful day, you are now on ignore.
August 14th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Everything our studio has read sounds so familiar and we now realize we were not the only ones being lied to and manipulated with promises of much work and much pay for our efforts. We were hired to photograph 23 Convention dates almost 1 year ago. Numbers were discussed, equipment was researched and money exchanged hands. We had set up a paypal account and recieved money from Shane Senter himself. When we would want to discuss final numbers and retainers, Shane would “FLIP OUT” and curse telling us he was going to make us a lot of money and we were going to be the last to get paid. We were on the bottom of the list. Celebs come first. So we waited. We told Shane Senter that we were turning down other jobs for the next 2 years and he said that we should because he would keep us working for 4 years. Our studio now struggles to stay above water. Up until 2 weeks before the Boston Convention, we were still on board. The way he wanted to blame us and get out of it was by asking us for things and when we gave it to him, he would say it wasn’t what he asked for. He had his associated call us and say we should inflate our numbers…we didn’t. But then he came back and said we got greedy. I could prove to him where the numbers came from (back up equipment) and he would lie saying he got another company to do it cheaper. A company that worked for Disney. I know that was a huge LIE. Some of his emails were “jiberish” and hard to understand. We have a lawyer and welcome anyone that would like to join us in our law suit against Shane Senter and the JumpCon Con!!!
August 14th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
lol that’s funny. You can’t ignore someone’s comments here. It’s that kind of ignorance that nearly got this guy banned. Had he not left the group as the mod was banning him …. that’s all I’m saying.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Mitch,
Actually, you can ignore comments any where by choosing not to address them. I did not get banned, I left on my own accord, nor was I under a threat of being banned from the moderator.
Some of the people over there on that forum called you on the carpet for your nasty treatment of Amanda here, or have you forgotten?
This is getting to be ridiculous. I thought Shane Senter was the person that caused all of the trouble at Jumpcon.
August 15th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
wow… hey guys… um… maybe we should all be mad at Shane and not each other. Just saying.. he’s the one that stole everyones money, lied to everyone and single handedly help ruin the summers of a lot of people… naive as they may have been - it’s still Shane Senter that’s the bad guy here. Let’s keep focused on that. Has anyone else filed a claim with the AG? Maybe a class action lawsuit? Is anyone suing him yet? Who is he scamming this week to pay his bills? Let’s focus on making his life as much fun as he’s made ours.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
We filed a claim with the AG and an Internet Crime Complaint. We are not sure whether or not to be hopeful, but we will try anything. We have been cheated out of more than $2000.
August 15th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Someone needs to get it through to Shane that he has hurt many people, and he needs to keep his promises to return monies to the innocent fans.
August 16th, 2008 at 1:35 am
What about small claims court? I know some people that have done it before… and if everyone goes after him for the ticket money…that would be a lot of judgements that he’ll be paying off for the rest of his life.
You file against him personally….chances are he won’t have the balls to appear in court.
He’ll have to cover the ticket monies, court costs and travel costs. You can garnish his wages… do all sorts of fun stuff once you have a judgment.
That, in addition to complaints with the AG… and if you paid by mail, it’s mail fraud… I think you can call the police and file a report if you paid online of thru the mail and it was fraud. I’m not a lawyer (maybe it’s time to go back to school)… but if anyone knows one…let’s find out.
Let’s nail this guy to the wall!
August 16th, 2008 at 1:52 am
There is a web site listed earlier in this blog that tells how to file an Internet Fraud complaint on line.
August 16th, 2008 at 2:00 am
The site for filing Internet Fraud complaints is as follows:
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
It is not difficult to follow the steps, and it is worth trying it to make Shane pay the money he owes us.
August 17th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Filing an internet fraud complaint regarding JumpCon is not a very difficult process. The more people that file one, the more likely it might be that Shane would have to process the promised refunds. I was just repeating the website that was mentioned earlier for any interested parties that may not have seen it before.
August 17th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Here is a huge eye opener, our famous Doctor of Star Trek Voyager has been announced as a guest at Vulcon’s Starbase Indy Con for this Nov. Wouldnt you call that two faced and a conflict of interest since Fernando was affilated with Vulcon before Jumpcon and who knows may still be? It sure looks like a lot of BS and some inside dealings going on for our doctor, he was one of the guests who got stiffed and made it public and hasnt even given this time to blow over and has already linked his name with the con that Fernando deals with. My feelings would be to not support any con that Jumpcon and it’s staff had any dealings with, plus and more importantly the celebs. All the fans should rally together on this and put their foot down and not support these kind of dealings.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Easy on Vulkon there…Vulkon is run by the “Tripps” - NOT Fernando. Yes Fernando used to be a big part when Joe Motes was running it and may still run a dealers table at Vulkon but he does not sign the guests for Vulkon.
You are correct Robert Picardo got stiffed by JumpCon (like most of the rest of us) and he is doing conventions again..nothing surprising here, the fans want to see him!
Why would he “wait for things to blow over with JumpCon”…that could take years! I would not expect guests to take jobs offered to them.
As was explained other places, Fernando was brought on board late to help try and “fix the mess” and as Fernando said at Creation Las Vegas, the JumpCon Boston show could have gone on if Shane hadn’t used the money for there to pay other hotel deposits in other cities (Shane’s doing)! Remember focus on the problem…SHANE SENTER!
August 19th, 2008 at 4:44 am
I’m not really seeing the issue here given Fernando sold his stake in Vulkon years ago and has nothing to do with day to day operations.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Interesting that you say that, just last year at his booth at a Creation Con he was giving out letters and Business cards with Vulkon Entertaiment’s logo on it with his name on both and saying he was placing people in the show, actually he gave both items to a few people that were asking him. If in fact he has nothing to do with vulkon, which I would wager he does in some capacity, why bother to announce it and hand out these items. It just leaves more unanswered questions.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Turner, that was LAST YEAR. I spoke with Fernando last week in Vegas and he has nothing to do with Vulkon anymore.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Turner-
Next time you read this thread, do yourself a favor and look at Fernando’s post. He signed it this way…
See you out there.
Sincerely,
Fernando Martinez / Former owner and promoter of Vulkon and Seatrek
So-I think you have your answer. Shane is the one to focus on, because doesn’t the buck (or lack of bucks) stop there?
August 19th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Yeah… let’s not hold Vulkon responsible for crimes committed by Shane Senter… and whatever part Fernando played in Jumpcon seems to be after he and Vulkon severed ties. Vulkon’s new owners (Gary and Terri Tripp) run the show now (for good or bad… depending on who you talk to)… Fernando has not been a part of Vulkon for almost a year now. You want to be mad at Fernando for backing Jumpcon, feel free… but if anything… Jumpcon was direct competition to Vulkon in a number of markets.
I remember Jumpon announcing their Orlando date - which was in October 2 weeks before Vulkon (that couldn’t have been a coincidence)…seems like someone wanted to hurt Vulkon a little bit. But…then again, it looked like Shane wanted to hurt a LOT of people.
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:57 pm
We’re also talking about a group(jumpcon) that had a con planned the weekend after Dragoncon. Excuse me, did someone not think there…?
September 1st, 2008 at 4:20 am
Edward James Olmos spoke out a bit about JumpCon while he was at Dragon*Con this weekend. He said that he’s been in touch with the New Hampshire State Attorney General and is doing everything in his power to get the fans their money back.
September 19th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Nothing to report, other than a note from NH AG addressed to SS mentioning my complaint and asking how SS is going to resolve it.
October 9th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Folks are now reporting “refunds” via their credit card companies, not from JumpCon/Shane Senter. Credit back to cards after investigation completed, which means people have to send supporting documentation that the event(s) never took place and no refund given by the organizer/owner.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
How do you start this process with the credit card refund. I have already filed a claim with NH AG office and an internet fraud claim, but since it involves LOTS of money, I would appreciate a speedier option if available.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Your credit card company should have the information either on their website, customer service call, or in the paperwork they send you. That should have been your first call to try and get the charge reversed.
A friend of mine joined a Yahoo Group called JumpCon Justice and said there was a bunch of information in the group to help file complaints in NH and I think she said credit card claim supporting paperwork. She said it helped her a lot. You might want to look into that group.
From what she said, and Samuel Catalino posted here, folks have been copied on letters sent to Shane about the issue but no one has actually seen any money from him since the few buck refunds that came early on. The credit card company would have to do an investigation and do a refund/credit back if that is how you paid for the JumpCon tickets. And that is what folks are starting to say is happening.
Good luck.
“How do you start this process with the credit card refund. I have already filed a claim with NH AG office and an internet fraud claim, but since it involves LOTS of money, I would appreciate a speedier option if available.”
October 12th, 2008 at 3:49 am
We got the same letter that Samuel Catalino received from NH. We used our credit card to pay through PayPal for most of our purchases. We will look into a credit claim in addition to all of the paperwork that we have already filed. Thank you for your suggestions.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I called the New Hampshire AG office last Friday. Nothing has happened and there has been no response. I was informed that these things take time. So, that is the update I have. I am sorry I can not provide any additional information.