Have I been ripped off?

bertie

roundthebend said:

His current FB profile is still active. He's linked with a Phil Collins and Genesis tribute band, and a Queen tribute act. Plus others.

Worse, we have a mutual friend. I'm wondering if I should notify the friend, who I suspect knows him because of music industry interest in promoting events.

and looks to have been "busy" during May.............................. 

chillidoggy

Talking of rip-offs and scam artists (and I know it’s changing the subject slightly), anyone know if the Fretboard’s favourite award-winning architectural photographer is still in business?

Kebabkid

Quite a few recent FB posts about the original guy mentioned here from various tribute bands and the promotions he's behind i.e. taking deposits, double booking people etc and so it's not just gear - be careful!

viz

Have you had interaction with him?

bertie

viz said:

Have you had interaction with him?

wrong forum mate.........................................   

Kebabkid

viz said:

Have you had interaction with him?

No and just shared info from musician friends

fretmeister

Article from "The Stage" about an investigation into him.

PDF grabbed by some basschat people as The Stage is registration or paywall.

It's an auto-download of a pdf - use at your own risk.



https://www.basschat.co.uk/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=392167&key=805a864a09f1da4e3d0b83c9da48c823

roberty

@fretmeister that's a local file reference buddy it'll need to be hosted somewhere 

fretmeister

roberty said:

@fretmeister that's a local file reference buddy it'll need to be hosted somewhere 

Sorted.

smigeon

fretmeister said:

roberty said:

@fretmeister that's a local file reference buddy it'll need to be hosted somewhere 

Sorted.

"This attachment is not available. It may have been removed or the person who shared it may not have permission to share it to this location."

Switch625

Copied and pasted from the PDF:

The Stage

Booking firm owes us tens of thousands, claim tribute acts
NEWS
SEP 7, 2022
BY JAMIE BODY
Chic to Chic, one of the acts claiming to be owed money, performing in 2021
Chic to Chic, one of the acts claiming to be owed money, performing in 2021
Musicians, performers and tribute acts from across the UK are among a group of about 50
artists who claim to have been collectively left thousands of pounds out of pocket by a
theatre booker.
They allege booking company UK Tribute Shows Ltd has held onto more than £36,000 in
deposits and gig booking fees.
Run by Michael Mason and Margaret Nestor, UK Tribute Shows Ltd has been accused of
owing money for deposits for venue hire, marketing materials and tribute act bookings that
have not been paid or refunded, despite gigs not going ahead.
The Stage has seen details of the claims, including invoices and emails from venues, some
from as far back as 2016, and include about 50 individuals, bands, venues or promoters.
Chic to Chic, a tribute band to the music of Nile Rodgers and Chic, claims to be owed
£1,100, an amount made up of deposits for performances at three venues that UK Tribute
Shows Ltd promised the band could perform at, but which never took place.
A spokesperson for Chic to Chic said: "We have lots of contacts in the festival world and with
rock venues but not theatre, and he [the company director] said: ’I have loads of theatre
contacts, I can get you lots of work. Leave it with me and I will get you into some places.’"
The band were told that the venues they were booked to perform at did not work on a split of
ticket sales but on an entire venue-hire basis. Chic to Chic paid three deposits, one of £500
and two of £300, for gigs later in the year. After the deposits were paid, The Stage was told
that communication with UK Tribute Shows Ltd started to decrease, apart from contact in
June to say one venue was cancelled.
The band claimed it did not receive a refund despite hearing of this cancellation. After this,
the band contacted the remaining two venues to be told the venues were not aware of the
bookings.
In messages that The Stage has seen, written confirmation on social media from the booker
to the band have confirmed the gig and invoices were paid to UK Tribute Shows Ltd.
The spokesperson for Chic to Chic said that they were initially dubious about coming forward
in case of industry "embarrassment" but said they hoped to help others in doing so.

Andrew Hobson at marketing company Promote Your Event is owed £675 for print materials
for a show he marketed in 2019. Although the company received some payment for work at
the time, communication ceased.
Hobson said: "We provided the service and he hasn’t paid for the service. We printed
material, had it delivered to us, and then to wherever the company had a show."
An online community with more than 300 members created by musicians and tribute acts
has allowed creatives to share their stories.
The Stage has also spoken with two further tribute acts who claim to be owed money.
Multiple sources have flagged concerns and issues with communication that they claim left
them unable to pursue payments further with the company.
When approached by The Stage, Mason said: "We categorically deny the allegation of UK
Tribute Shows Ltd owing that amount of money and, if that was the case, we would certainly
have no option but to shut down the company. However, that clearly is not the case – we can
confirm that no one has come to us with any claims for any alleged debts and this is nothing
short of a witch-hunt against UK Tribute Shows Ltd."
Unable to comment on the Chic to Chic issue due to legal reasons, Mason said: "Regarding
Promote Your Event, who invoiced us in 2019 for work that wasn’t completed by them, we
advised Promote Your Event in 2019 and asked for evidence that has not been given. We
have had no further contact with Promote Your Event since 2019.
"We pride ourselves on putting great shows into theatres with a first-class team of people
and have done for seven years. We have never had any issues with any theatres in this
country or in Europe."
In 2020, Mason admitted five charges of fraud by false representation and two of falsifying
articles for the purpose of fraud between May and December of 2018, and was given a
suspended sentence of 22 weeks for each of the five fraud offences and 26 weeks for the
other two.
It is understood that the Musicians’ Union is investigating the issue, but would not comment
on the situation.

fretmeister

Link to the post that mentions it

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/443596-i-have-been-been-ripped-off-by-mick-mason-of-leicester-facebook-scammerthief/?do=findComment&comment=4810551

fretmeister