to ask if any of your DC got ripped off at the YouTuber event Hello World?

[BriechonCheese]

My DS(13) went to the HelloWorld event yesterday - which was billed as an "immersive event" run by Alfie Deyes from PointlessBlog. (This is probably a TL:DR so in short - the event was useless, thousands of children were crying. The event organisers are ignoring it. Vastly inflated YouTube stars put in minimal effort for the whole event and the special additions for the VIP ticket were changed in the days immediately before the event. Disabled access also a nightmare).

He saved up his pocket money and birthday money to attend and even paid extra for VIP tickets for him and his friend because his friend has been through a hard time of it. This VIP ticket was supposed to give him access to meeting some of his idols (I can't criticise him for his choice in idols - I liked Take That, East17 and Adam Ricket as a teenager). The day before the event they were told actually VIP holders wouldn't get what they were promised but would be given a tour of the event by one YouTuber and they now had to enter a competition to other meet youtubers.

It as a shambles and from the photos my DH took (he went with him) it seemed to be a room full of teenagers milling around having being told their idols wouldn't be doing formal meet and greets (as in the norm with YouTube events) but walking around ok and off during the day - so basically the whole place was gridlocked with people hoping to see someone famous walking around. The youtubers in fact seemed to all stay behind the scenes and Snapchat from backstage.

None of the children were getting what they were promised (rides, chance to bake with their idols, play games with them and loads of stuff) none of them enjoying it or being able to access the "immersive events", half of them were in tears and the other half were angry. There was a performance which was due to last 2 hours but the performers lasted less than 1hr 30 mins and the big names appeared for about 5 mins.

It turned out to be an arena where children paid to enter in order to queue with other children to buy over priced merchandise.
Lots of children were pushed and shoved by other attendees, security and staff - my DH saw one girl being lifted out of the queue having being pushed against a bench by a surge of people.
Worst of all, the tickets said under 14s would be seated, so my niece who also went and is disabled was excited she could attend and feel safe in a seat. It turns out, from staff, that the under 14s rule was applicable to concerts only and this wasn't mentioned before hand. She is able to stand but is in agony today as a result. Disabled access otherwise was a nightmare and many disabled attendees were excluded from 95% of the events (which ended up mainly being them getting to queue to look at stalls that were sold out or areas where they might see a YouTuber but in reality no one showed up).

Yesterday social media was trending with how awful it was and it has been completely ignored by the organisers and "creators"/youtubers both on the HelloWorld social media pages and on their own personal pages.

Does anyone else have DC who came home disappointed from this event? Is anyone else sick to the backteeth of these YouTuber "creators" putting in absolutely minimal effort to take cash from impressionable children?

Zoella, Alfie Deyes, Sprinkle of Glitter, Mark Ferris, Joe Sugg, Marcus Butler, Tyler Oakley and their little gang of white washed, hyper consumerism based idiots are banned in our house hence forth.

Was just reading twitter about this. People complained that Zoella wasn't on the main stage, she replied saying she didn't feel comfortable talking in front of that many people. As you can imagine, all her fans replied with how brave & inspiring she was to even turn up it's all ridiculous.

She's just moved into a million pound home, all made from videoing her doing her makeup or going food shopping. All of the youtubers are materialistic &a self-centred as hell, & I won't even start on the million books & merchandise I see cropping up in almost every single shop! Sorry to hear your son is so disappointed, hopefully it'll steer his interest away from these "creators"

Also, I meant to say OP that I agree, your son sounds lovely.

I think you can judge how nice the youtubers are by how often they interact with their fans on social media. I watch some for a bit of light entertainment every now and then and you can definitely tell who really care about their fans. A few notable examples are - Dan and Phil, who each do weekly livestreams, and frequently reply to and have conversations with their fans on twitter. Dodie also replies on twitter, and to comments on youtube, is happy to meet fans after shows and apologises on social media because she feels awkward doing so and is worried she can't live up to her fans' expectations (although everyone always says she's lovely). Carrie Hope Fletcher also replies, does livestreams, etc. She's written a few books and lets her fans know when they're on sale, and encourages them not to waste money on buying her gifts etc, but if she does get a lot at once she opens them on camera so she can show her gratitude for them. She also used to be happy to meet fans whenever (and I think still is if you bump into her), but she's an actress and people, even those not watching her show, would stand outside stage door and wait for her there. She's made a couple of videos on the topic, and not only does she seem shaken by some of her experiences, she also says that theatre security won't always let her go out there because they think it's too scary but she's very apologetic about the whole situation.

There are others as well, but these were the first I thought of, off the top of my head. I think in general, the less well-known the youtuber, the nicer they are.

My neighbour took her DC yesterday and it was awful. They'll try to get money back. To top it all apparently Louise Pentland made some very ill judged "joke" about her new neighbour being a widow.

Hope you get your money back OP, your son sounds fab. Am v glad I opened this thread, I've been wavering over buying tickets for the DS's for the digital kids show in Manchester next month but after reading this will give it a miss!

It sounds awful. By way of contrast my DC had a VIP ticket for Dan TDM last year - this included watching his live show, meeting him afterwards, having a photo taken with him (photo provided in presentation frame), and also receiving a signed baseball cap, T-shirt and bag. I don't see the appeal at all (and at my age I'm obviously not meant to!) but I do think he's one of the good 'uns.

I hope people (including your kind son) have some luck getting refunds and this controversy gives these pointless no-marks a kick up the arse .

I was there on Saturday with my daughter
It was awful

There was an online competition for meet and greets that we won (first 300 to reply or something)

The email said we would get photos and autographs. We didn't weren't allowed to get close.
The whole show was a total farce. Zoella was no where to be seen, in fact we only saw about 6 in total the rest were too busy filming themselves.

Louise Pentland stood on stage and spoke about her new neighbours dead husband (yeah very funny not)

She made a quip about the money earn't going towards her new house in Northamptonshire which was sickening as we spent over £200 (2 tickets, hotel, petrol) just to be there

Zoella and Alfie and the rest of the tubers and the organisers should be totally ashamed of themselves

Totally fucking rip off
I'm asking for my money back and if they don't give it they can battle it out with my credit card company

£2.20 for 100g sweets, £18 for a tshirt absolute joke

And whats worse it's being slated everywhere (apart from the kids who are defending their idols) and helloworld haven't even had the decency to reply yet

Was just reading this on Twitter. Looks like it wasn’t just the fans who were badly treated twitter.com/janavlogs/status/924697099576467456

OP - you must be really proud of your son.

I think that Zoella and the rest of the Brighton crew have become too big for their boots. Ever since they ditched Summer In The City to their own events (to make $$$) , they’ve really changed how they treat their fans. My dd has outgrown that group in the last couple of years but they were much friendlier when they weren’t so big and that Gleam treating their fans as cash cows. It’s a bitter pill for youngsters to swallow. 😢

Good luck with the refund. These adults should be deeply ashamed about their behaviour. I don’t doubt that organising these events take a lot of work but if it’s too hard then they should do what gamer Youtubers do and align themselves with established events who would love to have them (just not for the same fee)

Make sure you screen grab the Helloworld page. It will be pulled as it mentions the Vip ones will meet the stars, not have a comp. THey mention the street party afterwards.
It wasn't the youtubers world it was the ticket holders world.

They did get one thing right. It sounds like it was an unforgettable experience. The fans and parents will remember for years how badly they were treated.

[email protected] Are the organisers, apparently.

I'm in my late '20s now, but I used to watch some of those Youtubers. It's disgusting how much money they're still trying to make out of their fans.

*OP do encourage your son to contact your MP.
You can do it from a consumer rights perspective if you do a little research together

Lots of people doing this will gain attention as no one, except the money grabbers, like to see young people being ripped off and exploited.

You ca talk to him about the role of MPs as well.

Our MP would definitely respond, as would our AM.*

Maybe it is a good life lesson that these people are not idols. They are not your friends, they do not care about you, they care about making money.

This!

I'd try and treat this as a learning experience and open their eyes to the reality of the situation - that these people only care about money. That's why they make youtube vids, that's why they do these events, that's why they make crappy overpriced merchandise. It's not for the fans it's for them, to line their pockets.

Having said that, I really hope you get a refund. This sounds shockingly bad!

Definitely sounds like something to raise with trading standards, particularly as they changed what was being offered so radically. If one of the 'stars' didn't manage to do everything promised as she was heavily pregnant and suffering but everything else went as promised then it could be overlooked as one of those unfortunate things. But when they all seriously over promised and under delivered then the whole lot of them need to be held responsible

Remember when claiming that you should include travel and rip off food and even accommodation if you needed it, plus will your dneice need extra physio or taxis or ??? As a result of not being able to sit?

A letter to the mp sounds good too, especially as a learning experience.

And maybe check out the money saving expert website for advice on effective complaining. Think they have (or link to) a web site? Or something AI that will generate really effective, legally correct, letters.

Good luck - your ds sounds such a lovely boy to have been so thoughtful so it's horrible that it's all gone so wrong.

I feel for you and your son. I avoid youtuber/vlogger events due to a similar experience in the past. My children have stopped watching PB and some of the big time youtubers lately because all they constantly do now is try to flog their merchandise, exploiting children and their parents. I remember reading that Zoella and PB hated the parents of their fans. They need to remember who is paying for all their merchandise! My DC occasionally watch Dan TM and I don't mind him we have been to one of his events and he was very sweet to the kids. However, I am so glad my children have stopped watching them as much now because I want them to go out and live their life rather than watch someone else's made up life.

I was going to take ds to this. Glad i didnt.

Complain complain complain to anyone and everyone.

Sounds an absolute ripoff. I blanched at DD spending £100
plus for a VIP Comicon ticket but she got to meet (and have photos taken with) stars of a cult ZTV show she adores and to attend VIP only Q&As with cast members. She came home having had a wonderful day.

Maybe it is a good life lesson that these people are not idols. They are not your friends, they do not care about you, they care about making money

Absolutely. I'm actually amazed that there are any parents who would support this tbh.

This 'youtuber' nonsense is ridiculous.

Sorry your son had such an awful experience but thank you for posting. It has put me off booking such an event in the future for my ds.

I've never fully watched a Louise video but apparently she was on stage telling jokes about her neighbours dead husband. Sounds like a horrible woman.

I'm sure Watchdog would love to hear about this. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/contact

It amazes me that Louise Pentland is still going and that an audience of teenagers are remotely interested in the ramblings of a 32 year old woman. I can kind of get how Zoella and some of the others appeal that age group because they pull the "young and zany!" thing, but Louise I don't get, I really don't.

I don't get the zoella appeal she's almost 30 and still acts like a 12 year old.

Op join this group and share it m.facebook.com/Hello-world-Live-Complaints-186014978637176/

According to their Twitter feed, HelloWorldLive have just posted an official statement on their Facebook page. No idea what it says, as I can't access Facebook at work. Anyone able to see it? Bet they don't own up for a thing, the likes of Zoella never have done. Remember this is the "girl boss" who refused to admit she used a ghostwriter for her books.

Never mind, Guru Gossiper had it!

Official statement from Hello World Live:

"We at HelloWorld want to let you know that we are really disappointed and very sorry to hear that some fans feel they did not get the experience they were hoping for. It is the fans that help make these shows so great and we always want to ensure that everyone has an amazing time. We really appreciate everyone’s feedback and we are taking everything on board.
The Hello World event is designed as a new way for fans to see their favourite content creators on stage and a change from the old ‘meet and greet’ style events. The atmosphere at the event was very positive overall and we had venue and event staff on hand to deal in real time with any teething issues on a case-by-case basis. Anyone who has been in touch with our official email address is being responded to on an individual basis and we appreciate fans patience during this process."