is WAKEONE, a subsidiary label of CJ Ent.
-August 29 (Thu): An international fandom of a member arranged to ship custom-made in-ear monitors so that he can use them on the group's world tour (with prior agreement from the agency).
Hello, this is RICKY JP. The in-ear monitors we've been working on are complete and we'd like to ship them to the office. As confirmed in the first email, is it still okay to send them to the office? If so, could I please have the contact number of the person in charge? Thank you.
Hello, this is the person in charge of ZEROBASEONE. Yes, will the delivery be made via Quick service? Please deliver it by 3 PM on September 2 (Mon). Upon arrival, please contact us at 010-68xxx17.
-They received the official response to send it by 3PM on September 2 (Mon)
On September 2 at 3PM, the item was personally handed over to the staff of WAKEONE's support team.
(The packaging state of the in-ear monitors at the time)
-September 7 (Sat): during a video call fansign, the member said that he still had not yet received the in-ear monitors.
Black: Honestly, the handheld microphone team asked about it. Yes. I wanted to ask for proof of the in-ear monitors.
Green: Yeah, I saw that.
Black: But when we asked about it, they said they hadn't received them yet.
-September 13 (Thu): The international fandom sent an email asking why the in-ear monitors hadn't been delivered yet and emphasized that they had been sent in time for the world tour and requested a quick delivery.
Hello, this is RICKY JP. I'm writing to inquire about the in-ear monitor we sent earlier. According to the member during a fansign, he hasn't received the gift from the company yet. This gift was created and shipped specifically to be used during the world tour, with prior agreement with the company. Why hasn't it been delivered to the member yet? We hope the gift is delivered as soon as possible. Thank you for reading.
Hello, this is the person in charge of ZEROBASEONE. Could you let us know when it was shipped? It seems there were many gifts, so it might have gotten mixed up. Please check. Thank you.
Hello, this is the person in charge of ZEROBASEONE. Did you just send it by courier without coordinating with us? Please check. Thank you.
After six days of no response, the agency finally replied on September 19 (Thu), just one day before the Seoul concert. They gave a surprising response, asking when it was sent, whether it was delivered by courier, and if it had been coordinated.
The gift was clearly received by staff and now they're saying the company didn't even know about this in-ear monitor gift? Fans started to get anxious from this point...
Hello, this is the person in charge of ZEROBASEONE. We are currently reviewing CCTV footage to verify the situation. We apologize for any shortcomings in receiving the item. We will provide a follow-up after checking. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience.
After receiving the response that the agency was checking CCTV footage, the international fandom decided to wait until the 22nd, considering the concert schedule.
The agency delayed their response and, after a week, on the 26th, they confirmed via email that the in-ear monitors were lost. (The email did not mention any compensation.)
They are now working with a Korean legal team and plan to sue the agency.
*After the notice was posted, questions arose within the fandom:
(1) How did it get lost after being personally delivered? How does the agency usually manage support items?
(2) If they can lose items worth hundreds of thousands of won, can we trust that other gifts have been properly delivered to the members? Is there someone taking items in between?
+) As a result, the member couldn’t use the new in-ear monitors during the world tour, and the international fandom's three months of effort, time, and money spent on making and shipping the in-ear monitors went to waste.
Summary:
1. An international fandom raised funds and sent in-ear monitors to match the concert dates (after coordinating with the agency, the item was personally delivered to staff).
2. During a fansign, the member said they hadn't received the in-ear monitors.
3. The agency ignored emails asking to confirm delivery, only responding the day before the concert to ask when it was sent and if it had been coordinated.
4. After saying they'd check, the agency admitted a week later that the in-ear monitors were lost, but offered no compensation, apology, or public notice.
5. As a result, the time, effort, and money spent to make the in-ear monitors for the world tour were wasted.
++) Additionally, for those wondering if companies still accept support gifts:
This company’s first official announcement after forming the debut members through a survival show was a gift policy announcement...^^ They've liked gifts since the beginning.
theqoo
-In-ear monitors aren’t something you can make in just a day. It’s so unfortunate considering the time and effort fans spent preparing it, and how they eagerly awaited seeing it used...ㅠ It must be really upsetting..
-Even as a non-fan, this looks incredibly suspicious?????? They should definitely sue...
-I can understand if they take clothes or perfume for themselves, but what are they going to do with custom in-ear monitors?
-In-ear monitors are custom-made based on the shape of the artist's ears, so even if someone stole them, they couldn’t use them. Did they steal it without realizing what it was from the packaging?... It's not like they're beggars or something like that.
-How do you lose something this big?
-Why would they steal that? They can’t even use it.
-Did they actually steal that? Why? And wouldn’t it be obvious who received it? This is crazy.
-What are they going to do with in-ear monitors? You can’t sell them or use them. Why are they doing such a terrible job?
-Maybe they didn’t realize it was in-ear monitors based on the fancy packaging. How do you claim it’s lost after it was handed over directly?
-They just got caught this time. There’s probably a lot more they’ve been stealing.
-It’s obvious they stole it.