Thomas W Jni

Totally Uncooperative

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I had been a gigmasters member since mid 2011 and had had marginal results at best. A few years back they worked with me to reduce my annual fee since I was not having a lot of success. The $159 was set up to auto renew at that rate. In 2017 they jacked it up to over $200 but said I had a special coupon that got a $179 rate and I took it. Now they say they "can't lower the price" which is $269. They claim that costs go up, but my math shows that this is almost DOUBLE what it originally was. They are only interested in shaking down musical groups. Avoid them at all costs.
View full review
Loss:
$179
Pros:
  • Customer service in 2014
Cons:
  • Customer serive in 2018
Reason of review:
Pricing issue

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

1 comment
Guest

I agree 100%

ronda Jks
map-marker Norwalk, Connecticut

GIG MASTERS DON'T USE THEM FOR YOUR EVENT

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Gig Masters are hands off. When something goes wrong they do nothing. They blocked my bad review of the photographer that was a total NO SHOW and are only showing his good reviews. This is wrong, false advertising and just awful business. They also do not Vet their vendors or have any repercussions for them when they take your money and do not show up. They have a lot of policies but none of which they enforce. Their managers and supervisors are about 12 years old and do not have the ability to know right from wrong or resolve a situation. The trouble is you think you are booking valid companies but anyone can make an account and solicit themselves as a professional on their platform and then you are SOL. Don't do it - we lost $6k
View full review
Loss:
$6000
Pros:
  • Criminal
Reason of review:
Bad quality

Preferred solution: Protect your clients by having a non-tolerance NO SHOW policy for your vendors. They will be removed from the platform.

1 comment
GigMasters

We would like to express our sincerest apologies for your experience. At GigMasters, we pride ourselves on protecting our clients with our GigMasters Guarantee (which includes vendor assurance, payment security, and customer support) and our strict Event Protection Policy (It ensures that you receive a refund for any payments processed online through GigMasters, have the ability to post a review on the vendor’s page, and that we locate a replacement on your behalf).

When a vendor cancels on a client at the last minute, we internally review their account and in addition, leave the client review on their profile (we do not remove any reviews). Again, we cannot apologize enough for your experience with this vendor.

Joan L Ygp

the Nostalgia Trio

I would like to have a posture to post in our clubhouse showing the entertainment I booked for our clubhouse. My address is: Joan Turcotte 231 Dixie Circle ,Haines City, FL 33844 my phone is# 863-421-****
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Anonymous

WASTE OF MONEY!

Gigmasters - WASTE OF MONEY!

My DUO was on there for a year and NOTHING. 15 years together and we have opened for National Acts like The Drifters, The Duprees, The Skyliners, Danny & The Juniors, Bobby Rydell and NOTHING!

I probably answered 50 gigs asap with a REASONABLE price and NOT ONE GIG! Like gigsalad, I believe that some of these gigs are PHONY, MADE UP to make you think there's something on the other end. You would think in a YEAR, we would of at least have gotten ONE GIG! We are older, do Oldies & Country, but still?

You would think we would have got at least ONE gig? FYI everybody

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Reason of review:
NO GIGS
4 comments
Guest

I was with GigMasters for almost 10 years. Got gigs with Google, Verizon, and the Food Network through them.

In 2015, XO company ("The Knot") acquired GigMasters. Immediately, the cost of membership went up almost triple (I see it's down now, which I attribute to the negative reviews, vendor complaints and the pandemic), the process of the booking fee became cumbersome and poor business practice, and there was no availability to opt-out of the auto-renew (there's not a company on this planet who gets my permission to access my finances without my immediate involvement). Most notably, the gigs in my state dried up and I was getting requests for the nearest major city out-of-state. It became clear that XO had decreased their advertising budget and minimized the range and geo-reach.

Please also make sure you read the Terms of Service, especially the fun section 22 - MANDATORY ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. Sorry XO - you were never serving your customers, that was our job. You were serving your vendors and you lost sight of how to do that.

Let us take care of your customers, and you take care of us. When a company forgets the mutual benefit of a business relationship, they lose their business.

Guest

Ditto...Our group has been together for about the same number of years. I got one gig in two years.

Our band has never had to advertise. Joined to supplement and maybe get some different gigs.

Wast of time and money. Canceled auto-renew...

Guest

It’s all BS agree! Fake leads they all scam you out of your cash!

GigMasters

Hello! We are sorry to hear about your experience.

Traffic and demand for requests varies by categories and location.

If you reach out to our Account Services team (866-342-9794), a representative would be happy to look at the statistics for the demand in your area/offer any suggestions on category listing. Again, we are sorry to hear that you did not have a good experience with our service.

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Anonymous

Unfair Ranking System for Vendors

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As a vendor, I have been with Gig Masters for a long time; many years. As of recently, they started a ranking system for their musicians.

Who ever was hired most recently was placed in number one position on the page where you view the pianists in a particular area/location of the country. I have written to them at least 3 times about changing this so-called ranking system to just an alphabetical listing of our names within the area that we serve. Right now, I have observed that Gig Masters is not even upholding their own ranking system. A pianist from my area was booked 7 days ago, and according to their ranking system should have been moved to the top of the list.

Were they moved? No. The same person was still number 1 on the page even though he was booked about a month ago. Sounds complicated?

Yes, it is. If you rank people according to the most recently hired person for a job, you are advancing a system that is not fair. Just because a person was hired 5 days ago, does not qualify that person as a better performer. This ranking according to most recently booked needs to be discarded and replaced with NO ranking system which would place everyone on a much more even/level playing field.

I think these companies are becoming more and more controlling. Even to the point where I say they need to receive some help for their control issues. This does not work for an individual, and certainly not for a true artist. I have suggested that they go back to just an alphabetical listing of our names per our area of location.

It is evident from my research that Gig Masters is not even using their own ranking system. Perhaps it is even too complicated for them.

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Cons:
  • Ranking system for vendors
Reason of review:
Not as described/ advertised
1 comment
GigMasters

Hello! In regards to the ranking system on GigMasters, it is not based solely on who was booked most recently.

When clients search the GigMasters site, they enter their event location and the category of entertainer or vendor. The site returns a list that is the “best match” for the search. The “best match” order is calculated based on location, category, and total booking dollars earned (sorted by vendors who've earned the most dollars to vendors who've earned the fewest dollars) during the most recent six months time.

Booking dollars earned during the most recent 6 months are updated once per day and the rankings will update accordingly.Clients can opt to change the sort order for their search to be based on rating or on distance. If you have any other questions, please contact our Account Services team (866-342-9794) and they would be happy to take a look at your account and the search result rankings in your area!

Anonymous

Gig masters needs better control of their vendors

On September 30 2017, my wife and I were married. We used gig masters to find what we thought were credible tried and true vending sources for our wedding.

For the most part, most were excellent. However, the “photographer” was a complete nightmare. The persons name was Jamie Velazquez. Jimmy Velasquez, is a recognized vendor with gig masters.

Based upon what we read, and an agreed price we chose Jamie Velasquez to be our photographer for the wedding on September 30. The night before the wedding, on September 29, when everything is in sheer pandemonium getting ready for the event, Jamie Velasquez called us up and ransomed us. She made us pay in full for everything prior to the wedding. She also hit us for extra time, and stated that she was an artist and needed to get there one hour earlier in order to determine the appropriate places to take photos.

And she wanted that to be paid in full as well! We were stuck, and she knew. She said she would not show up if she was not paid in full prior to the event. So, we were forced to pay the agreed price, and an extra hour of time.

10 minutes before the procession was to begin, we got a text message that from Jamie Velasquez that she would not be there at the wedding. I was not told by my wife, because she knew that I would become quite agitated. As we faced each other to take our vows, I asked my wife where is the photographer? And she stated, she’s not coming.

We were forced to halt the wedding, in order to ask all the people attending our wedding, to take lots of pictures that day. We informed everyone that we were let down by the photographer Jamie Velasquez who flaked on us. Anyone who knows anything about planning a wedding, and using a professional caterer for an event, knows everything runs at specific times. Approximately two hours after the photographer was supposed to be there, she sent a back up photographer.

The back up photographer missed the procession, the entire wedding, all of the bridesmaid and groomsmen‘s lineup photographs, the introduction, and several other momentous events. How insulting that someone could be so callous as to think that being there two hours late, we would have time to reenact the ceremony while the caterer was on a time schedule and dinner was being served. Impossible. Chaos would have ensued.

Can you imagine that kind of problem happening on your wedding day, after hours and hours of planning? The stress that comes with putting on your own wedding is intense. This last minute baloney should never happen to anyone on that special day! Well gig masters refunded their aspect of the fees charged....

but when we left a review for the client, the client was able to place our very strong review at the bottom of the reviews in order to bury and hide it. We asked gig masters about this, and they said that they have no control over it. Well, that is very deceptive. It is deceptive because people look to reviews in order to find out whether or not they should spend their hard earned money on vendors that gig masters placed there.

We told gig masters about the situation. They stated that if Jamie Velasquez gave us any problems to call me. We called them several times. Jamie Velasquez created some fabrication of a story to the credit card company.

We did not get back our money that she charged us. She said it was nonrefundable. And so I told the credit card company, that’s allowed stealing. Anyone can book and state that it is nonrefundable, and then not show up....

and keep the money. How can that be OK? How can that be legal? If a mechanic states that he charges a non refundable fee to fix your car and then doesn’t attempt to fix your car, you want your *** money back!

Gig masters needs to keep tighter reigns on their vendors. The reviews clients leave for vendors should be non manipulated. They should make rules to the vendors that clients should be able to get their full refunds back for missing events. If you make a contract with a vendor through gig masters, and the time for the vendor to be there is 4:30pm, then they are in violation of the contract if they are even 1 minute late.

And if they are an hour late, or how about almost 2 hours late... then that contract is not only violated, it has been blown up and torn to shreds.

Gig Masters, you need to be on top of your vendors. You need to make sure that when they do not follow normal civil protocol, that refunds are made to the victims by paying them in full and then pulling the money from the vendors afterwards.

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Reason of review:
Poor customer service
1 comment
Guest

That really sucks...

Aquilla Nlw
map-marker Norwalk, Connecticut

Reservation Specialist

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We are a vendor that signed up with gigmasters for transportation leads (i.e. party buses and shuttle buses).

customers supposed to pay a deposit upon booking. However, customers click on booking in the gigmasters website and never pay the deposit. Gigmasters require 5% booking fee for the lead (on top of the yearly fee they take from the company; over $300 yearly). The big problem is that gigmasters immediately freezes our account for non-payment of the booking fee for a booking that was never confirmed.

What that means is that for weeks, our account is on hold (we cannot reply to leads) until this issue resolved. For the past year, we dealt with such problem at least 5 times and every time for weeks account frozen. This is a horrible site to advertise on. We never received any booking from their site due to customers that press book and never followup paying a deposit.

We do not recommend their services nor will we be using their services again. thank you

View full review
Cons:
  • Dishonesty
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: this problem happened many times before and the company did not provide a solution. we no longer care to do business with this company. thank you

1 comment
GigMasters

We are sorry to hear of this experience! When you submit a price quote and request a deposit, you can check the option for Deposit Due at the Time of Booking”.

This will this will deduct the booking fee from the client’s deposit payment, rather than the payment method saved to your account. The booking will not be confirmed, nor will you be charged, without the client making the deposit payment first.If you have any trouble with your account, or a booking is not confirmed with a client, you can always contact our Account Services team and they will be able to help!

Anonymous

Scam or not to be

Just lots of broken promises doubt that we will use these possible SCAM ARTIST. Beware of what they promise but blame 3rd party vendors when things go negative
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2 comments
Yahir Oir

You nailed it...I quit today...

GigMasters

Hello. Thank you for your feedback.

We are sorry to hear of this experience! Please contact our Account Services team at 866-342-9794 or info@gigmasters.com.

A representative will be able to help handle any situation that you are referring too. We hold our vendors to the highest standard of professionalism, and would love to help fix this situation.

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Ahnika Btf
map-marker Norwalk, Connecticut

They make it very difficult to cancel your account

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I signed up for gigmasters last year with hopes of getting bookings. I came close a few times but nothing panned out.

I am in LA so the clients get inundated with bands wanting the gig. With 92 referrals and not one booking just makes me believe this isn't a good match for me. I had no idea they were auto renewing me and when it came up on my bill they refused to give me a refund.

It is like they hold you hostage. You are much better off getting your own gigs, they make it virtually impossible to cancel.

View full review
Loss:
$269
Cons:
  • Scams to get you to stay
Reason of review:
Not as described/ advertised

Preferred solution: Full refund

3 comments
Tyller Rcr

big facts! ive had them for almost 3 years..100s of referreals.

2 bookings..and not even directly through the site! they got my info from the site then contacted me directly. what i made on those gigs does not justify what i pay per 3 months... at ALL...

and to have call and be hassled just to cancel yoru membership? bushleague..

Guest

Yes overall GMs is a terrible service.

Guest

I actually agree with everything he said!!!

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Niaya Nmk

Lonesome Ryder Band Reviews Gigmasters

Lonesome Ryder Band Reviews Gigmasters
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Lonesome Ryder Band Reviews Gigmasters The Lonesome Ryder Band has been a Gigmasters member (vendor client) since January 30, 2011. We are a professional music entertainment band performing covers of the top music artist in the genre fields of Modern Country, Classic Rock, Southern Rock, Motown, Disco, Oldies, 60's/70's/80's/90's & more!

As a Gigmasters member we have performed at weddings, special events & private events. However though, since 2011, with all the annual membership fees and booking fees we have paid out to Gigmasters over the years, we have only thirty-one (31) verified bookings in six and a half years! I would say that we only receive about fifty (50) leads per year, of which, many are fake and we only receive less than 10% of our annual revenue from Gigmasters! Gigmasters is our ONLY online booking source, but by far, our lowest revenue based producing source!

To add insult to injury, I am constantly providing GM with ideas to improve their services, free consulting when things go wrong, and believe me they do- with fake "bogus leads", leads with misinformation like fake phone numbers provided- whether by intent of GM or not!? Programming system failures, cheating by dishonest vendors in failing to pay booking fees or making "fake hires" in order to get FAKE RATINGS without doing the work and then there's leads with misinformation, misleading info, alias names, missing information, etc. and the list goes on, etc etc. Furthermore, what is most upsetting here, is the GM rating system!

We have been a Five Star Rated band for the entire time we have been a GM client. But recently due to one single mean client, we acquired a three star rated event, which dropped our average from a 4.7 down to a 4.6 scale- which in turn caused us to drop to four & half stars. Fine! Law of averages and such!

However, we came roaring right back with FIVE STRAIGHT GIGS- all with FIVE STAR RATINGS each one! That's a total of 25 Stars. But guess what? That 4.6 didn't even budge!

I talked several times with Kim at Gigmasters and at first GM reset the averages and we returned to Five Stars. But the next day, the programmers reset it again back to 4.6. My rebuttal was and still is... "How can just one 3-star rated gig knock us down one tenth and yet five 5-star rated gigs couldn't bring us back just the one tenth of a percent back to Five Stars again???

Math doesn't lie, and common sense doesn't lie, and neither do I! In conclusion, I/we the Lonesome Ryder Band hold Gigmaster Awards for LOYALTY, 25+ VERIFIED BOOKINGS, RAPID RESPONDER, GOLD MEMBER & years of BEST OF THE YEAR AWARDS, and after six & a half years as a faithful Gigmasters' client vendor, I/we RATE GIGMASTERS... Here's to you Michael, Annie, Kim, Gus, Jeremy, GM team & XO Company for a job poorly done in our particular case...

1- Customer Service 0- Rating System 0- Vendor Support 0- With false & deceptive Advertising 0- Programming System Updates 2- Webpage Design Update 1-Professionalism 0- Honesty & Integrity ... Rick Sibbett/Lonesome Ryder Band 571-354-****

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Reason of review:
Not as described/ advertised
Anonymous

Gigmasters Is A Ripoff!!!

I have a very successful pro band that has performed at hundreds of major concerts and events in Houston and other areas. Many of the musicians I work with have performed with national acts such as Prince, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Al Jarreau, etc., etc.

I have worked on and off with Gigmasters for about 5 years. Gigmasters is based in Connecticut and do not personally see the bands or the clients. They make their money requiring musicians to pay hundreds of dollars in yearly sign up fees and a commission if you get a gig. About 5 years ago, you sometimes got a gig if you were good (or very cheap).

Now, their gigs are almost non-existent. However, Gigmasters make lots of money by getting tons of musicians to join. They let anyone and anything join which has caused them to totally lose credibilty. A large percentage of their "gigs" are bogus, in other words, there is no gig.

They do not screen individuals advertising for gigs and now they even allow people to solicit musicians to work for free. This means you are paying for a service that allows people to use their site to advertising for free gigs!!!!

Gigmasters is a good example of a greedy company that exploits musicians and does not deliver a promised service. Avoid them at all costs!!

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5 comments
Guest

For all the trolls: I was with GigMasters for almost 10 years. Got gigs with Google, Verizon, and the Food Network through them.

In 2015, XO company ("The Knot") acquired GigMasters (which is why you had bookings 5 years ago). Immediately, the cost of membership went up almost triple (I see it's down now, which I attribute to the negative reviews, vendor complaints and the pandemic), the process of the booking fee became cumbersome and poor business practice, and there was no availability to opt-out of the auto-renew (there's not a company on this planet who gets my permission to access my finances without my immediate involvement). Most notably, the gigs in my state dried up and I was getting requests for the nearest major city out-of-state. It became clear that XO had decreased their advertising budget and minimized the range and geo-reach.

Please also make sure you read the Terms of Service, especially the fun section 22 - MANDATORY ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. Sorry XO - you were never serving your customers, that was our job. You were serving your vendors and you lost sight of how to do that.

Let us take care of your customers, and you take care of us. When a company forgets the mutual benefit of a business relationship, they lose their business.

Guest

*** If you are looking for a rip-off company visit the thumbtack. As a Dj i lost 1000’s of $ to get booked.

Greedy company is thumbtack. Gig masters was the cheapest and the best option for me.

Because of gig masters now i have many gigs booked and actually i am making money! You probably work for thumbtack.

Guest

Who do you recommend working with?

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1384857

Gig masters is the top!

Guest

It's great you are such a pro makes me wonder why you need Gigmasters.com to help you book gig's. Gigmasters.com is a booking service for restaurants and private party's.

Sometimes there are large outdoor gigs. You think $250 is alot for advertisement. Are you kidding try advertising anything else for under $1000.00. If you were with Gigmasters for 5 years and didn't make any money you #1 ask for too much money or #2 are not very good.

Larger bands go thru literal booking agents try getting one. Good luck.

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Anonymous

Gig Masters is a joke.

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I was with gig masters for one year. I got 47 leads and only booked one. The way they have their system is set up is not condusive to new entertainment. Gig masters needs to make their system equal for everyone or else it’s not worth the money.
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Reason of review:
Not as described/ advertised
Anonymous

Unprofessional DJ

Gigmasters - Unprofessional DJ
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I signed up on gigmasters for a DJ for my wedding. I received a call 2 min later from freegator who advised he would send wedding videos for my viewing.

He sent 2 videos and 1 pic of setup. I had not had time to respond to his text so he started small talk about his bike he had to go cover up outside because it was going to rain. He then proceeded to send me pics of topless men, noting he was in the middle with duck lips. How unprofessional can you get?

I text him back saying I am sorry but we will not be using his service. He then replied saying i will get what i pay for when money was not the issue. He quoted me $550 for 5 1/2 hours. To me that is extremely cheap but as I said money had no part in my decision for discontinuing my conversation with him.

He then told me I was discriminating against him because of his age. Again that was reason.

I am looking for a professional DJ for my wedding not a hook up. Gigmasters should think twice before accepting his membership.

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4 comments
Guest

This is DJ freegator not sure what world this man lives in I sent him a picture of me posing with Children of friends of mine at a party that I did for them OMG some people just don't live in reality oh my God I just seen this and I'm still in disbelief I'm hoping that whoever wrote this realizes how wrong they are this is a tragedy that someone would misinterpreted and I never sent you any pictures that weren't appropriate not sure what you're speaking of there I told you I would send you some stuff and that I had to cover my $30,000 Harley-Davidson up because it was outside and raining LOL sorry that you misinterpreted the whole conversation I might have been in a bit of a hurry sometimes I talk too fast for people anyway my apologies if you misinterpreted what I said but you got the wrong interpretation of what was being said.

Guest

Looks like gigmasters is no good for vendors or buyers

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1447539

Well that's absolutely not true it's just like everything else in life buyer beware there's always phonies and Crooks wherever you go in life I found nothing wrong with gigMasters I've been with them for years always been satisfied. Once in a while you run into a youngster that tries to talk junk about somebody when they don't know what they're talking about the kid was simply trying to lowball me and when I wouldn't work for that cheap he thought it would be cool to leave a stupid review not in my favor oh well in my opinion he made himself look like an idiot Please Don't Judge gigmasters because of one idiot.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1447539

Again you are underaged and spreading bad karma check what you say before you say it check yourself before you wreck yourself, do you know that song no because you're probably too young that's what's wrong with the younger generation today mouth in gear brain and neutral gigmasters is great I've been with them for years never had a problem with them except with people like you.

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Ela Qqp

Djdeacon

Gigmasters - Djdeacon
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Need you to answer me to help me out when I can get this thing right but no one's answering
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Jermell Oku

This review is from a real person who provided valid contact information and hasn't been caught misusing, spamming or abusing our website. Check our FAQ

Verified Reviewer
| map-marker Norwalk, Connecticut

Tried to cancel they sed NO

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i started a in home VR rental service they did not want to help set me up and now 42 days into my account . i am trying to cancel ... there saying NO. there is no cancel button on there site. they only wish to talk on the phone and not by email .. my free time is limited. i requested to cancel and there reply was that they want to talk options when i just wish to cancel. also there policy is a 30day or no booking money back guarantee witch they do not wish to keep with me. im taking to paypal. i hop the will force there hand.
View full review
Loss:
$100
Cons:
  • Customer service
  • Scams to get you to stay
  • Dishonesty
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Full refund