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Sandpiper slams LAMC for not taking its recommendations for Guns N' Roses show

SINGAPORE — A major gripe about the Guns N’ Roses show at the Changi Exhibition Centre had to do with the cashless payment system that concert-goers used to buy food and drink at the venue,

SINGAPORE — A major gripe about the Guns N’ Roses show at the Changi Exhibition Centre had to do with the cashless payment system that concert-goers used to buy food and drink at the venue.

Concert promoter LAMC Productions blamed part of the chaos at the show on the Radio Frequency ID wristbands that were issued. It worked with Sandpiper Digital Payments (SDP) on the bands. Concert-goers were required to create an online event wallet (eWallet) and link it to their tickets. Using a credit card, they could top up the eWallet in exchange for credits to be used at the show. They could then get refunds if those credits went unused.

Top-up stations were available at the venue for those who needed more credits, or who did not go for the online option.

At the gig, people experienced long queues at the F&B stalls, as well as at top-up stations for the wristbands.

Delays on getting into the venue were an issue as well, as tickets had to be scanned and linked to each person’s wristband.

James Kane, director at SDP Asia, released a statement on Monday (Feb 27) clarifying the part the company had to play — and what led to the “hampered” success of the RFID system at the Guns N’ Roses show.

“As a vendor, SDP supports the organiser/operator (LAMC) based on the requirements provided,” he wrote. “Based on these details, SDP shared with the organiser that their plans were inadequate (ahead of time). This pertains to entry, cashless signage, pre-event top up collection, top-up stations, F&B fulfillment, etc.”

Kane had highlighted to LAMC that six entry queues for Pen A and Pen B were not adequate for an event size of over 30,000 people. Around 50,000 showed up to the event on Saturday.

He wrote that “it is the final decision of the organizers and their team to follow or ignore the recommendations”.

The number of top-up stations for the cashless payment system were not adequate either, he said.

“The organizer provided space for 2 top-up stations consisting of 8 cashiers for cash and credit card top-ups, which in retrospective did not cover the demand. Due to the slow setup by the onsite logistics, additional planned stations were not set up onsite,” he said.

And although the RFID process for payment “worked as planned” at food and beverage stalls. But there was a shortage of bars and food stands, resulting in the long queues, he said.

He wrote that post-event, SDP can identify those who have set up their eWallet with unspent credits and refund it back to them directly.

“For those who did not set up their eWallet (ahead of time), and have unspent balances, rest assured that SDP is working with the event organizer on the best solution for them to issue refunds. The refund will be secured via LAMC’s website,” he added.

iGo, the company behind the eWallet that was used for the wristbands, also released a statement on its Facebook page, and emailed those with eWallets on Sunday.

“Please allow us the next 72 hours to tabulate the balances and get back to you via email on your e-wallet balance and options,” the statement said.

“We are waiving admin fee for balance withdrawals. We hope to see you again at future events.”

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