Filipino BLINKs Fall Victim To Alleged Scam After Spending Thousands To See BLACKPINK

Filipino BLINKs have been calling out online retailer Shopee Philippines after allegedly getting scammed at recent BLACKPINK event.

Shopee Philippines organized a special meet and greet with BLACKPINK for June 6 and while many fans were looking forward to the event, they reported that when they arrived it turned into a bit of a nightmare.

The company originally promised seats to fans who bought items from their online stores and indicated that the top 40 spenders would get special autographs from each of the BLACKPINK members. But on the day of the event, several fans were allegedly denied entry despite getting tickets and spending tens of thousands for the chance!

What is this! Y'all need to be fair! Some people just wanted to meet BlackPink and shopee ruined it all! #SHOPEESCAM pic.twitter.com/ZCJHHwsvNw

— 𝖏𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖇𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖐𝖘✨⚖️ (@Kpopeditz5) June 6, 2019

In fact, some fans revealed that while they were originally notified they had been given tickets, they were later taken away!

#SHOPEESCAM

SHOPEE TOOK MY TICKET AWAY FROM ME.

The pain I'm experiencing right now is unbearable. I just want to see BLACKPINK and I believe that my dreams will come true. But they took it away.
– Chase Black

ctto. pic.twitter.com/Lh2A82Gxf2

— martin💃| #SHOPEESCAM (@martinbp_) June 6, 2019

Filipino BLINKs also reported that while they were denied entry into the event, a number of influencers and celebrities who were not fans of BLACKPINK were instead given priority.

THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU PUT 99% CELEBRITIES AND SO CALLED INFLUENCERS INSIDE A SUPPOSED TO BE FAN EVENT, COMPLETE SILENCE#SHOPEESCAM

pic.twitter.com/IAz2v74My6

— ed | seungmin (@kdramakings) June 6, 2019

RECORDING AND TAKING PICTURES ARE PROHIBITED BUT INFLUENCERS AND CELEBRITIES ARE FREE TO RECORD ANYTHING ON MEET AND GREET, WHAT THE ACTUAL FCK. AND AWRA IS THERE.💀#SHOPEESCAM pic.twitter.com/HwfPR0ZJJV

— niko (@nikodizon_) June 6, 2019

Other fans reported that after receiving entry, they were later told they were not part of the top 40, asked to give up their seats, and were treated differently by staff members at the event when they said they wanted to stay.

So they are going to call us if we are to have our posters signed.
when it was our time to go up they gave us bond paper. (not the thick kind of paper but bond paper!) pic.twitter.com/cOFE2cXcTe

— Heime (@heimerdingerbb) June 6, 2019

These instances have doubly angered fans as there were only 568 tickets allotted for the event. The difference in what fans expected from the event and what really happened led to BLINKs trending the hashtag #ShopeeScam worldwide.

BLACKPINK AND BLINKS DESERVES BETTER!!

BLACKPINK AND BLINKS DESERVES BETTER!!

BLACKPINK AND BLINKS DESERVES BETTER!!

BLACKPINK AND BLINKS DESERVES BETTER!!

BLACKPINK AND BLINKS DESERVES BETTER!!#SHOPEESCAM

— scarlet (@OppaLisayah) June 6, 2019

#SHOPEESCAM trending #1 worldwide i have to laugh, its what they deserve pic.twitter.com/PrM30PPPj3

— fé (@jennnshope) June 6, 2019

Shopee, meanwhile, recently made an official statement apologizing to fans and promising that they would not only be reaching out to fans who were affected by the problems but that they would also be making steps in the future so something like this wouldn’t happen again in the future.

All of us at Shopee would like to sincerely apologize to users and fans of Shopee and BLACKPINK for the issues involving the Shopee X BLACKPINK Meet-And-Greet today in Manila. The event fell short of the high standards that Shopee users and BLACKPINK fans expect, and we hear our community’s feedback loud and clear.

Although we took immediate steps as soon as we discovered our errors to ensure the rightful winners of our contest could claim their prizes, we know that the entire process caused confusion, disappointment, and upset for many Shopee users and BLACKPINK fans.

We are reaching out to all those affected by this issue, and we are also taking steps to ensure that such an incident does not occur again in the future.

— Shopee