My Recent TrotCon Experience (A Shout Out From The Rooftops)

[Randimaxis 8,654]

Hello - my name is Matthew Grant, and TrotCon took $2500 from me... and I'd like to explain my situation.

I had gotten my tax returns, and had decided to purchase a Draconequus Tier ticket for your 2022 convention - the MOST money I'd ever spent on any one thing before. I had money saved up for the convention itself, but that was pulled away little by little until all I had was a mere $500 to get through the convention... and I was driving up from Georgia.

I had been very iffy about vaccinations for YEARS... but, for this convention, I had decided to actually go through with it, despite my own wishes. So, I decided I would get my COVID vaccination in early June...

Then, I lost my job. Two days later, my father went into the hospital... and three weeks later, he passed away. I was DEVASTATED, and had to scramble to cover expenses & arrange for a funeral I had no idea how to pay for... but somehow, things worked out and I got it all handled by July 1st.

... which is when I recalled I hadn't gotten my vaccinations yet.

I scrambled to get vaccinated, which happened on the third of July. I then managed to take what little I had, stuff myself into my car & head up to Ohio for the convention, hoping and praying that I'd made it in enough time.

I had not.

At the front desk, they looked over my card, asked me if that was all I'd had... then, there was an awkward silence for about three seconds before someone behind the admissions counter simply said 'next', and I was dutifully ignored.

$2500. And I was just ignored. No apologies, not even sympathy... just casually forgotten, right there in line.

I was devastated... and my friends, who'd come from all over the country for this, were PISSED at the convention for it.

I spent the majority of the time in the hotel room, as I was told by staff that I couldn't walk the halls without a mask... but I didn't see the point in wearing it if I wasn't going INTO the con itself.

So, instead of spending $2500 and having a wonderful time... I spent $2500 to be forced to stay in my hotel room and do without ANY of the extra perks I was supposed to have gotten with such a large amount of money spent. No autographs (I gave those vouchers to my friends), no Meet & Greets (which I COULDN'T give to my friends, because they were tied to the badge I didn't get), no Dinner with the Guests of Honor...

... nothing.

I've dealt with conventions in the past, and was under the impression that if I approached staff about this, I would simply have been ignored again; what happened at registration was cruel, in my opinion, and I could have at least used some sympathy...

I suppose I'm telling you this to ask if there's anything at all that could be done as some form of compensation. If there's ANYTHING that can be done in order to help set this right for me, as I simply feel like 'it just sucks to be me, and that's all'. Conventions shouldn't be this way; there should be some sort of community or at least some understanding about such a situation.

After how registration handled me, I felt that there was no point in trying.

But my friends have pushed and prodded me to say SOMETHING to you about what happened, and so this is my attempt to do so. With everything having happened the way it did, I hope that there's SOMETHING that can possibly be done so that I don't look back on this experience as a hard and sour moment in my life - though it most certainly feels like it.

$2500... is there ANYTHING that could possibly be done as some form of compensation over this cavalcade of errors, or am I just supposed to see this as an 'oh well' moment? PLEASE tell me that something can come of this, besides pain and bitter tears.

Please Respond,

~ Matthew Grant, aka Randimaxis

#TrotCon

(Note to mods/admins; if it doesn't go here, please place wherever it needs to be)