I received my “Immortal” CD purchased on Ann’s own website. Normally a good thing! I was hugely disappointed to discover that indeed it was true: Ann Wilson used an autopen (signing machine) for this release.
Even worse is the ongoing silence from her camp as fans have tried to ask for a solution.
[UPDATED 3 HOURS AFTER POSTING: I’ve received a reply to my email stating “Due to an issue with shipping your international order, we have issued a partial refund of $10.00 USD.” I want to thank Ann for this solution]
For months before the release Ann was advertising a 24,95 dollar pre-order with this exact phrasing: “Special LIMITED Autographed Immortal CD”.
Her most loyal fans jumped on this as many have of them have done so in the past with Heart’s releases. Since September 14th many fans started receiving their signed copy and soon it became clear that the signatures are identical. Many fans on facebook refuse to believe Ann charged money for a fake signature. But that is the case. Other fans say they don’t care about signatures other than the ones that they obtain in person. One could argue to let it go and not post about it, but I’m not accepting this, especially when Ann recently has been proudly saying: “I will never agree to going back out there in a mechanical, money-grab-type way”
The same CD can be bought for around 10 dollars everywhere else, so the extra charge was about 15 dollars. In my case getting this signed copy seemed worth the extra money, even if it also meant paying 15 dollars for shipping to The Netherlands and paying customs an extra 15 dollars. I’m the kind of fan willing to spend that for a signature bought from an official trusted source and apparently I’m the kind of fan her camp tried to target selling machine-made signatures.
Is Ann aware of this? Is her staff doing this without her knowing? I know of one fan that received a response from her staff claiming this was news to them and offering a refund. The fans contacting them since then have yet to receive any word. Some have had their creditcard company intervene. I’ve reached out to Ann’s camp for a comment and asked for a solution. In my case: I’d like a refund for the money she charges more than Amazon which is about 15 dollars. If and when they respond, I’ll update this post. [Please see ABOVE]
How you can see it is autopen:
Below is a picture of two CD’s that were signed by her machine. The machine uses a sharpie and places the signature on different spots, but the two original photos have been placed on top of each other using photoshop. That reveals the signatures are identical.
Below is a picture of three CD’s with the machine made signatures.
ANN FRAUD WILSON