Competitions Discussion Thread Part 9

TechFluff

Good Morning

I was wondering which thread I should usr to view the latest competitions?

Thank you in advance!

toniq

If u look at the main page of the competitions forum the most recently added should be towards the top, if u also look at compinguide which is just a few posts below this thread u will get loads of fab tips xxx gl xxx

DemiDee

Anyone remember the competion on bottles of Caribbean Twist last year? If not, you can go to their website and at the time of writing the bottles they depict still have the competiton label on them. It was, for those who remember, a competition in which you had to come up with a unique name and ingredients for a Caribbean Twist drink. Three main prizewinners should have receieved a Caribbean holiday and there should have been 'hundreds of runner up prizes' of Caribbean Twist lip balms. The closing date was August 2008 and 'winners would be notified within 21 days' of that date.

However, in December, I chased this up and was told that abolutely no winners had been drawn. The woman I spoke to even unprofessionally said that she would have to 'fix' it so that I could win and would get back to me! However, throughout January, I left a few messages on said woman's answerphone (since there is only one person 'dealing' with this promotion and she never answers her phone or gets back to messages (I wonder why) and the receptionist refuses to pass on messages and insists the only way forward is to keep leaving messages on the answerphone until I get a reply. Hmph.

I have finally got hold of someone today and was told that there if we want to know the winners we must send a SAE and that winners 'might be put on the website in some weeks'. Apparently, it has now been dished out to a promotional agency to handle. Of course, when I asked what that promotional agency was, I was told in no uncertain terms that this could not be divulged. No doubt though that it's Brazen PR who were mentioned in their terms and conditions and thus should have surely been involved from the beginning. What sort of PR company waits until five months after the closing date and after numerous calls (at least from myself to the company) before they decide that they might as well sort it out. Something odd going on here and I'm pretty annoyed at the unprofessional way in which this has been dealt with.

For anyone who entered and also wants to chase this up, you need to call Hannah Blackburn on 0151-4808800 or 07718-635131. The latter is better because she never picks up her work phone - at least not the one relating to this farce..er..competition.

Best to all,

Dee

lilias

So have you informed the Institute of Sales Promotion or the ASA about this?

Hezzawithkids

I would say that the company are breaking the law by not awarding any prizes within a reasonable time frame. Have you checked the comp T&C's? By law they have to state by when the prizes will be awarded. I think you have a case for Trading Standards here.

BabyGiant

Do you use this approach with all the free competitions that you never hear back from?

If you have the time and money......

BabyGiant

Al_Mac wrote: »

I'm guessing the op only enters a limited and specific competition type and likes to see who won each one.

In that case I'm off to hassle Lastbroadcast to ask why I haven't won anything from them even though I have entered every comp for the last two years

Happy_shopper

BabyGiant wrote: »

Do you use this approach with all the free competitions that you never hear back from?

:rolleyes: I wouldn't chase up every comp but I'd be suspicious if I'd read of a comp that offered 'hundreds' of prizes within 21 days of the comp end date and then I didn't see a single winner on the 'I Won!' board. I say good on the OP for chasing it up and I agree with the posters who have said to take it to ISP / ASA / Trading Standards etc.

Wasn't that the one where you had to suggest a new flavour? I hope they're not intending to use any of the ideas for product development / consumer research if they're not intending to give out any prizes...

Happy_shopper

Al_Mac wrote: »

I agree the OP should chase it, as they know no prizes have been doshed out. But to be honest I'd never know if they hadn't. I don't study the IWIWIW board

nb I do post wins and I do check every so often, to see if anyone has won from a competition I've posted.

Lol, I don't 'study' the board either but I do look out for winners for comps I know I've entered.

mrsyorkie

I agree with what Happy shopper said and would like to thank the Demi Dee for posting the details on here. I think it was very kind of the OP to inform us of this and give us the contact numbers - it is well worth chasing it up as it is very odd that no MSER's have won from this, despite there being 'hundreds of prizes'. I really don't think that there is any call for the sarcastic comments made by some MSER's on here.