Competition Scams - Please Post Them Here

abneytealclub

Hello everyone,
My name is Andy I run the website and the mentioned competitions and I am deeply upset by these posts and aim to answer any and all of these allegations. For your information, I have contacted BBC myself with full disclosure and I'm contact IPM today.
Firstly let me say that these first 2 competitions were the first I'd ever attempted. But I thought It might be fun and generate lots of interest in the clubs and create a community for mums and dads (being one of them) to unite.
Let me answer a couple of things directly. Firstly, the accusation that we added the image hours before the competitions is completely untrue. We added both at least a couple hours before. For those that downloaded the website and saw a "last modified" date stamp - if you'd been following the competition (emails/clues) you'll know that we made the images bigger so that people could find them easier - as the first ones where hard and it was taking some time!
We don't run any scams, EVER. Ever, ever and never will. I am opening my emails and full website logs for IPM to take a good luck.

We have since added terms / rules after a sharp learning curve from the first 2 competitions. We are getting better at this but if you have any questions post them right here in the open and I'll answer them, or if you wish email us: info@abneyandtealclub.com

We want to run these competitions because we love doing it. But if we can't convince you that we are 100% legit we can't take these allegations because it's very upsetting and it's meant to be fun - especially for you guys. Sorry if this email is a bit messy but I've had to type fast because kids are shouting at me!

Best regards to you all,

Andy

toniq

Maybe seek advice from the IPM on running a promotion,they advise alot of companies how to do this properly.

Good luck

x

abneytealclub

toniq wrote: »

Maybe seek advice from the IPM on running a promotion,they advise alot of companies how to do this properly.

Good luck

x

We are. We may become full members of IPM to verify ourselves and give everyone complete confidence.

Thank you for your kind words x

chelsea1969

abneytealclub wrote: »

We are. We may become full members of IPM to verify ourselves and give everyone complete confidence.

Thank you for your kind words x

But you are not giving people much confidence when you are stating one thing and doing another,you clearly said you were not checking emails until Friday and then today you have announced a winner and started it again,if people are to believe you are not running whatever scam it is they say then maybe sticking to what you say in the first place might be a good thing to do.

abneytealclub

chelsea1969 wrote: »

But you are not giving people much confidence when you are stating one thing and doing another,you clearly said you were not checking emails until Friday and then today you have announced a winner and started it again,if people are to believe you are not running whatever scam it is they say then maybe sticking to what you say in the first place might be a good thing to do.

You may be right. We are going to review this weekend whether it's best to let the competition run for the full 5 days, or check all emails everyday and end it the moment someone finds it. Letting it run for 5 days is certainly more manageable for us. But like I say we'll talk it through this weekend.

We will always quickly scan the emails daily, incase people are reporting problems with the sites or there's an issue. But because on this occasion we saw so many emails with the subject: "FOUND IT!" that we had to check.

We are aiming to be more consistent with these going forward.

Thank you.

abneytealclub

I have spoken with IPM (The Institute of Promotional Marketing) and cleared everything up. The gentleman I spoke with was Mr Edwin Mutton, Head of Compliance.

I supplied all the necessaries information and our competitions have been cleared of any accusations of wrong doing. Please call IPM 020 7291 7730 or email Edwin direct edwinm@theipm.org.uk if you wish to confirm this.

Additionally, to give all of our loyal members confidence that our competitions are genuine - All of our competitions starting with the next one this Monday 27th August, will be monitor by IPM. This includes sending a screenshot of the location of the hidden item to IPM BEFORE the competition begins and they will verify this and monitor this themselves.

The Head of Compliance will receive this personally so if there are any false claims of wrong-doing those individuals may call IPM at any point and I'm sure they will put your mind at ease as they have ALL of our information.

This independent monitoring by IPM will continue for as long as we do these competitions, which we are more than happy to do going forward. They have also given us some great advice to make these competitions run smoothly and without headaches for us, and for you guys.

That all said, we are now re-energized and ready to make some great competitions. For those who complained I understand your frustration and I welcome you to join in the next competitions where we aim to improve how they are run in the future.

Thank you to everyone who offered support, and thanks to MoneySavingExpert too as this is a great forum for people to voice things like this. It also allowed us to answer those people just as quickly and publicly.

Have a great weekend everyone

chelsea1969

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=415741581820263&set=a.372916506102771.82930.153179438076480&type=1

Very suspicious £2000 Selfridges gift card winner- Didn't like the page until the morning of them announcing the winner although the comp ended 2 days ago,no evidence of ever entering a comp before on page and only likes 1 other company ,a bar, also has the same Surname, Chaggar ,as Wowchers Internet marketing manager

JamboDP

Just recieved in email I have won £450,000 great to say i never entered. email text as follows.

BMW MOTOR AWARDS
An Affiliate of BMW UK.
28 TANFIELD ROAD,
LONDON, UK.
We are pleased to inform you of the release, of the long awaited results of the BMW CAR INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION PROGRAM held on the 30th of July, 2012. You were entered as dependent clients with: Ticket number: 2752246896 and Secret pin code x7pwyz2009. You have been approved for a payment of ?450,000.00 (four hundred and fifty thousand Great British Pounds) in cash credited to file reference number:BMW:2551256003/23 And a brand new BMW 5 Series Car. You are to contact our-accredited agent for your claim now.

Mrs. Elizabeth Cooper
Email: ecooper3@yahoo.cn

You are also advised to provide her with the under listed information:
1.Name in full.
2.Address in full.
3.Nationality & Present Country.
4.Age.
5.Phone /Fax /Sex.
6.Email address.

Once again congratulations.
Program Co-ordinator

Soozybee

Hi all, got this weird letter today addressed to me from the Medical Aid for Palestinians. The letter thanks me for my recent donation of £10 to them and goes on to talk about how this money will go towards the projects in Palestinian territory.

I have not donated any cash recently, this letter looks really official and doesn't ask for anything, it's signed by someone and has a registered charity number and Lord Steel of Aikwood is the patron. Totally confused by this. I don't get much junk mail and wondered if any other compers have anything similar?

Thanks all

LadyH

lyniroquai wrote: »

Can anyone tell me if this is real please?? I received this email and I don't remember entering it? but then again I do enter a lot of competitions on the net....



Good afternoon,

Garnier Body Challenge / our ref: TOA1115

CONGRATULATIONS!

I am delighted to confirm that you are a prizewinner in the above competition.

You have won your choice of annual magazine subscription from the following seven fabulous titles.

Good Housekeeping
Glamour
Red
Cosmopolitan (travel size)
Easy Living
Marie Claire
Elle Magazine


To accept your prize and start your subscription you simply need to reply stating which title you would prefer and your delivery address. Upon receipt of this informaiton we will request your subscription with the publisher.

Please note that typically your first issue will arrive within approximately 6 weeks, with Good Housekeeping taking approximately 8 weeks due to publishers timelines.

For your information I am writing from Cloud Nine Incentives, and we work on behalf of Garnier and their marketing agency making sure that the lucky winners in this promotion receive their prizes.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Cloud Nine Incentives on Tel: 0845 121 4765 or email info@uponcloudnine.co.uk quoting TOA1115.

Once again, many congratulations and we look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Michael Chambers
Cloud Nine Incentives
For and on behalf of Garnier
(t) 0845 121 4765
(e) michaelc@uponcloudnine.co.uk

moos_mummy wrote: »

I got the same email this morning it is strange but I did fill in a Garnier survey after trying a sample from them so it is possible. I have replied with my chosen magazine and name and address so will see what happens

Just out of interest, did anyone receive the subscription they requested. I received this email, replied and have not heard anything since. Lesson learned, I think...