Competitions Discussion Thread Part 13

One-Eye

Abbafan1972 wrote: »

I subscribe to Web user magazine and they have recently switched to Dennis publishing. They always used to have good competitions on the website but they have all changed now to being sponsored ones (love offers and things like that), so I have stopped entering them.

The format of Web User comps did change a couple of months back. elver man posts most of them and I post the odd one but these are normal prize draws (they tend to be the ones printed in the mag) and the only questionable ones are the energy company ones. The MyOffers ones are easy to distinguish on the site and are not posted as they are on the 'potential spam' list. Love Offers comps are OK - they are just another Dennis site and are posted by reniannen.

furndire

katemoz wrote: »

Hi all, I've got a question about holiday comps. Sorry if it's already been asked!

Have holiday winners ever tried extending the trips by booking extra hotel nights? Or do the organisers tend to insist that you only go for the length of time specified in the prize, and the flights have to fit around that?

Just wondering as at the moment I'm not bothering entering some comps because they involve a really long flight and a very short stay! I don't want to go all the way to Sydney or Cape Town and only stay three nights!

I won a night in Amsterdam last year, and asked if I could stay another night if I paid the hotel. I do enter the long distance holidays ones, in the very miniscule chance that I might win, I will then ask then. If they won't agree, I'll have to forfeit the prize. I would think that providing you are willing to pay the extra, you'll get what you want. Its a bit like winning a family holiday, and having more than the allotted amount of kids - I have read of quite a few who have paid for the extra one.

skoff

Hi everybody
There have been a few comments in the comp. thread regarding the Great British Life site coming up with other people's details. As it happened with me I decided to contact them ( I wasn't feeling very well at the time:( and I told them if they didn't get it sorted out I would contact the Data Protection Registrar (which I would have done - too much sloppy security on the web these days).
Okay, I received an email this morning saying the problem had been of a temporary nature and was now resolved; so if anyone experiences the same issues I'd suggest they contact
Laura.Stringer@archant.co.uk and let her know it's not fixed - she did say to press F5 to refresh the page, so try that first.
Next on the agenda will be the Yours site if I ever get the same thing there (and NO:mad:, logging out is not an acceptable solution to their security failures).
Bye for now.:)

carol_money_saving_newbie

hi all I have just been on the comps list and thecosy tea competition has a post on it asking for it to be removed by the owner. I am not sure who to pm as i dont know who is on most and didnt know what to do the link is
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3003272
can you help?

fire**fly

carol_money_saving_newbie wrote: »

hi all I have just been on the comps list and thecosy tea competition has a post on it asking for it to be removed by the owner. I am not sure who to pm as i dont know who is on most and didnt know what to do the link is
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3003272
can you help?

hiya, i've pm'd the op & sent the post to a BG,
it also needs adding on velvetgloves comp guide will send to her,
thanks for letting us know x

carol_money_saving_newbie

Thanks Korky I wasnt sure what to do but knew someone in here would.

Mamzie

In case anyone misses it, MSE Andrea has just posted re regs board in regulars

edited - and I see its on main as well now...

linkie

Competitions Time. A New Beginning

I must admit when this issue of where Regular comps should be posted was first raised I wondered why there was such a fuss, as it's your board, for you guys and it's up to you all how you'd like to use it. I couldn't see why you felt you needed us to make strict guidelines for you on how to use it.

But then, of course, it occurred to me. Whatever you might disagree about, you all have one thing in common - and that's the need to have rules to follow - it's what comping's all about after all - making sure you follow the rules or t&cs because if you don't your entry's not valid!

So, I'd just like to say well done you guys for raising the issue and, on the whole, for debating and discussing it in a very reasonable and civilised manner. I know there have been some misunderstandings and miscommunications along the way but hopefully, now, things are getting back on track and focusing on what's important for you - entering competitions. Believe me, I've seen and read a lot worse!

So, let's gone on with the points at hand


Poll Results

You've had the opportunity to vote and the majority verdict is:

* All regular comps with end date stay on main board but posters then post link on the regulars board Poll result

* A regular competition is one that Can be entered on a daily/weekly/ monthly basis with fixed answers for the duration or different answers which can be updated as & when Poll result


I know the regular competition poll had a few extra options added in after a couple of people had voted (6 if I remember rightly), but the difference in poll results is substantially more than that so the result wouldn't be different.


OTHER QUESTIONS RAISED


Where on the Regulars board do we post the link - a reply in the sticky or a new thread?

Both.

That way, while I realise it's something extra to do, you'll be keeping everyone happy, rather than just a certain group so it's a win-win situation for everyone!


What should happen with threads for similar competitions that aren't quite the same? Merge or not?

I think less is more in terms of merging.

If threads are merged, then they turn out not to be the same thing after all, it can confuse things for everyone, so it's probably better to err on the side of caution and not merge if it's uncertain.

In this kind of situation it would help if OPs post a new thread saying "I'm posting this separately because I think the competition's different in some way to this one here.." and then link to the other similar one.

That way you're leaving it up to everyone else to decide for themselves whether they think it's the same or not but at least they've been made aware that there is potentially another competition.


Guessed End Dates

If there's no indication of when the competition ends then rather than put a possibly too-early end date, put one that's slightly over-optimistic rather than under. That way, if it does end early you can click the expired button and when enough have clicked expire it'll go over to Game Over.


£1.50 limit for Phone/Text comps

If you really, really, really have to spend money to enter a competition then we ask that it's no more than a certain amount. People have asked if we can increase that amount to take the VAT increase into account as many have upped their cost to £1.53 and we're going to do that (I'll change the post now).


Hopefully I think that's addressed all the questions I've been PM'd. If there's something I haven't covered or I haven't understood please do PM me the link to where it's been asked/discussed on the board and I'll take a look as soon as I can.

Have a great day, happy comping and may you win lots of fabulous prizes!!

Andrea

lilias

"Guessed End Dates

If there's no indication of when the competition ends then rather than put a possibly too-early end date, put one that's slightly over-optimistic rather than under. That way, if it does end early you can click the expired button and when enough have clicked expire it'll go over to Game Over."

This way, though, people who comp by end date are likely to miss more comps.

weeowens

lilias wrote: »

"Guessed End Dates

If there's no indication of when the competition ends then rather than put a possibly too-early end date, put one that's slightly over-optimistic rather than under. That way, if it does end early you can click the expired button and when enough have clicked expire it'll go over to Game Over."

This way, though, people who comp by end date are likely to miss more comps.

I'm never sure what to put on the uncertain date comps.I tend to go about one month in the future.I have noticed that some members post a shorter end date so I hope this suits & is OK.
I also tend to use my knowledge of the sites to gauge the usual time run & adjust accordiingly.

fnc63

a brilliant question

feefeegabor wrote: »

I just wondered if any Facebook experts can help with a quick question? Is there any way you can search your name on Facebook - particularly with a view to seeing if you've won anything? I do use Facebook for comps quite a lot but don't tend to look back to see if I've won (on the basis that I probably haven't!). Toni very kindly saw one comp I'd won and informed me but I never would have known otherwise! Twitter is great now I've discovered that clicking onto "Mentions" brings up anybody using your name - just wondered if Facebook had this kind of option?

Thanks in advance.

and a fabulous answer

Chopstheduck wrote: »

If I search my name on facebook, then opt for the see more results link at the bottom, on the screen that brings up I can then choose to see all the posts by friends results (underneath the people results).

This brings up any post with my name in it by any of my friends (or groups I've 'liked'), as well as my own posts. Scrolling through that, i can see comp results where I've won, so that should work!

ty u2

i've just done this and ok while it might not go to far back and i havent won anything, i left that page open, went and wrote something on a wall, when i went back to the search page it had 'automatically' refreshed showing my post, i didnt have to click refresh at all, so it might be a good idea to perform this search when you first log on and then just leave it, at the end of the day you will be able to see any mentions [hopefully comp wins] that you have been included in since you loaded that page

PS - actually why not bookmark/favourite it