Won a competition however.........

zblake

Dear All

Wondering if anyone has any advice..............

Recently won a competition through a verified website - however that was back in October 2011 and we still haven't received the prize yet!!

Where do we stand legally? In their terms and conditions it states that we should receive the prize in 6 weeks - however there has been delay after delay and excuse after excuse - as you can understand it has become pretty stressful as we are chasing them all the time.

We have been more than patient and just wondering if there is any where we can go to to complain? Or do we ask for 'compensation' when we finally get the prize?

Any advice very welcome.

jannowretired

verified website

verified by who?

zblake

it' was a competition by a reputable company with a lot of publicity and a proper advertising agency handling the whole process.

mjm3346

This advice is in the compers guide although I am not sure how upto date it is (you will probably get a better response in the competitions part of the forum as well)

7 What happens if my prize doesn’t turn up?
This is going to be individual to each comp. Usually it will state in the T & C for each comp how long it should take for the prizes to be dispatched to winners. As a general rule though or in the absence of any particular details in the T & C, allow 28 days, (allow more if we are experiencing postal strikes or extreme weather conditions). If the prize hasn't arrived by then, get in touch with the company offering the prize. Try to contact the person whose details you have & ask politely if there is a problem with delivery. A telephone call is the best way, but failing that try emailing them. If they don't reply, look on the original website for contact details & contact them, again being as polite as you can.

If you still get no response from them, there are a few different things you can try.

The Institute of Promotional Marketing [EMAIL="complaints@theipm.org.uk"]complaints@theipm.org.uk[/EMAIL] lay down the guidelines which comp organisors must follow. MSE Compers have reported that they are very good at investigating dodgy comps & missing prizes with one chap in particular [EMAIL="edwinm@theipm.org.uk"]Edwin Mutton[/EMAIL], being an absolute star. Please note, the IPM was formerly known as the Institute of Sales Promotion (name change in May 2010) however, the contact info does not appear to have changed.

The Advertising Standards Authority have an online complaints form.

I had an issue with a prize not turning up & after chasing politely for 5 months, I mentioned that I had been advised to talk to the Institute of Sales Promotions about the matter. Funnily enough that resulted in a letter of apology within a few days, along with a box of ‘Apology Goodies’ & my prize turned up 2 weeks later. Just remember to keep your cool & remain polite.

full thread here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1014121

StuieUK34

name the companies, so we all know to avoid them in future!