What happens if...

the_frugal_frog

you miss the "phonecall" ?

I often enter cuompetitions but have never had a big win, but I was wondering, what happens if you win and they cant get hold of you via phone?? M`ost comps I enter are phone number and then leave your postcode, they dont ask for address (itv comps ect)

I have been bombarded with cold calls from double glazing,health/car.cat/dog insuracne callers that I just dont answer unknown numbers anymore

Would they attempt to email or would they pass the win to someone else?

it's been bugging me for ages.

missprice

this has deffo been answered previously but cant remember when or by who:D
anyway whoever it was said they had not answered the phone/had it turned off and he was emailed by ITV to contact them and it was a win

hth

Barnabysue

A lot of the radio comps move on to the next person drawn if they don't get a reply to their first call. I know someone posted that they missed out on a trip to New York because they couldn't answer the call as they were on their bike. The DJ left a mocking message saying that they'd missed out.

surfboard2

Think it depends on the comp...

I won a biggie a couple of months ago. I ignored the call as it was a number i didn't recognise. Luckily they left a message on my phone informing me of the win and telling me they were going to email me the info. The terms and conditions of the comp said i had ten days to claim the "win."

I know a lot of people that miss the ITV phone call end up giving them a call back once they realise that it was ITV that called them.

zombieslayer25

This is one of my big worries, not being there for that win. Im in the habit of not answering the phone if I dont know the number anyway. A quick google of the number usually tells you that its a sale call. If it doesn't come up then you can either ring it back or wait till they ring again and answer.

From what I can gather, unless its a 'live' phone call (ie on the radio etc) then I think you should be ok, dont quote me on that though. I dont bother with appliances online comps due to that, even though they have ace prizes.

I think the main one is ITV and it sounds like you know if they have rung so you can ring them back which is such a relief.

I remember that New York story, the poster wasn't too bothered about the presenter I would be furious, not at the missing the prize, but more what the presenter said. I thought it was quite harsh.

mjm3346

I posted this on another thread about winner phone calls (ITV)

For standard competitions they will make reasonable efforts to contact the winners. They used to state the number of calls they would make each day, the calling pattern, how many days they would keep calling for etc and it was over a month before they would stop calling. Do not expect them to e-mail anymore as that would give an advantage to a particular entry route


It is only time critical competitions where they move on quickly if they cannot make contact without delay.

The winner will be contacted as soon as practicable on or after the draw date as indicated in the interaction information. Reasonable efforts will be made to contact a winner on the phone number provided when entering the competition or such other method of contact deemed appropriate by the Promoter in its sole discretion in the circumstances. Where the prize is time critical and a winner needs to be found before the time to take up the prize passes, the announcement on air or the interaction information will indicate the date when the winner will be contacted and the Promoter will contact such winner on the phone number (or other method of contact (if appropriate)) they provided, calling three times in a two-hour daytime period or as indicated in the interaction information. If the winner cannot be contacted or successful contact is not made within the fixed time period as specified or if they fail to provide an address for delivery of the prize or fail to meet any of the eligibility requirements or are otherwise unable to comply with the interaction terms and conditions, this may result in forfeiture of the prize and the Promoter reserves the right to disqualify that entrant (without further liability to that entrant) and offer the prize to the next eligible entrant and thereafter until a winner is found

The_3rd_Zebu

mjm3346 wrote: »

Do not expect them to e-mail anymore as that would give an advantage to a particular entry route

But surely if you are picked as the winner then that should be it. Everybody regardless of entry method should be given the same chance of actually receiving their prize if they have been selected as the winner.

If they did not try emailing then I would say they are giving the advantage to those who do not have jobs and are at home all day.

Are they only asking for our email addresses for the spam emails then?

I know they don't ask for the email addresses if you enter via the phone but as they request the email address on emailed entries I have always assumed they might use it should they be unable to contact people by phone. So that is why I have always kept entering by email.

mjm3346

The_3rd_Zebu wrote: »

But surely if you are picked as the winner then that should be it. Everybody regardless of entry method should be given the same chance of actually receiving their prize if they have been selected as the winner.

If they did not try emailing then I would say they are giving the advantage to those who do not have jobs and are at home all day.

Are they only asking for our email addresses for the spam emails then?

I know they don't ask for the email addresses if you enter via the phone but as they request the email address on emailed entries I have always assumed they might use it should they be unable to contact people by phone. So that is why I have always kept entering by email.

They can only contact winners who have paid to enter (text and phone entrants) by phone, would free entrants (web) be given an advantage of e-mail contact in addition to the phone calls? (The guidelines that broadcasters now have to comply with for premium rate competitons might not even allow it).

A_Couple_In_Love

Best thing to do, is NEVER miss any phone calls, as people have stated, some companys only ring the once.

If you are worried about it being a servey etc, as soon as you answer the phone, ask "Is this regarding a competition?" if it is, they will obviously answer "Yes", if not you will most likley get ignored and they will carry on with there servey. Tell them to not ring back again and put the phone down.

Hope that helps your worries!

Blulu

I would rather answer the phone calls. Not only because it might be that elusive ITV win, but also because it's probably the only way of trying to reduce the spam calls.

If it's marketing in relation to a comp, I just tell them firmly, though not aggressively, that all was/am interested in was the comp. I repeat that until they give up. It works because I'm hardly getting spam calls now, other than business.calls.