Non-existent Competition Prize - small claims court -Advice wanted!!

gwynnington

Hi all

I recently won a makeover prize worth £2000 in a magazine.

Up until now it has been a farce trying to get the providers of the prize to 'cough up' in crude terms, and they have only offered about £600 in prize.

I have sent letters and made over 50 phonecalls to get this sorted and trading standards have advised me to take it further, but cannot advise any better than that.

I wondered if any one has had experience in the small claims court, or has any advice on where I stand as it was a 'prize'. the prize was a mobile text entry, and quite frankly im fed up with being ripped off by these competitions.

Just wondered if I went to court at my own expense, and fought for the £1400 left of the prize either as what was originally offered or compensation am I in a strong position. dont get me wrong, im lucky and grateful to have won anything, but in this case its like winning a car and being given a bicycle?

any advice welcome - thanks!

Dave_Brooker

gwynnington wrote: »

Hi all

I recently won a makeover prize worth £2000 in a magazine.

Up until now it has been a farce trying to get the providers of the prize to 'cough up' in crude terms, and they have only offered about £600 in prize.

I have sent letters and made over 50 phonecalls to get this sorted and trading standards have advised me to take it further, but cannot advise any better than that.

I wondered if any one has had experience in the small claims court, or has any advice on where I stand as it was a 'prize'. the prize was a mobile text entry, and quite frankly im fed up with being ripped off by these competitions.

Just wondered if I went to court at my own expense, and fought for the £1400 left of the prize either as what was originally offered or compensation am I in a strong position. dont get me wrong, im lucky and grateful to have won anything, but in this case its like winning a car and being given a bicycle?

any advice welcome - thanks!

What have they actually offered you?

And what was your £2k prize supposed to have consisted of?

mpython

Have you a link to/description of the original comp? How have you valued the prize(s) received at £600?

asea

were there any terms & conditions when you entered?

libra10

Before going through the small claims service make a complaint through the ASA (Adverting Standards Authority) online. The form is easy enough to fill in.

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/

They were excellent when I submitted a complaint about not having received a competition prize. I had emailed and phoned the company and was getting the run-around. The ASA stepped in and the prize was at my address within 7 days. I know of other prize winners that they have also helped.

Good luck

gwynnington

thanks for youre advice..will contact the ASA and make a complaint.

the part of the prize received I worked out from the hotel stay and meal, and one haircut. (it came to just over £500).

the rest of the prize was listed in my congratulations letter ie...facials, bags of products, massages etc for TWO people...i got one haircut so far....

dont want to sound ungrateful but someone has reaped the financial benefit from all the phone entries...and maybe they should know that the prize is pretty much non existant...not fair really!

any more advice on what to expect in the small claimsc court would be gratefully received. thanks!:rolleyes:

black-saturn

You might get more info if you posted on the competitions board where the people there are really clued up about comps.

Dave_Brooker

gwynnington wrote: »

thanks for youre advice..will contact the ASA and make a complaint.

the part of the prize received I worked out from the hotel stay and meal, and one haircut. (it came to just over £500).

the rest of the prize was listed in my congratulations letter ie...facials, bags of products, massages etc for TWO people...i got one haircut so far....

dont want to sound ungrateful but someone has reaped the financial benefit from all the phone entries...and maybe they should know that the prize is pretty much non existant...not fair really!

any more advice on what to expect in the small claimsc court would be gratefully received. thanks!:rolleyes:

So your lucky win is not a good as you hoped and you're taking them to court because of the free things you recieved for free aren't as valuable as you thought?

mpython

Gwinington, don't fall for the baiting, follow the ASA route first.

sharnad

the loquax forum is a good place for advice like this, i know they have an area where people talk about prizes that have not been what they should be


Icant remeber the name of the group who looks into this but im sure you can get more info from there

black-saturn

Have you scritinised the terms and conditions of the competition? Does it say something like 'prizes when available' or 'may be substituted'? They usually have a way of getting round it.