Won a competition and just been told prize has now gone to someone else

Fudgethecat

A few years ago long before I knew about MSE I subscribed to Simply Prizes for a while. When I cancelled they phoned me asking me why I had cancelled I said because I didn't have the time to enter all the comps which were mainly postcard ones. He said for a fee they would enter all the comps and all I had to do was sit back and reap the rewards. I said no. Since I started comping again my other interests seem to have taken a back seat and I think many of us find it hard fitting it all in. But it is worth all the effort when you get a win however small.

The_3rd_Zebu

The OP mentioned that she had previously had her credit card scammed and this is why she declined the delivery.


Now I am not saying that the card scamming was in any way linked with competition site subscription but there is a slippery slope you go down when You enrol with them.


When you are joining these sites you are allowing these people to be You ! They are fooling the companies running the competitions that it is You not Them doing the entering.


They carry on doing it even when the rules specifically forbid it.


They also sell your details on to other email harvesters.


And despite all this people give their card details to them to pay for subscriptions! - I would never trust such people!


The OP mentions in other posts that she was once declared bankrupt ( though she is a hard worker). I think she should be careful who she deals with. In the 'Get Rich Quick' game there are many out to rip you off.

PlymouthMaid

I don't know anything about 3rd party entry but it seems highly unreasonable to deny you your prize because you queried its origin. I am so used to answering the phone to idiot PPI and other cold calling timewasters that I would probably upset a compnay calling about a win too. I also can never answer my phone between 8.30-5.30 as at work so hope that they would contact me by a different method. Hope you geta sensible answer re prize.

robbies_gal

alot of them say do not enter on behalf of anyone else if the company is just taking eveyrones money for a service they prob dont even care about the rules

JessicAhh

The_3rd_Zebu wrote: »

Now I am not saying that the card scamming was in any way linked with competition site subscription but there is a slippery slope you go down when You enrol with them.

I think this is exactly the same as buying something off a website we don't know. We make a judgement call every time we buy something off the net, and I'm guessing the OP will have looked carefully at this service, and decided it wasn't phishing. In fact, why would they bother entering him/her in comps at all once they had their card details, if they were scamming?!

They also sell your details on to other email harvesters.

That isn't likely to be true of every subscription service.. Again, it could happen with whatever comps we enter ourselves...

The OP mentions in other posts that she was once declared bankrupt ( though she is a hard worker). I think she should be careful who she deals with.

I am sure that being bankrupt has taught him/her to better manage his/her money: the irony is, whenever I go onto the bankruptcy forum, I am always shamed into thinking about how badly I manage my finances in comparison.

Anyway, bankruptcy and subs services aside, hopefully the comp will not realise that the OP has used a sub service / third party, and the prize will be forthcoming.

warehouse

I like the fact that most people on MSE who are complaining about the OP's behaviour think nothing of entering a competition on a site they've never visited before and never will again.

IE hypocrites.

JessicAhh

warehouse wrote: »

I like the fact that most people on MSE who are complaining about the OP's behaviour think nothing of entering a competition on a site they've never visited before and never will again.

IE hypocrites.

Yup... that's a sign of addiction... Is there a 12 step for compers?! :rotfl:



(Thought this thread could do with a bit of humour, and without Bluebella to provide the comedy images, I decided to step in!)

sidsnot

warehouse wrote: »

I like the fact that most people on MSE who are complaining about the OP's behaviour think nothing of entering a competition on a site they've never visited before and never will again.

IE hypocrites.

Erm ,all competitions are open for anyone to enter, all competitions are not open for robots / computer systems to enter on behalf of others. Most competitions say enter your details below etc , I am yet to see one that says enter your details or those of someone who has paid you to do so below.

pesky_princess

warehouse wrote: »

I like the fact that most people on MSE who are complaining about the OP's behaviour think nothing of entering a competition on a site they've never visited before and never will again.

IE hypocrites.

Well I don't know about any other mser's but I have completely lost count of the number of companies I wouldn't have heard of if it wasn't for me VISITING THEIR SITE MYSELF to enter a competition and end up browsing, and buying or winning a product of some sort and loving it and ending up being a regular buyer of the product :T theres literally tons of instances where this has been the case with me! so I am certainly no hypercrite thanks!
Someone else said earlier, that the idea of a competition being run is to spread the word about the company/product and get them business.. people like the OP are not even visiting the site and seeing anything the company are promoting! that is out of order in my opinion - its lazy and its selfish and it quite frankly is taking the mickey imo!
and as for the op saying they work and don't have the time, well so do a massive percentage of genuine compers on this forum - and then they go on to legitimately enter competitions and use their spare time doing so - something which the OP cant be bothered to do clearly.
and if they really do get loads and loads of emails saying thanks for entering blah blah, then there is NO WAY this company the op is using are following the rules of the majority of competitions because competitions which don't have this rule about bulk or third party entries are very few and far between nowadays - so in effect the OP is entering competitions (well, PAYING) someone to enter competitions for them, in a way that cant be within the rules.
and THAT is someone leeching off the competition community and the companies that are kind enough to offer prizes (even though they work for a living bless their little cotton socks!)
:mad:
I stand by my opinion that these subscription companies are out of order, and so is anyone that uses them.

WeAreGhosts

Watto30 wrote: »

know you are all a lovely bunch

shame some of the responses werent lovely or in any way helpful to you

id definitely go back to the company who ran the comp and tell them there was an innocent mix up and point out that you didnt receive a winning email or call as per their terms and conditions

pls let us know what happens