Hmmmm ... Re paid to win

bubblebobble23

Hmm something's fishy here

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/03/couple-forced-to-close-raffle-for-their-500000-north-yorkshire-home

sleepyjones

"The winner was originally to be drawn on Thursday, but the couple said they were “back to square one” after being told by the Gambling Commission that it was not a legal prize competition."

"had already extended the draw date to August"

"He also said they were refunding more than 6,000 people who bought one or more tickets."

So they cancelled it because they only sold 7000 odd tickets, so around £70k ... I hope they give everyone who bought a ticket a share of the interest they earned on that £70k.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Gambling Commission had shut them down, there are rules and laws in place to protect the public and I don't really see how a married couple could legally and responsibly administrate the draw for a winner

jdsaint

I was looking at this today. Their mechanic was a multiple choice question, but I know other house competitions have done the same without problem. So either they got caught out and were just unlucky or The UKGC are finally starting to catch up with how these competitions are run... which is a good thing as one or two have been a bit suspect.



A number closed at the end of December and there's some big money prizes that will be awarded - no houses though - at least not in the UK. Win A !!!!in House in Ireland did complete.


If you're interested in these comps then worth a look is https://www.facebook.com/WinaMaidaValeHome/ as they're the most open about entries, costs, revenue etc. Their winner will get nearly £80K.


Jason

serenity2012

There was one in Plymouth recently for a home worth around £250,000. £1 a ticket. We bought £150 worth between us and when the winner was announced all it said was the winners first name and that they had won some money. Nothing mentioned about the house at all. That one kept being extended as well and was run by a couple who apparently wanted to sell it to give people who couldn't otherwise afford it a chance. I don't usually get tempted by stuff like that but it was advertised on a local trusted newspaper site.

mjm3346

Most of these are just trying to exploit a loophole in the law - usually because they have been unable to sell on the open market (often for less than the claimed competition values).
I did not look at this one but perhaps their multiple choice question was considered too easy (if that's possible given what some of them are).

it was advertised on a local trusted newspaper site.

Unfortunately most sites simply carry advertisements because they are paid for it and it has nothing to do with how trustworthy the advertiser is - and sometimes third parties such as google handle the onsite advertising which is not controlled by the site either.

hamsterfan1

I agree with mjm , adverts are carried just because they are paid for, the advertising mediums cannot verify anything other than the legal wording of an advert (sometimes not even that) and can only not carry them under things like trading body advice ot trading standards input (ex yellow pages {RIP} person here )

sleepyjones

Here's another one : https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6557315/Couple-hoped-raffle-3m-six-bed-home-scrap-draw-failing-sell-tickets.html

In my opinion, if you're going to allow people to buy tickets, then the prize should be available, no matter how many tickets you sell, so even if they only sold 1 ticket, making a huge loss, then that's their problem, it's up to them to have adequate insurance to cover the actual value of the prize (or take the hit).

Same with the Lottery / Lotto, if you buy a ticket where a jackpot (or prize) is stated, then someone should win that prize, it shouldn't roll-over, if i buy a ticket where the prize is £3 million, I want someone to win £3 million ... that's presumably why I bought a ticket ... it's all a bit misleading if you ask me.

sleepyjones

and another : https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/win-a-farm-raffle-pulls-farm-prize-due-to-missing-target-entries/