Sticks is ticked off!

inthesticks

New member
:cussing: So...I win a $10,000 cash prize from a previous sweeps. I receive official notification from the promotions & fulfillment company, I fill out and have notorized an official affidavit. I send it in, and receive a check for 10K a week ago. Today I go to my bank to deposit the check. The bank tells me that it is 95% certain that the check is fraudulent...said something about the routing number on the check is invalid...also, there is supposedly no bank name on the check from which the check is drawn on. However, the bank name IS on the check...1st National Bank of Coleraine, MN. And to make matters worse, the bank will not give me the check back. Do you think I'm pissed off by this point? You would be correct if you think so. :cussing:

I screamed at the branch manager (and the teller) that I would take time out of my day to correct the problem, and if I found out the check was, indeed, valid...I would return to the bank and I would be one ticked off s.o.b. The manager tells me he called the bank and their Risk Dept. said the check was fraudulent. This is bullcr*p. Why? Because it was after 5pm, and the bank in MN was closed (except for their drive-throughs). There was no way they could have spoken with anyone at the bank to verify anything. I called information, and got the phone number of the bank. Then, at home, I got more information on the bank off the internet. I sent their customer service an email, explaining my problem. :cussing:

I also called my primary bank branch and faxed the Asst. Manager the official notice of sweepstakes winnings, along with the letter requiring that I return the affidavit...along with the sweepstakes rules. I will be returning to the bank sometime tomorrow...to chew on someone's butt. :cussing:

I will let you know more tomorrow, as events unfold. You may also watch CNN tomorrow to see if I make the news when the local police are called in to haul my angry, screaming self away. :cussing:
 
wow - that is crazy - I'd be EXTREMELY MAD TOO!! Who was the fulfillment company (you can pm me if you want)...if it was the "main" one then I'm sure the check wasn't fraudulent. Maybe in the morning you should get the name of someone at the bank that issued the check and the name of the person who sent you your winning notifications...talk to them and get their names before you go to the bank...then have the people at your bank personally talk to these others. I can't believe all of this...you poor thing.

Please do keep us posted...and good luck.
 
Well, did a little digging around and found the goods:

http://www.bcpowder.com/getitdone_sweeps_rules.aspx

GET IT DONE THE BC WAY SWEEPSTAKES

OPEN ONLY TO INDIVIDUAL LEGAL RESIDENTS OF AND LIVING WITHIN THE 50 UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WHO ARE 18 AND OLDER AT THE TIME OF ENTRY.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.
PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

BE SURE TO CAREFULLY READ THESE RULES BEFORE YOU ENTER.
BY ENTERING, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM.


1. TO ENTER: "GET IT DONE THE BC WAY SWEEPSTAKES" ("Sweepstakes") starts 12:00 A.M., ET, 1/2/08 and ends 11:59:59 A.M, ET, 7/31/08 ("Promotion Period"). There are three (3) ways you may enter: (A) Enter On-line: Go to www.bcpowder.com and complete the on-line registration to enter the Sweepstakes. Only one (1) on-line entry per day per person regardless of e-mail address used. On-line entries must be received by 11:59:59 P.M., ET on 7/31/08; (B) Official Entry Form: Legibly complete the Official Entry Form found on a tearpad available at a participating retailer ("Participating Retailer") and mail in a properly stamped envelope to: Get It Done the BC Way Sweepstakes Entries, PO Box 3110-W, Grand Rapids, MN 55745-3110; or (C) Mail-In 3"x5" Entry Card: Legibly handprint your name, complete address, daytime phone number and date of birth on a properly stamped 3"x5" postal card and mail to the address listed in (B) above. NOTE: Regardless of whether you enter via (B) or (C) above, no mechanically reproduced entries are allowed. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by 7/31/08 and received by 8/7/08. Limit: One (1) entry per day per person or household address regardless of method of entry. All entries become property of Sponsor and will not be returned.

2. PRIZES: GRAND PRIZE (1): One (1) Grand Prize Winner ("Winner") will receive a Ten Thousand Dollar ($10,000) American Express® Gift Cheque or other nationally recognized Gift Card (hereinafter, both of which will be referred to as the "Card") that s/he may use for home improvement. FIRST PRIZE (3): Three First Prize Winners will each receive a One Thousand Dollar ($1,000) Card that s/he may use for home improvement. NOTE: The Grand and First Prize Winners are collectively referred to below as "Winner(s"). All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the Winner. Winners will be issued a Form 1099 for tax purposes in the amount of the approximate retail value of their Prize and must submit their Social Security Number, as required by law. If a Winner is a minor in his/her state of residence, the Prize may be awarded in the name of his/her parent or legal guardian. Regardless of Prize won and Card that is received, Prize is not redeemable for cash; nor is it transferable or substitutable except by Sponsor with one of equal or greater value. Additionally, the Card must be used in compliance with its terms and conditions and as allowed by law. Grand and First Prize Winners are solely responsible for the possession and/or use of his/her Card after being awarded the Card and Sponsor is not responsible for any misplaced, lost, or stolen Cards. Total Approximate Retail Value of all Prizes: $13,000.

3. DRAWING & ODDS OF WINNING: The potential Grand and First Prize Winners will be selected, by an independent judging agency, in a random drawing to be held on or about 8/15/08 from among the total number of all eligible entries received regardless of method of entry. The decisions of the independent judging organization shall be final in all matters pertaining to this Sweepstakes. The potential Winner will be notified by phone, e-mail and/or mail on or about 8/22/08, and will be required to sign and return a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility/Compliance and Publicity/Liability Release, where allowed by law. Failure to sign and return these documents by the return date specified in the prize notification will result in forfeiture of the entire Prize, and the selection of an alternate potential Winner. Odds of winning depend upon the total number of all eligible entries received regardless of method of entry.

4. ELIGIBILITY: The Sweepstakes is open to all legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia, 18 years or older, except officers, directors, and employees (and members of their household and of their immediate families, i.e., parents, children, stepchildren, spouse, siblings and persons residing in the same household of such immediate family members) of Sponsor, its subsidiaries, affiliates, sales representatives, distributors, advertising/promotion/web design agencies including MARS Advertising, Inc., Mercury Promotions & Fulfillment, Arrowhead Promotions & Fulfillment, and/or their affiliates, assigns or representatives; (herein after referred to collectively as "Sponsor & Others"), and all other persons or entities associated with the development, administration, promotion, execution of, or supply to this Sweepstakes.

5. INTERNET: Sponsor and Others are not responsible for interrupted or unavailable network server or other connections, miscommunications, failed telephone or computer transmissions or jumbled, scrambled or misdirected entries or transmissions, or for phone, electrical, network, computer hardware or software or program malfunctions, failures or difficulties or for other errors, omissions, interruptions, or deletions of any kind whether human, mechanical or electronic or for any damage to any person's computer related to participating in the promotion. Sponsor & Others are not responsible for illegible, unintelligible, late, lost or stolen entries or incorrect or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the promotion or by any technical or human errors which may occur in the processing of any entries in this promotion. Persons found tampering with or abusing any aspect of this promotion, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and may be subject to prosecution. Any entrant who attempts to enter with multiple e-mail addresses, under multiple identities or uses any other device or artifice to enter multiple times or to interfere with the proper play of this Sweepstakes, will be disqualified from participation in the Sweepstakes. If in the judgment of Sponsor, the Sweepstakes is compromised by virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes beyond the control of Sponsor, which corrupts the administration, security, fairness or proper play of the Sweepstakes, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to discontinue, suspend or terminate the Sweepstakes. In the event of any such discontinuation, suspension or termination, the winners of any remaining prizes not yet won will be determined from among all eligible entries received to date, in a random drawing to be conducted by the judges following the discontinuation, suspension or termination. Any personally identifiable information collected during an entrant's participation in this promotion will be collected by Sponsorand used by Sponsor, its affiliates, agents and marketers for purposes of the proper administration and fulfillment of the Sweepstakes as described in these Official Rules and in accordance with Sponsor's Privacy Policy as stated at http://www.bcpowder.com. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF the Sweepstakes IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an e-mail address, the winning entry will be declared submitted by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.

6. GENERAL: By participating in this Sweepstakes, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules. By accepting the Prize, Winner grants Sponsor the right to use his/her individual name, address, photograph, and likeness for advertising, publicity & promotion purposes and for any other such purposes as Sponsor so determines, in any and all media worldwide without limitation, without further compensation or permission, except where prohibited by law. Sponsor & Others are not responsible for any liability whether directly or indirectly, including, without limitation, liability in connection with any injuries, damages or losses of any kind, whether direct or indirect, whether to property or person, including death, arising out of the acceptance, enjoyment, use and/or misuse of the Prize and/or participation in this Sweepstakes; and they will be held harmless against any claims of liability arising directly or indirectly from any Prize or portion thereof awarded. Sponsor is not responsible for postage-due, late, lost, counterfeited, illegible or tampered entries/mail. The interpretation of these Official Rules shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the Sweepstakes or any Prize awarded shall be resolved individually, and without resort to class action, in the appropriate courts in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania exclusively. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or a party's rights and obligations, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules of any other jurisdiction. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Void in Puerto Rico and where prohibited or restricted by law.

7. WINNERS LIST: For a copy of the Winner List, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope, by 9/30/08, to: Winner List, Get It Done the BC Way Sweepstakes, PO Box 3110-W, Grand Rapids, MN 55745-3110.

SPONSOR: GlaxoSmithKline, 1000 GSK Drive, Moon Township, PA 15108, is the sole Sponsor of this Sweepstakes.

American Express® is a registered trademark of American Express Company.

©2008 GlaxoSmithKline


This was definately a legit sweeps and I found your post here (and a couple of other sites), and the time-frame of your post seems to fit with the stated notification dates in the rules above: "The potential Winner will be notified by phone, e-mail and/or mail on or about 8/22/08" (You posted on the 18th). Not only that but the promotions company is out of MN (Mercury Promotions & Fulfillment).

The only thing I found weird here was that you stated the contest ended on 4/30/08, when it really ended 7-31-08?

So, either somebody stole the entry list or else everybody at your bank is sniffing glue and smokin' wacky-baccy. ???

I would call the issuing bank, the promotion company, then the Sponsor (in that order) yourself.

Without threatening to kill anybody :nono:



Mostly it Sure dang sounds good to me! But what do I know???


:scratch:
 
found this post by somebody else:

From: cmkolano (cmkolano)
To: All
Posted: Oct 11 08 07:18 PM Message: 14683.1 (1 of 8)

After entering contests for close to a year, I finally got a 'big' win. (I think which is why I am writing ) I was notified about a month ago that I was a potential first prize winner in the GlaxoSmithKline Get It Done the BC Way, for $1,000. I signed and returned my affidavit immediately wondering how long the verification process takes and you get the prize.

I waited until the 30th of Sept, but being very anxious, I called the distributors, Arrowhead Promotions mainly to get some reassurance it was all valid. I was assured it was and told the checks would be cut on Thursday and delivered by UPS. Of course, I'm looking everyday for my UPS envelope and still nothing.

I read through Sanda's articles about winning, affidavits, etc but did not see anything as to the expected length of time after the return. Either not many have this problem or I'm just more anxious than most. I want to call again on Monday but don't want to be annoying. What do you think?

At: http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=14683&nav=messages&webtag=ab-contests

might wanna contact this person
 
I can't believe that they wouldn't give you the check back...that almost seems illegal.

We get a check every year from a company that Jimmie worked at (it is a company reimbursement for stock) and most of the time it is a rather large check and if I go to the branch bank they always want to place it in hold until the check clears the other bank. I don't see why they didn't do something like that if there was a question about the check...easy enough!

I would be more than steamed if I were you! I would also be getting in touch with the head of the bank!

I hope it works out for you ~ that is a great win btw! Congrats!!
 
Thanks folks, for your concern. Last night after I got home, I contacted the asst. mngr. of my primary bank branch and explained what had happened earlier in the day at another branch (where I tried to deposit that check). She promised to contact the branch bank manager, as well as the bank in Minnesota and get back with me sometime today.

Early this morning at 8:45am, I called the Arrowhead Awards Fulfillment and Promotions Company (these folk are the ones handling the disbursement of prizes and such). I talked to Jessica Torrent, the Chief Coordinator, and the person who sent me the official letter and affidavit. I explained to her the situation, and she promised to find out what was going on and to get back with me. Well, an hour or so later, the asst. manager from my bank called and told me everything had been settled...that the check was good...and that they would deposit it into my checking account after placing a (10) day hold on the check. She apologized for the problems I encountered, and explained that the banks received quite a few fraudulent checks from various sweeps/contests.

I am just happy I finally got my money! I just knew I would somehow be screwed out of that money...but I wasn't going down without a fight, I'll tell you that much! I really would have caused quite a scene at that branch bank for keeping that check and not returning it to me, etc. I would also have called the police dept. and had a police report made of the incident. That could have come in handy for any possible future legal action. :laughing:

BTW, I found out that I only owe $105 in taxes on that 10K. :crazytongue: With me being on disability, along with my standard deduction and single exemption (if I had filed taxes)...my total tax liability would have been around $1050. The IRS told me they would take 10% of my taxable income (which is about $105). Not bad at all.

The official rules of this sweeps indicated that it ended on April 30, 2008. I received the letter/affidavit in mid-September, with a September 30 deadline to have the affidavit returned. There were only four prizes awarded...one Grand Prize for 10K and three $1000 checks.
 
Good job!!!

I figured they were all smokin' wacky-tabaccy down there at the bank.

The official rules of this sweeps indicated that it ended on April 30, 2008.
... must be a different set of rules out there somewhere. :scratch: But as long as you're happy, we're happy. :crazytongue: ( Not nippin' on the wacky-tabaccy are ya?? :crazytongue: Just kidding! )
 
Congrats and enjoy!! So glad you got it settled without having to show your behind! I would have been ready to also though!!
 
That is great! :sunny:
I'm so glad this turned out well. Now get out there and win enough to put yourself into a higher tax bracket :)
 
Congratulations! I am so glad you got it all worked out and what a great break on the taxes!
 
:cheers:

Glad this has a happy ending! Yesterday, I could feel your anger. What a difference a day makes. :)
 
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