You won! Oops, no you didn't

sweepyhead

sweepyhead

Member
I got an exciting win email a little while ago telling me that I'm a winner of an iVillage sweepstakes, so I answered and accepted. Then she emails back and says she sent a retraction email, and didn't I see it? Did anybody else get this email, and also do they owe me a prize, or what?

"Congratulations!

You are the lucky winner of two-hundred dollar ($200) Visa Gift Card, two (2) Escape from Earth Prize Packs each containing a Tattoo Sheet, activity book, crayons, and a backpack from the iVillage Family Night Out Sweepstakes!

In order to fulfill your prize, we have one document that must be completed and returned to us within two days of receipt.

Please confirm receipt of this e-mail and acceptance of this prize by March 17th, 2013. I will then send you the necessary paperwork.

For further details, I can be reached at the phone number indicated below.

Again, Congratulations on winning a prize in our iVillage Family Night Out Sweepstakes!

Sincerely,
Antonia"
 
Oh I'm so sorry you had this happen! Usually when one receives a personal email like that, it is pretty certain you are the winner. At the least, I would think they would offer a small token for their mistake. May a big prize come your way soon!
 
desil815 said:
Oh I'm so sorry you had this happen! Usually when one receives a personal email like that, it is pretty certain you are the winner. At the least, I would think they would offer a small token for their mistake. May a big prize come your way soon!
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Thanks. No small token was offered, just a we goofed, and didn't you see the email about that? I'm less than impressed with ivillage and finished entering their contests. I will probably ask that my account be deleted.
 
sweepyhead said:
Thanks. No small token was offered, just a we goofed, and didn't you see the email about that? I'm less than impressed with ivillage and finished entering their contests. I will probably ask that my account be deleted.
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Wow. Just wow! So you went to the trouble of completing & returning the document within two days of receipt & they sent the OOPS email & figured you'd just shrug it off???

I gave up on their sweeps long ago because they were unnecessarily annoying, knowing they are just as sloppy with fulfillment just validates my decision!!!
 
amyshulk said:
Wow. Just wow! So you went to the trouble of completing & returning the document within two days of receipt & they sent the OOPS email & figured you'd just shrug it off???
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I didn't technically get to the paperwork part. They asked for an acknowledgement that I'd accept the prize, and I accepted with a promise to return the paperwork on time (even though I was out of the country at the time).
 
sweepyhead said:
I didn't technically get to the paperwork part. They asked for an acknowledgement that I'd accept the prize, and I accepted with a promise to return the paperwork on time (even though I was out of the country at the time).
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Still, you did YOUR part, and confirmed, so they should have done a better job and offered you *something*!!!

Sounds as if they had their wires crossed and different people thought they were in charge and the person with more seniority or something {nepotism?} got to be the "good guy" and fulfill for the person they notified, and your person {and you} drew the short straw - not cool!!!

That said? This illustrates why I don't celebrate/post a big win until I'm totally sure/have it in hand!!!
 
amyshulk said:
This illustrates why I don't celebrate/post a big win until I'm totally sure/have it in hand!!!
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Yeah, it used to be enough to pick through the spams and emails that *sound* like you won, but are an announcement that somebody else won. Now you have to know that the sponsors screw up, too, even if the email is legit. It's not the first time, but it's the worst time.

I tried to log into their site, and can't even do this. Not a very classy company, in spite of their high profile.
 
sweepyhead said:
Yeah, it used to be enough to pick through the spams and emails that *sound* like you won, but are an announcement that somebody else won. Now you have to know that the sponsors screw up, too, even if the email is legit. It's not the first time, but it's the worst time.

I tried to log into their site, and can't even do this. Not a very classy company, in spite of their high profile.
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I always suggest people post to the sponsors FB wall when they can't get a response or a good resolution:

https://www.facebook.com/iVillage

FB is awesome because you can post {nicely} to their wall and {usually} get a good resolution - you'll probably have to comment under one of their posts, since most don't allow others to start convos, but give it a try, gl!!!

AFTER trying to contact the JA, since most sponsors have the whole "left hand has no clue what the right hand is doing" syndrome going on!

But from their rules, I don't see a JA/fulfillment company?

Sweepstakes Entities, as referenced herein, shall include iVillage, LLC, 75 Ninth Avenue, New York NY 10011, NBCUniversal Media, LLC, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112
 
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I posted my complaint to their wall, and also tweeted. I doubt I'll get any satisfaction from these people. Thanks for digging up the info.

BTW, McDonald's Twitter sweepstakes is just as bad. Don't bother with them, I supposedly "won" a $99 prize, but they ignored my 3 responses.
 
sweepyhead said:
I posted my complaint to their wall, and also tweeted. I doubt I'll get any satisfaction from these people. Thanks for digging up the info.

BTW, McDonald's Twitter sweepstakes is just as bad. Don't bother with them, I supposedly "won" a $99 prize, but they ignored my 3 responses.
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I don't do many twitter sweeps - I never bothered with the learning curve so I never feel like I did it right! :p

McDonalds usually has lots of little stuff I have NO interest in, plus I could never win even the little stuff, so I gave up on them years ago too, lol!!!
 
You know, unless I win cash/prepaid gc/decent electronics, I just never follow through, so I have no clue how many prizes I won that never showed.

I do vaguely remember I won a web cam, from when eprize was branching out and doing promos for really tiny {footprint/area wise} sponsors, but that was when I was {ahem} at a Losing sweeps site :p

I need to start paying attention and take my own advice!
 
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That sure makes for a big disappointment. I am really surprised as I have won from them and they were very generous. Was suppose to get a code for a pair a jeans and they sent me 2 different codes. When I asked them about it they said to keep them both. Sorry that your experience didn't even produce a prize for their mistake.
 
I'd not be surprised if "Antonia" who sent the email is an intern. Most underlings wouldn't want to tell a supervisor about a mistake.
 
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