Like the couple in Atlanta, I too, was a potential victim. Fortunately, I read the Atlanta couples consumer complaints, which alerted me. I was called by Vacation Network that I had won a prize and needed to come pick it up. I asked specifically what I needed to do to claim my prize and was told (by the representative) that I just show up with ID & claim #, meet and greet some of the sponsors, get my prize and be out the door in 30 min. I again asked if there was some sort of sales pitch or presentation that I was going to have to sit through and he again said just a brief "meet and greet" and "congratulations" from the sponsors.
For me to pick up this prize, I would have had to drive an hour to get there. I read your consumer complaints about children not being allowed and thought... Hmmm... I'm bringing my daughter with me and the Representative that called didn't say anything about her not being welcome. So I called him back and confirmed my appt time and asked specifically about my daughter accompanying me. He was apologetic and said "no" they are not allowed.
I then confronted him about the fact that if I had won a prize, why are there "conditions" on how to get it? He said it was the "rules". I then said the entry form should have stated that upfront and he said "it did". I said he should have told me that when he spoke to me on the phone... And again, he apologized for "leaving that one little tidbit of information out" and that he'd be happy to reschedule my appt. I said if there are conditions on winning a prize that you've already told me I'm a guaranteed winner on, then there shouldn't be a need to reschedule the appt and they can ship my prize to me. He said that was against the rules and the rules state you must pick up your prize in person. Again... I said I'm sure that was mentioned in the prize drawing slip that I filled out, huh?"Of course", he said yes.
I asked for the name and number of the person I could file a complaint with and he "didn't have that information" because "there were too many sponsors involved in this drawing" but that he could take my name and # and have them call me back. (I'm sure that's what they're going to do... Call back a person that's going to file a complaint!)
I told him that if this was a legitimate drawing, there wouldn't be conditions on how I can receive the prize that I was told I won "unconditionally". Had I known all of the conditions upfront... It would have alerted me that this was just a sales pitch to sell something and I would never have gone any further with the conversation and not wasted my time and effort.
Live and learn.
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