The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against Amazing Giveaways Ltd after a participant failed to receive a prize from the company’s giveaway competition.
In February, Amazing Giveaways advertised its Holiday Voucher Competition prize draw via a post on Facebook.
The post in question stated: “With summer hopefully just around the corner, why not get involved with this Holiday Voucher Competition. For just £5 you could be walking away with a £3,000 TUI holiday voucher. Please click the link below to get involved.”
A participant, who was listed as the only entrant into the competition, believed they had won the prize draw but hadn’t received the stated prize, leading them to escalate the situation to the ASA.
In response, Amazing Giveaways stated that they were no longer operating, intending to withdraw the competition which had been “left live on their website in error”.
The prize draw operator advised the ASA that the complainant’s entry fee had been refunded and that it “could not provide the prize for a competition which had been advertised in error”.
The ASA upheld the complaint, ordering Amazing Giveaways to award the advertised prize.
In its ruling, the ASA referenced CAP Code guidance which states promoters have to award prizes highlighted in their marketing promotions, or suitable equivalents, within 30 days.
The terms and conditions on the Amazing Giveaways site stated: “There is no minimum number of entries, and the promoter will not hold void, suspend, cancel, extend the closing date or amend the prize competition due to a lack of entries.
“The draw will take place, and the prize will be awarded regardless of the number of entries received.”
When contacted by the participant, Amazing Giveaways responded saying that the prize couldn’t be awarded as it hadn’t sold enough tickets to cover the cost of the prize.
The advertising watchdog ruled that the promotion had violated two parts of the CAP Code regarding promotional marketing and administration.
An ASA statement said: “Whilst we acknowledged the possibility that events outside of the promoter’s control might mean the promotion could not be carried out as originally intended, promoters were still responsible for the efficient administration of the promotion.
“We expected promoters to ensure that they had made appropriate preparations and had sufficient resources in place to run the promotion as planned.
“We received no information regarding how the promotion had been administered, nor any evidence which showed that the prize had been awarded. We also considered that the entrant to the competition was likely to have been caused considerable disappointment.
“We therefore concluded that the promotion had not been administered fairly and was in breach of the [CAP] Code.
As well as ordering the prize to be paid out, the ASA also told Amazing Giveaways to “ensure that their promotions were administered fairly and effectively in future and did not cause unnecessary disappointment or give consumers justifiable grounds for complaint”.
In June, a study into prize draws commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) called for the vertical to be regulated by the Gambling Commission.
The post ASA upholds complaint against prize draw operator no longer in business first appeared on EGR Intel.
Advertising watchdog orders Amazing Giveaways Ltd to pay out £3,000 prize from competition “left live on their website in error”
The post ASA upholds complaint against prize draw operator no longer in business first appeared on EGR Intel.