Ranty Friday - Hidden Rules

I often remind you to read the terms and conditions of a competition before entering, otherwise you may accidentally disqualify yourself or find yourself being told you are a winner, then having the prize withdrawn because you haven't been able to produce  the right qualifier.

I do my very best to check the terms and conditions for every competition I list in Grape Vine. This has led to some puzzled looks from passers by as I lie on the floor in supermarkets, trying to read small print around the base of a display stand. Only this week, I removed all the bottles of soft drink from a display to access the tiny print that was hidden behind them. (In ny defence, m'lud, I did put them back afterwards).

Very often a disply in a shop will say something like "WIN! Win free biscuits for life - just text CRUNCH to 12345" and in tiny print there will be a website to visit for the terms and conditions. How many people really DO read that small print, let alone visit the website? And yet 9 times out of 10, if you check the full rules, it will say that a winner must produce a till receipt for something - in this case perhaps for a packet of biscuits. I have heard of people having prizes withdrawn because they couldn't produce a receipt they never even realised they needed, simply because the promoter had covered themselves with a carefully hidden rule rather than making it clear to people before they entered.

Now a good fulfilment agency working with a good promoter will always make sure that a withdrawn prize is given to somebody who HAS complied with the rules. That is why nowadays so many compers are finding themselves with wins from competitions they had given up on. The prize was originally offered to somebody else and when that person couldn't produce a qualifier, there was a second draw. But it would be much fairer if an important rule like that was clearly laid out in the promotional material, and not hidden away in an obscure place. SAY NO TO HIDDEN RULES!

So here's my Friday Rant - it feels great to get it off my chest and I am linking up with Ranty Friday over at Mummy Barrow's blog. Have you got something you'd like to get on your soap box about? Why not join in too?