Public complaint upheld over estate agency’s prize draw
The Advertising Standards Authority found Blenheim Sales and Lettings had not made it clear how winners claimed draw prizes.
A sales and lettings agency has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for the way a Christmas draw was organised.
One of the winners of the draw run by Blenheim Sales and Lettings in Peterborough complained that they weren’t able to claim the £100 voucher prize.
The ASA upheld the complaint and told Blenheim it should have made it clearer how each winner could claim the prize.
A post on Blenheim’s Facebook account page posted last November (see picture right) said: “Christmas is coming … To celebrate we are giving away £500 in vouchers!!! … 5 lucky winners can each win £100 in gift vouchers of your choice.
“For a chance to win simply: like/follow our page Blenheim Sales and Lettings; Like and share this post; Tag 3 friends you think would also like a chance to win.”
Underneath that was text that stated: “The winner will be announced Monday 19th December […] You will be notified by us on this post if you have won”.
Searched
Blenheim Sales & Lettings said they searched for the entrant on Facebook at the time of the draw, but could not find them, and had no other way to contact the person.
Other prize winners did receive their £100 voucher, but since the winner in question was not available, they donated their £100 prize to charity.
We concluded that it was likely to mislead and the promotion had not been administered fairly.”
The ASA says: “We further understood that Blenheim Sales & Lettings had explained prize winners had needed to contact them within seven days of the winners’ announcement to receive their prize.”
This was not stated within the terms and conditions of the promotion (T&Cs), the ASA says.
“Because the ad omitted significant information on how to claim a prize, we concluded that it was likely to mislead and the promotion had not been administered fairly.”
