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jden · Feb 8, 2009, 11:04 PM

I am not sure where this question lies. But I enter a contest that was giving away 100 cars. All you had to do was subscribe to the service which was .99 cents a month. Well I keep checking the site to see who were the winners and never saw anyone. I email the site and was told that they only gave away 1 car because they didn't get the mass sign up effect they were looking for. However the women who won the car chose not to take it because she didn't want to pay for the tax and dealer fees (which was stated as requirement if you won). Anyway since she didn't take it that was it end of contest. Now I know a lot of people probably signed up thinking they were going to give away 100 cars and continued paying based on that. Shouldn't they have said something to inform their subscribers that that was no longer the case? Would that be considered fraud in a sense?

excon · Feb 9, 2009, 05:05 AM

Originally Posted by jden

Would that be considered fraud in a sense?

Hello j:

It would.

If you no longer want to subscribe, write them a certified letter stating exactly what you told us. Tell them that you will no longer be subscribing, and if they attempt to collect on your agreement, you'll call the FBI.

excon

Fr_Chuck · Feb 9, 2009, 06:42 AM

There would have been a page ( most likely several) with all the terms and conditions of the contest.

Read them carefully, to see if after they promises this, they can get out of it, you may be able to file suit against them, to force them to do the drawings and give the car away.

Unless they let thierself a loop hole, they may be bound by their advertising

jden · Feb 10, 2009, 10:19 AM

You can unsubscribe at anytime. Which I did well after the contest was over and after I got the email on what happened. I have visited the site on several occasions searching for any hint of the contest's terms and conditions with on avail. It's like the contest never existed. I'm sure I wasn't the only who subscribed based on the 100 toyota giveaway. It was advertised on utube and myspace. I don't understand why they only drew once since they were suppose to giving away 100 cars? Just because that one didn't take car since they were giving 100 cars, they should have kept drawing until they got a winner. That way it would feel like a sham. What step could I take to prove this?

excon · Feb 10, 2009, 10:45 AM

Hello again, j:

You're going to need a lawyer...

The fact that you can't find any trace of the contest indicates to me that something was amiss with it. You already KNOW that to be true.

The question is, whether they gave themselves an OUT if they didn't get enough contestants... That's the catch in a contest. If they gave themselves an OUT, and was up front about it, nobody would enter...

So, it's my guess that they didn't do things according to the law.

Another question would be, how much is it worth it to you to go after them? At some point, you're going to need a lawyer. They ain't cheap. Plus, I don't know how much your damages are. Besides your subscription, I don't know how much a REAL chance at a bunch of cars is worth. Do you?

You could send an email to utube and myspace, and ask them what interest they had in the contest.. But, as soon as they get any inkling that you're interested in a lawsuit, they'll clam up.

excon

jden · Feb 11, 2009, 08:30 AM

Excon, thank you so much for your advice. I figured eventually I would probably need a lawyer. I was wondering if it could be a class action suit? I will definitely check with myspace and see what happens. Thanks again.

ScottGem · Feb 11, 2009, 09:15 AM

This certainly could be a class action. But I'm with excon. I suspect they gave themselves an out. I suspect that somewhere in the fine print it said something like:

We will award one car for every x subscriptions up to 100 cars.

With a clause like that they are off the hook. And I very much doubt that anyone planning on giving away over $2 million (100 cars at $20K) would not have a compentent attorney draw up the contest rules. And I can't imagine a competent attorney not leaving themselves such an out.

On the other hand, if the winner declined, I think they should have picked another entry and continued to do so until someone accepted. But again the terms may have left them with that out as well.