to push for more from this high street company that lied and humiliated me?

[redrugroffle]

Sorry, name changing old timer to protect my RL identity on here (yawn, yes I know- please feel free to quiz me on MN howlers past and present)

I was shopping on a busy saturday in a chain. A lady approached me she was the manager.

She introduced herself and said she wondering if I would help her as she'd had no luck for the last hour and needed a candidate to take part in a radio phone in show- prizes/money going to charity and their staff and the chance to win an electrical appliance for myself???

I asked how long it would take and agreed as long as it would be swift as I felt a bit sorry for her - I also asked what charity it would be for and whether it would be filmed? She was vague and said she wasn't fully briefed on the details. She then laughed and said that this was very much the "style" of their company. That they were very up on motivation for the staff, crazy competitions, incentives etc. I took this on trust and they are a very big company.

We went to her office and the phone rang on speaker phone- radio guy with jingles in background etc- asks me where I'm from, age, name etc.

It was then put on handset and I had to answer a few qs and agree whether or not to perform some silly tasks (think Chris Evans old style larking) some I did some I refused (every refusal got money for the charity)

Anyway- fast forward 20 mins and I cut ot off (as I wanted to go and was stretched for time. I'd won ££ for charity, 2 prizes for the staff and a prize for myself to be collected from the store on the following Tuesday and £3000 worth of stuff.

I was really pleased and as I fundraise for a local charity I asked if my prize could be donated to my chosen charity as well as thiers (I've got no need for another toaster of cake mixer ) I was told we will see on Tuesday.

I arrive on Tuesday (this place is a 55 mile round trip for me)

The manager looks solemn. She takes me to the office and tells me she's been stupid, it was a hoax, nobody was coming in.

She gave me a £20 voucher for my girl (it was her birthday) and asked me to leave.

I've since called their customer services to demand an inquiry into her behaviour and to get some token for being humiliated, out of pocket and time.

They've not called me back.

They've said they're sorry but these things happen????

I've nobody except my close friend to asked and he advised me that he'd be going for the complete amount of things I was promised and to not compromise.

So your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Just read the OP again. So it could have just been a random person/people who phoned the shop?
Poor you, and the poor manager. This is such an odd story. Hope you're OK OP.

I would make it clear to the company that you wouldn't have participated if it hadn't been for your good will to THEIR brand. It was presented to you as a joint enterprise between their brand and the radio station. That's why it is their responsibility to fix it with you, they can't just shrug and say oh well we were hoaxed too. That bit isn't your problem.

If it was an internal attempt to humiliate a manager either from colleagues or as a bizarre internal strategy, it is not only entirely their responsibility to make reparations to you but they need to be much more sorry than they appear to be right now.

What the hell did the company involved get out of it, that's the bit I don't get?

What was the point? Was it broadcast to anyone op?

Yes Dogeared. They have told me a director will call and I'm going to give them one last time to make amends.

If they do not I will name and shame gladly- although my dh is worried they will sue.

What they hell could they sue me for? I think not.

If the radio station know nothing about it, then what do you hope to achieve? It could just have been one guy having a giant laugh to himself and be totally unable to be traced?

It's awful but you might just have to take it on the chin?

This is the maddest story ever!

Now I really tried to phrase that carefully within the newly modified Talk Guidelines, as per MNHQ's request.

Fingers crossed!

That's terrible. Humiliating as you say and a complete waste of your time having to do a 55 mile roundtrip! I would really lay the pressure on the directors about it and say you will be speaking to the press. I would give them the chance to investigate it though before saying which company it is. I should imagine heads will roll for messing customers around like this. I'd also expect the donations and prizes to the charity to be honoured and would insist upon it to whichever director phones you up.

Brux, no problems with that here!

The cannot sue you for a factual account of what happened. Don't ascribe intentions to their actions (e.g. deliberately humiliated), keep it to facts and how that made you feel (e.g. this happened, they said this, i felt humiliated).

If this was just a random person then it's really not the radio stations fault? The store in part - but they have offered to make a goodwill donation haven't they?

It's awfully elaborate though just for one person to have a laugh.

Part of me thinks that even if the store/manager was hoaxed as well then they are in part responsible, A manager of a known high st firm should have had the good sense to know that they can't rope customers in to competitions without head office/area manager approval. There would surely be loads of promotion/paperwork for such a comp. The store being a well known, trusted brand have some form of duty of care to their customers I'd have argued.

You shouldn't have any fear of naming and shaming them. Even if they were completely unrelated to the hoax, their subsequent customer service has been appalling enough alone.

The thing is though who cleared this. Surely it's not very professional for the manager of a well known high street retail chain to rush around the store for an HOUR trying to pressgang a member of the public into appearing on a radio show on their behalf.

Why didn't the manager or one of the other staff do it?

Why did they get involved at all- did they not have work to do?

Speechless!

Yes. See having had time to think about it. Something isn't right. Not just about the "being duped" the manager not knowing much- the (hoaxer)guy on the phone with the jingles in the backgrounds. It does not add up. One of the company's theories is that this was an ex colleague who has targetted the manager.

My gut tells me it's something that I am not being told!

Can you saw what radio station it purported to be? Maybe a trawl through youtube might reveal something?

redrugroffle, if you want the director to contact you a little more quickly than he/she might otherwise be bothered to, email him/her a link to this thread and tell him to watch this space.

The director's email address should be fairly easy to find out - just get his name and the format of any other company member's address - eg if their customer advisor Jane Smith's email is [email protected] you can be fairly sure that the director, Paul Brown's is [email protected]

We should all listen to bruxeur

But usually with a hoax there's a reason! Who exactly benefited from the hoax?! It couldn't have been a publicity stunt because it wasn't public!

My guess is it WAS the radio station. A pre-recorded segment. And maybe they're denying it now because they realise they're in the shit??

Is it possible that it wasn't a hoax, but that the manager's manager found out and told them they shouldn't have particpated, and that they couldn't accept any of the prizes?