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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate sob stories and if I was doing this I would avoid them

42 replies

Rumbaintheraindrops · 24/01/2018 11:27

Prob going to get flamed but -
Noticed a few competitions running on Facebook at the moment. There is one for a stay in a cottage and one to win a weekend in a hotel. The people that are running the competitions have asked for the usual tag and share and for people to say what they would do while they are there and they would choose one. Started off great with people saying how they would spend the day in a certain place and then the sob stories started with people saying they are ill or someone they know is ill and that's why they deserve it or that they have had a tough year because of this that and the other and literally begging for this trip away.

Had to laugh at a lady who put she deserved it as her snowman has melted.
Prob going to come across as so heartless but I think everyone could come up with something and if the people running the competitions had asked for why you deserve this weekend away then far enough but they didn't. My DH is in hospital at the moment and we have suffered some heartbreaking bereavements this year but I would not have dreamed of saying this to try and get a weekend away.
So aibu to say if i was running it I would steer away from the sob stories and pick someone else. Runs and ducks under the covers

OP posts:
quilpie · 24/01/2018 11:32

If the competition was "to say what they would do while they are there" and people are talking about how sick they are, they aren't abiding by the rules, so can't win. Basically they have got the question wrong.

Goawayquickly · 24/01/2018 11:35

I see this all the time, even on comp posts where the rules are simply 'like' the post to have a chance of winning.

I have actually organised a couple of FB comps to win small but decent prizes - rules - like the post and tell us your favourite colour (or similar) and then I've sat back and laughed at some of the begging type responses. It's very weird and very few people enter by following the clearly set rule of entry.

On another well known website there is a whole sub forum talking about this, it's very amusing.

k2p2k2tog · 24/01/2018 11:36

If I were giving away something like that on social media it would be random and not connected to who has the best sob story.

nikkylou · 24/01/2018 11:37

They all seem to turn in to a sob story and then you get a little chorus of people saying how sad it is and how that story should definitely win it...If you comment though, saying is a luck of draw competition not a misery league then you're a heartless uncaring cow.

Original poster
Rumbaintheraindrops · 24/01/2018 11:37

Could you pm me the name of the website please.

The thing is I am sure that most are genine but I have been on mumsnet a long time now and there are some real CFs out there would think nothing of stretching the truth to get a weekend away

OP posts:
Original poster
Rumbaintheraindrops · 24/01/2018 11:38

There is one and all her friend and family have chipped in to say she should win it.

OP posts:
throwcushions · 24/01/2018 11:39

You are not being unreasonable at all.

iklboo · 24/01/2018 11:41

I blame shows like The X Factor & Britain's Got Talent. Everyone has to have a sobby back story. Some people seem to think that having things go wrong in their life makes them more entitled to things than others.

thenightsky · 24/01/2018 11:42

But won't they just be disqualified anyway if they haven't answered the question, which is 'what would you do whilst there'?

Goawayquickly · 24/01/2018 11:43

It's on MSE in the comp section. Rumba

I think people forget that there are real people reading the responses to competitions and also if people don't have tight privacy settings on their FB accounts it's easy enough to look at their timelines.

thenightsky · 24/01/2018 11:43

This is why I've given up watching BGT, x factor etc. The sob story seems to be the only way to get on these days.

PoorYorick · 24/01/2018 11:49

Had to laugh at a lady who put she deserved it as her snowman has melted.

I'd have assumed that was a joke and a pop at all the sob stories.

passthepotatoes · 24/01/2018 11:50

pisses me off too!

JJPP123 · 24/01/2018 11:52

Yes, I find it a bit cringe. They say like the page and tag a friend but people end up.commenting on how their brother's mother in law's cousin recently lost a toe in an unfortune swimming with sharks incident and how winning the children's t shirt on offer would really help them through a tough time. If I ran the page is just random pick regardless of the comments but I think a lot are taken in.

FlashTheSloth · 24/01/2018 11:55

YANBU. I hate how everything has turned into competitive misery. I've had some shit in my life and it's affected me massively, I don't use it to get stuff or have people give me sympathy. In work there is a member of the team who can be very up and down with moods and it's frankly, unprofessional and affects the rest of us there. Someone has complained about it and the person has taken great offense and said how they don't know what's going on with her. I do and tbh, it's really not life and death stuff and doesn't give you the right to make others feel uncomfortable.

Placeboooooooo · 24/01/2018 11:57

YANBU, lol at the lady who said her snow man had melted Grin she probably thinks the same as you!

My sob stories sobbier then yours bitch, gimme the prize now!

HughLauriesStubble · 24/01/2018 11:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fruitbrewhaha · 24/01/2018 12:00

Aren't they all bullshit though?
They are not real competitions, they are fake pages set up to get lots of likes and then the titles will be changed to an company/organisation and instantly you have a page with 95,000 likes.
If you click onto the travel company's page it is normally the first post they have made.

Original poster
Rumbaintheraindrops · 24/01/2018 12:03

I think a lot are bullshit but some are genuine
I did realise the lady who said about the snowman was taking the mick

OP posts:
Goawayquickly · 24/01/2018 12:09

There certainly are BS comps and fake companies but it's not too hard to work out which are genuine and lots are.

I only enter competitions run by companies I follow or are interested in and it's easy enough to check if it's their real page. The fake ones are normally to win excess stock of hugely expensive camper vans, or things like British Airways have tons of free flights to give away.

It is a good way to promote a business and drum up interest, which is why I run competitions from time to time.

viques · 24/01/2018 12:09

Deserves a prize because her snowman melted ?well, some of us, (sfx violins playing mournful tune and heartfelt sobbing) haven't even had enough snow to make a snow mouse this year, let alone a whole snowman. I think snow deprived trumps melted any day.

lastnamefirstfirstnamelast · 24/01/2018 12:12

I love the ones that beg, that put something like "what an amazing prize, i would so love to win this, it would make my life complete" bullshit

AnotherShirtRuined · 24/01/2018 12:17

I have won a couple things in fb competitions but have never given a sob story. If the competition requires an answer to a specific question I give the answer and that's it. Simply comply with the rules given. No need to mention that I stubbed my toe that morning or whatever. Those types of posts always make my cringe. YANBU.

AnotherShirtRuined · 24/01/2018 12:20

My pet hate however are the begging posts composed as a little poem and repeated on EVERY competition. They make my blood boil every time.

lottiegarbanzo · 24/01/2018 12:22

'Tag and share' is a common entry rubric but it also breaks Facebook's rules. I'd be suspicious of any company not social-media-savvy enough to know that.