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Original poster

to want the prize I won??

463 replies

Dogue · 09/12/2022 07:28

In the grand scheme of things I’m probably being petty, but this has really annoyed me -

our village had a Christmas fair last Saturday. On Monday I had a missed call from a mobile number which turned out to be the organisers of the event. I rang back and she said was ringing to tell me I’d won a prize, but that she was out at the moment so didn’t have details but would ring me back in half an hour to let me know.

I didn’t hear back from her on Monday so I called again on Wednesday (didn’t get a chance on Tuesday) and she said the same again - someone would call me back later with details of what I’d won and how to collect.

by Thursday I still hadn’t heard from them so I texted the number about it. I got the reply: “sorry, all prizes had to be collected by Wednesday. We can give you a bottle of Prosecco as a consolation”

I’m so annoyed that I wasn’t given any opportunity to collect my prize on time. From memory the only thing I think I put my phone number down for was when my 6 year old entered the ‘guess how many sweets in the jar’ so I was really excited to tell him he had won. I’m not really bothered about having a massive jar of jellies in my house, but if that’s what we’ve won then it’s what I want! When I told her this she said she would make sure there’s a consolation prize for him too, but that’s no use really as it means I don’t get the loveliness of telling him his guess was the winner.

obviously there are much bigger things to worry about in the world right now, but it’s a bit shit and terrible organisation right??

OP posts:
WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 10/12/2022 13:24

Someone has had the m and m from that jar. Bastards.

They decided to take out (and 'dispose of') all of the faulty Ws - and only realised their error far too late!

viques · 10/12/2022 13:36

ilovesushi · 09/12/2022 17:30

I had a similar-ish thing with a PTA raffle. Still not quite over it! 😂

My winning number was called but two other women came up to the front to claim the prize - lunch for two at a super expensive restaurant - think James Bond-esque / helipad expensive!. I showed my ticket thinking they are going to feel so embarrassed about getting mixed. Turns out they had adjacent numbers to mine (I was cheap and only got one ticket not a whole line!) and for some reason they thought it should be theirs because the tickets appeared on the same line in the raffle book. Still not a clue about the workings of their logic or how they knew this!

PTA people put their heads together to discuss. I just waited patiently off to the side for them to come to the obvious conclusion that my number was called so the prize was for me. I waited and waited. These women got more and more het up. Then in a flush of generosity, who knows why, I suggested we share the prize and all go out for lunch together. But no that was rejected and the PTA decided the only fair way was to draw our three tickets again. I was slightly aghast but complied.

I didn't win on the second draw. Went back to my table prizeless (it was a dinner and hoe down - if you are reading lunch thief mums, I haven't forgotten!) Rest of my table were appalled and couldn't understand how or why I had just rolled over and given up my prize. I was just so certain that it was blindingly obvious that I had won I didn't bother to stick up for myself.

A few years after, I did get to eat at that restaurant once and it was incredible but it maybe made it even worse that I had been robbed of that first lunch. I don't do raffles anymore. Happy to give to a good cause, but no raffles.

Fight for your prize!

We used to go to a breast cancer charity event organised by the various makeup houses/ counters in a local department store. It was a good evening, nibbles, some free samples, demos, discounts on purchases, entry was a tenner but you easily got that back if you ate enough mince pies (!) and most people put extra into the collecting boxes . They also ran a great raffle, each of the counters would put together a basket of their brand so each basket would be worth anything up to £100 or even more. We went for several years, and won a couple of the raffle prizes which was great, but the last time we went it was such an obvious fix we never went again. It hadn’t been as well advertised, and the attendance was a lot lower than in previous years , so we really thought we were in with a chance of more prizes. HA! One woman, clearly known to the organisers won 6 of the 12 available baskets! Shameless.

ShinyPikachu · 10/12/2022 15:20

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 10/12/2022 12:27

You could easily fit a lot more than 29 babies, you just have to slot them in like you're playing Tetris.

"This world record attempt proudly sponsored by Social Services" Grin

😁😂

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 10/12/2022 15:35

Very slightly off-topic, but when did it first become a thing to sell a strip of raffle tickets rather than just one (obviously with the option to pay more and get more tickets/the whole strip if desired) as the default?

Do people really think they have a better chance of winning if everybody has at least 5 tickets?

ThePearTree · 10/12/2022 15:53

Well done OP. The talk of unfair raffle prizes and similar has reminded me of when I was 15 and at a wedding, and a sweepstake was done to guess the number of minutes that the speeches would take, and we were told when putting money in that the money raised would go to the person with the closest guess. Over £200 was raised and I was announced as the winner, before the organiser said that it had now been decided that the money would go to the bride and groom instead. Someone expressed that this was harsh on me so he put £10 aside at the front for me, but even that had been swiped before I got to it Sad I know it was their wedding and you'd generally expect collections to be for them but it was just that the goalposts had been moved and for a minute or two I thought I'd won over £200, which was a huge amount of money for me at 15.

Callipygion · 10/12/2022 16:40

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 10/12/2022 15:35

Very slightly off-topic, but when did it first become a thing to sell a strip of raffle tickets rather than just one (obviously with the option to pay more and get more tickets/the whole strip if desired) as the default?

Do people really think they have a better chance of winning if everybody has at least 5 tickets?

I hate that, selling a strip, because they ALWAYS put the whole strip in as one ticket, not ripped into the individual tickets. They might as well just save the book and sell single tickets. Bah humbug.

Paulamac111 · 10/12/2022 17:45

My son was off sick when they drew his pre school raffle. I won more than one prize ( parents choose prize from table so usually only take 1) but I won at start so would’ve had a decent prize but because I was home with sick son the head teacher said oh she’s not here so draw it again. He’s at uni now and it still annoys me!! 🤣🤣🤣

BettySwallocks · 10/12/2022 17:56

You do know that you have pissed them off so much they have whacked a few bogies in there don't you?
Bin them

TheAngryFeminist · 10/12/2022 18:01

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roxyro · 10/12/2022 18:07

I’d be annoyed and their organisation is crap.

InSummertime · 10/12/2022 18:17

I would name and shame them and explain about the sweets - it’s the principal

Notanotherone6 · 10/12/2022 18:19

MrsMontyD · 10/12/2022 10:03

DD won a guess how many sweets are in the jar a few years ago, she gave them to DSD and I think the remnants are still in a cupboard somewhere. I've never let her enter the guess the name of the giant Teddy competition for fear of winning.

My daughter managed to 'win' the giant teddy once at the school fayre, despite not entering the competition! She was presented with this massive thing in assembly and was obviously thrilled. Cue me having to return it whilst dealing with a terribly upset 5 year old. The school had got her mixed up with someone else. Heaven knows who though, because said teddy spent the rest of the year staring out of the reception classroom window!

JudgeJ · 10/12/2022 18:22

Itsabitnotcold · 09/12/2022 15:00

Some scabby git really tried to steal a jar of sweets!

Well done for standing up for yourself and getting your boys sweets!

The OP doesn't know what she won though, she's assuming it's the sweets!

JudgeJ · 10/12/2022 18:24

If it's incompetence or laziness then those people should not be involved in running a fundraising event. You either do it properly, or not at all.

Hopefully the OP will volunteer her time to run the event next year, to show them how it should be done though I doubt it!

Benjispruce4 · 10/12/2022 18:28

Well done OP. What a bunch of amateurs!

LpPp · 10/12/2022 18:31

Take them to the cleaners- I’m imagining a ‘pepsi where’s my jet’ style documentary as well 😂

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 10/12/2022 18:38

You do know that you have pissed them off so much they have whacked a few bogies in there don't you?

People willingly pay good money to buy jars of cockles - and that's what they basically are!

Hopefully the OP will volunteer her time to run the event next year, to show them how it should be done though I doubt it!

They may not want a new kid on their patch, as it seems quite lucrative for them and I doubt they'd want to share it!

Missingpop · 10/12/2022 18:38

That’s awful & extremely unprofessional of them it does sound like someone has tucked into your wee one jar of sweets; I’d have a look on the s hook website & see who is the chair of the pta; then drop them a message, say that you think something untoward has gone on because all you entered was the sweet competition & that a bottle of cheap plonk isn’t suitable for a little one.
I have to say when mine were at school they used to put a list of raffle ticket numbers, winners names & the prize they’d won on the weekly news letter, everything was there for all to see x
Don’t leave it thought someone has been a thief & it’s not in the spirit of the season

WTAFhappened123 · 10/12/2022 18:43

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Emotionalsupportviper · 10/12/2022 18:46

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 10/12/2022 15:35

Very slightly off-topic, but when did it first become a thing to sell a strip of raffle tickets rather than just one (obviously with the option to pay more and get more tickets/the whole strip if desired) as the default?

Do people really think they have a better chance of winning if everybody has at least 5 tickets?

We've always sold strips of five round here. And you get more "goes" even if statistically you aren't any more likely to win(psychologically you feel more likely to win, thought whether you are or not I have no idea!).

SOme places put the entire strip in unseparated as one ticket, just because it is a time-consuming faff tearing them up. This is illegal. Make them tear them up.

JudgeJ · 10/12/2022 18:46

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 10/12/2022 15:35

Very slightly off-topic, but when did it first become a thing to sell a strip of raffle tickets rather than just one (obviously with the option to pay more and get more tickets/the whole strip if desired) as the default?

Do people really think they have a better chance of winning if everybody has at least 5 tickets?

In our area it's become the norm to sell a strip of 5 for, usually, £1. All the counterfoils then go into the drum in 5s and if your strip is drawn then you win a prize but the strips both go into the bin so you're essentially buying 1 ticket for £1! It was suggested recently that we sell one ticket for £1 because of this, exactly the same odds, but the psychology is that it's not so we sold strips but then tore the counterffoils into individual tickets so your strip had 5 chances of winnig, even winning 5 prizes.
I then had an epiphany! Instead of the tedious tearing up and folding of the counterfoils I'll use a random number generator on my phone, far more efficient but cue the moans if I do it!

PolPickle · 10/12/2022 18:47

A few years ago I won a £300 watch in a competition. I never received it and it still annoys me 🤣

JustCakeInDrag · 10/12/2022 18:48

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I’m really, really sorry for your loss, but this is a totally unfair post. OP acknowledged in her first post that there are bigger problems in the world, the issue is now resolved, and it’s a pretty light-hearted thread.

Meltdown247 · 10/12/2022 18:48

If this gets 90k replies I will send you a bottle of Prosecco! YANBU

Emotionalsupportviper · 10/12/2022 18:48

Callipygion · 10/12/2022 16:40

I hate that, selling a strip, because they ALWAYS put the whole strip in as one ticket, not ripped into the individual tickets. They might as well just save the book and sell single tickets. Bah humbug.

Show quote history

It's illegal. Make them rip the tickets apart, the bastards!