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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
FettleOfKish · 09/12/2022 11:38

I'm with you OP.

If it's a genuine mistake then it's simple to rectify.

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.

PPs are right that a badly run / chaotic fundraising event is potentially worse than no event at all.

Murasakispillowbook · 09/12/2022 11:38

If it's guessing the number of sweets it's not a raffle. It's a game.

OP doesn't actually know for sure what game she won so it's all assumption anyway. It might have been a completely different game and the prize might have been less than a bottle of fizz. She might have been the 100th person to walk through the gate, or best Christmas jumper- she doesn't know.

JudgeJ · 09/12/2022 11:38

I feel sorry for your son, however many of the people up in arms are going over the top! It's our Christmas Fair tomorrow, I've spent the week sorting tombola prizes, sticking numbers in them, the 0 and 5 thing, and folding up hundreds of raffle tickets, it would be much cheaper to chuck £25 into the kitty as I've had to buy many of the prizes! Last year we had people swapping tickets around because they didn't like their prize, taking prizes they hadn't won or arguing that their little cherub wanted something else, bloody ingrates each one.

FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb · 09/12/2022 11:39

It all sounds poor to me.
However, if the original jar of sweets is not available, I would decide on something suitable that DS would value as a prize, or tell him the prize was a tenner, what would he like?
But I agree, the issue is the excitement of winning. Dd won a prize in our village from a Science Fair, that we only found out about later. It was a Teddy in a Spacd Suit. She is 15 now and space Ted still sits on her shelf.

SmileyClare · 09/12/2022 11:48

Could be that two people guessed the number of sweets correctly so it went to whoever picked the phone up first when she rang on Monday?

The woman’s mistake was not saying Sorry wrong number when you chased up her missed call 😂

Who knows, try not to be too bitter op! Get your son a prize, he’ll be none the wiser, and file this as a crap village fete anecdote.

Tickledpickled · 09/12/2022 11:55

He should get his sweets (if that’s what you won). It’s a moral thing.

mindutopia · 09/12/2022 11:58

Do you have a village Facebook page? Because honestly, I would name and shame there. Is it actually a big deal in the grand scheme of things? No, it's not. But the flip side is, is it actually a big deal for the organisers to have given you the jar of sweets that you won instead of eating it themselves? No, also not hard to do.

I would assume you probably aren't the only person it's happened to and it certainly isn't going to make people feel all warm and fuzzy donating to these things again in the future if someone is keeping the prizes for themselves. Sounds like it would be good to gently point out the organisational issues and hopefully someone else will better manage it next time. I get it though, it would annoy me too!

CousinKrispy · 09/12/2022 12:02

Aw that's a bit crap they weren't better organized.

I'd probably let this one go. You probably bought a ticket/made a guess mostly because you wanted to support the fundraiser, not because you were actually counting on getting that jar of sweets, right? It would have been exciting and magical to get it, but really the point was to support the fundraiser.

So you've accomplished the thing you really set out to do, turns out their admin skills were a bit lacking and you've had a disappointment, but oh well.

I think I'd feel very reluctant to enter the next raffle from them, though!

SinnerBoy · 09/12/2022 12:29

FaazoHuyzeoSix · Today 10:52

Fundraising events run by people with no integrity are not successful in the long run. If OP doesn't get her prize this time, then the fundraising event is a sham, there is no reason for people to "buy tickets" for any kind of prize event because they can have no trust for the organisers that any prize will actually be awarded.

I agree very much with all of your points. It's probably the best post on this thread.

healthadvice123 · 09/12/2022 12:29

Obviously they have made an error , they have apologised and offered alternate prizes for you and your son
What else can they do if the sweets were given to the next closest as maybe messages were not passed on
Its really just a simple mistake which they have tried to rectify seems a bit overkill to demand something they haven't got

healthadvice123 · 09/12/2022 12:34

And all those saying they have run loads of fundraising and never made a mistake , well lucky you
We have have all walked for a long time no doubt , but at least once in your life you will trip up and make a mistake
Its not like its a huge prize at best a jar of sweets of might of even been second best guess and a pack of sweets who knows

SeenAndNot · 09/12/2022 12:35

ExtraOnions · 09/12/2022 07:33

Under the terms of the Lottery Licence they would have to have applied for, to run a raffle (chair of PSA here), they are obliged to give you the prize that you won. There is no time limit …

Came here to say this.

You can report it to the council.

healthadvice123 · 09/12/2022 12:36

@SeenAndNot if you read the thread this wouldn't fall under it as been said several times

Catspyjamas17 · 09/12/2022 12:37

I've was on a school PTA committee for years and if this was my error I'd definitely expect the winner to moan at me and would personally go and buy the winner the same prize myself.

healthadvice123 · 09/12/2022 12:38

@mindutopia but OP isn't even sure it is the sweets ?
Also that could backfire on you too if people side with them , is that really worth it over some sweets

Catspyjamas17 · 09/12/2022 12:40

SinnerBoy · 09/12/2022 12:29

FaazoHuyzeoSix · Today 10:52

Fundraising events run by people with no integrity are not successful in the long run. If OP doesn't get her prize this time, then the fundraising event is a sham, there is no reason for people to "buy tickets" for any kind of prize event because they can have no trust for the organisers that any prize will actually be awarded.

I agree very much with all of your points. It's probably the best post on this thread.

I agree, SB and Faazo.

Funkyslippers · 09/12/2022 12:47

LadyWithLapdog I see. Personally I would have preferred the hamper!

SEND2022 · 09/12/2022 12:49

I couldn't care less about the actual prize, I would want the organisers just to be transparent about it though.

Funkyslippers · 09/12/2022 12:51

healthadvice123 I think she can say with some certainty that it's sweets they won. However it's not really about that. It's the principle of how badly organised it's been

RachaelN · 09/12/2022 12:53

We have purchased tickets for our local kids disco... Literally nothing has been said since about it and I have no idea if anyone is actually going. Had to message several times to sort out tickets and how to pay etc. Replies very short with not enough info etc. Poorly organised events do my head in.

Knittedfairies · 09/12/2022 12:55

I'd be miffed too. I once bought a tombola ticket at an Arts and Crafts Christmas fair, with all the prizes donated by stall holders. The notice said that all tickets with an even number were winners; I drew a number ending in zero - I can't remember exactly what it was, but say 250. I asked for my prize to be told that 250 is not an even number, because only numbers ending with 2, 4, 6 and 8 are even numbers, apparently. I remonstrated, but got nowhere. I suggested they made a new sign.

ABBAsnumberonefan · 09/12/2022 12:58

BringBackFoilWrappers · 09/12/2022 10:59

@ABBAsnumberonefan

Actually a quick Google jar of sweets and most of them average 20 quid.
You can get a bottle of prosecco for around a tenner.
Either way her ds can't drink prosecco!
I'd be asking for another jar of sweets.

Well she can or she can regift it and get a jar of sweets - I’ve certainly seen them cheaper 😂

ArcaneWireless · 09/12/2022 13:01

RoyalCorgi · 09/12/2022 10:02

Of course, in a way this is a trivial matter. But in another way it isn't. As a society we operate on trust - we expect other people to play by the rules. That is why lots of us got so angry when government members broke their own lockdown rules, or gave big PPE procurement contracts to their mates.

It is pretty shitty to enter a prize draw and then not be given the prize you've won - particularly as no explanation has been given, which suggests something dodgy is going on. The OP entered the draw in good faith, so it should be operated in good faith. The organisers are presumably relying on her thinking "I won't make a fuss because I don't want to look as if I'm greedy or getting things out of proportion." If they get away with it, it gives them the incentive to try it again next time.

This.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 09/12/2022 13:03

if you read the thread this wouldn't fall under it as been said several times

Did you read @prh47bridge's post? He is a lawyer, I believe. Any lottery must be run according to the rules, licenced or not.

ifIwerenotanandroid · 09/12/2022 13:04

Dogue · 09/12/2022 07:46

I explained to her how I had called multiple times and her only response was “I can only apologise” but no explanation. I think I’ll text again this morning and say I’m entitled to what I won and want to know what happened to my prize.

@Clymene they haven’t actually told me yet what my prize is, but the only thing I remember entering is for a big jar of sweets.

When people say, "I can only apologise," I always want to say, "No, you can also put it right by doing xyz." One day I'll get the courage...

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