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le_bebna_kamniYes, it's that time of the year again! Not the after-New-Years-hangover, or the time to make resolutions, but the time to send back the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes entry form without buying anything. This is all for the sake of being amused that in spite of their promises they don't show up at my house on February 29 this year (those teasing bitches).
My mom always got those fliers, and I've been receiving them for the past 5 years or so, but I never bothered to do any research on Publisher's Clearing House. Yes, they're probably America's number one sweepstakes (lottery excluded), and you don't even have to pay to enter. But reading the advertising today made me realize that they use many of the same advertising tactics that con artists do.
So I had to know: beneath their cheery exterior that no longer includes Ed McMahon, are they really a sneaky con business that only pretends to have a legitimate sweepstakes?
No, my research shows they're a very legitimate company. In fact, because they're so popular, they're more heavily regulated and watched than many other lesser sweepstakes. Yet they have a huge track record for lawsuits, and they're almost entirely centered around one thing: Publisher's Clearing House apparently didn't make it clear that entry was free, that you don't have to order or "pay to play".
I've read some online stories of desperate elderly men and women who have spent their hard-earned retirement money purchasing thousands of products and magazine subscriptions to "improve their chances of winning". I've heard of people with Alzheimer's getting tricked out of their money, and poor people being brought to financial ruin for the sake of a dream.
And my heart goes out to them...but not in a happy lawsuit-friendly legal sense. When it comes to getting their money back, I have no pity for them, because I don't feel that they've been cheated or duped in any way by PCH. PCH does have a disclaimer at least once (if not multiple times) in each flier they send out. But these poor souls (or their families) claim it isn't visible enough. But how can they miss it?
Has anyone reading this journal entry ever tried to enter the PCH sweepstakes before? If so, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Children love PCH mailings because they're full of lots and lots of stickers and bright, colorful pages. And the entry form is just like those lick-n-stick coloring books, where you have to find the stamp that matches each dotted area in the entry form. I've been trying to enter the PCH sweepstakes ever since I was a child (my mom wouldn't mail the entry forms I did...maybe it's because I usually "ordered" 3 or 4 magazines so I could put more stickers on the entry form?).
Steps to completing the form:
Even if the warning weren't posted in the mailing (i.e., they didn't mail a copy of the rules in addition to disclaimers), I'd still have a hard time feeling that people are being cheated. Most sweepstakes make you write to them for a copy of their rules, so why should people complain when PCH takes an extra step?
People waste money all the time on lotteries and other forms of gambling, and get nothing back for their efforts. Publisher's Clearing House is free to enter, and if you do spend money you get tangible goods that are approximately equivalent to the price you pay. They even have a money-back guarantee if you feel you *must* order something to be considered for the sweepstakes but didn't really want the goods. I fail to see where people are getting "duped" or "tricked".
But maybe I'm missing something here...
My mom always got those fliers, and I've been receiving them for the past 5 years or so, but I never bothered to do any research on Publisher's Clearing House. Yes, they're probably America's number one sweepstakes (lottery excluded), and you don't even have to pay to enter. But reading the advertising today made me realize that they use many of the same advertising tactics that con artists do.
So I had to know: beneath their cheery exterior that no longer includes Ed McMahon, are they really a sneaky con business that only pretends to have a legitimate sweepstakes?
No, my research shows they're a very legitimate company. In fact, because they're so popular, they're more heavily regulated and watched than many other lesser sweepstakes. Yet they have a huge track record for lawsuits, and they're almost entirely centered around one thing: Publisher's Clearing House apparently didn't make it clear that entry was free, that you don't have to order or "pay to play".
I've read some online stories of desperate elderly men and women who have spent their hard-earned retirement money purchasing thousands of products and magazine subscriptions to "improve their chances of winning". I've heard of people with Alzheimer's getting tricked out of their money, and poor people being brought to financial ruin for the sake of a dream.
And my heart goes out to them...but not in a happy lawsuit-friendly legal sense. When it comes to getting their money back, I have no pity for them, because I don't feel that they've been cheated or duped in any way by PCH. PCH does have a disclaimer at least once (if not multiple times) in each flier they send out. But these poor souls (or their families) claim it isn't visible enough. But how can they miss it?
Has anyone reading this journal entry ever tried to enter the PCH sweepstakes before? If so, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Children love PCH mailings because they're full of lots and lots of stickers and bright, colorful pages. And the entry form is just like those lick-n-stick coloring books, where you have to find the stamp that matches each dotted area in the entry form. I've been trying to enter the PCH sweepstakes ever since I was a child (my mom wouldn't mail the entry forms I did...maybe it's because I usually "ordered" 3 or 4 magazines so I could put more stickers on the entry form?).
Steps to completing the form:
1) Look through the entire packet of mailings to find 4-5 stickers that must go on the entry form. They do this to make sure that you look at all their merchandise and it makes it more likely you'll do an impulse buy.The particular stickers and instructions for sending in the entry form change frequently, but the process and rules do not. If a person can't do enough reading to know that "buying will not increase your chances of winning", then they probably can't read enough to send in a correct entry form.
2) Read the descriptions accompanying the stickers to know where they should be placed -- putting one in the wrong place might disqualify your entry, and sometimes it's difficult to tell just by size.
3) Look for any other slips of paper that have to be returned in addition to entry form and stickers -- which makes you read everything multiple times to make sure you didn't miss anything and accidentally disqualify your entry.
Even if the warning weren't posted in the mailing (i.e., they didn't mail a copy of the rules in addition to disclaimers), I'd still have a hard time feeling that people are being cheated. Most sweepstakes make you write to them for a copy of their rules, so why should people complain when PCH takes an extra step?
People waste money all the time on lotteries and other forms of gambling, and get nothing back for their efforts. Publisher's Clearing House is free to enter, and if you do spend money you get tangible goods that are approximately equivalent to the price you pay. They even have a money-back guarantee if you feel you *must* order something to be considered for the sweepstakes but didn't really want the goods. I fail to see where people are getting "duped" or "tricked".
But maybe I'm missing something here...
