Say NO to Automated Competition Entry Services!
- Subscribers pay a fee to be entered automatically in hundreds of competitions each month
- Examples are www.win24.co.uk, www.prizewise.co.uk, www.prizedrawcentre.co.uk and www.wewin4u.co.uk
Why compers shouldn’t pay to use Automated Entry Services:
- You can’t choose the prizes you are entered for.
- You’re paying to be entered into some prize draws where the promoter actually specifies in the Terms and Conditions that automated entries will be disqualified
- You have no proof that you’re actually being entered for any competitions at all
- You may find yourself entered for competitions on dodgy websites that you normally wouldn’t touch with a bargepole – leading to spam and junk mail
- You won’t have any of the excitement that comes with finding and entering comps!
- You could disqualify yourself by submitting your own entry to a draw that you’ve already been automatically entered in
How do Automated Entry Services affect compers?
- As a comper, if you enter a prize draw that’s on the hitlist of any of these automated entry services, that competition will get thousands of extra entries meaning the chance of you winning will be minimal.
How do Automated Entry Services affect promoters?
- As a promoter, your competition entrants aren’t visiting or interacting with your website
- Your prizes are going to people who probably won’t appreciate them – surely you should be awarding your prizes to people who actually visit your site?
How promoters can stop this happening:
- Include “automated/bulk entries and entries from third parties are not permitted” in the terms and conditions
- Consider using a Facebook App to host competitions – Automated Entry Services can’t access Facebook accounts, so this would be a deterrent
- Ask entrants to complete a tiebreaker or upload a photo/video – these types of competition will also forge a better relationship with your real fans
How compers can make a difference
- If you enter an online prize draw, read the rules. If you don’t see anything mentioning automated entries, email the promoter and ask them to include this text in their terms and conditions: “automated/bulk entries and entries from third parties are not permitted”
Here is an email template you can use (based on Loquax’s original) – or you could edit it yourself so it’s more relevant to a particular promoter.
Dear (promoter/website)
I entered a competition on your website today, but noticed in the terms and conditions that you don’t mention entries from third parties, bulk entries or automated entry services.
Automated entry services allow thousands of paid subscribers to enter competitions without visiting the websites at all – often they don’t know what competitions they are entered in, and will have no use for the prize. There’s an example list of websites that are targeted at http://www.prizedrawcentre.co.uk/competitions-to-win-prizes.php
This is a real shame for the people who do visit your website and would genuinely love to win a prize! Many websites are now adding “automated/bulk entries and entries from third parties are not permitted” to their rules and I wonder if you might consider doing the same?
Kind regards
(name)
Just as promoters will insist on running voting competitions, I doubt that we will ever see the end of Automated Entry Services. But just as many of us have done with constant blogging, Facebook posts and advice to promoters on voting, we do have the power to make websites aware of the existence of these services – and can advise them on changing the rules to disqualify them!
Comping should be a fun hobby and we need to keep it that way – please Share this post to spread the word!
Like you said, it’s only a ‘hobby’.
Chill out and stop being so greedy.
You don’t get the monopoly just because you call yourself a comper.
If people want to pay to enter automatically, then let them, there’s clearly a demand.
I guess I have two opinions on this one. My partner loves competitions and frequents here and other sites often.
However if I am honest she has the time to do these entries whereby some peeps just wouldn’t and would probably opt for these services. Personally I agree with you, I think they remove the whole element of entering comps.. but i can imagine these services are used often.. obviously by those with no time and probably think they will get a “quick win fix”
My partner recently had a bad experience by joining a “similar” service AllAboutPrizes (and please DO keep away from this company!!.. the word scam/rip off are definitely what they are all about. PLEASE DON’T give them your credit card number!!! I myself am a member of the ConsumerActionGroup (visit there forum for the full episode on that one!!)
What amazes me is “some” so called legitimate comp sites actually promote this scam outfit!! Its appalling!!
My general advice is just to stay away and don’t bother with them and as advised make it known to Promoters to stop the activities of these companies. But I speak on behalf of my partner and I am just passing on her experience with just one of these companies. In her case they didn’t even enter ONE competition yet wanted a nice £29 per month for the priviledge … for… well… doing nothing basically! (and within the law ..so it seems?!)
I am starting my own entry competitions site:
Idontenteryouforanything dot com – simply join & pay me £29 per month for a guaranteed nothing … lol.. nuff said ;0)
Bid Shopping seem to have teamed up with Win24 Ltd-surely this sort of inertia is/should be illegal
I’ve been thinking about the argument that ‘compers’ have against automated entries and personally I think its a case of sour grapes . Based on experience in competition circles 99% of people who enter competitions via websites such as this or Loquax are no more interested in looking at the products on manufacturers websites than someone who uses an automated system.
I’ve seen so much jealousy and pettiness within competition ‘circles’ and this anti automated entries campaign that is currently ongoing is just another example of how professional competitors don’t like anyone winning unless its themselves.
Retailers have nothing to lose in allowing automated entries but professional compers…. the reality is they don’t like the extra competition and reduced chances these services give them.
Thanks for your comments! I think we need to remember that there are a wide variety of ‘compers’ out there, and that not all of them are lazy or greedy. Many of us will take the time to interact with brands on Facebook, Twitter and blogs and personally I have purchased products or services as a result of visiting a promoter’s website or reading an email newsletter. My communications with PR companies and promoters have shown me that many do like compers to enter their contests!
It won’t take much effort for a promoter to add an extra line to their rules, and it would be a step towards fairer competitions so it’s definitely worth raising awareness.
In terms of “numbers” – Chocolate Review told us they disqualified 4800 entries from an automated system. Another site last week told us it was 6500! Some of these auto-sites may well have low subscribers, others don’t.
Imo those numbers are significant enough to look at this.
And therefore, the key here is to tell promoters “look they exist, you decide if you’re happy”. An auto-entry service isn’t going to do that.
I see your interaction point – but at least the user is visiting the site, knows what the site is, they’re possibly having to find an answer (Loquax and TPF don’t give them), they’re seeing any offers etc. and they’re possibly giving details for marketing.
An automated entry gives none of that.
If this campaign makes promoters more aware of their competitions, monitors them more, analyses their worth and perhaps run them better – then that is no bad thing.
Playing devil’s advocate, do you not think that this campaign is over estimating the impact of automatic entry services?
Firstly, members of these services make up a small fraction of compers overall. I doubt that their entries really impact any individual’s chance of winning.
Secondly, the argument about the lack of interaction with websites seems a bit weak. Automatic entry can only work with prize draws, and how much interaction do any of us have with the websites we enter prize draws on? Click link from Loquax/Prizefinder, hit Roboform, quick double check of form, then go. Literally seconds spent on the site.
If promotors want their prizes to go to people who genuinely interact with their site, they don’t want entries from compers full stop!
I had a call back in the early days of my comping hobby from Win24, and having worked in a call centre sniffed a scam right away. The lady told me I had recently entered to win a Clio – I knew this to be a lie as at the time I was very warey of entering forms with my details due to not knowing if sites were reputable or not. She then went on to tell me I was still in the running to win that car after confirming who I was, when i questioned it a little she went on to ask me if I entered many competitions and if I bought magazines or subscribed to other competition clubs. After this she went into her pitch offering to save me money by entering thousands of competitions on my behalf for a small fee. I declined this offer but to my horror the next day they called back – this time a gentleman told my partner it was a courtesy call in regards to my previous days interest in joining them and they needed confirmation details. I was at home and went slightly nuts at the chap down the phone, needless to say they never called me again but I can see how some people may be manipulated into joining these types of schemes.
I wonder as a consumer how legitimate these companies actually are, do they have an office? Are they registered and have trading standards ever been made aware of their operations, the whole process reeks of scam regardless if they actually forfil the wishes of thier clients and enter all these competitions for them – which may all be disqualified anyway.
Id love to hear from someone who has subscribed to one of them too, and how easy it was to leave. I have a feeling they wont like to let customers go.
On a personal note – I manually typed and wrote out thousands of entries over my first six months of comping (Before I took the plunge and got roboform) and loved the entering, anticpation of possibly winning or losing – thats what my hobby was all about – participation! This type of organisation removes that completely.
Very informative blog Di, thank you very much. Lets hope promoters and compers pick up on these warnings and stay well clear of automated entry systems.
Thanks for your comment Linda – I don’t think it will ever look daft to include that in the T&Cs – it will also serve as a reminder to entrants that these services exist! Good luck with your competition, and don’t forget to send me the link!
Really interesting, thank you, will I look daft if I put that in the T&C when it’s a small but fun prize do you think?