Giveaway Mixup: Thoughts?
by devwil
Hey, I'm a really disappointed guy. Without going into specifics in this blog (because I don't feel like making a bad situation worse), I'd like to pose a situation to all the Giant Bombs in the audience tonight, and ask what they think the outcome should be. I entered a contest being held by a software company, of whose software I already enthusiastically use. Their software is free, but they...
Hey,
I'm a really disappointed guy.
Without going into specifics in this blog (because I don't feel like making a bad situation worse), I'd like to pose a situation to all the Giant Bombs in the audience tonight, and ask what they think the outcome should be.
I entered a contest being held by a software company, of whose software I already enthusiastically use. Their software is free, but they have paid enhancements. The paid licenses aren't very cheap; I spent $400 on such a license last year. They were giving away a license valued at $1,500 in this giveaway.
I got excited yesterday when I saw that I'd won the contest! And then I noticed that there had to be a mistake of some sort. To enter the contest, you had to say what you planned to do with their software in 2011. The plans they said I had weren't my plans at all, but they were attributed to my name. The company contacted me to congratulate me and ask for my e-mail response so they could set me up with the license.
I, being a dope, played the game of honesty. I told them that I didn't know whether the contest was a random drawing or based on the merits of people's plans, but the winning idea was not matched to the winning name.
How do you think this situation should have been handled?