Just who wins all these competitions?

jonbeeza

jonbeeza

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Been entering competitions probably since the 60s or 70s, never won a bloomin thing, neither have any of my friends or family. Although for the last few years, I have never bothered. Probably a little skeptical if some of the competitions actually are genuine. Advert on TV now, win £100,0000 and or a car. There was a time I would have jumped up grabbed a pen, and posted off my entry.

Maybe just a very few are genuine, while most have no intention of paying out.
 
Most of them are just a means of gathering your data. A cheap price to pay for all the profit involved in selling that information on . . .
 
We had a community fund where I worked. We paid into the fund and there was a monthly and quarterly draw with remaining money going to good causes. I was in it for over 36 years and won twice, the wife who has been there for 14 years won more in her first 12 months than all my time there. Guess it really is luck of the draw.
 
Sky said:
Most of them are just a means of gathering your data. A cheap price to pay for all the profit involved in selling that information on . . .
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That is why I never do them anymore. In the old days it was just name and address, but now some ask to fill out a questionnaire.
I think that is what is happening when Fuji or other maker, do cashback offers. Fill your details in, and we will give you fifty quid back, and possibly sell your info on. That is why I never buy when it is a cashback deal, I wait for the price to drop.
 
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plloydie said:
We had a community fund where I worked. We paid into the fund and there was a monthly and quarterly draw with remaining money going to good causes. I was in it for over 36 years and won twice, the wife who has been there for 14 years won more in her first 12 months than all my time there. Guess it really is luck of the draw.
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If it is run by a community, then you can see what is going on. When it is a business, or other such big organisation, then not so easy to see what is going on.
 
A friend of a friend, and his wife, enter every competition they can, and over the years, they have won several holidays, countless electronic goods, a car and over £20'000. He told me that when they enter a radio station competition, (they won a capital radio chris Tarrant one) they use several phones and if they get through, are super enthusiastic with the wrong answer....as the station don't want the winning answer straight away....then when put through, they give the correct answer and win....genius lol....their office is covered in entry forms, its a full time job.
 
My son in law won £14k on the postcode lottery, I won £2.70 on the Euromillions Lottery once. We have won some Premium Bond prizes, although nothing more than £100.

Christmas before last my ticket was drawn at a raffle at my Granddaughters school. There were several bottles of wine left, and a packet of cheap biscuits, before I had a chance to grab a bottle my granddaughter grabbed the biscuits :oops: :$
 
The only time I felt a competition was genuine, was when I was in one of the big named stores Lewis or maybe it was Owen Owen. I was in the shop one day, and the manager shouted, "we are going to hold a prize draw". I got a ticket and waited about for half an hour browsing the shop, can't recall if I actually bought anything, it was obviously to get people to go into the store.

Anyway, the manager picked out a young boy from the crowd, and he asked him to pick out the winning ticket. It was an elderly woman that won a washing machine, I think it was.

Some may think that the young boy was the manager's son, and he already had the winning ticket in his hand, and the old woman was the manager's mother. But I felt it was genuine. :)
 
I won a £1000 Scott road bike at the first Cycle Show when it was held at the Design Centre, Islington.
Also won a Canon HD photobook at the Societies Trade Show, it was the the last of the Edgware Road Hilton ones.
 
supergeeman said:
A friend of a friend, and his wife, enter every competition they can, and over the years, they have won several holidays, countless electronic goods, a car and over £20'000. He told me that when they enter a radio station competition, (they won a capital radio chris Tarrant one) they use several phones and if they get through, are super enthusiastic with the wrong answer....as the station don't want the winning answer straight away....then when put through, they give the correct answer and win....genius lol....their office is covered in entry forms, its a full time job.
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I saw a thing on TV some time ago about this, for some people it's a hobby bordering on a full time job and they do win :D

My nephews Mrs enters a lot and has won a lot. She's won so many things, all the time... including one of those massive American style fridge freezers and a weekend away which she gave to me and Mrs WW :D
 
broc said:
My son in law won £14k on the postcode lottery, I won £2.70 on the Euromillions Lottery once. We have won some Premium Bond prizes, although nothing more than £100.

Christmas before last my ticket was drawn at a raffle at my Granddaughters school. There were several bottles of wine left, and a packet of cheap biscuits, before I had a chance to grab a bottle my granddaughter grabbed the biscuits :oops: :$
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I won £10 once on the lottery, but I had spent £20 on it that week, not to mention all the other months I used to do it.
Not done it for years, I don't ever intend to start again either. :)
 
I also used to do spot the ball many many years ago, but I soon got fed up of it. I also noticed, it always seemed like it was, MR B from Devon, or MR D from London, or Mrs K from Brighton. It was never Dave from Manchester, or Mike from Bolton. :)
 
I know a Mr J from Devon who won a spot the ball competition. A tenner IIRC!

I won £100 in a WEX draw a few years back - free entry after a purchase IIRC and I'd only spent 25 quid or so.
 
I worked in a factory full of women for a few years in the seventies and they did raffles and competitions all the time. All I ever won was a bottle of perfume. :facepalm:
 
beyond the blue said:
The wife and I bought premium bonds 18 months ago and so far have won every month but it only equates to 1.4% per annum.
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I new someone who had bonds for many years, best they ever did was £50 every few years. They had a fair old whack of them also. They cashed them in after a while, as they saw it as a poor investment.
 
I don't do competitions anymore, but people keep ringing the landline to tell me that I have.
I got one call from someone claiming I had won a big prize, he wanted my bank details so he could credit me with the winnings.
I am sure it was the same person who rang once before before, that time he worked for Microsoft and he wanted to help reset my password.
 
I can't remember winning anything significant in a competition/draw. One of my son's friends was a winner in the US Diversity Visa Program (Green Card Lottery) years ago but wasn't able to take it up. He just didn't have the funds to emigrate at the time, and decided that he'd rather stay in South Africa anyway...
 
The wife won a solid gold watch on spot the ball many years ago .. I won a return ferry trip to Ireland car and four passengers on local radio but not done any comps for years
 
Years ago a workmate and I had an entry each for a Bachelors cup a soup "Spot the Kitchen Item" competition. There was cash prizes as well as kitchen items. The idea being that if we won a cash prize we would share it. He won a microwave. Following month I also won a microwave.
We have a monthly lottery at work run by the employee sports and social club, When I first started at Ford in 79, the top 3 prizes were cars, then a few £1k prizes, £500 and £100.
When we were apprentices, a lad in my year won a car in our second year. I know a bloke who has won two cars around 5yrs apart. Personally, I have won £100 once and £1000 twice. Some people never having won anything. Not too bad for 10p a ticket at a maximum of 40 tickets a month.
As there is far fewer employees now, although pensioners can still buy tickets through their pension, there is only one car prize per month and fewer cash prizes too.
 
Forgot to add, The Halifax were running a monthly draw, a few years back, each savings or bank account was worth an entry per month. Top prize was £100k I believe. I got a letter in the post telling me I had won a prize and to take the letter with ID to my local branch. Sadly a few 0's missing, I won just £100.


My father in law won and lost. He entered a competition on ITV's This Morning, his correct answer was selected and they rang him to tell him, but he struggles with technology and just couldn't answer his phone. Three times they tried to ring him and three times he couldn't answer the call. In the end they picked out another winner instead.
He would have won an iPhone, an iPad, a cash prize and a Mercedes A Class all totalling £80k. He still has the missed calls on his phone and my sons still take the p*** out of him when they see him.
 
My colleague on the parts desk won £10k on a local radio phone in contest, outlay £2, he didn’t even spring for lunch. We have premium bonds and last year we achieved 7% return, rare a month goes by without a win of some sort.
 
So people do win then, but not me. I won't win anything now, considering I no longer enter competitions.
 
I posted this on another thread. 2 years ago a guy at the place I worked won £71m on the euromillions. A colleague saw him a year later in the local supermarket express buying a newspaper and.........more lottery tickets. I guess the jackpot was not enough.
 
plloydie said:
I posted this on another thread. 2 years ago a guy at the place I worked won £71m on the euromillions. A colleague saw him a year later in the local supermarket express buying a newspaper and.........more lottery tickets. I guess the jackpot was not enough.
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I must have missed that. :)
 
The only thing I’ve ever won is an etch-a-sketch which I won by filling out a slip that I cut out of the back of a breakfast cereal box, and then I didn’t realise id won til it turned up like 2/3 years later and I wasn’t fussed about etch-a-sketches anymore, I’d found games consoles by then.
 
MartynK said:
I can't remember winning anything significant in a competition/draw. One of my son's friends was a winner in the US Diversity Visa Program (Green Card Lottery) years ago but wasn't able to take it up. He just didn't have the funds to emigrate at the time, and decided that he'd rather stay in South Africa anyway...
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i could do with that!
 
stickytape said:
i could do with that!
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Funnily enough, the same guy that won - and didn't take it up - now works for a big US corporation in South Africa, and they're talking about transferring him to the States once lockdown ends...
 
MartynK said:
Funnily enough, the same guy that won - and didn't take it up - now works for a big US corporation in South Africa, and they're talking about transferring him to the States once lockdown ends...
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Coincidence! My better half works for one of the drug companies in their UK diversions, so the fingers are very firmly crossed something like that happens for her... Don't think I can convince her to up and leave for Canada (much easier!) so all rests on that!
 
Who did she go with? :p
 
Just seen a leaflet for a million pound competition, the form wants all my details and a big questionnaire. Filed in recycling bin. :)
 
As a 6 year old I won a medicine cabinet with a child proof lock/catch.
That about sums up my lucky streak..
Ps my father put the cabinet in the loft, and after 3 house moves it is still in the loft, unused.
 
I used to work in a hardware shop that sold kitchenware amongst other things. The Corning Glass rep (who make Pyrex) told us about a dealer competition where the top prize was a weekend trip to New York, flying by Concorde. He rang me at home months later to tell me I’d won a top prize in the competition and would come into the shop to present it. My wife was getting really excited, thinking we’d got the NY trip. In fact I’d won second prize... a pair of sunglasses. Could’ve been worse, third prize was a Pyrex measuring jug.
 
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