Common Sweepstakes Issues: You Deserve to Win-Workarounds

Participating in sweepstakes is a very unique experience in itself. One doesn’t only win prizes but also make new friends from the community. The entire journey of anticipating prizes, participating and then winning is truly incredible. However, if you have been consistently entering sweepstakes for quite some time now then there are instances where you can find yourself struggling. Here we have mentioned the common issues which are faced while entering sweepstakes and how you can work through them.

The Delay in Prizes: So you get a notification that you have won a prize. 
You are excited to the core and do all the paperwork to leave no stone unturned to claim your prize! 
You have already submitted all the documents and are now waiting for your amazing reward to come in. 
The sweepstakes rulebook talks about when you should get your money ideally. 
However, it has been quite some time now and you see absolutely no response. 
This has been quite a pain point for those who enter sweepstakes every year. 

However, you can save yourself from this ordeal by following these tips.

• Always keep a track of your sweepstakes entries and note down exactly what the dates are for prizes. Doing so will help you know when to expect the same so that you can take the right action within time.
• If you see that the prize hasn’t come yet then make sure you contact the sponsors or those who hold authority. You can find the contact details on the win notification alone. Go ahead and contact them without any hesitation. It should be noted that delays can also be due to some genuine reasons and it is not always the fault of the company.
• If you still don’t get any response through contacting them then try and reach out to them on call. They are most likely to address your issues when spoken to on telephone. Another way to get to them would be through social media. Companies these days react really fast when something negative is said about them on social platforms. You can use this to your advantage and simply post on their official pages.

But resort to these as your last options. Most of the times, sweepstakes are equally focused in delivering your prize as you are in receiving them. There might be a few odd cases which are acting as spoilers.

Identify the fake ones out there

However, at times you need to act responsibly. Some fake companies out there might try to sneak in and act as original ones. It’s not very difficult to identify these.

They would simply mail you a congratulations email even when you haven’t really won the prize. Such kind of emails will have your hearts racing for no reason. You would think that you have won a grand prize but when you actually see there is absolutely nothing there. This can be quite heart breaking. You would surely end up feeling grumpy about the company who sent the mail. They would usually send such mail to entice you generating more traffic in their websites or to click on advertisements.

Captchas Which Don’t Accept Your Response

Ok so captchas exist so that companies can verify whether or not the entries are actually genuine. We all know the logic behind such rules. Don’t be pissed off when the captchas just don’t seem to work. You see the captcha and it reads just fine. You then enter the same only to get rejected. The captcha keeps asking you whether you are a robot. The only way out is to be patient enough to try again until you get it right.

Don’t blame the sweepstake company for the Google Captcha.

If you really want to win the sweepstake then go ahead and click away till you identify all the buses in the box.

Sweepstakes seeking indirect promotions

We all know this thing by now that the sweepstakes are indeed a win-win for the sponsors as well as the winner. The company has to meet certain targets for which they ask participants to reach out to their friends. We understand this quite well. But hey! What about moderation? The sweepstakes ask you to enter only after you have recommended several other friends too. Moreover, you would have to tag them multiple times on several social platforms which can be irritating for both you and them. This will naturally make you feel that you are unnecessarily bothering others and of course they are also going to be mad at you.

However, you need to understand the stakes involved. They are only asking for contacts because someone else like you can be the lucky winner next time. Why not this someone be your friends or family members rather than a stranger?

Contests wherein votes are required to become the winner

There are contests that use votes to determine who would win the prize. While this might sound sensible to some, some are not happy about it. There could be manipulation happening wherein people will drool in voters to only vote for them. This doesn’t really leave you with any genuine chance to win. What you can do in this case is to hope for the best and ask everyone to vote for you.

This can be your chance to know who all are your actual friends and stay by your side when the time comes. However, if you are still grumpy about it then your best bet here is to steer clear of such sweepstakes so that you can participate in the contests that are better justified. After all, you get to choose among the array of sweepstakes.

When you can’t reach the company

At times it is possible that you have some issue which needs to be brought to the notice of the company. You try and email them but you don’t get prompt response. However, there is nothing to be worried about. Often time sweepstakes get so many entries that they take time to reply to your emails. Just like you, there are several other participants who would have sent follow up emails. A good idea here is to specifically find out the number or email id for Enquiries. This dedicated number would give you better response than any other number. The sweepstakes staff has a team of professionals who specifically look after the inquiries. So make it a point to find out this number.

Don’t Be Early to Blame

You might be blaming the company for not responding to your emails but hey you should try and find the relevant emails too. The sweepstakes website usually has a number flashing on their homepage which is used by a lot of people to call. Finding out relevant contact details will actually help you out. Likewise, the winners get notified through emails when they have won the megaprize. If you wish to really confirm whether you have truly won or not then contacting the officials is your best bet. Each mail comes with the contact information of the designated person. It is a good idea to reach out to them in order to find out more. Thus, you should not get agitated at once if the first attempt of contact doesn’t work out. Try and find the specific designated person who can actually help you.

Giveaways & Sweepstakes might be demanding

We already know that giveaways have advantages for the sponsors as well as the entrants. But sometimes, the sponsors can go overboard and ask contestants to enter after a lot of complications. For example, contestants have to read through a lot of special offers to enter the contest. They might have to like and follow a bunch of social media pages and put their advertisement on their stories. Let us not forget tagging a lot of people over and again to enter a single contest. As an enthusiastic entrant, if you wish to avoid such giveaways then always read through their privacy policy before submitting any form.

Website crashing issues

So you have entered a sweepstake and are currently awaiting further notification. You might seem to have already checked their website only to get disappointed. This is indeed a very common problem people face. There could be some issue with the website which kind of slows the communication down. At times, it so happens that people actually win but they cannot see any further updates because of the site issue. Things like this are surely to be checked. If you come across an issue like this then it is best to just contact them on call or write to them. Someone will certainly get in touch with you.

Fake Sweepstakes

If there is one thing which bothers all the entrants then it is the fact that sweepstakes can at times con people. This is as disheartening as it sounds. People go through the tedious task of applying and they also wait patiently after they have been announced as the winner. It is really sad that after all the anticipation and effort, all that they get to know is that they have been cheated. However, not all sweepstakes are like this and there are contests which are actually genuine. You must have heard stories also with this regard. As an entrant, all you can do is to keep an eye open for such fake contests. Always see if their advertisement looks fake or sounds shady. See if the rules which they have kept actually make sense or are they just redundant. This itself will give you a fair idea about the sweepstake. You can also begin by searching about them online. If they are fake then there could be online reviews about the same. You must do a due research way before you enter.

Fellow participants who win unethically – Don’t blame the company

It is not always the sponsor that is wrong. Many a time, there are cheaters who claim the prize of the actual winner. They use unethical practices to get the prize. For instance, there are people who use chatbots and scripts so that they can manipulate the contest. They also switch the IP and use multiple email addresses to increase their chance of winning. Some people also just enter even if they don’t meet the actual entry criteria. People get really desperate at times to win which makes them do such things. Did you know that contest fraud is actually a crime and that there are punishments for this sort of deed? Some people can also end up in legal trouble. It might be tempting to simply claim millions of dollars by using unethical means. But trust us, it doesn’t work out for you in the long run. There will be official enquiries and you would face serious repercussions.

A Word of Caution

A word of caution here would be to always keep a tab on the sweepstakes company. If you find their website untrustworthy then don’t even bother to enter. If you click on certain pages and they are just not opening then this is a sign that you should avoid it. Moreover, there are fake sweepstakes which exist to only get your contact information. Some might also ask for the details of your bank. This again is questionable and you need to avoid it. Look out for such red flags and stop yourself from the ordeal of regretting later. If you genuinely want to win then play a fair game. What is meant for you will never miss you!

Final Take

Thus, you can deal with the common issues of the sweepstakes once you follow the above workarounds. Sweepstakes can actually be a lot of fun once you have figured your way through the various rules. Don’t let the delays dishearten you. Instead, make it a point to work through them and contact the officials whenever needed. In the pool of several amazing sweepstakes, there are chances that you will find fake ones too. But this doesn’t mean that every sweepstake is likewise. With a little vigilance you would be able to enter a genuine sweepstake and stand a chance to be a millionaire overnight.