Anyway, I entered the giveaway/competition on Charlotte's blog and I won.
That was at the end of September.
Before I get to the prize, I have to say that Charlotte is too nice. She kept on contacting the people running the comp on behalf of Bodyform until they gave her a satisfactory answer. It's my (very limited) understanding that the company to whom Bodyform had outsourced the competition to have gone belly up. That, of course, would cause a problem. No company = no prizes. Nevertheless, Charlotte didn't relent and finally got an answer from the new company who took over the comp.
She told me late last week/early this week that I'd have my prizes this side of Xmas.
I was off work yesterday with severe period pains and was secretly quite chuffed when the (deceptively sized) box arrived.
Bodyform stated that the winner wuld get "a little prize of girlie treats".
How right they were..
I know this post may come across as me sounding spoilt and you may be thinking that I should be grateful that I got something for free.
Well, when a company big something up and end up sending you three sample sized goods, a cheapo hot water bottle and a 10 year old DVD I think you'd feel a bit pissed off. Plus, I wouldn't have even had that had Charlotte not carried on asking them on my behalf.
I'm fully aware that Bodyform outsource their PR to another firm, I'm not sure what that firm do but apparently they outsource it even further..which was where the original company administering the comp came in.
This whole debacle reflects really badly on Bodyform if anything. I'm aware it's not Bodyform themselves administering the comp but it's called the Bodyform giveaway, not the "PR company" giveaway. Just a tip to Bodyform, the next time you hype up a competition, try to ensure that PR company provide "prizes" which actually worth the hype.
I know you're all waiting to see what I got, so here it is..
The box..Mon pointed out last night that it looked like the kind of box that supermarkets get when they get deliveries. Now I understand why it has the 12x 14 Normal Wing sticker on it..
The prize:
Hot water bottle, travel size FCUK scrub, Green and Black chocolate, DVD from 1999 and a 98p facemask.
If this was in my actual period survival kit, I wouldn't last a day..
I thought I'd do an update on the box situation. I had a proper look at the box last night and if you can see where there's that curve on the side with sellotape on it, you will see that this box is an actual display box that they have on the shelves in supermarkets. I had a look all the way around and it had been opened and they had just taped it back up and sent the stuff in it. What made me even more suspicious that it had been opened was the fact that there was a hole..if you look underneath and a bit to the right of the Bodyform logo, you will see it. That is lamer than lame..
What a big balls up that comp turned out to be then. The box that they sent the prizes in is just shocking, obviously just any old box that was lying around. No wonder you was a lil' upset hunny :(
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Hey Jo,
ReplyDeleteI'm not really upset, just a bit shocked at how unprofessional the whole thing was. I was saying to Charlott that if I was a bitch and had kept hounding her and she was unable to do anything, I would have blamed her for the giveaway being so crap. Thankfully, I'm not a bitch (har har) and I know how much effort she went to.
I know that one PR company went bust and the other one said they'd send something out but even that took them a while, you'd think that with all that time they'd be able to find something befitting a company as big as Bodyform. Like Charlotte said on Twitter last night, there's no way their budget could be so small so as to stretch only as far as some sample sized goods.
That's appalling. Not to mention, if they know the prize is going out to bloggers, you'd expect them to have a half a brain and not send something crap since you're much more likely to spread to the word than your average consumer. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so saddened by this whole incident, I can't even express it.
ReplyDeleteI want to contact Bodyform directly, but it's so hard to find out how. I shall keep trying.
I know you don't want or expect an apology from me, but I am so sorry about all this.
Writing the feature on the free lipglosses, I would have done regardless as I thought it was interesting to beauty fans, but hosting the giveaway? I would never have bothered if I knew how much embarrassment that it was going to cause for myself.
Sample sized products are not a prize. You're not being ungrateful.
I would be massively shocked if SCA/Bodyform had only provided enough money to the PR company to pay for the "prize" that you have been given.
Thank you for being so understanding chick x
Hi, I saw the Jemma Kid thing on the box and was expecting something from JK inside, obviously! I cudnt have survived this kind of thing, glad u tuk it on a positive note :) thanq for sharing, buddy :)
ReplyDeleteAnita: I know how bloody tight are they? I've updated the post about the box and it is actually an off the shelf one. I totally agree with what you said about giving it away to a blogger. Some companies just think that people won't kick up a fuss but I think you should. You speak up about good services so why should bad stay behind?
ReplyDeleteDivija: Hey, welcome :) I know, I would have assumed the same myself but hey, that's the way Bodyform like to do things..
Charlotte: Are Bodyform owned by that SCA/CSA company? If so, I have their address on the box they sent me and can DM it over to you. I don't want or expect an apology from you because it's in no way your fault, you have nothing to apologise for at all, if a reputable company wants you to host a giveaway, any sane human being would expect them to do it properly. As far as I'm concerned, the buck stops with Bodyform/SCA. You also have no need to be embarrassed either, I'd never stop reading your blog because a company screwed up, I read your blog waaaaaaaaaaay before you had this (or any) giveaway up there and I'll carry on reading everything you say because you crack me up.
The least I could do is be understanding (couldn't think of a way to write that without it sounding wrong but it's a compliment!), you tried bloody hard to get into contact with them and this is what they provide at the end?! My annoyance is with them, none of this is your fault at all so please don't feel bad. I'm entering the Aussie compo on your blog tonight/tomorrow because I came up with a WICKED idea whilst driving today, go me!
Thats utterly disgraceful on their part! Bodyform should be ashamed of their unprofessional and negligent code of conduct...I mean we are bloggers and not BEGGARS! These ppl need to know that a behaviour like this not going to be taken lightly. You really deserve an apology from their side hun...
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