A few days ago I got an email from a friend who just HAD to unload some bitchy randomness on me.....because that's what friends are for. Seems she's got some choice words to those bloggers out there who have giveaways.....but don't have the class to contact the winners. These are the bloggers who make YOU be the one to contact THEM and say....."hey there, thanks a million, but I'm your winner, woo hoo!!!" Anywho.....this email from my friend got me to thinking.....so here's MY 2¢ worth!!! For the sake of my friend's identity.....she knows who she is.....I know who she is.....but let's just call her my friend for this post so those classless bloggers don't hunt her down and TP her darling little house on a sweet country road in a land far, far away.
This friend brought up some very good points.....ones that I've thought about myself from time to time. Here's the scenario.....you decide to have a giveaway.....I've done a couple myself.....and you let everyone in Blogdom know that you've got something spectacular that you want to give away to one very lucky winner. The hopeful winner types out some witty little comment for their entry.....clicks enter.....and voila.....they're done. HOPEFULLY!!! There are THOSE bloggers that make you jump through hoops, twirl on your left big toe, snap your fingers, all the while butt-trumpeting Dixie in C Minor!!! SAY WHAT!!! For the love of Pete.....all you need to do to enter a contest is to give some 'how to contact me' if I win info.....PERIOD!!!
Now, I'm in total agreement with my friend when she says that these classless bloggers do need to contact the winner, and not the winner contact the giveaway-er (is that a word?). If you have the time to do a giveaway, then MAKE the time to contact the winner. How simple is that! Even the BIG time corporations make the time to contact winners.....and I guarantee that they are WAY busier than you think you are! Here's a perfect example of a BIG time corporation contacting a winner.....there was recently a contest that went on for several weeks where you could enter daily to win various and sundry prizes.....one of the winners of a Viking Gas Grill with a BBQ Seasonings Basket (valued at $825) was contacted by mail that they won.....YES, the BIG time corporation took the time out of their busy day and contacted the winner!!! By the way.....that winner is ME, ME, ME!!! You may have heard me scream a week ago like a wild banshee. Anyway, the point is.....CONTACT THE WINNER.....DON'T make them contact you!!! SHOW SOME CLASS!!!
There are LOTS of giveaways that I enter in Blogdom.....so many, that I honestly don't have the time to go back and check every single one to see if I won. I trust the person having the giveaway to contact me and let me know if I was a winner. I am also quite certain that I've won a few here and there, which I was never informed of.....oh well.
There's a bottom line here.....my friend was a little more eloquent in her email to me.....but, I'm going to call it as I see it.....these gals who don't inform winners that they won their contests need to get off their high horse, because their sh*t does stink like everyone else's.....and they need to take a lesson from the REAL big guys.....show common courtesy, and personally contact your winners of their prize. Now THAT'S good business!!!
Oh my, I just realized I was on my soapbox! Man, it's been ages since I've had a good ol' bitch session!!! GO ME!!!
For those who want to ooooo and awwww over my new grill.....take a gander down below.....
Go you! I totally agree! That is one beautiful grill! I have a very pathetic grill that I have had for 11 years so I am very jealous! I think I need to enter a grill giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI have a sneaking suspicion that it's all a ruse in which to make everyone revisit the host's blog and create more 'hits' for another day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and your friend, but, then again, I was raised to be a comprehensive hostess....the old school way.
:)
Nope I love it Anne! I always contact my winners, of course, I am excited for them too! Sorry for your friend, that just stinks.
ReplyDeleteWell, you are certainly on your soapbox today! Be careful when you step down! I do agree though, that people should contact the winner via email, or maybe visit that person's blog to tell them they won. And that is some beautiful picture of that grill you won -- Congratulations! And it's a Viking? Wow, you are so lucky! You'd better run and buy some lottery tickets, you may be on a lucky streak!
ReplyDeleteBest,
Gloria
Thanks everyone...it's good to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this way!!!
ReplyDeleteBy the way...my much anticipated new grill will be replacing one that's sitting on bricks because the wheels rusted off, and there's the chance of it blowing up because the venturi is disintegrating (hooked up to natural gas). It's a disaster waiting to happen!!!
I couldn't have said it better myself- I am soooo annoyed at the hoops and the lack of courtesy to the winner.
ReplyDeleteThat grill kicks butt!
hahahaha -- I could not agree more! ...and you have said it SO WELL that there is nothing more which I could add.
ReplyDeleteOK, can I add my 2 cents? I love giveaways too bUT I HATE it when you have to go here, come back, go someplace else, do this, do that. I ahve seen giveways with like 5, 6, 7 rules!!!!!!!!! It is too much, I don't bother. Thanks!!!! Copngrats on your win, the grill is gorgeous! I am jealous, ours is UGLY!!!!!!!!! XO, Pinky
ReplyDeleteWhoa baby! That is one beautiful grill. So happy for you, may you have many happy hours out in the yard together! I have to buy a new grill this year. Our Weber is 30 years old and the wood handles on it have finally dried up and fell off. That is only the newest diaster to befall my sweet loyal friend.
ReplyDeleteAd K.
OMG Anne..your friends rant sounds like one of mine..LMAO.
ReplyDeleteI enter very few contests on blogs..okay..actually 2. I always enter Ree's because she posts clear rules and tells the winners who they are..she also has some seriously cool sh*t that she offers in the contests. I mean really...the kitchenaid mixer done up like the art on the cover of her first cookbook...I still weep over that one..lol.
The other one that I actually won was naming rights for one of four kittens being currently fostered at Space Paws..yeah me !
Both contests are run clearly and fairly.
People who make their winners come to them to check need to put their big girl panties on and use what little common sense and manners the good Lord gave 'em and their Mama's taught 'em.
Oh..I almost ranted there .wheeee.
Waving from 2 Allen Center
Aunty Pol
Ditto on the giveaways....but I do love that grill!!! Lucky duck....
ReplyDeleteCopngrats on that awesome grill!! My little charcoal grill sways in the wind it's so rusty and falling apart. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I couldn't agree more on the giveaways! I don't even enter them anymore because I can't stand all the hoops. I understand being a follower of their blog, but outside that, all the other requirements wear me out. I follow too many blogs to jump all over for a giveaway. They simply do it to get more hits on their blog.
Congratulations on your awesome win. I too have entered many bloggers giveaways. Some have contacted me to let me know I won and I sent my info to them but never get what I supposedly won. 3 of the times I won I actually received what I won. They k now who they are and the others ...well I won't bother entering their giveaways with jumping to this friends page and following their blog and going to their Etsy shop and letting them know what I would like to have from there. i think it is just a way to get traffic to their friends shop to buy from them. AAAAAAAAArgh! I can't feel like I lost anything because I never got it to begin with but dadgum I was excited about getting it and checking the mail box for it. Ha the joke was on me for those times. Sorry it happened to your friend and thanks for mentioning it on your blog so the word will spresd to those that are not properly following through with their giveaways. And Yes it is common courtesy to inform the winner as well as send the item.
ReplyDeleteI agree about contacting the winners! I have missed out on a giveaway that I won because she posted the winner (me) in a text box on top of where her posts went, but I read most blogs through google reader, which won't show me that text box. Then when I missed out on the giveaway I won (which I actually wanted) she posted on facebook that since I didn't contact her, I'd missed out and she was giving it away to another random winner.
ReplyDeleteI was so upset by it that I stopped following her blog, and have not missed it since then.
I so agree with this! Apparantly I won some sunglasses and I didn't know it. This gal finally contacted me and said that she had been waiting for me to contact her, huh, what? How would I have known. I like you don't go back and check to see if I won. Anyhoo, I gave her my info and I still haven't rec'd them. I pray each time I come home that we are robbed. For all I know it was a scam and now she has my address, crap!
ReplyDeleteThat grill is gorgeous, when is the barbeque and what can I bring?
Megan
Ok, I just gotta say, where in the world have I been. I love all your signs in your Etsy shop. I especially love the Suck What one! Awesome. I wonder if I hung it on the deck what the neighbors would say!
ReplyDeleteMeg
I completely agree - I once won a $25 credit to use on a lady's Etsy site through a blog I follow and the deal was I had to pick what I wanted, PAY FOR IT, then she would send me the refund. Uh. No. That's not winning. That's a discount. And postage wasn't included, either. Classy.
ReplyDeleteP.S. You can follow me if you like - but I have nothing but opinions and such to give away (:
cannaryfamily.blogspot.com
Ummmm, can you say ironic 'cause I'm reading this you won the giveway on my blog? TOOO funny!
ReplyDeleteOf course, the grill beats the hell out of the prize I offerred, so you may not scream like a banshee, but how about a lil happy dance?
Hit me with your addy at theoldblockhouse@hotmail.com
I'll work up a post in a bit to announce that you won and include links to your blog and Etsy store to try to send ya some additional traffic.
Love your bottle tree. Wonder if they make tiny solar lights to put in the bottles?
Hi, I am fairly new to the blogging world and haven't really done alot of giveaways. although I am running my first giveaway and can't believe that some people do that. I think if you run a contest that you should contact the winner.
ReplyDeleteI love your new grill. So cool.
AJ
butt trumpeting=best image ever! i love this post, and therefore your friend. i hate when they say you need to contact me, especially when someone has an email/blog. it's different when the giveawayer has no way to contact the person. i just went on vacation, so should that mean that since i didn't get back to someone in 48 hours i shouldn't get to win my prize? hella no. and how bout this-i won something recently and contacted the person who offered their goods as the prize. it's like 3 weeks, and still no prize has arrived. what shall i do? i don't want to contact them and be like, where's my 50 dollar gifts that you said you were sending to me, but really. where are my gifts you were sending to me! maybe i'll post about this. hehe.
ReplyDelete