:(:(:(:(:(:(!!!!!

[2jamesl]

Im so depressed right now, i recently entered a competition. I entered it as an under 21 entrant (im 16) and the results are out, the prize was a 1,000 pound digital SLR camera which i was desperate for. They have said in the results that no under 21 entered the competition leaving me stumped! I know i did as i even got an email saying that i couldnt enter the photo which i did, so i entered another photo which was fine and it was confirmed they received it.

Things now get complicated but please stay with me!

I rang up enquiring about the results saying that i did enter the competition as an under 21 but was told that i had been entered and the results are due out soon. But on the website it says "no entrants came forward for the under 21's so we are judging it differently" i said but it says you have changed the rules, the man said nope, its news to me! And then he rang me back saying thats a sister competition offering the same prizes. But that was the one i entered! That means i was guaranteed the prize but somehow mysteriously appeared in the same competition, miles away from where i live, with no hope of winning.

IF you understood that then i will be sending you money!!

Please try and explain what has happened to me here, or just make me feel better cos right now im really disappointed i wont get the prize that was just waiting for me...

[peterguk]

I might be stupid, but I don't understand how you knew you were guaranteed to win the prize...

[Vipers]

Just wondering which make/type £1000 SDLR was for winning?

[F_M-R2]

What photo did you enter?

[2jamesl]

I was guaranteed the prize because i would have been the one and only entrant for the under 21's category

The prize was/is a Pentax K10D which as far as i know is truly worth 500 pounds but they claim 1000

photo was

Edited by 2jamesl on Saturday 17th November 19:18

[GreenV8S]

If they're saying the competition you entered was different to the one they announced the results for, then presumably the competition you *did* enter hasn't had the results announced yet?

[2jamesl]

Thank you

I took it at Clevedon, that isnt the final photo entered though bcause they emailed me back saying it wasnt in the areas, even though i read the competition in the local paper (clevedon mercury) so there was two comps, same prizes with the same e-mail to send pics to!?

I cant find the Glastonbury one! :/

[MotorFocus]

Good photo.

Might be worth a letter from you asking for an explanation from them (rather than phonecalls) - if you entered and received confirmation but they're shrugging their shoulders, something sounds a bit fishy.

Is this local press? Can't imagine it'd be the first time the goalposts had been moved in such a competition...

[2jamesl]

Yeah a letter is a good idea, i will keep you posted on monday and tell you how the telephone conversation goes but it's just really annoying, with my birthday in just over a week and new york at the beginning of next year it would be perfect to win such a camera.

If i had lost fair and square i would have been fine with it, but i could/should have won sin as nobody else made the effort to enter?

ah well, i'll push it to the back of my mind until monday!

To be continued.....

[JimNotJon]

Cracking picture James.

I don't want to piss on your chips though, don't enter pictures into competitions and expect to win, same goes for posting on a forum or any other way you show your work, not everyones going to share the same oppinion.

I suggest you resume your querie with them in form of a letter as suggested above and go from there. If nothing comes of it, I wouldn't waste any more time on the matter, sounds like giving up but move on, take more shots and enter more competitions. Its a lottery out there.

[2jamesl]

Ok so i rang up, got passed onto somebody who then took my number to get somebody else to ring me back again. (supposedly tonight) but it hasn't happened

Sigh

Edited by 2jamesl on Monday 19th November 17:51

[_dobbo_]

I saw this comp in the Cleveon Mercury earlier, makes a nice change from the small town moral outrage that spews from the pages normally.

Do you have a copy of your entry form? They seem to suggest forms incorrectly filled in or missing age information are the reason they are restructuring the competition rules, sounds like a get out clause to me and a slippery one at that.

I dislike the Clevedon Mercury and their writing staff of gibbering chimps so would love you to nail them to the wall by their balls, let us know how you get on.

Edited by _dobbo_ on Monday 19th November 20:22

[2jamesl]

_dobbo_ said:

I saw this comp in the Cleveon Mercury earlier, makes a nice change from the small town moral outrage that spews from the pages normally.

Do you have a copy of your entry form? They seem to suggest forms incorrectly filled in or missing age information are the reason they are restructuring the competition rules, sounds like a get out clause to me and a slippery one at that.

I dislike the Clevedon Mercury and their writing staff of gibbering chimps so would love you to nail them to the wall by their balls, let us know how you get on.

Edited by _dobbo_ on Monday 19th November 20:22

Haha,thank you, will do

[2jamesl]

Right then, final update

Received an e-maill today stating the following;

"Dear Leighton



Thank you for your email and telephone call re the Life Through A Lens competition.



If you sent your pictures to an address at @midsomnew.co.uk, then they will not have reached us as that is the wrong address. Certainly no pictures of yours reached this office for the competition so I am afraid there is nothing I can do about it now that the competition has closed and final shortlist been published.



I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am sure we will be carrying photographic competitions in the future which will give you an opportunity.



With kind regards



Mike Wilson

Newsdesk

Clevedon Mercury"

I am left really annoyed and replied with the following;

Thanks for your reply, just one more thing though. I went onto www.thisisclevedon.co.uk (which i thought was an obvious thing to do!?) but the e-mail listed is shown below;



e-mail them to [e-mail] .


So what happened there?

LJ

I then got a reply stating the following;

"Don't know the answer to that one so I've forwarded your e-mails to one of our technology bods to see if he can help you."

I said thanks, i nearly put "i doubt ill get a reply" but thought worse for it so deleted it.

Edited by 2jamesl on Tuesday 20th November 14:55

[GetCarter]

you missed the 'S' off.

Better luck next time

[2jamesl]

GetCarter said:

you missed the 'S' off.

Better luck next time

I didn't. He did

And on the topic of luck, i didn't need any at all this time, i would have won because i would have been the only entrant... Brilliant camera just waiting for me and i didn't get it due to their error..

Edited by 2jamesl on Tuesday 20th November 15:01

[_dobbo_]

Leighton - so now they are saying they didn't get your entry? That's somewhat at odds with what you said in your original post.

2jamesl said:

I know i did as i even got an email saying that i couldnt enter the photo which i did, so i entered another photo which was fine and it was confirmed they received it.

Hang 'em out to dry

[2jamesl]

Well you see, this is where it gets weirder. The photo i sent off mysteriously went to another part of the country offering the same competition!?!?

[Smiler.]

What a bummer. Great pic though mate

[lowdrag]

Am I smelling a rat somewhere here? Not on your part Leighton, but so many of these "competitions" have a clause that as soon as you submit the copyright of the photo passes to the organisers. Be very careful about this when entering.