Two competition entrants complained the prize draw may have breached standards because the winning property was withheld, the substitute prizes were of insufficient value and the prize draw was not administered fairly.
ASA ruled the online competition, which offered entrants the chance to ‘win a dream home’ worth £625,000 in central Scotland with a £5 ticket, had failed to deal fairly with participants on a number of fronts.
The competition advertised the seven-bedroom house in an exclusive residential area in central Scotland with sauna, one acre of private gardens and all original features and offered unlimited entries.
On the website, it stated: “In the event that the contest winner cannot be contacted within 21 days after the end of the contest, a new winner will be chosen.”
ASA said it expected the London-based Win Your Dream Home team to ensure in future promotions they ‘awarded the prizes as described in their marketing communication or reasonable equivalents’.
Also, the authority was told that it needed to clearly tell entrants that if the competition failed to raise enough funds, the property would not be awarded.
The standards agency warned Win Your Dream Home to deal fairly and honourably with participants to avoid causing unnecessary disappointment, by ensuring the nature of prizes are not changed during the promotion.
It said in future the organisation needed to conduct future promotions ‘equitably, promptly, and efficiently, awarding the advertised prizes within 30 days, and must make adequate resources available to administer promotions’.
Win your Dream Home has not responded to the ASA’s ruling.
