Can I sue over a sweepstakes poorly written "Official Rules" fine print?

[ricochet3212]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma


Hello,
I have a question about the sweepstakes flyers that some car dealerships send out.
We obtained one in the mail that has a "Pull tab" Card that when you pull it, numbers are displayed. We revealed two 2500's in on the tab.
To verify that I had won what looked like $2500, I checked the fine print to check the annotation that defines the rules of the pull tab, only to find that they haven't defined it at all, even though it's annotated with a *.
The * is not found in any of the fine print stated on the back of the flyer (I have the flyer still, and can show pictures and the such).
My Fiance went up to the dealership hoping we had won money to pay off some backed up bills and the such, only to find out that the "Winning number" in the address block was what determined the prize, which isn't mentioned at all in the Official Rules block of fine print. She came back with a $5 Target gift card.
I proceeded to give them a visit to figure out this whole mess, and found out that they couldn't help me whatsoever, and they began to get hostile, whilst I was just looking for information, and wanting them to explain to me where the "Pull tab" and "Winning Number" were defined in the official rules, only to be constantly told that I won, but that the rules are set. They immediately kicked me out once I said the word lawyer, saying that by law they had to ask me to leave, and sent me off, very rudely, without answering any of my questions about the rules, which I thought, by law, had to be explained when asked about at the source of the sweepstakes.
I want to see if I can do anything about this, from false advertisement or anything of the sort.
We feel severely cheated, and we were really hoping this would work out for us in the end, which it didn't, but hopefully I can get some information off of here.
Thank you for any help you can give in advance.
We will speak to a lawyer as soon as I believe I have a legitimate case.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma


Hello,
I have a question about the sweepstakes flyers that some car dealerships send out.
We obtained one in the mail that has a "Pull tab" Card that when you pull it, numbers are displayed. We revealed two 2500's in on the tab.
To verify that I had won what looked like $2500, I checked the fine print to check the annotation that defines the rules of the pull tab, only to find that they haven't defined it at all, even though it's annotated with a *.
The * is not found in any of the fine print stated on the back of the flyer (I have the flyer still, and can show pictures and the such).
My Fiance went up to the dealership hoping we had won money to pay off some backed up bills and the such, only to find out that the "Winning number" in the address block was what determined the prize, which isn't mentioned at all in the Official Rules block of fine print. She came back with a $5 Target gift card.
I proceeded to give them a visit to figure out this whole mess, and found out that they couldn't help me whatsoever, and they began to get hostile, whilst I was just looking for information, and wanting them to explain to me where the "Pull tab" and "Winning Number" were defined in the official rules, only to be constantly told that I won, but that the rules are set. They immediately kicked me out once I said the word lawyer, saying that by law they had to ask me to leave, and sent me off, very rudely, without answering any of my questions about the rules, which I thought, by law, had to be explained when asked about at the source of the sweepstakes.
I want to see if I can do anything about this, from false advertisement or anything of the sort.
As an amendment: They also kicked

2500 is not $2,500. It's simply a number. Apparently, your wife won a $5 Target gift card - hooray! Congrats to her! [SUP](Cue the balloons and confetti...)[/SUP]

 

[Ladyback1]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma


Hello,
I have a question about the sweepstakes flyers that some car dealerships send out.
We obtained one in the mail that has a "Pull tab" Card that when you pull it, numbers are displayed. We revealed two 2500's in on the tab.
To verify that I had won what looked like $2500, I checked the fine print to check the annotation that defines the rules of the pull tab, only to find that they haven't defined it at all, even though it's annotated with a *.
The * is not found in any of the fine print stated on the back of the flyer (I have the flyer still, and can show pictures and the such).
My Fiance went up to the dealership hoping we had won money to pay off some backed up bills and the such, only to find out that the "Winning number" in the address block was what determined the prize, which isn't mentioned at all in the Official Rules block of fine print. She came back with a $5 Target gift card.
I proceeded to give them a visit to figure out this whole mess, and found out that they couldn't help me whatsoever, and they began to get hostile, whilst I was just looking for information, and wanting them to explain to me where the "Pull tab" and "Winning Number" were defined in the official rules, only to be constantly told that I won, but that the rules are set. They immediately kicked me out once I said the word lawyer, saying that by law they had to ask me to leave, and sent me off, very rudely, without answering any of my questions about the rules, which I thought, by law, had to be explained when asked about at the source of the sweepstakes.
I want to see if I can do anything about this, from false advertisement or anything of the sort.
We feel severely cheated, and we were really hoping this would work out for us in the end, which it didn't, but hopefully I can get some information off of here.
Thank you for any help you can give in advance.
We will speak to a lawyer as soon as I believe I have a legitimate case.

Those kind of promotions are to get people to the dealership...it is rare that anyone ever wins the "big" prize.

And, I am sure, within a 95% certainty that the rules were written by a legal team, that has covered all of the bases.

In short and easy terms: You are SOL. Time to let this go.

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

Did you walk to Nebraska to visit, or did your son take time off from work to drive you?

 

[KnowsSweepstake]

I don't see any way to sue, but you may be able to hold them accountable for their poorly written official rules.

Does this sweepstakes specify which states can enter this giveaway? If I live in California, but i'm visiting in Ohio, can I still enter?

If so, they will need to register with certain states like Florida and pay a bond if the prize is valued over $5,000. If they didn't register, they can be fined.

Each state has it's own set of Sweepstakes Rules.

You should start off by emailing your state regional office. https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/regional-offices

By not having clear rules, they are subject to a big fine and possibly being forbidden from doing any of these in the future.

Do the rules state "No Purchase Necessary" ? If not, they are subject to an "Illegal Lottery" not a sweepstakes.

Is there a clear start and end date? Does the rules specify the odds on winning? (Winner will be based upon the amount of entries received or Odds of winning are 1:100)

 

[ricochet3212]

Actually, it's Oklahoma only, but no, the rules don't define the game cards numbers, yet those aren't winning numbers. The winning number is in the address block and is all that actually matters.
The official rules say that the game piece and/or the flyer can be brought in, but the winning number isn't on the game piece at all, but it says you can win using just that as a redemption, but the prize list isn't defined correctly in the fine print, and the annotation they list for the pull tab game piece, is nowhere to be found in the official rules. So, these matching numbers mean nothing without the flyer, which has the winning number, but the rules say you can bring just the game piece, which is just a bunch of numbers on a piece of cardboard that are there to misguided you, like 500, 2000, 2500, 5000, 10000, with a backdrop of casino games and hundred dollar bills.
The point is, they didn't define all the rules correctly, and we had the assumption that we had won something according to the game piece they said could be redeemed. And since the game piece doesn't have a comparison board or anything, the numbers on the piece I bring in apparently mean nothing, while the rules say it does mean something.

 

[ricochet3212]

I can link pictures and the such, if it's advisable for some extra help, I have the flyer still and all.
Please don't be judgemental, and see this was an expectation based on what I believe is not an accurate representation of what they state in the rules and is very unfair/dishonest. And yes, I know, it's a car dealership, the flyers are b.s., but I was thinking that since its a summer deal, they may be trying to get good publicity, so who knows. I just want help, not insults, please, I am trying to be informed of that I do not know, not to be criticized for not knowing.

 

[ricochet3212]

It doesn't seem to say a specific state, it does say no purchase necessary and the such, and you have to have the flyer apparently, and they take down all your address info, and match it to the flyer.
It says dealership is sponsoring giveaway. Anything else anyone want to know?

 

[single317dad]

What's surprising to me is that people still do anything with these car lot promotions besides throwing directly in the nearest trash can.

You didn't win anything worthwhile.
You won't win anything worthwhile.
Whatever the flyer says in BIG BOLD UNDERLINE is not true.
It's worth every penny of $5 for them to get you in the door where someone can badger you into buying a car.

Sweepstakes are more predatory than lotteries in my opinion. At least with a lottery, everyone has an -- admittedly small -- equal chance to actually win. With a sweepstakes, it's entirely possible that the "grand prize" winner may just throw their "entry" in the trash, and all they award is $5 Target cards to people who wasted $10 in gas to get there.