Oh boy! These, apparently, are the terms and conditions of the ‘lucky prize draw’ I referred to in my post Calling all gullible gamblers! They seem very complicated — totalling 1,114 words.

An ‘Entrant Selection Draw’ followed by a separate ‘Main Prize Draw’ wherein a lucky punter (who needed to be physically be in the room for the duration of the presentation on the day, with ID) to be given twelve envelopes and told to select five — which, when opened, must “reveal 5 matching and separate signs which detail the Major Prize” to win — and even more conditions apply.

Wow. That would be very lucky indeed, it seems to me. Each one of the five has to be a winner? (Does any statistician care to calculate the chances?) As for this:

A Consolation prize/s totalling $25,000 or more of value (as solely and only determined by the Promoters)


No comment on the ‘value’. But I have to say, I don’t find the volume of weasel words in these convoluted ‘terms and conditions’ very confidence-inspiring. (Still, ‘Win a $400,000 house‘ makes a good hyperbolic headline for their target market, I guess. And that’s [probably] the name of the game.) [Update: The headline actually says ‘goes in the draw for a chance to win…’. That’s quite a different thing. Not a draw to win, a draw to win a chance to win.]

How do you see it? Fool’s gold?

Here are the full terms and conditions …

TERMS & CONDITIONS OF ENTRY INTO THE [SNIP] MASTERS EVENTS MAIN PRIZE DRAWS 2011

Complicated! Sean Wood and Steve Goodey's prize draw Terms & Conditions - 1,114 words

1. Entry into this promotion is deemed acceptance of all terms and conditions stated.
2. To enter simply fill in the online entry form, follow the booking process and purchase your ticket for the Masters Event.
3. You may not enter or be entered more than once and you must be a legal adult 20 years of age or older to qualify for the major or consolation prizes. You must physically be in the room for the duration of the presentation i.e. lateness without written notification may nullify your entry). Any entry not complying with these terms and conditions is invalid.
4. The promotion closes 10.00am Sunday 22 May, 2011 (Auckland Event), or Sunday 29 May (Wellington Event). Completion of entry constitutes the selected entrant’s consent to the use of their name for broadcast and publicity purposes.
5. On the event date, Sunday 22 May (Auckland) or Sunday 29 May (Wellington) 2011, one person will be drawn from all entries to receive a set of 12 envelopes (this is the Entrant Selection Draw).
6. The promotion offers a chance for one Selected Entrant to enter a Main Prize Draw. If the Selected Entrant is not in the room at the time of the Entrant Selection Draw, then the Promoters utterly reserve the right to re-conduct the draw from all eligible entries, in order to select a new Main Prize Draw Entrant. The selected Entrant must be able to provide proof of identity to participate in the main prize draw.
7. The Selected Entrant must then attend the Main Prize Draw. They will draw 5 (five) envelopes from the Promoters set of 12 (twelve) and on opening, if they reveal 5 matching and separate signs which detail the Major Prize, then they win the Major Prize. The other envelopes contain the consolation prize. Immediately following the selection of five envelopes from the Promoters set of twelve, at the Main Prize Draw, the selected entrant will be notified of the prize they have won. A Consolation prize/s totalling $25,000 or more of value (as solely and only determined by the Promoters) will be awarded at the same time, at each event, if the major prize is not won. The envelopes will be scrutinized and a legal community representative will be present at the drawing of the final prize.
8. If successful, the Major Prize is to win one prize voucher entitling the Winner to the construction of a new House to the value of $400,000 (Four Hundred thousand dollars)by our selected builder, subject to the rules 8.1 and 8.2 below:

8.1 If the Winner wins the prize at an Auckland event, then the house may be built WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE AUCKLAND REGIONAL COUNCILS AUTHORITY EXCEPTING THAT RODNEY DISTRICT AND ANY ISLANDS NOT PART OF THE MAIN AUCKLAND LANDMASS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE AREAS FOR THE BUILD
8.2 If the Winner wins the prize at a Wellington event, then the house may be built WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE WELLINGTON REGIONAL COUNCILS AUTHORITY AS SHOWN at http://www.gw.govt.nz/Wellington-region-map/ EXCEPTING THAT ANY LAND NOT PART OF THE MAIN LANDMASS OF THE REGION IS NOT AN ELIGIBLE AREA FOR THE BUILD
9. The other envelopes contain the consolation prize. The envelopes will be scrutinized and a legal community representative will be present at the drawing of the final prize. The selected entrant will be required to provide proof of identity to participate in the main prize draw. This prize in no way includes land for the purposes of the construction as this will at all times remain the care and concern of the prize winner. For the avoidance of doubt; the supply of land for the erection of the build prize, is expressly and completely excluded by the promoter/s or by [snip] Limited or by their appointed builder/s or by any of the marketing parties, whether marketing their own services or the promoter/s, from any of the prize package/s, at any time now or in the future.The builder will be specified solely and only by the Promoters. The Promoters decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
10. [snip] Limited will pay the prize by way of directly paying the builder as solely deemed acceptable to [snip] Limited on a basis of industry accepted construction progress payments, within a reasonable time period of being notified in writing, that the winner has made the appropriate build and location decisions and is ready for the builder to proceed. If the $ 400,000 prize is not won, the consolation prize will be given to the winner within 30 days.
11. Employees (and their families) of [snip] Ltd or our selected builder and the agencies and consulting firms or service providers associated with this promotion, or current students of [snip] Limited are not eligible to enter the prize draw
12. The promoter shall not be liable for any loss or damage suffered (including but not limited to direct or consequential loss) or personal injury suffered in connection with the prize offered or the promotion
13. Entry details remain the property of [snip] Limited and will be held at [snip] Limited, Auckland or [snip] (WGTN) Limited, or both, for purposes of this promotion. You have the right to access and request correction of any personal information about you held by [snip] Limited or [snip] (WGTN) Limited.
14. [snip] Limited or [snip] (WGTN) Limited may use entrant’s names and addresses including by email for future promotional purposes unless otherwise advised by the entrant.
15. If you do not wish to receive any further promotional material or information on [snip] Limited or their events, please email masters@[snip].com with the word “Unsubscribe” as the subject, or use the Unsubscribe option should you receive an email. Those not subscribed may not be eligible for entry to the Event/s or the Prize Draw.
16. [snip] utterly reserves the right to exclude any entrant with whom they have had unsatisfactory commercial dealings or who has been a bad debtor of [snip] Limited.
17. Prizes won are transferable only at the full sole and unfettered discretion of [snip] Limited or [snip] (WGTN) Limited and this discretion is limited to transfers within their own regional prize draws. Any transfer of the prize/s is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY.
18. No person will be entered into the draw more than once in any draw and may not enter in the draw for both [snip] regions, whether of their own volition or deliberate act, or through oversight or error on the part of [snip] Limited or [snip] (WGTN) Limited.

Updated:

Raising the stakes

Here’s a snapshot of the campaign to draw the ‘right kind of people’ to the Sean Wood and Steve Goodey travelling roadshow.

Of course, they did tell people terms and conditions apply. And even 'strict' terms and conditions... but 1,114 words? Wow.

It makes me wonder: What? Was a $100,000 CASH PRIZE not ‘attractive’ enough? They needed to outbid themselves? Or perhaps there are some laws that apply to lotteries for cash prizes that don’t apply to raffles for ‘services’? Dunno. I wonder. Also ‘$100,000 cash’ has a clear value independent of the “as solely and only determined by the Promoters” fuzzy logic of the Terms and Conditions above doesn’t it? Was that a factor?

To ask the main question again: WHO are they targeting with this sort of promotion?
– P