Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique) "bid"
wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use language from
auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a lottery.

In article , johannes
writes
Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique)
"bid" wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use
language from auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a
lottery.

It's a rip off at best and a scam at worst. My 'local' radio station ran
one to win an HD TV, entry was £1.50 + normal rate, the station is part
of a nation wide group so chances of winning were greatly reduced.

I'm not sure how much of the £1.50 they keep but assuming half then they
only need a thousand idiots to ring in and the prize is paid for, the
rest is profit, nice little earner for them.

I'm sure someone will post to point out it perfectly legal, legal it
might be but preying on the mentally challenged is a bit off.

Mike

--
Michael Swift We do not regard Englishmen as foreigners.
Kirkheaton We look on them only as rather mad Norwegians.
Yorkshire Halvard Lange

"Michael Swift" wrote in message
...
In article , johannes
writes
Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique)
"bid" wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use
language from auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a
lottery.

It's a rip off at best and a scam at worst. My 'local' radio station ran
one to win an HD TV, entry was £1.50 + normal rate, the station is part
of a nation wide group so chances of winning were greatly reduced.

I'm not sure how much of the £1.50 they keep but assuming half then they
only need a thousand idiots to ring in and the prize is paid for, the
rest is profit, nice little earner for them.

I'm sure someone will post to point out it perfectly legal, legal it
might be but preying on the mentally challenged is a bit off.

The whole gaming 'industry' preys on the mentally challenged.

"johannes" wrote in message
...
Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique)
"bid"
wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use
language from
auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a lottery.

talkSPORT used to advertise a company running "lowest bid auctions" or
"reverse auctions".
It sounded like a con to me. You would pay £1.50 (plus cost of sending a
text) to send a
bid, then by agreeing to the terms and conditions you agreed further
messages would be sent
back to you for which you would pay £1.50 a go. There was no control over
this so you
would again need to pay £1.50 and the cost of a text message to stop it.
It makes the operators a lot of money because stupid people decide to play
along and wonder
why they have spent £6 in a few minutes.

mert1639 wrote:

"Michael Swift" wrote in message
...
In article , johannes
writes
Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique)
"bid" wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use
language from auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a
lottery.

It's a rip off at best and a scam at worst. My 'local' radio station ran
one to win an HD TV, entry was £1.50 + normal rate, the station is part
of a nation wide group so chances of winning were greatly reduced.

I'm not sure how much of the £1.50 they keep but assuming half then they
only need a thousand idiots to ring in and the prize is paid for, the
rest is profit, nice little earner for them.

I'm sure someone will post to point out it perfectly legal, legal it
might be but preying on the mentally challenged is a bit off.

The whole gaming 'industry' preys on the mentally challenged.

A typical presenter will start by praising the product to the sky,
then tells the listener that he has a unique opportunity to get this
at an extremely low bid price e.g. 42p and he must act now: "That
was what it went for last time...", mimicking the TV auction channels
where buyers enter as the price is reduced, and everybody pays the
lowest price.

But of course in the radio equivalent, only one person gets the item;
the rest just pays £1.50 + network rate.

It's fairly transparent to most of us, but the use of the auction
model is misleading IMO.

"johannes" wrote in message
...
Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique)
"bid"
wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use
language from
auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a lottery.

Ditto quiz's that ask questions like "What is the capital of Spain A Madrid,
B Rome, C Paris" Now the really dumb might ring up and guess, but for the
main part it is an [expensive] lottery for the reality challenged.

More fines for GMTV et al. one hopes.

"R. Mark Clayton" wrote in message
...

"johannes" wrote in message
...
Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique)
"bid"
wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use
language from
auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a lottery.

Ditto quiz's that ask questions like "What is the capital of Spain A
Madrid, B Rome, C Paris" Now the really dumb might ring up and guess, but
for the main part it is an [expensive] lottery for the reality challenged.

I think that a good proportion of viewers would struggle to know the answer
to that.

"mert1639" wrote in message
...

"R. Mark Clayton" wrote in message
...

"johannes" wrote in message
...
Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique)
"bid"
wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use
language from
auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a lottery.

Ditto quiz's that ask questions like "What is the capital of Spain A
Madrid, B Rome, C Paris" Now the really dumb might ring up and guess,
but for the main part it is an [expensive] lottery for the reality
challenged.

I think that a good proportion of viewers would struggle to know the
answer to that.

Any guesses as to what proportion of viewers would struggle to answer this
one correctly (heard on ITV sime years ago).

What sank the Titanic ?

A) Heidelberg
B) Stefan Edberg
C) An iceberg

--
Joe Lee

"mert1639" wrote in message
...

"Michael Swift" wrote in message
...
In article , johannes
writes
Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique)
"bid" wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use
language from auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a
lottery.

It's a rip off at best and a scam at worst. My 'local' radio station ran
one to win an HD TV, entry was £1.50 + normal rate, the station is part
of a nation wide group so chances of winning were greatly reduced.

I'm not sure how much of the £1.50 they keep but assuming half then they
only need a thousand idiots to ring in and the prize is paid for, the
rest is profit, nice little earner for them.

I'm sure someone will post to point out it perfectly legal, legal it
might be but preying on the mentally challenged is a bit off.

The whole gaming 'industry' preys on the mentally challenged.

A block of 4 scratch card fell out a magazine this month. Promising a range
of prizes, the tickets boasted of a special cash prize of up to £10,000.
All you had to do was uncover 3 '£' symbols to be in with a chance or 3 of
any other symbol to win a non cash prize. My other half was somewhat
surprised when I announced that I could guarantee that one of the tickets
would reveal 3 '£' symbols. Sure enough, one of the tickets indeed did have
3 '£' symbols. Fortunately I grabbed the phone in time.

Examination of the ticket revealed that the cash prize would be anything
between £10 and £10,000. To claim the prize required phoning a 09... number
at £1.50 per minute (calls will last 6 minutes). And to actually get the
prize you then had to send a cheque or PO for £3.95. I would bet that the
prize won would be the lowest at £10 (meaning a net £2.95 loss on the deal).

"R. Mark Clayton" wrote in message
...

"johannes" wrote in message
...
Certain radio stations claim to run "auctions" where the lowest (unique)
"bid"
wins e.g. a car or a laptop. My problem with that is that they use
language from
auctions to entice listeners, when in reality it's a lottery.

Ditto quiz's that ask questions like "What is the capital of Spain A
Madrid, B Rome, C Paris" Now the really dumb might ring up and guess, but
for the main part it is an [expensive] lottery for the reality challenged.


The best one I ever saw was:

What is the first letter of the alphabet?

A: A

B: B

C: C

D: D