NEWPORT, Ky. — Imagine winning a sweepstakes that promises you hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise, only to learn a few days later it was all a mistake.
That's what a Northern Kentucky woman says happened to her after she recently entered a P&G sweepstakes. Now, she is asking the consumer goods giant to honor what it told her.
Lenette Beasley is very frugal and uses only one sheet of paper towel at a time at her Newport, Kentucky apartment.
So when she received an email from Charmin saying she won their monthly sweepstakes, she was thrilled.
"I was the winner," she said. "A year's worth of Charmin 18 packs for the next 12 months."
She thought she wouldn't have to buy any TP for the next year. But her excitement was soon flushed down the drain.
Winning email sent in error
"A couple of days later, I found a new email that says, 'Oopsie we made a poopsie,'" she said.
It sounded like a joke.
But it wasn't: the email said the message stating she won the contest was sent in error.
Instead of her getting free TP, she got a measly consolation prize.
"They were offering me instead of a year's supply, a $2 coupon off of Charmin," Beasley said.
We are not just talking about a few rolls of paper: the contest was to win an 18-pack of Charmin Super Mega paper, which averages $30 at stores like Walmart. That's $30 times 12 months, or $360 worth for the year.
Watch Lenette Beasley react to learning she did not win sweepstakes:
Other entrants complain about same mistake
A recent Reddit thread has more than a dozen complaints from others who say they received the same "Oopsie we made a poopsie" email and just a $2 coupon.
Beasley contacted Charmin, where she says a customer service rep upped her $2 off coupon to $50.
But she still doesn't feel that's enough.
"If I accidentally touch someone else's car, it was a mistake," she said. "But I still have to pay for the damage I did."
We contacted P&G, where a spokesman said they do not have anything further to add beyond the last offer of $50 in coupons. P&G would also not say how many other contest entrants received a message that they had won.
Beasley says the whole thing just stinks.
"I was livid," she said.
But if anything like this ever happens to you, don't be so quick to accept the consolation prize.
Call and complain, and you may get a better offer — even if it is not what was first promised — so you don't waste your money.
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