The Daily Mail
ran a promotion in conjunction with Texaco to give away, free of
charge, a box of Quality Street sweets upon redemption of vouchers
which were printed in the Mail on consecutive days. Having collected
all the vouchers necessary, my wife tried on numerous occasions to
collect the box of chocolates from our local Texaco garage without
success. All in all she went 3 times only to be told on the last call
that they would not receive any further supplies. When I contacted
Texaco by e-mail they apologised and instructed me to send the vouchers
to their Marketing Department who would redeem them.
This was six weeks ago and I had no chocolates or the courtesy of a
reply. I have now sent another letter [6th December 2002] –
Update 18th December 2002
I have now received a letter from a Geraldine
Iles, who is their Consumer Promotions Co-ordinator in the UK,
admitting that they were fully aware that the participating petrol
stations had no supplies to satisfy the demand and that they pulled the
plug on the promotion and brought the offer to an early close.
The letter continues that they would send the chocolates to any
applications received up to and including Monday the 21st October 2002
and that my application has been declined as it was received after this
date.
In response to this letter I would like to make the following
statement:
It is becoming
obvious that they are making up the rules and regulations as they go
along and that they are clearly breaching the conditions of this offer.
None of the staff in the petrol stations was made aware that they
brought the offer to an early close. The offer itself quite clearly
states and I quote ' ........take
this voucher to a participating Texaco site by Friday, October 18,
2002. The cashier will exchange it for a free box of Quality Street
(480g).'
This is a definite statement and an unconditional offer which does not
allow that the offer can be withdrawn, amended or changed. It makes a
firm promise to anyone calling at the petrol station with the voucher
that they would receive a free box of Quality Street chocolates.
In
my case I contacted Texaco on the 16th October 2002 by e-mail and
received a reply on the 17th October 2002 which apologises for the
inconvenience and invited me to submit my voucher to an address in St.
Albans. The e-mail does not stipulate a qualifying date and the date
21st October 2002 has never been mentioned by Texaco until the letter
received now.
I have now written again to Texaco
and I will update this site if and when I receive a reply.
In the meantime I leave it to
you, wherever you are, to make up your own mind as to the
reliability, honesty, dependability and trustworthiness of a
multinational company who goes to great length to wiggle
themselves out of a promotion, they messed up, to save
themselves the cost of a box of chocolates. How sad!
Update: 05/03/2003
I have now received a box of Quality Street Chocolates in the post without any
comments and a letter from their Legal Department claiming that they have
investigated this matter and that they cannot trace having received the
vouchers. They do, however, accept responsibility and have offered a
compensation of £70.00 in petrol vouchers in addition to supplying the free box
of chocolates. The offer has now been accepted but I have written back to point
out that their marketing department had confirmed in writing receipt of the
vouchers and I sent them a copy of this letter to prove my point.
I will close this file upon receipt of the vouchers
Update: 24/03/2003
Regretfully, Texaco have not responded to my letter and
have not sent me the petrol vouchers they promised. I have now written yet
another letter to their legal department requesting that they keep to their
agreement and I have told them that I will withdraw my acceptance and issue a
default summons if I don't hear from them soon.
Update: 28/03/2003
Texaco have now sent a fax claiming that they
have no trace of receiving my letter and my acceptance and I have now sent them
this information by fax as requested.
Update: 08/04/2003
As I have still not heard from Texaco I have
sent them yet another letter giving them notice that I will withdraw my
acceptance if the vouchers they had promised are not received within the next 14
days and that I will revert back to the County Court to claim my expenses, which
clearly are increasing.
Update: 16/04/2003
The vouchers to the value of £70.00 have now
been received by registered mail and the file is now closed.
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