Giveaways are supposed to be fun and apart from driving traffic to the hosts' website/blog, it should foster camaraderie among bloggers or people in the niche the hosts are reaching out to. I like joining giveaways with prizes that I think I, and especially my kids, could use and be happy about. I am thankful to the bloggers who are generous and are clear with their giveaway rules, especially how the winners will receive their prizes.
My latest giveaway winning experience was not a super pleasant one.
I received an e-mail from the host that I won the diaper bag. I was excited because it was a welcome need although we have already purchased one the day before I knew of the news. This was for my baby boy. The prize would then be kept for our upcoming third baby.
Although the rules did not state that winners would need to claim the prizes in person, I was set to meet up with the blogger at an event. And I was to meet with the sponsor even. I was a little nervous because I have never met a certified blogger. Then, she contacted me and told me that my prize will be sent via courier to me because she wouldn't be able to attend the event. I was asked for my address.
I hoped she had taken note of my real name as I have already stated it in the comment section of her blog as part of the requirement. But, because she used my e-mail address as my name, the prize needed to be sent again since the people who answer the door were not familiar with my e-mail address. One sad part was that I had to shoulder the courier charge.
Another sad part was that the prize I was promised was not the item delivered. If we haven't already bought the diaper bag for my 2nd baby, then we would be wasting another trip to the mall.
I was disappointed with this incident.
