Competition Irritants (update 3/12)
Other
Hate it when comps don't clearly show closing date, especially when you are trying to share. Hate it when there are loads of address lines and you only need 1 each for street, town, county and postcode yet they are all mandatory: I end up putting my town twice! And don't you just love it when you have already entered a holiday comp only to find flights are not included lol.
Lynibis I bookmark a link to each comp that I enter daily so am able to just click on that each day although that does mean I have a LOT of links, but being on a laptop means it's not a problem for me. I imagine if you are entering on a phone you would have limited space? I only need to click on 'new' now to find anything that has just been added.
Closer magazine don't usually include a closing date in their competitions. I don't like it when websites close a competition earlier than stated in the T&C. I've also noticed there are websites that are mixing up 12am and 12pm. One recent trend I'm not thrilled by is an increase in websites that require entrants to sign up for all Cookies otherwise the entry form won't appear - I usually select the only necessary option.
I have actually had to stop doing them now because it is very frustrating having to confirm every one and wait for ages. Sometimes it goes back to same comp and says you have entered this before! I then have to click on competitions because it takes you back to 'runs until won' comps, then wait again to get back to the others, very frustrating.
I have tried on tablet and main pc (which is a relatively new desk top) and same on both. I am going to have a few days off and then see if they realise they have mucked up.
I just shared a FIFA competition with no end date and just put it as the end of the world Cup
Over the last week when doing the magazine comps a Net a Porter ad/video has popped up which has stopped me continuing. It is a small video smack bang in the middle of the screen and there seems no way of getting rid of it.
I have tried letting it play, but it never ends, there is no X to close it down and the back button has no effect. I have even clicked and watched the video but again it never seems to end.
Does anyone else experience this or know how to shut it down?
Lynibis I thought someone else might reply to this to give you the answer.
I do sympathise but as I am on a laptop I don't have that problem, I am assuming you are on a smaller screen.
Perhaps someone else will read this now that it has had a new comment and reply positively.
tumblespots ah thank you. I finally went upstairs and did the comps on main pc in office, it will be no trouble to do that. Usually I am on my kindle fire in front of the TV 
Has anyone else noticed how few comps there are on the magazine sites lately. Many of the prizes are things like tickets to caravan shows, free apps or consultations. I am sure many people would like to win them but other prizes are few and far between. There are a couple where I don't enter at all and I find I can whiz through in almost half the time it used to take me.
Even other comps on the main page seem to be dwindling unless you do all the socials. I used to struggle to keep up with them but now I never have even a full page to do each day, used to be at least 3.
I suppose luck has to run out sometime but no win for a good 6+ months so I think I may be coming to the end of my comping hobby!
Lynibis Since recently getting back into comping, I have indeed noticed this. But I suppose it's inevitable with the current cost of living crisis and companies having to cut back.
Hope you get a nice win coming your way soon. 
RegularComper90 yes you too
Actually they have improved greatly over last month or so, especially good housekeeping as they have always been good.
I may have a break now Spring is here as I waste so much time online, must do some housework, maintenance and garden jobs.
Couple of minor irritants I've noticed lately.
When you start typing your email address, you put the first letter in to be met with red lettering "please enter a valid email address" or "This is not a valid email address!"
FFS give me a chance!
Second one is more comical than irritating, when there is a form to fill in with your name, address etc. And it gives you an example, like you don't know what a name is
blacklabrador Gosh yes, that first one is irritating beyond measure. So many things they don't think of, like searching forever to find the closing date, or where the place is geographically to know if it is worthwhile entering or too far away.
blacklabrador ...Wanted to donate by Justgiving to local lad Jason Bennett who was raising money for Cancer in memory of his two children John & Lacey who were murdered along with their Mum & Lacey's friend Connie by that evil monster at Killamarsh,over the Sheffield border..
Every time I try to donate the site tells me my phone number isn't recognised.I had the same problem when I wanted to donate to my friend Michelle's Justgiving page when she ran Race For Life on one of hottest days of the year a few weeks ago..
Frustrated...YES!!
After having a 6+ month break from being a regular comper, I have decided to now get back into the swing of things. So hello again. 
In regards to irritants, I don't understand why some competition forms ask for information such as gender and (with the exception of alochol comps) your age. Those fields are often mandatory too.
RegularComper90 I get really annoyed with the age thing, especially if they ask for precise date of birth. If you are of a mind you can put anything so I think it's sufficient to ask are you over 18. Even so I guess some will lie.
As to gender, I often enter SLMan comps as my sons would benefit from a nice gift, but often wonder if I get excluded as it's clear I am female, I doubt many men have my name!
Being bombarded with heaps of email newsletters which unfortunately is all part and parcel of comping. I just had to unsubscribe from around 50 of them.
RegularComper90 yep, I try to find time to unsubscribe as I get over 100 per day but can never remember the comp or when the closing date was!
Well, had to come back to this as I am sure that other regular mag comp fans have noticed that the comps are not disappearing when you have entered. After finding the second mag was the same I gave up as I was wasting time entering again as I couldn't remember which ones I had done.
I hope this isn't permanent, anyone else with same problem?
I have just done the morning entries on the magazines and had no trouble at all. I looked at the number of available comps and it did countdown as I entered the ones I wanted to. Perhaps they are making further background changes, if I notice anything else I will let you know.
tumblespots thanks, I must admit I tried again much later and the next few I did were ok. I didn't have time to do them all, in fact I have been finding them a bit of a chore lately even though I probably do only half the competitions on offer.
Lynibis I don't win half as many of these as I used to (and I am far more selective about which I enter too). I think there is much more competition for the prizes available and, for me, I don't use facebook so I can't share it for the additional entries either. C'est la vie!
tumblespots spot on....I am exactly the same, don't use Facebook but occasionally use Instagram if it's a fair comp i.e. tag one person, like and follow. I hate all the share, save and unlimited tagging.
I agree, I reckon lots more people took up comping during covid and those wfh probably do them whilst on computer.
I have just received and email today 28/6 with a good comp, which I started to share, only to find the competition closed on 15/6!
The same comp is on Instagram and closes on 20/7 but I am thinking I will have a break from comping!
I enter the magazine competitions daily on here but don't like ticking yes to the offer of a percentage off email, l always wonder if this affects my chances of winning 
Pinkspirit me too but I have never said yes and in the past have won several prizes. Not for nearly a year now though.
Lynibis ooh that's good to know about winning and not saying yes..Good luck for any future comps you enter
I don't know if anyone here enters competitions on the Absolute Radio website. Several of their competitions to win gig tickets recently have had incorrect details or conflicting information. For example a competition to see Depeche Mode at Twickenham Stadium referred to the venue being Wembley Stadium. A current comp to win Hozier tickets in Manchester, Bournemouth or London has an entry form drop down choice of Portsmouth, Nottingham, Leeds and Liverpool (These are the dates from the now closed Morissey competition!)
I have just opened yet another email with a great competition but upon clicking on it find it has closed. It is so annoying, why send an email with competitions that are already out of date. This happens fairly regularly.
Am I the only one that doesn’t really have friends to ‘tag’ for competitions? Seems a condition of entry for a lot so I’m out straight away. I have friends on Facebook but not really anyone I would want to tag. I wouldn’t even know how.
I am not sure how many people are aware of this, but companies actually aren't allowed to make tagging friends and sharing a post a requirement of entry.
RegularComper90 I bet loads of people don't know that, but it seems applicable to Facebook only. Doubt you would win if you didn't do as they asked if they made it sound compulsory. Wish Instagram was same as I think their comps are very unfair. Those who tag more stand more chance of winning.
I have entered quite a few comps lately asking for various info, some just name and email. Underneath it says either ENTER or SUBMIT but when you click it says thanks for subscribing. I find that very sneaky.....no, I haven't subscribed but led to believe I am just entering a comp!
There are loads of mini break comps and I really get fed up when I have to keep looking up on Google to find where they are. Neither the poster nor the comp itself tells you but it would be nice to know without searching so you can judge if a one night stay is worth travelling to the other end of the country.
Sorry everyone but back again with a pet peeve. A day or two ago I had two comps removed as they were local events. It was my own fault as I didn't read the reams of conditions that stated you had to live in certain postcode areas....even though it covered a huge area. I have always felt that you should be able to enter a comp when it is open to all of UK no matter how small, the prize may be worth a visit, weekend away, or suitable for friends/family who live near.
There is an advent calendar comp presently online where every prize is for Ireland residents only. I did not want to report so commented hoping the poster would notice. Still up next day so did report but it is still on. It seems one rule for some and not others.
Hello Lyn. 
After a long break, I have recently got back into comping and there is something about it that frustrates me a little. I notice that there is an increasing number of companies turning to social media to host their competitions. Whilst I do use social media, I don't trust it when it comes to competitions as social media is riddled with scammers and it is very easy to create a fake account. And don't get me started on the comment sections on social media competition posts, particularly Facebook, where people feel the need to give their life stories, usually sob ones.
RegularComper91 Hi Welcome back. Yes I agree. I totally avoid any competitions other than website these days and the occasional email ones, but they are generally not worth entering.
However, I have recently noticed two good changes to comps. The first is there seems to be more where you do not have to keep delving into the cookie hassle, more are accepting 'reject' and still allow you to proceed.
The second are the magazine comps which are so quick now. Just click enter after clicking your answer and confirm comes up immediately. I think I must have halved the time I spend on them now, though to be honest I don't do them every day anymore as I have not had a sniff of a win for so long.
Anyway, good luck, you may find a few wins as you have been off the scene for a while.
Lynibis Yes, I like those magazine comps and have had a few nice wins from them in the past, and am now getting back into the habit of entering daily like I used to. Best of luck to both of us that we will win something again very soon.
Another irritant is that a lot of staycation holiday comps are only for the one night, though they are great if you don't live too far away I suppose. Personally I don't think it's worth traveling any longer than two hours just for the one night. I only enter staycation comps if they're two nights or more.
RegularComper91 I could have written your comment word for word as I too have always felt this. A one night break is no break at all by the time you arrive. Usually can't book in until midday and have to check out by 11am. No time to do anything. To rub salt in the wound some give lots of extras like tickets to attractions, dinner, afternoon tea etc that you would not be able to fit in. If it is somewhere I would love to go I would probably pay for an extra night but like you 2 or (maybe a bit more) hours driving is my limit.
EDIT just posted one for Dartmouth break lol.
There’s a Facebook competition with Cotton Traders win £100. Is this genuine or a scam? The comments have it look like you are the winner until you look down the comments and nearly every other person has identical message they are THE winner. Can’t make out if totally cloned website or genuine or is it just the comments that are scammers? How would they actually contact you if it was real? Also it asks for credit card details promising they won’t take any payment, its just verification. Alarm 
bells! I don’t have a credit card anyway. They wouldn’t do that would they?
JLouM it is definitely a scam as we are always told if they ask for credit card or similar they are scamming. Why would they ask if they are wanting to give you something, i.e. Comp win.
I think they have mucked up this time as they probably should have DM'd, anyone looking will think same as you....we can't all be winners.
I never enter comps on social media.
JLouM Social media is unforuntately riddled with scammers and it is so easy to create fake accounts. I avoid social media comps like the plague for that reason.
Don't you just hate how you receive an email with the subject saying something along the lines of "Winner!" or "Congratulations!" only for you to then open the email and find that it is actually congratulating someone else. I'd much rather they wouldn't email me unless I have won.
Another email one is when I am told I have 'won' a runner-up prize of something like 10% off a minimum of £500 spend.
RegularComper91 I once 'won' a comp for a voucher for an amount to spend on blinds. When I contacted them I was told the minimum spend was about 4 times the amount of the voucher!
Clever way to get a sale as I expect they just wrote off their profit on that one so in effect cost them nothing.
My latest irritant is today having a comp removed because you must say what you actually win. Well I put the title as in the comp and it was to win deliaonline reading list with a picture of several books and first line of description being we have 5 books to give away. I find this very petty as it is blatantly clear what the prize is. I can't be bothered amending as I did it 3x once and it was still not acceptable. I have seen many comps without an adequate prize description that stay put but I seem to have many at one time removed when it is nearly impossible to make the prize any clearer.
I am far more concerned with comps for mini breaks and overnighters that don't mention where the stay is located. I am not going to travel from Essex to Edinburgh for a one night stay and have to waste time googling where the place is!!!
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