The Dove Sweepstakes Tale

I just had to come in for a while from the garage to cool off in the A/C. I've been spending the day organizing my stockpile out there.
Let me think of something to talk about....hmmm.
Oh, I know! I can tell you all about the Dove Giveaway I won!!

Back in late April....at least I Think it was late April. It's so hard for my menopausal brain to remember that far back.lol
Back in late April alot of ladies received this full sized sample of a new Dove Deodorant in the mail. Remember?


After I got my 1 Deodorant I received an email from the Dove Team or something. Marketing stuff.....blah, blah, blah....you know the deal. The email mentioned that Dove set up a Facebook page for this new product-the Dove Visibly Smooth Facebook page-and they were holding a Sweepstakes there. So I headed over to check it out the beginning of May. I left a comment about the product on Dove's "wall" and sent some emails to friend's telling them to go enter the contest.

Forward to about a week later, I receive an email from a marketing person from the company that Dove hired to run this promotion.
Guess who won Day 3 of the weeklong giveaway?

Yup.....yours truly! 8-))
Then began the long, drawn out saga of me trying to get my prize.
Why does EVERYTHING with me turn out to be a Long, Drawn out Saga??

The Marketing Firm & the Dove Company lawyers require all winners to sign a release. It basically says you are eligible to win the prize(don't work for the company or related to some one who does, legal age, etc.), requires you to report your prize winnings to the government so they can tax you on the value, and if somehow the prize causes you pain or death that they can't be held responsible. That kind of "covering their own butts" stuff.
So, the marketing gal says she mailed out the form. I wait.....and wait.....AND WAIT....somewhere around 3 weeks for it to arrive. I email her and she says that the form(sent USPS certified/return receipt)came back undeliverable. I confirm that she has my mailing address correct. Marketing gal sends it out again, this time via Fedex. It gets here in 2 days.
I open the Fedex envie and the original letter still has the USPS return receipt card on it and is marked "Return to Sender"....and my mailing address IS correct on it. The mailman delivers mail here every day but the USPS couldn't seem to find me to deliver this Particular letter.
And our Congress & President now want us to get our Healthcare from a Government run Program, like the FINE "can't find me suddenly to deliver a letter"/hemorrhaging Money Agency that the US Postal Service is??
Hmmm....

So I open it up, sign the form, slap it in a new envie and take it down to the PO to return it. Just in case the USPS thinks they might lose it, I send it certified/return receipt back to Chicago to the address the marketing gal gave me.

So I wait a week, then 2, figuring my prize should be on the way by now, right?
Nope.
2 weeks after mailing the form I go to the mailbox and what do I find?
The certified/return receipt envie I sent to Chicago, returned to me as Undeliverable!
What in the pan-fried hell is going on??

So I email the marketing gal and get a response 3 days later.
Seems this Marketing Firm MOVED to a different building in Chicago between the time she gave me their mailing address and when I mailed the form back.

Was she unaware that her office was packing up shortly and moving? Probably not....
Was she an airhead? Maybe.....

At this point it is mid June and I'm losing faith I'll ever see this prize. The marketing gal emails back with a PDF attachment. It's a legal release form in PDF form I can sign and return via email.
Now why didn't they just do this to begin with?lolol

So I sign and return it and start the wait....AGAIN!

And about 2 weeks later(the end of June sometime), Fedex comes back to see me, this time with a small package.

There was a note card congratulating me on winning the Giveaway.



And $125 in gift Cards to Kohl's. I guess I'll have to go shop there, huh? Not really my kind of store but #2 son loves anything Van's and they do carry Van's shoes and clothes. He is Thrilled!lol



And there was a cute lucite Razor with the Dove Logo on the handle. Not sure if I can change blades on it or what kind it would take. It would be a shame to have to just throw this out when the blades got dull.

I was also suppose to receive a One Hour Phone Consultation with some well-known "Transition Life Coach" person, Kathy Caprino, whom I've never heard of. There's been no further information or communication from Dove or the Marketing Company about when & if I'll get this part of the Prize Package.
No big loss.
But I do have a feeling that if Dove sends me a 1099 tax form at the end of the year, saying they reported my 'prize' value to the government, that the value reported will include the value of that consultation I never received. Yah, I just have a 'feeling' since things have already been screwed up with this whole Saga and I've got that grey cloud over my head anyway.lol

So that's my big "I won a prize by someone who never wins stuff" Story. I didn't want to talk about it until I finally got the prize. It took from May 1 until June 28th-TWO MONTHS to get it.
You know what would have REALLY been awesome? Winning $125 in Gift Cards to the Grocery Store, Wags or CVS!lolol That's me, a GROCERY & DRUG STORE DIVA to the end. ;-))

Now off to feed the doggies and then go jump in the pool. The garage can wait for more organizing until tomorrow.

Sluggy