So, one of the pages I manage for work is a movie marketing page, linked to the "independent marketing" department of a national cinema chain here in SA. Mostly we do reviews of upcoming movies, some "games" like Name That Film/Character/Actor and Replace a Word. From time to time we have competitions.
The competitions work like this:
"N" (in the independent marketing department) secures sponsorship and prizes as necessary
N sends me the details of the prizes and any specifics for the competition
I come up with the competition idea and once N has approved it I take it live
Once the competition has ended I pull the necessary information and pick the winner/s by random draw (after first eliminating invalid entries)
I contact the winner/s via Facebook or Twitter for their email address and email them a standard email detailing which competition they've won, what their prize is, and what they need to do to claim the prize (which is send us their delivery address and daytime contact number and a photo of themselves for our Winners album)
I pass those details on to N once I get them, and she then sends the prizes out or contacts the sponsor/partner to have the prizes sent out
Here's the important bit: I do not, at any point, have contact with the sponsor companies or have the prizes in my possession - this is handled entirely by N's department
In August/September of last year, we ran a competition. The prize was a custom tailored suit, worth a LOT of money ($700 or so). The winner was drawn and contacted as normal, and the details passed on to N, who then passed them on to the sponsor. As far as we're concerned, it's taken care of.
Nope, in November the winner contacted us on the Facebook page to say that no one has contacted him since the initial email. I passed it on to N, who passed it on to the sponsors and assured me it was taken care of.
Last Wednesday the winner messaged me again to say that he has STILL not been contacted. Obviously he's pissed off, and I don't blame him. So I pass the message on to N, she passes it on to the sponsors, and tells me she's very sorry, she thought it had been taken care of.
This morning I log on to discover that he has messaged us yet again over the weekend, and is now threatening to publicize the competition, our page, and our brand, as being a hoax. I have, once again, passed the message on to N, who has yet to respond. Through this whole thing, I've been CCing N's manager and mine.
Now, I know it's not her fault, but really, N should be on top of this. Clearly whoever she's dealing with at the sponsor company is incompetent. The way I see it, she has two options. She can either contact the winner and give him the equivalent of the prize in cash from the department's budget and then get into it with the sponsor, or she can jump up and down on the sponsor until he actually gets hold of the winner and fulfills his end of the bargain.
Either way, there is nothing more I can do. However I respond to the winner now, he's going to say that I'm lying and the whole thing is a scam. And dealing with people and situations like this is exactly why I chose not to go back to the legal industry. *SCREAMS FOREVER*
Oh, and on top this all FI is sick and I'm freaking out because he's a transplant patient on immune suppressant medication which means that even the tiniest cold could be life threatening if it's not treated.
Can I please just go back to bed with a bottle of wine and a kilogram of chocolate?