On Aug 8, 2006, at 3:00 AM, Robin wrote:
>Claire that isn't the issue at all.  If you read the thread of the
>posts, there are 3 of us the have had our pictures posted as winners.
>Two of those pictures are STILL as of today still of the site as
>winners.  We were never notified that we won, and when we contacted
>Animal Attaction.  We we all told the same story, that we hadn't
>really one, that there was an error and that a german shepard had won.
>Of you go on the site and read the boards you se that others have had
>problems too.  This isn't a case of sour grapes.  This is people angry
>for being taken advantage of.  And now this clown wants to eliminate
>ferrets from the contest because we have questioned the contest?  It's
>not right.
 
You're right, Robin.  A mix-up of who actually won could be just a
mistake if it happened once, but it seems it has happened several times.
I do think an investigation is warranted.
 
I didn't mean to suggest it was a case of sour grapes -- I don't think
that at all.  As I said before, the owner's rudeness to you was un-called
for and unforgivable.  He does not seem to be a nice person and I don't
plan on going to that website or participating in his contests, forums,
or whatever.
 
What I objected to was what seemed to me to be a rising tide of anger
and accusation.  What caused me to go to the website to begin with was
the comment that the owner thought ferret owners had cheated.  That
caused me to read the rules, and that uncovered the misunderstanding of
the judging process.  Then, when I saw how the webpage is structured to
force a semblance of actual judging, I realized that a contest designer
_could_ construe a bunch of votes with IPs that show that only that page
was visited, as evidence of collusion to rig a contest.  Now I know that
there was no intent to rig the contest, but the website logs may have
made it seem that way, and the owner may have had some cause for concern.
 
That is what I wanted to point out.  And you're right, I totally ignored
the fact that having one winner announced on the site while denying on
the phone that it was the winner shows at best major disorganization,
and at worst dishonesty.  It might be interesting to try to contact any
other winner, and see if they are paying out to anyone at all.
 
-Claire
[Posted in FML issue 5329]