Property raffle is subject of complaint to advertising watchdog

One of the spate of property raffle competitions has been the subject of a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The complaint concerned the Win A Property site.

A statement from the ASA says: “We received a complaint about an online promotion to win a house. The complainant challenged whether the promotion broke its own terms and conditions; namely, that the winner would be drawn in the presence of an accountant and solicitor.

“We approached the advertiser about the concerns that had been raised. The advertiser said that it was a one off promotion and provided an assurance that they would not be doing similar promotions in future.”

It appears that this site has now concluded its competition, having sold some 6,500 tickets - not enough to meet the required nunber to offer the home as a prize, but enough to produce a cash prize winner.

The website itself now says:

“The draw for winapropertycompetition was held today, 14th June 2018, witnessed by 5 local entrants and the winning entry belonged to Sarah from the Isle of Man! Sarah reserves her right not to disclose her surname.

“Around 6,500 tickets were sold. Unfortunately not enough to be able to give away the property so the money raised from ticket sales, minus expenses, became the sole prize.

“Thank you again to all who entered and supported the competition and a big thank you to all those who sent lovely supportive messages, they made a huge difference.

“This information will remain on the website for a few weeks, the rest of the website will be deleted as obsolete. All entrants personal details will now be erased from the winapropertycompetition database. The Facebook page will be deleted.”