GMTV have taken to steps to regain public confidence in their company and competitions by announcing a series of measures to compensate entrants to their competitions (full statement). The company suspended their phone in and online competitions in April 2007 following revelations that thousands of people who entered their phone competitions had no chance of winning. GMTV have taken a number of steps to remedy the situation, including parting company with Opera Telecom and continuing to suspend all competitions.
How To Claim
Further to this they are offering entrants who participated in their competitions the chance to claim back charges plus they are offering 250 people the chance to win £10000 in a special prize draw. On top of this, they intend to make a “substantial donation to Childline”. If you have previously entered a GMTV or GMTV2 either via telephone, text or web then you can make a claim for a refund. For full details and to find out if you’re eligible then it’s best to visit the GMTV Claim Site. There’s also a full FAQ that covers all aspects of the competitions issues. Don’t forget to claim as you could end up winning £10000!
Damage Limitation Exercise
According to GMTV “All competition entries which were unfairly excluded from GMTV main competitions between January 2003 and April 2007 will be eligible for inclusion, free of charge, to enter their 250 x £10000, prize draw”. We fully expect that that competition will be run without any problems! This is a bold move by GMTV and comes ahead of any OFCOM or ICSTIS judgement on the situation. Competitions have been a big part of their TV programme and also online presence, so it’s vital that they make all efforts to try and repair the damage. However, with the recent BBC competitions suspension we think it’s going to take some time before compers feel happy about spending their money on what were essentially lucrative money making schemes for the broadcasters and telecom companies.