However, this morning I woke up to tweets congratulating another girl on winning my giveaway, and sure enough, her name had appeared above Sophie's on my Rafflecopter form. I understand that this could have been my mistake, but as you all know, there weren't two winners for this giveaway, so I had - to my knowledge - only picked one. I will say, that I did have to click 'pick a winner' a few times before it worked with the slow internet, which may have been the problem, but as I said, Sophie (who the prize has now been sent out to), was the only one I had seen and the only one that had shown up on my iPad at the time. I understand that this could be confusing and disappointing for the other winner, and had I have known what had happened earlier, I would of course have sorted it out right away.
So of course, I responded to all the tweets apologizing for any confusion, explained that there had been a mistake and expected that to be the end of it. I did not expect however to get tweets telling me I'd deleted the other winner on purpose, or I 'only pick other bloggers' to win, how it couldn't possibly have been an honest mistake and that people had screenshotted the giveaway as 'proof' there was another winner. I understand how disappointing it is to have your name on the winners then be told it's a mistake, but it is what is, a mistake. I had already announced Sophie as the winner as she was the only winner displayed to my knowledge. I find it unfair and ungrateful that people would get this hung up about a tiny mistake. Things like this can happen, I'm not an internet whizkid and I get things wrong. I may have accidentally picked two winners or Rafflecopter may have messed things up, I don't know, but what I do know is Sophie was the only winner displayed to me when I announced the giveaway and that's how it is going to stay.
Bloggers spend their time and money on giveaways and I'd always loved doing them, but this has seriously upset and angered me and I think I'll be put off doing them for a long time now. It was an honest mistake and i'm sorry for that, but this is ridiculous and wrong and I think those of you still tweeting me right now should be ashamed of yourselves.

What a stupid thing to get upset about, some people just like to argue...>.<
ReplyDeleteThat's ridiculous, I can't believe people got annoyed over that! Especially when it wasn't even them that they thought had won :/ so stupid! xx
ReplyDeleteD Is For...
Aww, I feel sorry that situations like these put one in a tight spot but your true followers and friends would always understand and support you through it! :) x
ReplyDeleteJasmine Catches Butterflies ʚϊɞ
I support you :) keep writing, because I follow your blog not just because of giveaway
ReplyDeleteAww Chloe try not to worry about it too much. A mistake is a mistake and it can't be helped. Ignore those who are ignorant, I'd like to see those people run successful blogs and do giveaways out of the kindness of their hearts!
ReplyDeleteHope you're feeling better soon :)
Just shows people are only in it for the free stuff if they get this angered by it and go to the lengths of screen shotting it. Such a horrible thing to have to deal with and as I said on twitter we are all here to support you, how could you not be cut out to be a blogger? You have so many people who love & read your blog so the woman who said that is clearly jealous! I'm actually glad that woman didn't end up winning as she's clearly not in it for the right reasons and as you said on twitter, anyone with decency would have accepted the apology and moved on! Xxx
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean when things like this happen. I had it happen to me before and it took me FOREVER to get a winner and I accidentally generated 6 but only one came up to me which happened to be a friend. Safe to say I got a bit of trouble too haha x
ReplyDeleteTry not to worry, some people have nothing better to do with their time!
ReplyDeleteAysha x
outletjunkie.blogspot.com
Chloe - I'm a new follower of yours and only just heard about what happened on Twitter. I'm so sorry to hear all the abuse you are putting up with - and it's even more noble of you to actually respond to these people to tell them what's happened. Others may just ignore the abuse.
ReplyDeleteLike other people have said, this goes to show that some people are just in it for the freebies. What happened if you sent a prize and it never shows up? Is that your fault to? Of course not - it's something out of your control!
I really hope that people learn some humility out of this and grow up. Although I'm only a new follower of yours, I've gone back and read a few of your posts and you are a great blogger! Please don't let these people get you down. Everyone makes mistakes, and while this was not directly your mistake, you have taken responsibility and that in itself should be enough for people.
Sorry to babble on! Just wanted to let you know I support you. xx
Ahh Jasmine this such a sweet thing to say, thank you so much! It's disappointing that the bloggy world has people like this but I suppose it's something we have to accept and get on with! Xx
DeleteOh Chloe, some people are just life's takers and like the other commenters have said, those kind of people are only in it for the 'freebies', which I personally find disgusting. I do hope that you are feeling happier and that you continue with your amazing blog! Lots of love, Jade xx
ReplyDeleteA mistake is a mistake, you cant help that.. so why cant people just accept it is a mistake and move on, you have said sorry, what more can you do..? :)
ReplyDeleteThats very dissapointing..
Great post! Thanks for sharing!
Hugs, Brittany, xx
http://polkaanddots.blogspot.co.uk/
Oh my god, what a horrible situation for you and Sophie. Rafflecopter is a free service we can use to run giveaways, we can't possibly be responsible for any errors with it. I really hope everything calms down, as this sounds horrible :( xxx
ReplyDeletehiya chloe! really hope your ok hun I love you blog and reading it!! don't let these people get you down ok!! hope to see you post again very soon :)) caitlin xxx
ReplyDeleteoh dear - bullies are so common online, hiding behind a computer to take a swipe. Hope you're ok, Katie xx
ReplyDeleteRafflecopter is riddled with errors, it winds me up so much. I hope they read this!
ReplyDeletexXx
Hi Chloe,
ReplyDeleteI got this post forwarded to me by a blogger who told me I might be interested in this.
I'm a blogger myself but I also freelance for a national fashion brand. I recently got hounded by a comper who I was dealing with as part of my job - she was the most rude, vicious, pathetic woman I've ever dealt with. She had real anger issues and pulled the whole "I'm reporting you" crap too - I don't know if she did bother writing a letter to my boss or not yet but I won't put up with bullying and I'm writing to let you know I think you dealt with the whole situation with incredible grace and aplomb.
Of course, as this is your own blog giveaway, you have your own T&Cs and right to award/not award the prize as you wish - any suggestions you could be reported (for what was clearly an honest mistake) is bullshit. I'm thinking of working on some type of "blacklist" project where I collate and share the names and pseudonyms of all comp bullies like this and dispensing them widely to make sure no-one has to put up with all this crap anymore.
Keep up the good work on the blog and don't let bullies get you down!
Thanks so much for this comment, Kieron, it really helps to know I'm not alone in situations like this. So sh*tty that this 'comp bully' thing seems so common though. The blacklist sounds like a great idea and if I could be of any help at all, I'd be more than happy to help. Thanks again, this really means a lot!
DeleteI was fortunate enough to win one of your giveaways a few months back and very gratefully received my prize with no problems at all so THANK YOU!! :)
ReplyDelete...Unfortunately a lot of blog competition entries are from 'professional compers' and a link to your giveaway might have been posted on prize finding websites or forums (like Moneysavingexert.com) - perhaps check your traffic stats and see?
Whilst of course there is nothing wrong with this comping hobby, some of the pro compers read T&Cs to the letter and fail to understand this is a personal blog and not a business. I've even read nasty tweets to another blogger because there was a delay on a PR company forwarding a prize and the winner was threatening to file reports to the competition governing body. The comping community can become pack-like when they think they have been wronged. I don't think some grasp the fact you are running your giveaway at your own cost, time and expense and get little out of it other than perhaps temporarily heightened traffic.
Please don't be deterred to run them in future, although it probably wasn't nice for the person wrongly informed if you hadn't contacted them personally then they shouldn't have taken it as a win. As a consideration, and I appreciate not all 'compers' are the same, but perhaps state in future that only actual readers of your blog can enter in future. (you will spot the professional compers as their twitter feeds are littered with various RTs from companies running promotions and they have no 'proper' posts.
I won with your blog with no hiccups and am very greatful to have been fairly chosen as your winner for that giveaway. Ignore the grumpy so and so's who shouldn't be so mean! X
Thanks so much for this comment Jen, I'll definitely consider what you said about only running giveaways for my actual readers, as you said, not all 'compers' are the same, but the ones I've dealt with have been vicious, spiteful and totally over the top.
DeleteI think you're probably right about it being posted on a forum or something too, every single one of the people whining about it on twitter had feeds riddled with giveaway retweets and promotions.
Thanks so much for your kind words and insight into the topic, it's definitely opened my eyes to the world of compers!! So glad you received your prize with no hassles!
xx
Totally agree that you should have picked your original winner. Such a shame that you've had a bad end to your giveaway, but at the end of the day it's YOUR giveaway and you give the final word. Your real followers know your not an unfair person, probably the only people that would be annoyed or rude to you are ones that are only following for the prize in the first place.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about it!
xxx
www.maisymeow.com
This whole drama angered me, it was the smallest mistake and people were being so vicious towards you, most of whom were people who should know better. Some people just like to stir up drama, just block those people! It's obvious that the mistake was unintentional! You have so many people who love reading your blog so just ignore the few idiots!!
ReplyDeletexxx
dont let stupid people ruin what you love best xx
ReplyDeleteHey don't worry about it, it was a simple mistake with rafflecopter, these things happen. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel that it's sad on you that you have to explain yourself to the people giving you hate, chin up misses and ignore them!
ReplyDeleteNatalie xx
http://nataliecatherine.blogspot.co.uk/
Hi,I am a new follower-your blog is great :) Things happen (thats life) and just ignore crude comments & people :)
ReplyDelete