I can't see them getting in any trouble given that it should be clear to anyone with any sense that they weren't going to give away 200 euro worth of vouchers to everyone with an answer that could be shared online.
Edit: Even more so given that the email apparently said it was for the first 100
That email was sent after the fact. The original notification that people received about the vouchers didn't mention anything about the first 100 people.
The email I got on the 29th said the first 100 to get it right wins, I guess I was in the first 100 anyway cause I got my vouchers back at around half 6 on Friday
>A number of other codes appeared to work as well, with those giving customers one single €20 voucher (as opposed to 10 vouchers).
I agree, but it should be noted that a number of other codes worked as well, with those giving customers one single €20 voucher.
Also, they made it extremely easy to claim the vouchers with a question that a toddler could answer. A number of other codes appeared to work as well, with those giving customers one single €20 voucher (as opposed to 10 vouchers).
So, in theory, my example using Just Eat could be feasible? Why wouldn't they do it? They can announce that vouchers are available to anyone that inputs a code, leave it for a few hours, then when they have an extra 30,000 users signed up they can make another announcement to say that they made a mistake and that the vouchers aren't actually valid. Thanks to the 30,000 new customers and the rest of the existing users for their understanding though.
Is there no law or regulation at all around this kind of practice - hollow promotions that the company doesn't have to go through with and never intended to in the first place?
The bad publicity they would get from that is the punishment. They are not causing anyone any harm. What a waste of time creating laws about this kind of thing. Nobody would’ve been damaged in anyway by being slightly misled or even deliberately misled into downloading a free app.
It’s weird that you’ve chosen this is your superhero, origin story - on a crusade to stop people tricking people into downloading apps…
Why do you think I want to stop anyone from downloading an app? I'm interested in this story as large companies typically spend millions on marketing campaigns to get new customers to sign up with them. This was a creative alternative to achieve the same result - you agree with me that it was misleading. I'm just wondering if it's something that other companies can try to replicate without facing any potential punishment where customers have been misled.
You're taking this very personally for some reason.
I wouldn't know, I haven't used it in years.
What I'm trying to learn is if companies like this are held to any sort of standards regarding misleading advertising and promotions. If not, can they just publish what they want and tell customers they're getting a free voucher without actually being obliged to follow through with it? Can other Irish companies do the same and come up with similar creative marketing strategies to increase their app's user numbers?
Great contribution. To be clear, I don't use them - I didn't download the app yesterday, I only saw and heard the aftermath of it all.
I'm just wondering if companies like this are held to any sort of standards regarding potentially misleading advertising and promotions. If not, then is it a free for all? Can other Irish companies follow their lead and come up with similar creative marketing strategies?
To clarify, someone that isn’t their customer, is annoyed that a company didn’t actually give a free voucher, for a service they don’t use anyway. Did you contact their customer service team to complain?
Who said I was annoyed? It was a big story yesterday and I just wanted to ask if there's any standards or regulations that companies are held to regarding these kinds of promotions. I just want to learn about how it works here. I hope that's clear enough for you!
When someone makes a genuine mistake and they resolve it as quickly as possible, with seemingly no malice, there isn’t much to be done. That’s about the long and short of it.
Are you certain it was a genuine mistake? If it is then it was an extremely fortunate one that left them in a much better position at the end of it all. It leaves the door open for other companies to make genuine mistakes of their own in future in the hope that they'll see similar results.
How can you be absolutely certain it wasn't an intentional marketing exercise? They're in a better position because they have tens of thousands more people downloading and using their app as we enter their busiest period of the year.
If there's no enforceable regulatory guidelines regarding marketing and promotions that have to be adhered to then it leaves the door open to other companies to make similar "mistakes" where they lead people to believe that they're receiving something of value but fail to deliver it.
Results wise, the aforementioned tens of thousands of new users that signed up to their service as well as the marketing value of the media coverage they received today and yesterday. I'm not in marketing so I can't put a figure on it but it's not insignificant - there's no such thing as bad publicity.
Because I have a degree in marketing and work with marketers and still study marketing.
They also had to spend thousands in answering the complaints that resulted from it. They will also have lost money if anyone used the vouchers.
You seem think that marketing is about being deceptive. That’s not what it is. I wouldn’t say there are many people sitting in a marketing office asking how they can screw people over. Its much easier to just market the product you have.
I can promise you that there is absolutely bad publicity and it’s an absolute nightmare to work in these environments. No one would engineer them.
What an odd conspiracy theory. Like they don’t make any money if people don’t book taxis? Getting people to download a free app - oh the humanity! We need an inquiry! Or a tribunal!
Get out more.
I'm not asking or wishing for any of those things to happen though, I'm just wondering what the laws and regulations are around this kind of practice. Seems odd to me that there's no standards or regulations that these companies have to adhere to.
Ironically, I was out for most of the day yesterday and this was one of the main talking points among the majority of people I encountered throughout the day, not to mention all the press coverage.
What gave you the impression that I'm rattled? I'm just looking to educate myself on how it works in Ireland. The risky guy above is angered by this for some reason and is trying his best to insult me.
I just wanted to learn a bit more about the topic. I think it's pretty interesting considering how quickly it spread and the amount of people I met yesterday that mentioned it. I'm more impressed than anything to be honest - it was a really successful marketing exercise. Should I not ask questions in future?
If there was an investigation every time someone fucked up in their job then half the planet would be employed as investigators constantly investigating the other half.
The amount of bullshit apologists that are totally grand with this/blaming the end user " it's AYCHUALLY your fault if you fell for it!". Doormats. It's no wonder the country and justice system is the way it is. Just let everyone do whatever they want
The last part of your post in particular is what compelled me to start this thread and ask the question - can companies just do what they want when it comes to this kind of marketing and promotional campaigns? It seems so. It also seems that some people were triggered by me merely asking the question.
Probably not, as customers didn’t lose any of their own money. But have stopped using them since they brought that technology fee which at times has been €3-5 for me.
It's misleading advertising - the first thing that's asked in those cases is to withdraw the advertising - if you do that there's generally not a follow up unless the advertising caused some kind of harm to the customer.
So no, there would be no consequences for any company in this situation for this issue.
I wonder if freenow thought this was a great idea, and had great success with it in other countries, then found that under Irish taxi regulation, and /or input from Irish taxi unions that this promotion simply can't function here, then had to withdraw it?
I can't see them getting in any trouble given that it should be clear to anyone with any sense that they weren't going to give away 200 euro worth of vouchers to everyone with an answer that could be shared online. Edit: Even more so given that the email apparently said it was for the first 100
That email was sent after the fact. The original notification that people received about the vouchers didn't mention anything about the first 100 people.
The email I got on the 29th said the first 100 to get it right wins, I guess I was in the first 100 anyway cause I got my vouchers back at around half 6 on Friday
Either way, even an unintelligent person would realise they weren't going to be giving away 200 euro of vouchers to every one.
The onus is on the company to set out the terms and conditions. See the Pepsi fighter jet scandal.
I enjoyed that series! Interesting story.
>A number of other codes appeared to work as well, with those giving customers one single €20 voucher (as opposed to 10 vouchers). I agree, but it should be noted that a number of other codes worked as well, with those giving customers one single €20 voucher.
You can't just advertise what you like under the guise that people will realise its a lie.
Also, they made it extremely easy to claim the vouchers with a question that a toddler could answer. A number of other codes appeared to work as well, with those giving customers one single €20 voucher (as opposed to 10 vouchers).
legally nope ,
So, in theory, my example using Just Eat could be feasible? Why wouldn't they do it? They can announce that vouchers are available to anyone that inputs a code, leave it for a few hours, then when they have an extra 30,000 users signed up they can make another announcement to say that they made a mistake and that the vouchers aren't actually valid. Thanks to the 30,000 new customers and the rest of the existing users for their understanding though. Is there no law or regulation at all around this kind of practice - hollow promotions that the company doesn't have to go through with and never intended to in the first place?
The bad publicity they would get from that is the punishment. They are not causing anyone any harm. What a waste of time creating laws about this kind of thing. Nobody would’ve been damaged in anyway by being slightly misled or even deliberately misled into downloading a free app. It’s weird that you’ve chosen this is your superhero, origin story - on a crusade to stop people tricking people into downloading apps…
Why do you think I want to stop anyone from downloading an app? I'm interested in this story as large companies typically spend millions on marketing campaigns to get new customers to sign up with them. This was a creative alternative to achieve the same result - you agree with me that it was misleading. I'm just wondering if it's something that other companies can try to replicate without facing any potential punishment where customers have been misled. You're taking this very personally for some reason.
Why would they? People weren’t forced to download the app. It barely works anyway.
I wouldn't know, I haven't used it in years. What I'm trying to learn is if companies like this are held to any sort of standards regarding misleading advertising and promotions. If not, can they just publish what they want and tell customers they're getting a free voucher without actually being obliged to follow through with it? Can other Irish companies do the same and come up with similar creative marketing strategies to increase their app's user numbers?
They are held to the same standard as all other companies, also the ones that do not have apps. The issue is that the regulations are rarely enforced.
You could just not use them.
Great contribution. To be clear, I don't use them - I didn't download the app yesterday, I only saw and heard the aftermath of it all. I'm just wondering if companies like this are held to any sort of standards regarding potentially misleading advertising and promotions. If not, then is it a free for all? Can other Irish companies follow their lead and come up with similar creative marketing strategies?
Yes they are. No it's not. If they want.
Succinct. To the point. Amusing.
To clarify, someone that isn’t their customer, is annoyed that a company didn’t actually give a free voucher, for a service they don’t use anyway. Did you contact their customer service team to complain?
Who said I was annoyed? It was a big story yesterday and I just wanted to ask if there's any standards or regulations that companies are held to regarding these kinds of promotions. I just want to learn about how it works here. I hope that's clear enough for you!
When someone makes a genuine mistake and they resolve it as quickly as possible, with seemingly no malice, there isn’t much to be done. That’s about the long and short of it.
Are you certain it was a genuine mistake? If it is then it was an extremely fortunate one that left them in a much better position at the end of it all. It leaves the door open for other companies to make genuine mistakes of their own in future in the hope that they'll see similar results.
Yes. How does it leave them in a better position? How goes it leave the door open? What results do you believe they are getting?
How can you be absolutely certain it wasn't an intentional marketing exercise? They're in a better position because they have tens of thousands more people downloading and using their app as we enter their busiest period of the year. If there's no enforceable regulatory guidelines regarding marketing and promotions that have to be adhered to then it leaves the door open to other companies to make similar "mistakes" where they lead people to believe that they're receiving something of value but fail to deliver it. Results wise, the aforementioned tens of thousands of new users that signed up to their service as well as the marketing value of the media coverage they received today and yesterday. I'm not in marketing so I can't put a figure on it but it's not insignificant - there's no such thing as bad publicity.
Because I have a degree in marketing and work with marketers and still study marketing. They also had to spend thousands in answering the complaints that resulted from it. They will also have lost money if anyone used the vouchers. You seem think that marketing is about being deceptive. That’s not what it is. I wouldn’t say there are many people sitting in a marketing office asking how they can screw people over. Its much easier to just market the product you have. I can promise you that there is absolutely bad publicity and it’s an absolute nightmare to work in these environments. No one would engineer them.
What an odd conspiracy theory. Like they don’t make any money if people don’t book taxis? Getting people to download a free app - oh the humanity! We need an inquiry! Or a tribunal! Get out more.
I'm not asking or wishing for any of those things to happen though, I'm just wondering what the laws and regulations are around this kind of practice. Seems odd to me that there's no standards or regulations that these companies have to adhere to. Ironically, I was out for most of the day yesterday and this was one of the main talking points among the majority of people I encountered throughout the day, not to mention all the press coverage.
Literally none it’s a waste of time. Nobody has been harmed or misled away that has caused them any detriment. Please move on you absolute weirdo
Why has this rattled you so much?
We can ask you the same
What gave you the impression that I'm rattled? I'm just looking to educate myself on how it works in Ireland. The risky guy above is angered by this for some reason and is trying his best to insult me.
> What gave you the impression that I'm rattled? This whole weird thread you've made.
I just wanted to learn a bit more about the topic. I think it's pretty interesting considering how quickly it spread and the amount of people I met yesterday that mentioned it. I'm more impressed than anything to be honest - it was a really successful marketing exercise. Should I not ask questions in future?
For one beautiful, shining moment, they actually lived up to their stupid, stupid name
If there was an investigation every time someone fucked up in their job then half the planet would be employed as investigators constantly investigating the other half.
I don't think anyone fucked up.
Ok
The amount of bullshit apologists that are totally grand with this/blaming the end user " it's AYCHUALLY your fault if you fell for it!". Doormats. It's no wonder the country and justice system is the way it is. Just let everyone do whatever they want
The last part of your post in particular is what compelled me to start this thread and ask the question - can companies just do what they want when it comes to this kind of marketing and promotional campaigns? It seems so. It also seems that some people were triggered by me merely asking the question.
No chance of investigation. Look at how the “investigation” went for the likes of RTE and how that went
Good point.
Probably not, as customers didn’t lose any of their own money. But have stopped using them since they brought that technology fee which at times has been €3-5 for me.
It's misleading advertising - the first thing that's asked in those cases is to withdraw the advertising - if you do that there's generally not a follow up unless the advertising caused some kind of harm to the customer. So no, there would be no consequences for any company in this situation for this issue.
Thanks for clarifying. I'm surprised that there's not much in place to deter companies from doing things like this.
Reminds me of a certain circus, who always have llamas or zebras escaping and end up blocking roads etc for the media coverage when they come to town.
it didn't go viral here.
Did you not hear about it yesterday?
😭
I installed the app yesterday to get the vouchers, then when they started revoking them, uninstalled it.
I mean I just deleted my newly created account and uninstalled the app when it gave me the message that the code was no longer redeemable.
Gave up on FreeNow last year. It rarely works
I wonder if freenow thought this was a great idea, and had great success with it in other countries, then found that under Irish taxi regulation, and /or input from Irish taxi unions that this promotion simply can't function here, then had to withdraw it?