Sleazy marketing tactic or am I just gullible?

[alarimer]

Probably a little of both but anyway..
This week I get a letter from a local car dealership, with one of those scratch-off tickets inside. According to the letter I would win one of 5 prizes. Sure enough I scratched it off and found I had "won" a $1000 online shopping spree. Now I am a very cynical person and I always say that if something (or someone) seems too good to be true, it (or he/she) probably is. But I thought I would satisfy my curiosity and/or prove it to myself that there is no such thing as a "free" anything so I went down there to claim my prize. I thought things were looking up when there was no sales pitch, no pressure to buy a vehicle. After all in a contest, there is usually (by law I think) no requirement to buy anything to win. So I get this certificate with a number and password on it (www.selectyourgifts.com). It turns out that the stuuf on that website is utter crap. The cheapest junk you ever did see. A luggage set (5 pieces) for $100. The worst part though is that the winner is supposed to pay for shipping and handling and a $5 fee with every order. THe s&h is outrageous. $50 for that luggage set. I figured that if a person ever spent that whole $1000, it would cost them $500 or so. Which all proves my cynicism is actually right on track. I don't know if this prize scheme is actually illegal; after all there is a prize involved, such as it is. It certainly is sleazy. I have emailed the local Better Business Bureau but what I want to do is broadcast this so no one actually gets ripped off. I didn't buy anything but then I figured in advance it was a ripoff. SO who else should I email? THe local paper doesn't have a consumer reporter that I know of. Maybe the TV stations.

[unblock]

1. sadly, there are no laws limiting "handling"

which is why they charge "shipping and handling". "shipping" charges would be limited to shipping, but handling is so vague they can charge anything, including make a hefty profit.

tv stations could be fun! go fot it!

[wtmusic]

4. Yes, but there are many laws regarding fraud and deceptive advertising

Mrs. wt was a plaintiff in a class-action claiming exactly the same thing. She won ($8). The lawyers walked away with $200K.

[FloridaPat]

2. I once won a car, diamond bracelt, or a couple of other

prizes at least worth $5,000. Plus I got hundreds of dollars of free perfume. The only catch was I had to pay for shipping, handling, and insurance on the perfume. It was $650.

[wtmusic]

3. All kinds of lawyers who would take that one on contingency

That's a slam-dunk class action lawsuit, right there.

[the Kelly Gang]

5. 'handling charge' is a total scam..look at tele marketing