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competition - no results on website

edited May 2012 in - Resources
I entered a short story competition in October 2011. Results were supposed to be on the website in Jan 2012. I paid the entry fee via paypal. To date, there is nothing on the website except to say they are updating it, and that judging has been delayed due to large number of entries - it's now May!!! I've sent them 2 emails to try and find out what's going on - no reply. Not sure if I'm allowed to say who's running this competition so won't name and shame them just yet.
Anyone had a similar problem?
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Comments

  • edited May 2012
    There have occasionally been competitions in the past that have had big delays due to a lot of responses.
    If you're concerned and don't want to name the competition, try googling to see if any info or other comments on the delay come up.

    Welcome to Talkback, Jill.
  • I would think if a competition is being delayed because of a big response it should put an announcement out somewhere to keep all informed.

    You can't just leave people in the dark, for one thing that is impolite and another, as JillMac's comment above shows, it raises suspicion.

    Will you whisper the details to me JillMac then I will have a look and let you know what I think.
  • Sadly, Dora, some competitions do forget to tell entrants and it's only when they start getting a lot of enquiries that they seem to realise they need to let people know.
  • Hi, Jill. Welcome to Talkback. Was the competition mentioned in Writing Magazine? If so, maybe Webbo knows what's happening.
  • I think I may have entered the same competition. I haven't heard anything either JillMac.
  • If you name the comp here - and there's no reason why you shouldn't, you haven't accused them of anything - someone may know the organisers and alert them to a problem.
  • Any competition that sits on the results (and everyone's entry fees) for six months should be named and shamed.

    If they were posting regular updates, that would be a slightly different story. But still, it shouldn't take that long.
  • I entered a poetry competition back in September. ( Run by a council) Then a few months ago the organiser rang me and said could I send another cheque entry fee as they had had problems. They tore up my old one - it hasn't been cashed. I'm still waiting to hear re the results and it's getting on for 10 months now.
    This thread reminded me so I have just emailed to ask what is happening.
  • Thanks everyone for your responses. Ok, so the competition I entered was run by Fiction Garden, namely Fiction Garden International Ghost Story Comp, advertised in the Writing Magazine Competion Special (p.12). I've phone WM and they said to give it a few more weeks, but really, what can they do? I guess they take details of these comps and if they don't charge for insertion into the mag then they wouldn't have a contact address either. Feel a bit stupid, entering online without checking for contact details first. Lesson learnt - always make sure you have a landline number and an address before entering. But maybe there are genuine reasons for the delay, although its been 7 months now since the closing date! Will check out Webbo - never used him/her/it before. Will investigate!
  • Webbo has a direct line to the Editor- just click report post and Webbo or one of the moderators will see it and respond...
  • Hi JillMac, don't know who you spoke to at WM, but we should have done a bit better than that. Will investigate when back in office on Weds.
  • Yes, JillMac. This was the one I entered too.
  • I entered it as well and keep checking, giving up now.
  • Have you considered asking for your money back?
  • I've got a similar problem with Averyshortstory.co.uk. Received an email to say they were having trouble with the site and couldn't announce the winners and now the site has disappeared. I've emailed since with no reply. Looks to me like they've taken the money and run.
  • Hi everyone sorry I've been so neglectful, on top of everything else my comp crashed. Re fiction garden competition, I've just spoken to a v nice lady called Rebecca at Writing Mag. Unfortunately WM can't do anything about the lack of info coming from the organizer, her only suggestion is to keep checking their website, which I do but it always says the same thing ie judging taking longer than expected and winner will appear on site 'later this year'. But how long to wait before submitting my entry to another competition/mag? Fiction garden don't even reply to my emails which is discourteous to say the least.
  • And won't get them entries the next time they run a competition because people will only remember the bad experience.
  • Is it too late to contact Paypal and file a "goods not received" complaint - might get you your entry fee back, and you could withdraw your entry through the web contact form.
  • I have just given it up as a bad job.
  • Hello, I'm new to the boards.

    I was googling for any info on averyshortstory.co.uk when I noticed someone else posted about it. I made it to the shortlist in February's competition. They announced the winner but not the runner-up. Now I cannot get connected to their site at all. Does anyone know what's happened to them?
  • Welcome Crazy Water

    I've been trying to find out what happened for weeks. I did receive an email from someone from the site ages ago but I deleted it thinking I would get another when the site was back up and running.
  • Suzie, you're one step ahead of me. I didn't get a reply. Hopefully it's all just a temporary issue. The competition seemed to be going really well. I'll keep checking the site from time to time.
  • Hello Crazy Water. And Jill. Welcome to the site - if you'd like to stay around and always have the benefit of writers who are in the same boat, some with more info, others with less, then introduce yourselves and join in the fun - you will be welcomed!
  • Thanks, Webbo, June 27th for your advice, but yes it is too late to get fee back from Paypal. I suspect this would be the case in all comp entries, as Paypal only give you 30 days or something to make a claim, and most of us (organized!?) writers tend to submit to comps well before this due to closing date etc, and by the time you don't get the results (as in my case) it's too late to do anything about it. It's not the fee, it's not knowing, it's the discourtesy, and it's wondering if I can still send the story elsewhere and if so, when????
  • And it's someone getting money under false pretences that angers me.
  • Do they have a presence on Twitter or Facebook that you could ask questions of. Or ask other writers if they've entered it and know anything.
  • I also lost money to averyshortstory.co.uk. Like SusieM I did have an email at one point saying there were problems with the website, which continues to be unavailable. I have attempted to contact the organisers but have had no reply to any of my enquiries. I know I have to give up on that one now, as there is nothing else I can do.
  • Does anyone know what the 'legal' position is re the lack of info coming from a competiition organizer that doesn't announce results or reply to emails? I've waited approx 6 months now, and the results were supposed to be on website in January. How long should I wait before submitting the story to another competitiion or magazine?
  • If that has happened then it's not unreasonable for you to submit it elsewhere.

    You could check out the details of the website with their WHOIS listing.
  • It would all fall under the Gambling Commission who might be able to help. There are lots of technical and mostly not relevant documents here: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/

    But as for resubmitting elsewhere, that's quite specific to writing competitions and probably not something covered by legislation. My feeling, though, is that if an organiser has disappeared after the closing date, not posted results within the given time frame, etc, then you can write the whole thing off as invalid and take your entry elsewhere.
  • Thanks for the welcome Liz. Good to be here. Still having no luck with averyshortstory.co.uk. Emailed them again a few days ago and no response.
  • I entered the Fiction Garden Comp, too. I've submitted my stuff elsewhere now. Nine months since the closing date. Six months since the website was last updated. It's a good bet to assume they've taken the money and run. Looking at the site now, there is no indication who it was, actually running it. Maybe a lesson for us all. Only enter stuff with a visible face behind the name. I'd be interested in filing some complaint somewhere, just on the principle.
  • Trading Standards and the Domain Name Registrar would be my two thoughts.
  • If you go to WHOIS.com you can enter the website address and the options that come up against that name, click on the Whois information and it will give known details.

    It also gives the name of the relevent registrar who the web address was purchased from.
    You could try complaining to them.

    Also look up the address it shows on the Post Office system for finding postcodes and backwards by finding an address by postcode.
    If any of the details supplied to the registrar don't match then you have a secondary complaint to add to the first.
  • Carol, I've tried this and can't get it to work.
  • Dora, I tried it earlier with the site crazy water mentioned and it worked fine.

    I used whois.com.

    I'll whisper you the page results for the site Crazywater mentioned.
  • Carol, can you whisper me the page results as I also entered the same competition as Crazywater. Thanks.
  • I tried that whois website. Never heard of it before so I used it for averyshortstory.co.uk. There's not really much there, not even an alternate email contact. If you've entered the competition before, the name of the person who runs it comes up on your paypal receipt, but even if you google the name with a couple of key words relating to the competition, very little comes up.

    I've still got a feeling it was a genuine competition. Hopefully it's back on soon.

    Sorry for the delay in replying.
  • edited August 2012
    Crazy Water I'll whisper you the details I came across when I checked the WhoIs for that domain- although it does not give the name or e-mail contact number, it does give an address for the site's registrant.

    The domain is due for renewal in October, so if there are any problems, you need to contact the registrar and make them aware.
  • Frankly I ha'e m'doots as they say north of the border, these people are spineless and should be named on Face the Facts as a warning to others. It could be someone abroad pretending to be something else to get the money, some of these rogues from under developed countries, will try almost anything crooked to get money from somewhere, some poor naive person.
  • edited August 2012
    *winces*

    You might like to try re-phrasing that last sentence, Woll22
  • I've looked at the WhoIs info and the site was registered in Wales, but as it's on the edge of a business area, the address may just be a postbox.
  • Again I've been lax in keeping up with this talkback, but I will also try this whois thing and see what happens. If I find anything of interest I'll post it.
  • I let both Crazy Water and the other TBer know the details I found- by whisper.
  • I am wondering what the situation is regarding entering my story (that I entered to Fiction Garden Ghost Story competition) into antother compeition. I have tried contacting them and just got their automated response "Thank you for contacting Fiction Garden. We will deal with this shortly and if your message requires a reply will get back in touch with you as soon as possible." Seeing as their competition closed at end of October 2011 - how long are we supposed to wait to see/hear about results - if we ever do?
  • Sandie, see my and others comments on this discussion. I've given up with Fiction Garden and have now sent the story somewhere else.

    Carol, you seem knowledgable about domain names etc. I went on WHOIs and found the name address and no of the registrant for Fiction Garden, also the details of the registrar - but what do I do with this? Any ideas? Why does all this info have to be whispered? I really don't want fiction garden to get away with what they've done, seems like lots of people paid to enter their competition but I have a feeling this could turn into a long drawn out affair with no positive result at the end of it.
  • I have given up with Fiction Garden as well and recycled what I sent elsewhere
  • edited August 2012
    JillMac, WhoIs does have rules on what you can do with the information they provide, and that is why I whispered it to the individuals involved rather than openly.

    The first thing you can do with the registrants address details is ensure that the information they've given is correct.
    Go on to the Post Office website and use their address and postcode finder, put the address in without the postcode and get the postcode for that address which is in the PO system. Is it the same as the one given on WHOIS?

    You can then reverse the process and put only the postcode in and you'll then get a list of roads and numbers- if houses- and the map it shows will also tell you if the address is in a residential or commercial area.

    The domain details will show the date it was registered, updated and when due for renewal.

    If you have tried to contact them at the details they gave for Fiction Gardens and received no response repeatedly, then complain to both trading standards in that area, and to the domain registrar.

    I had some problems about seven years ago with websites in an unrelated issue, and both the domain registrars took the complaints seriously and after looking into the matters put restrictions on those websites involved. (One of the sites I was complaining about had given a totally different postcode to their actual address in their registration details.)

    I was just looking at Google and saw a fictiongarden.co.uk is it the same one as you submitted to?

    I was always told by more experienced writer friends to avoid competitions that don't give any postal address or other way of contacting them. The one I looked at doesn't give you any other means of contacting them except by the form on the site.
  • I've decided not to chase up fiction garden re whois etc. It's time and energy consuming, and I don't have much of either at the moment! I know its kind of 'immoral' of me not to do anything, but life is short etc etc. I am pleased to note that after flicking through writing mags competition special I didn't see GF advertised. Maybe they didn't submit, or maybe they did and WM turned them down. If that's the case, well done WM for taking notice of comments on this forum. And yes, good advice re making sure comp organizers have address, land line etc. I'll be much more careful from now on.
    I also see that Oct issue of WM has an article how to write fast and well. Will read it as soon as I can as I spend far too much time dithering over sentences, punctuation marks (I'm a firm believer that a punctuation mark can make a v big difference to a sentence). Then when I've made my decision, I change the whole story yet again!
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