The dealership eventually gave in, but it put up a big fight over a fraction of a second delay.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19704884

A Purdue University student thought he kicked his way to a two-year car lease for making three field goals in a contest held during the Boilermakers’ season opener in West Lafayette. However, the dealership sponsoring the giveaway later reneged on the deal because of a technical. The final kick – a 40-yarder – left his foot just a split second too late on August 31. Car dealerships really cannot help but be bastards, can they?

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  • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
    50·
    2 个月前

    Businesses that make these offers usually buy an insurance policy against someone winning. If it’s a $10,000 prize, but extremely difficult (like a hole in one challenge), the insurance might be like $1,000. The business pays win or lose, so they’re hoping someone wins because it’s great publicity. It’s much more fun when the person awarding the prize is happy and celebrating with the winner, so in that sense it’s a good idea.

    The insurance company, however, will have very specific language and will try to avoid paying even if it makes the business look bad.

    I don’t know the specifics in this case, but I worked for a generator company that sponsored a long-putt challenge at a golf fundraiser. Someone won a free generator, and the insurance company tried everything to weasel out of paying. We ended up giving them the generator anyway, because the publicity would have been horrid, and it took like 18 months to get the insurance company to pay up.

    Either way, it was stupid of the dealership to try to weasel out of the prize. A lease is like $350 a month times 24 months is $8,400. The kick happened at a football field named after the owner of the dealership after he donated $15 million to the university.