http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/23/national/main703767.shtml AP) A woman who won a radio contest that promised the winner "100 grand" sued after the station gave her a candy bar -- a Nestle's 100 Grand -- instead of $100,000. Norreasha Gill filed a complaint Wednesday in Fayette District Court against Atlanta-based Cumulus Media, which owns WLTO-FM in Lexington. Gill, 28, says the station and its parent company breached a contract to pay $100,000 to the contest winner. Night host DJ Slick sponsored the station's contest to "win 100 grand," Gill said in the lawsuit. Gill won by listening to the radio show for several hours and being the 10th caller at a specified time. She went to the radio station the next morning to pick up her prize, but was asked to return later. When she got home, she found that the station manager had left a message explaining she had won a 100 Grand candy bar, not money. Later, he offered her $5,000, Gill said. "I said I wanted $95,000 more," she said. "Nobody would watch and listen for two hours for a candy bar." DJ Slick did not return an e-mail from the Herald-Leader, but he said on his Web site that he had left his job. WLTO and Cumulus declined to comment, identify DJ Slick by his given name or say whether he was fired. Experts said the radio station could face action by the Federal Communications Commission, which licenses radio stations. FCC regulations say contest descriptions can't be false or deceptive and that stations must conduct contests as advertised. Stations in two other states have been fined for contests that told listeners they'd won cash prizes without specifying they were in the Italian or Turkish lira, not the U.S. dollar. Before her family went to sleep that night, Gill says, she promised her children ages 1, 5 and 11 that they'd have a minivan, a shopping spree, a savings account and a home with a back yard. "What hurts me is they were going to get me in front of my children, all dressed up, and hand me a candy bar, after all those promises I made to them," she told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "You just don't do that to people."
This reminds of me of that dumbass Hooters worker chick that thought she won a "Toyota" in which she won a toy Yoda.
"I said I wanted $95,000 more," she said. "Nobody would watch and listen for two hours for a candy bar." Nobody would watch and listen for two hours and expect $100,000, you idiot.
If she was offered $5K, that sounds like an admission of guilt and I think this was a bad move. I would have said something to her as, "Well, you did win a 100 grand, and here's your candy bar." I want to pause and just call this woman what she is an I-D-I-O-T. First of all, you do not "watch" a radio, you only "listen" to a radio. However, you do "watch and listen," a television. Second, two hours does not mean that you have earned $100,000. And If I was the judge for this case I would laugh and throw them out of the court for wasting taxpayers time.
Well, I used to work in Radio promotions... if that contest was misleading in any way she has a case. Every contest we did had to have rules and those rules had to be submitted to legal to make sure everything was in order. Not to mention that it's just plain bad PR for the station to piss off a customer like that. If was really, really funny so that everyone else listening was really entertained then it may be worth it - but I can't believe it was that funny.
The fact that the DJ's name is "DJ Slick" is a dead give away that, much like his show, it was most likely NOT funny. Please, I implore you, leave the radio comedy to the pros. See my sig. A shopping spree? Nice values to teach your children.
I'm sure everyone would go on at least one shopping spree if they won $100 grand. Of course it all depends on how much you spend, but I think I would probably spend at least a grand on a few things I've always wanted to have. Doesn't seem to be unreasonable to me as long as you are careful afterwards. It is funny though that she is going to get them a minivan and a house. I wonder how far she thinks that kind of money goes. Not as far as you'd think these days.
What else is new? You can part blame to both sides. If the station did not make it absolutely clear, they are at fault. I tend to think that someone is just looking for a payoff though.
Depends where you live. I could easily get a brand new mini-van and a nice house with a backyard for $100k, and have money left over for a kickass shopping spree. By the way, I'm with the woman on this one all the way. The radio station did something extremely cruel and should be responsible for every bit of that $100,000. Getting a low-income family's hopes up and then crushing them for the sake of some twisted form of entertainment is despicable.
Not much left in the savings account though... Anyway, I agree with the woman. I mean, she did hear a legitimate company that has to abide by laws and regulations, so obviously one would think that if they are offering a prize that it's for real. Even if it's from some crazy DJ. Don't think the woman should be blamed for believing it. At a certain point companies should be held accountable for what they advertise. Next thing you know you'll have the Lottery playing pranks on people. It's not even very funny. It would just make you doubt the credibility of the station and perhaps other contests that are legit from other places. I agree that there should be laws about this (which I believe there are anyway). I think the woman might have made some dumb comments (questionably), but she has reason to sue. I would be extremely angry if I was led to believe I had won this money and then finding out it's just a candy bar. There's a difference between a prank and taking things to an extreme like this.
That woman is an idiot. I hope her lawsuit gets tossed out and she gets socked with lawyers fees. She should have been extremely thankful they offered her 5K. She should have jumped at that. Personally I wouldn't have offered her anything.
