‘Never buying again’: Dare Iced Coffee withdraws $1000 winner emails in ‘Daremergency’ blunder
Dare Iced Coffee is facing major backlash after mistakenly sending out emails informing fans they had won $1000, only to issue a ‘correction’ hours later.
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Dare Iced Coffee is facing major backlash after mistakenly sending out emails informing fans they had won $1000, only to issue a ‘correction’ hours later.
The popular ‘Daremergency’ promotion, which gives customers a chance to enter to “win a share in $1 million or $500 every hour” by scanning a QR code on the label, appears to have informed large number of entrants on Wednesday morning that they were provisional weekly winners.
“Congratulations! You have won a weekly draw of $1000 which will be awarded as a Vault Pays-enabled Prepaid MasterCard,” the automatically generated email sent to participants read.
“Your entry will now be validated. If we have everything we need your prize will be sent via SMS to your nominated mobile phone number within seven days, otherwise if we require any further information we’ll send you another email.”
Hours later, they received a follow-up email titled “Daremergency Correction”.
“We regret to inform you that a technical error occurred, and upon review, we can confirm that you were not a valid winner in this instance,” it said.
“Accordingly, please disregard the communication from this morning that was sent in error. We understand this may be disappointing, and we sincerely apologise for any confusion this may have caused.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people received the emails, but social media has been flooded with complaints.
“I think we should contact Fair Trading or A Current Affair! This whole thing is just a marketing ploy. You win then you don’t,” one woman wrote on Dare Iced Coffee’s Facebook page.
“I’ll never be buying Dare or any Bega product again,” another man said.
Another woman agreed, “Runs a promotion to get people to buy their products. Then reneged when you win something and calls it a technical error, what a joke. Won’t be buying your products again.”
Some fans slammed it as a “marketing scam” and “absolutely horses**t”.
Others said they were “extremely disappointed”.
“Excited to win something … then to be told sorry you didn’t win we made a mistake,” one man said.
“Far out. Not even a token of sorry but here is a small voucher or token of apology. They basically say we know you are upset but too bad. Won’t be racing out to buy their product any longer. Just lost a regular Triple Espresso drinker.”
Another man added, “I’ve supported Dare for many years and I was ecstatic to win something from a brand I love. Not winning is one thing, but being told I have won $1000 and it being taken away feels horrible, especially when I could really use the money. It doesn’t feel right to continue to support Dare when the response to my win being rescinded has been so cold-hearted.”
Users on Reddit also shared their Dare heartbreak.
“Talk about building me up to tear me down,” one post read. “The terms do have clauses about technical errors and all the usual to cover their own ass, but this is still frustrating as hell. It makes me never want to buy a Dare again.”
Another said, “All my mates that entered this got the same email, so looks like they may have emailed every entrant. Don’t think they’ll cough up anything, unfortunately.”
One joked, “You don’t need a lawyer, you need a union … Farmers Union.”
Others described it as a “marketing fail 101” and a “marketer’s worst nightmare”.
“Better to just suck up the $1000 hit,” one wrote. “Way to lose customers.”
A spokeswoman for Bega Dairy and Drinks said in a statement, “Well, this is awkward. Perhaps if we’d had our Dare Fix, we could have fixed this! Unfortunately, due to a technical error, some participants in our Daremergency promotion were mistakenly notified that they had provisionally won.”
The company acknowledged the disappointment and confusion and apologised for the “mix up”.
“While we wish we could give a prize to everyone, we need to play by the rules,” she said.
“Those affected have been contacted straight away to clarify the situation and we’re working with our agency partner to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We appreciate everyone’s understanding as we sort this out.”
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Originally published as ‘Never buying again’: Dare Iced Coffee withdraws $1000 winner emails in ‘Daremergency’ blunder
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