So it goes something like this. I received a PR pitch from one of thousands of companies. This one was for a TV show I was a huge fan of so of course it peaked my interest.
“For further review copy and giveaway requests, please contact XXX@XXXXXXXX.com and include your full mailing address with your request for specific product.
Please be aware that review copies will not be available until nearer to release, although all requests will be logged.
Best wishes,
X Company
Over the past years, I have worked with hundreds of companies. If I receive a email that states review copy and giveaway and I receive the review copy, to me that is a green light on the giveaway. I asked around to several of my blogging friends and they agreed with my thoughts.
About two weeks after receiving my review copy, I draft up my giveaway post and hit publish knowing my readers are going to LOVE this giveaway as much as I love this show. You see, I did a review/giveaway for the same DVD set last year and it was a huge hit with my readers.
However, at that time it was a different more reliable and organized PR company so everything was very clear.
So after hitting publish, I sent an email to my contact letting her know and stating I would send over the winner’s information next week. A reply was promptly sent back stating they didn’t have a email confirming me with a giveaway and if I had something in writing, she would get XXX to order another copy for me. If not, then I was out of luck, it would have to be a review only.
I responded back with my email stating I wanted a review and giveaway copy, of which I did receive the review copy. To me, that was my confirmation there was also a giveaway attached to it as this is how the other companies I work with handle these things.
The response:
I’m afraid it’s not the case.
We only get given a certain amount of product to giveaway and unless we confirm this with you over email then we can’t accommodate your request.
Review requests will 9 time out of 10 be sent unless we state otherwise.
Sorry!
Okay, so I’m out of luck. This should have been stated in the original email from them, right? So I tell her I’m pulling the review/giveaway.
Pull it – we deal with 1000’s of sites and bloggers and none of them have an issue with the policy.
In fact I think it’s pretty standard that you wait for confirmation rather than assume.
Thanks!
You work with thousands of bloggers and sites, which apparently means I don’t matter. Okay, so basically I’m a idiot for assuming that since I received the review copy I would also receive the giveaway copy. Did I not read this right?
“For further review copy and giveaway requests, please contact XXX@XXXXXXXX.com and include your full mailing address with your request for specific product.
No, I never received an email confirmation stating I would get the review or giveaway product. However, once I did receive the review product in the email that is normally confirmation that the giveaway is a go. As it is with the hundreds of other companies I have successfully worked with in the past.
I can think of numerous giveaways where I never received a “confirmation” email. I just received the product to review, did the giveaway, and the company did exactly as was discussed.
I did get a little snarky back, which is not usually my style but again, this is something I would not have agreed to do as just a review and I knew it would have been a huge success with my readership.
This is completely different from every other company I work with including huge brands. I guess it’s completely my fault for not being able to read between the lines.
Please remove me from your list.
Sorry I wasted my time.
I received confirmation I was removed from their list. Of course, I’ve shared who this company is with my closest blogging friends to warn them not to work with this company. Apparently, some have also had a bad experience with them as well.
What do you think? Would you have thought the giveaway was a go when you received the review copy? Should I have handled this differently?
Update: It could have been worse. I could have been calling a really, really bad name like the Bloggess! (If you are offended by bad words don’t click.)
No, I think you handled it perfectly, the PR person was horrible considering their field. They shouldn’t take advantage of bloggers, there was a communication and they could of handled it so much better.
They had/have the copy. It’s silly that they excluded you like that. They pitched to you, right? Big market brands and PR firms are so very quick to get everyone they can to jump on the bullhorn bandwagon and are so quick to “forget the little guy” so-to-speak.
I had a friend who this happened to and purchased the product to give away to his readers. Then sent a bill to the accounting department, not the original contact. The funny thing was he sent a 30 day reminder. Never got the money but gave the original contact a well deserved headache.
I wouldn’t have been so professional about keeping their name quiet to the public. Don’t feel bad for sticking up for yourself.