Modernmom.com Disney Contest / False Advertising

[mommy2all]

There is an on-line website called Modern Mom.com that is having an on-line contest. They are located in California. The contest is for a Disney World Vacation Giveaway valued at $5000. The originally contest started on 2/14/09 and was to be run through 2/25/09 when their favorite submitted videos would be picked & posted that day for the Modern Mom Community to vote on a winner. On 2/23/09, there were only two of us who entered the contest and made the deadline and on their website that day; they changed the deadline to 2/28/09 with their favorites to be posted on 3/1/09. I read on-line laws and what I found was that it is illegal to change the contest deadline if the contest had already started? Is it legal to do so, or is it considered false advertisement. After they changed the contest deadlines the day they were suppose to end, 3 more people entered the contest and one of the new entries will surely win, as it is beyond a sad story! I think it is being used to get attention drawn to the Modernmom.com website. It is not fair to the 3 of us that entered by 2/25 and met the original deadline. I printed off the website with the original rules on 2/14/09; before they changed the dates on the day the contest was suppose to end. I also printed their changed rules that they did not note as changed. They ran this same contest last year and there were only 5 of us who met the deadline & again they changed the deadline on the day the contest was supposed to end. I just find it hard to believe that it is legal to do this, especially for the same contest and same prize package.

I called ModernMom several times and left voice mails & they never returned my calls. I have e-mailed them and they will not return my e-mails. I posted on their message boards and they have gone in and deleted my posts. I believe this is a "FIXED" giveaway & I believe it is false advertising. They changed the rules after the contest started. Another contestant contacted them & they responded to her and told her they never changed anything. So, I got on their site today after she spoke to them and they removed the rules from their website (but I still have the original rules and changed rules I printed from their website). I do not feel it is fair to those of us who followed the rules and met the original deadline.

The Disney contest is valued at $5000.00 and was advertised on their website.
Do they have to follow the original rules and the 3 of us that entered by the original date should be the only ones allowed in the contest? They also put that the finalist would be up on 3/1/09 for voting. On 3/1 no voting site was put up. I posted on their message board with no response in regards to the status of the contest. The current person winning posted & they responded tech difficulties and they would have up on 3/4/09". They did not have up then and just posted 3/11/09 for voting to start. I believe it is a fraudulent business claim and that I should be compensated for being cheated out of a contest that I had a "really" good chance of winning.

I did get a hold of them on Friday & spoke to the owner, Lita Carrico. I told her it was not fair for the contest dates to be changed after the contest was started. First she said nothing was changed, but then I told her I had printed her website rules before and after the changes and that I had proof they were changed. She then told me that they have a contract with Disney and the contest had to run so many days under that contract. She said they were in the mist of changing servers and did not receive all the applications, due to server issues. I told her that should not have mattered, as the contest still ran the # of days they originally posted. I told what she was claiming was not true, as when the videos are posted on You Tube, they are dated. I let her know that there were 3 entries after the original deadline that were picked as finalists. She then told me if I had an issue I could talk to the company’s attorneys, but did not give me a number to contact them.

I feel I have been cheated again this year out of the same contest. Last year there were seven entries and they picked 5 for the finals and a person that entered after the original contest date won. This year there were 6 entries. Three that meet the original deadline after the contest started and three who entered after the rule dates changed at the end of the contest. Again, they ran this same contest last year with a Disney Vacation give away & they changed the entry dates on the last day of the contest. I cannot believe Disney would sponsor / and or contract with a company that changes the rules as they go along, instead of following the laws.

I have filed a complaint with the attorney general, but am very seriously considering legal action. Can you tell me if I have a chance of winning a case if I file a lawsuit and what kind of an attorney I need to hire? Any other advice I could get would be great.


Thanks,

Teresa