You Lost. Move On.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that at the tail end of last week I tweeted a couple of random things to Taylormade Golf. The purpose behind those tweets was to try and win a contest where the prize was a new R11S Driver. Now, I just got a new driver a couple of years ago which still works well (actually, it doesn't work that well, but I blame that more on the operator than the equipment) so I don't really need a new driver. However, the latest drivers are adjustable, very scientific and super-expensive, so when I can win a $400 golf club just by pushing a button I figure the least I can do is try. After all, I can use all the help I can get and since my golf budget for the entire year is probably less than the cost of that club, I'm certainly not about to go out and buy one on my own. I also liked that the contest was very straightforward: watch the telecast of the tournament and when a certain graphic appeared on the screen, tweet the code - the first 11 people to get it in won the club. (Didn't even have to join the cult that is Facebook.) Now, even though I had pre-typed the code on my phone and was very quick to send it in, I was unsuccessful. I was disappointed, but I certainly wasn't about to go around complaining about it. Instead I deleted the tweets (only because I don't like having a clogged Twitter feed) and went on with my life. I just wish I could say that for everyone involved.

I was checking the TaylorMade feed later to see if my name was among the winners (I knew it wasn't, but checked anyway just to make sure), when I saw that TaylorMade had told a couple people they should contact them directly about any concerns they had about the contest. Since I am nosy by nature (runs in the family), I went to those people's feeds to see what their complaints were. Well, as near as I can tell, they were mostly just pissed they lost. One guy was contending that it was impossible for anyone to have tweeted faster than him, another guy said it wasn't his fault because his feed timed out and a third guy said that one of the winners had been tweeting the code all day, which should have disqualified him. One of the men who complained even tweeted something to the effect of, "I'm never going to use a TaylorMade product again unless they contact me in person!" This is where it once again becomes obvious that I should never work in customer service any more, because my reaction would have been something along the lines of, "Ok. Bye." Seriously, who is this guy and why should we care what clubs he uses? It's not exactly like Tiger Woods switching brands. Overall, they just came across as whiners and complainers.

I think what was really bothering me is that their complaints were just so petty. Of course it is possible for people to have tweeted faster than that guy. This is the internet, where hundreds of thousands of people can perform the same action nearly simultaneously, not some radio station which only has a couple of available lines. I'm sure hundreds of people tried to win this contest so trying to sort through all the tweets which showed up, all most likely within tenths of seconds of one another, was probably not easy. If they overlooked somebody, so be it - I'm sure it wasn't intentional. As for the guy whose feed timed out, I would say that was an issue with his internet and nothing that had to do with the contest. I certainly didn't have any problem getting through and it looked like no one else did either. And while I don't doubt there were people who tweeted the code multiple times, which according to the rules was supposed to disqualify you, I can only imagine the chaos that went into this contest. Drawings are hard enough when the group is small - you put it on the internet and it's like the Wild West come to life. I would guess the person in charge of the TaylorMade Twitter account (who is probably just some poor intern) focused on the first people to tweet in and didn't pay attention to the multiple tweeters. It could have easily happened and that doesn't make it part of some huge conspiracy or mean that the contest was rigged. On the whole it appears that those guys are confusing '"getting cheated" with "losing".

I have this sinking suspicion some of these people were complaining just because they lost and hoped that by raising a stink they would get paid off with some kind of consolation prize. I really hope that TaylorMade didn't cave and send these guys something just to get them to shut up, because I have a fundamental problem with the assholes who complain only until they get something for free. However, I have this really bad feeling that is what happened. I know that these whiners probably represent a very small percentage of the people who entered, but I still just think it makes us all look bad. I also don't like people who complain about free stuff in general and especially can't stand the people who complain about free contests. If you had to pay money to enter and you see something which you think is fishy than sure, complain away. But it didn't actually cost you anything to play so losing is a 'no harm, no foul' situation. You got what you paid for. These companies are under no obligation to ever give things away and if people start complaining about everything than they won't bother to have these kinds of contests in the future. As a guy who has won something through Twitter before I would like to have the chance to do it again. If that opportunity gets taken away because of these kinds of complainers it would really annoy me. And you really don't want to make me annoyed enough to start complaining, because in case you haven't noticed I have a lot more than 140 characters at my disposal.