British entertainment retail chain Zavvi today emailed what appears to have been its entire subscriber base to inform them that they had won its Mastercard competition – the prize a VIP trip with tickets for two to the Champions League final.
The company blamed “some technical issues” for the error, as recipients took to social media to vent their euphoria – and then despair: “I feel like someone took my favourite childhood teddy bear and put it in a blender” one wrote.
The company had launched the competition in May for customers who use their Mastercard to pay at zavvi.com between 23rd April 2019 to 6th May 2019, and furnish the company with their email address.
In a now deleted Tweet the company said it was looking into what happened, writing: “Apologies, we’re aware of the problem regarding the recent Mastercard Competition. We seem to have had some technical issues and we’re currently looking into this.”
Customers, it is fair to say, were disappointed.
I proper thought this was fake at first and then got really excited (albeit with disbelief) when I saw the links were legit. I feel like someone just took my favourite childhood teddy bear and chucked it in a blender!
— Dan Steward (@robertjamesAber) May 9, 2019
Although some saw the funny side… We think?
OMG @zavvi I'm so excited. I've asked my employer for time off, he said no so I quit. Thank you for choosing me for this great prize #mastercard #zavvi #ucl #livtot #madrid @Mastercard @MastercardUK pic.twitter.com/fuHUsleNYZ
— Paul freeborn (@paul_freeborn) May 9, 2019
Zavvi is owned by British ecommerce unicorn The Hut Group, which bought the rights to the name after the Zavvi music store failed. The company started by selling CDs and DVDs to British shoppers via a VAT-free offshore tax loophole. The company is the developer of HG Ingenuity, a proprietary eCommerce platform.
A Mastercard spokesperson said in an emailed statement: “We are extremely disappointed with today’s events and our sympathies go to the many people who were wrongly contacted by Zavvi in connection to their competition. We have asked Zavvi to clarify how they are resolving as a matter of urgency.”
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