Travel contest breached rules, says commission

Prizewinners Viv and Richard Frost. Photo / Natalie Slade

A radio competition which failed to adequately mention that winners would need to purchase overseas flights to claim their prizes has fallen foul of the Commerce Commission.

Last October, The Edge radio station ran a promotion in which Intrepid Travel was "giving away $20,000 worth of trips around the world".

Auckland woman Viv Frost was told she had won a safari trip for two to Kenya after she did a SkyJump from the Sky Tower and found a hidden globe.

But she was shocked to be told later that she and her husband would have to pay $6000 for their flights to claim their $3000 prize - a safari tour for two in Kenya, not to Kenya.

Intrepid Travel initially claimed the prizes were clear in the marketing, as well as in the online terms and conditions.

However, when the Commerce Commission began an investigation into whether the competition breached the Fair Trading Act, Intrepid Travel sought legal advice.

They conceded the promotion was misleading and agreed to pay for the flights of the Frosts and three other competition winners.

The commission found the promotional material was likely to have breached the Fair Trading Act.

A warning letter has been sent to Intrepid Travel advising it of the commission's decision.

While additional costs to be paid by the winner were included in the terms and conditions, the commission noted other competition material was misleading. That included a tweet on the Intrepid Travel website on the day of the competition which read: "Congrats to our final winner who won an amazing trip to Africa".

Although Intrepid Travel was responsible for all competition material, the commission advised The Edge to check any promotional material it receives in future.

Mrs Frost said yesterday that the findings vindicated their decision to challenge Intrepid Travel over the prize. She and her husband were flying to Kenya in 16 days, "and definitely counting down now".

"It's the first decent holiday without children for 15 years. So we're definitely looking forward to it."

The Edge could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Intrepid Travel spokeswoman Eliza Anderson said the company recognised their mistake and would learn from it.

They now made entrants tick a box saying they understood a competition's terms and conditions, and also ensured it was clear what prizes were in competition material.

"It was a very valuable lesson learned for us ... it was never our intention to mislead anyone."