Question: Do Sweepstakes Leave Phone Messages if You Win Prizes?
I work in an office and spend many hours away from home, so I'm always nervous that I'll win a sweepstakes prize and won't be around to answer the phone. Do sweepstakes leave phone messages when you win?
Answer: Some sweepstakes sponsors will leave phone messages when you win prizes, but many more won't. It is difficult for sponsors to fulfill prizes if they don't know when or if a potential winner will return their call. So many times, the sponsor or sweepstakes administrator will make a specific number of attempts to reach the winner by phone before disqualifying them and drawing a new winner.
The protocol for contacting the winner is often outlined in the sweepstakes' rules. For example, this relevant section of the rules may look something like this:
Sweepstakes Administrator will make up to 3 attempts in a 7 day period to contact winner via telephone. If the potential winner cannot be reached after 3 attempts, a new potential winner will be drawn.
How to Avoid Being Disqualified for Missing a Winning Phone Call
If you are worried about missing winning phone calls, you have a few options for making yourself easier to reach by telephone. You can consider:- Using a Cell Phone to Enter Sweepstakes: If you give out a cell phone number on sweepstakes entry forms, you can bring your phone with you (nearly) wherever you go, avoiding the chance of missing calls. You can even buy an inexpensive phone to use just for sweepstakes entries.
- Use Call Forwarding to Avoid Missed Wins: Call forwarding gives you the option to receive calls from your home number at other locations. For more information about how to do this, see How to Use Call Forwarding to Avoid Disqualification.
Before you worry too much about missing phone calls telling you you've won, remember that telephone is only one of the methods sweepstakes use to tell you that you've won. See How You Know You've Won Sweepstakes for more details about prize notification methods.
