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Dallas/Tampa CompUSA “Get Comped” promo stinks, so enter for free

CompUSA stores in Dallas and Tampa (in-store only, not online) are holding a promotion on June 3rd where you can “Get Comped.”  When you pay for your purchase, there’s a chance you could be the one person in each city per hour to get his/her purchase for free, up to $5000.

That’s a lousy promo, if you ask me.  Your odds of winning are small, and odds are the winner will be some guy buying a spindle of CD-Rs for $10.  It’s not enough of an incentive for me to make my purchase on this specific day and at a CompUSA, at that.  “Get Comped” sounds great as a copyline but in practice isn’t a great promotion.  I’d be far more inclined to visit the store for a “Big Sale” type of promotion.

But!  If you happen to be in the area of a CompUSA and have nothing better to do but stop in, you can win without actually having to buy something (I think there’s some sort of law that requires it).  If you read the fine print (pdf), you will find:

To enter without purchase or obligation: Tell any CompUSA cashier that you want to play for free and he/she will scan a game card at the register to see if you are a winner (”Free Play”). Limit one Free Play per person per hour of the Game Period. The official time (time stamp) of a CompUSA purchase transaction is the second when the Free Play is first recognized by CompUSA’s POS System as an authorized Free Play as determined by CompUSA in its sole discretion.

So just go in and ask for your “Free Play.”  You probably won’t win, but at least you did’t spend $2000 on a Sony Vaio to find out.  Another plan, if you have room on your credit card — buy that $4000 HDTV and return it the second you realize you didn’t win.

Fri June 2nd, 2006 9:30 pm

Filed under Advertising & Marketing