Howdy, all! Surprised? LOL I come and go in spurts, it seems. I wanted to share a few things, maybe, speak my mind, so to speak. First off, I found this video and thought you might appreciate it. The next time we think ‘they sure don’t make ’em like that anymore’, think about this.
Isn’t that something?!
The other thing I want to share is this, just because you may win a prize, it does not mean you have gained anything. Don’t worry – I’ll explain! I enter contests when I see them. If it is to win something that I will never use, nor anyone else I know can use, I don’t. But, around the design sites on the web, I have come upon some cool contests and have won my fair share of them. For some of these, all you have to do is leave a comment. Quite good odds, when you consider only sixty, or so, people comment.
One in ten sounds like good odds, eh? This could mean so much more, but, in this case, I refer to a recent ‘prize’ I won for a 2 week subscription to Fotolia. It was evident from the start that they didn’t have time for me, a non-paying subscriber.
On June 2, I was notified by the owner of the site where the contest was held, that I was one of the winners. I was given a code. So, I trotted on over to Fotolia to redeem my precious winnings! I love stock images. In photo-manipulation it is so nice to have a good source. I was hopeful. I looked the site over and over, yet, could not find any way to apply my code. I had an account already. Viewing it indicated nothing as far as them having added any ‘subscription’. So, on June 10, I sent a message via Fotolia’s contact method. I got a message that stated simply, “Will look into it.”
Nothing happened. No word, nothing! It was at this time, June 22, that I presented my dilemma to the owner of the site where I had actually won. He jumped right on it and sent someone over at Fotolia a message for me. This is what they replied, the very same day, as he forwarded it on to me:
This one is easy 🙂 all she needs to do is head to this link: (LINK), set up her account and enter in the promo code. She must have simply missed the instructions to go to that page.
WHAT is this person referring to?! What instructions?! I missed more than instructions – I missed the entire message! It has not come through my e-mail, my spam, no where. I got their message that they would look into it. Even after I sent them my very first message asking where to put the code, no one thought to give me this info. It took an email from the owner of the ‘win’ site! And, that is the very message I quoted above! All this took almost two weeks!
I followed those directions and was able to sign up, enter the code, etc. Guess what? It was expired! “Coupon has expired”! Can you believe it? So, I sent them another message. On June 29, I finally ‘heard’ back from Fotolia that my subscription had been confirmed. Wahoo! Yawn! LOL
I wandered into my experience with eyes wide open, full of anticipation, and maybe a little apprehension, due to my experiences, so far, with them. Then, I realized, I had no idea what I was allowed, what images I could ‘take’, whatever. I sent, yet, another message and did get a response. It outlined the where to’s and what for’s. Two days into it, I went to download ONE of my three-per-day allotment, only to get a message, afterwards, that I had met my quota for the day. I download one image and they say I did three? Another message sent. Only, by now, I’ve already had it. When I received an e-mail a few days later, it explained that because of the type of image it was, it counted as three. What? Do they make up the rules as they go? That particular size and format, by the way, was the very one that was highlighted as the image I was ‘allowed’ to download with my subscription. At least, they do indicate this. This way they can control what they want you to have. Okay. Whatever.
By this time, Fotolia is a real sore spot in my life. I’ve never had anything hit me more blatantly as a non-paying member of anything, as this experience. A prize should not equate you with beggar-status or ‘one who does not deserve the same treatment’. Yet, being a winner, in this case, has been nothing akin to acquiring something special. If anything, this experience drove home to me that I was only on the fringes. I was not an actual member, as one usually associates with memberships. For all they know, I would have ‘sampled’ their wares and found them so wonderful that I would sign on with one of the largest contracts they’ve ever seen! Well, maybe not that, but, at least, as a paying member.
I wouldn’t now. I don’t want anything to do with this place ever again! I sent my last message asking them to delete my account. They did – the very next day. And, that’s the end of my story. LOL Sad, but, true. I was able to download seven images total. Two days’ worth, at three-per-day, plus the one day my one selection counted as three. I guess that is something. Only, I believe, now that I am no longer a member, I am no longer allowed to use any of them. I don’t know and I am not sending any more messages!
In all fairness, the images at Fotolia were really nice! Everything was laid-out to make selecting an image fairly easy. The type of images I perused, landscapes, nature and vectors, were all good images. Very professional. I find it interesting that my winning a gazillion icons was an easy prize to collect. I have no idea what I will do with them! LOL But, the one prize I awaited so anxiously, the Fotolia prize, was the very one that was so hard to collect. I won a prize of twenty credits from Deposit Photos about a year ago. I still have a few credits remaining and they are still there!
I guess it is as they say, “You win some; you lose some.” In this case, though, it comes out to being more like, “You win some; you still lose.” The ‘one in ten’ I referred to at the start of this post? The ‘one winning out of ten winnings that might actually be worth something’. It is a shame that to win a prize you have to be put through any kind of crappy business! It has rather ruined my week!
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a free spirit 