I did a local festival. I entered a choccolate sculpture contest for it.
I won second place and 200.00. That was Oct.

I have called about 6 times and have gotten the run around. Last week I called and was told the check would be in the mail. Of course it is not here and I still get the same run around.

Should I take them to small claims court? It is a charity place but still...they put on the event, they should pay.

I don't know, but what about reporting them to the attorney general's office? With it being a charity, contest, fraud, etc.... that might be more appropriate than small claims?

I'm not sure what I'd do about it, but I'd be ticked! If you can't afford to pay the prize, don't offer it. I know the state has all kinds of rules and regs about contests and charities.

I would say something like, "It would be a shame for the newspaper or so & so tv reporter to hear about this." "It would be too bad for XYZ Company, one of your big supporters to hear about this." They say bla bla. I would say, "I didn't say I was going to call them I said it would be to your shame if they heard of this."

At this point you have nothing to loose.

I would not take them to court myself but you sure could.

Again I agree w/K8 I don't think court is the right avenue for this....but a reporter (newspaper or t.v.) might be.

I would do a variation of what K8 said--- send them a letter saying you won, they owe you $200.00, and if they don't pay you by _________, you will notifiy the attorney general, TV reporters and their donors to know that they have defrauded you. Then if they don't pay, file it in court.

Give them a chance to pay with an EXACT deadline, and then follow through with a court if necessary. I could use $200, and I am sure you can too. It is righfully yours.

Do have any way of knowing if the First Prize winner got her reward? I'd be interested to know.

Small claim isnt worth the hassle for 200 bucks but the principle is. Try the letter route first though or try writing to your local paper and cc them on it. Good luck!

small claims court might get a judgement in your favor, but it doesn't mean they have to pay you in any kind of timely fashion. It could take forever to get you money. I agree about the newspaper. I live near Chicago. The Chicago Sun Times has a lady callled "the fix-it lady" (or something like that).......she helps with all kinds of issues like that. Maybe your paper has something similar.

Yes, stand up for what's right! Check with your local talk-radio station - several of them have a "consumer guru" whose show deals with all sorts of consumer fraud / deadbeats / general runaround. If you are having trouble locating a local consumer guru, Clark Howard is based on WSB radio in Atlanta, and he/his staff can probably point you in the right direction. He might have a FAQ section on the website to get you started. Good luck!

Okay, I'm not that organized and I am a procrastinator, so I can see how they could have not paid you yet but it not be because they are trying to rip you off. I would politely but firmly contact them again but in writing, as stated, with a deadline to have the payment made, and state that xyz is the consequence if it is not met. Actually, I would probably give two options -- e.g. cheque is received by December 31 or else the treasurer (or whoever) contacts me by dec 20 to arrange for me to come and pick up the cheque. Whatever. If you are just speaking to office staff, the treasurer might not be getting the message. I had an issue with billing with a business and after two months of calling, I just wrote a letter saying I had called this many times and here is what is going on and I need an answer, and a couple days later I had a call back from the person in charge of billing and she said she hadn't gotten any of my messages. It happens.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

i think you should report this, perhaps they are not a real charity after all. did you have to pay an entrance fee?

They may have expected the winner to donate the monetary prize back to the charity. You can report their failure to pay to your State Attorney General's office, your State charity office, which you can find at www.nasconet.org, or you can file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. You have several options without going to small claims court. Good Luck!

I did pay a small fee of 75.00 for the booth space. It was a good turn out for them as far as vendors go. There was about 50 I think.

I'd like to just show up at the office and say" I'm here" but I think the location is a secret becasue it's a womens shelter.

Either way I'll keep at them. I like the letter idea and I could check with the attorney general. .... where do I find the attorney general?

http://ago.mo.gov/

and click on contact us or consumer complaints

Well I diden't need to go that far.

She actually called me the next day and said the check was in the mail. ( I got it thenext day)I told her I felt like I was getting the run around. She said there was just too many people in charge and not one person to fix the problem. HUmmm.... either way I got paid, so I'm glad that's done with.

I am glad it got resolved-regardless of how long it took. I had the worst experience with a cake scholarship I received. I took the class and paid for it and was to be reimbursed within 2 weeks-BUT 4 months later I was REALLY sweating getting that check! In the end it all worked out, it sure sticks being in limbo though!

I'm glad everything finally got straightened out! Too many cooks spoil the pot