View Entry

May

2008

10:14am

ZooToo Makeover very misleading!

Posted by sfwain in Shelter Makeover

12 comments

Hello,

I can say I will no longer be visiting the Zootoo website and will make sure that all my customer on my email list & at my shop & websites don't either. We all helped the WAHS earn the first place vote & now I find out they actually did not get first place or even come in 2nd or 3rd place after the ZooToo judging process??? What kind of contest were they running! What a misleading contest (I would say scam)!!! They should not have advertised it the way they did! They shouldn't have even mentioned First place, making it sounds as if they win the top makeover. Instead they should have just listed top 20 shelters will be eligible to win a makeover, that is not how it was worded. I have owned my own businesses & have an idea about marketing since I've been doing it for over a decade & I know better than to advertise it the way they did if you weren't going to give first place the top makeover prize! Come on you can't tell me they didn't consult someone before deciding on how to launch this contest.

I announced in my customer newsletter (over 7,000) & on our store website that WHAS won the makeover when Zootoo announced it and everyone was so excited. Now I have customers coming in everyday saying what the heck happened they didn't win, someone else is getting the makeover. They are really pissed and I don't blame them at all! I know scams can be found all the time online but I thought ZooToo was legit, but I guess I was wrong!!!! Shame on you!!!

Shelley Wain

Bookmark & Share:

Newsvine

Digg

Del.icio.us

Add journalentry to Pick List

Discussion

Comment on this entry

12 comments found.

Anne M. (AnneM)
3 months ago

I too will be removing my presence from the ZooToo site. The fine print didn't necessarily match what R. Thompson said numerous times in his TV promos. How did the ZooToo team determine NEED anyway? I believe all of the 1000 shelters had need, but this still seemed to be more like a lucky drawing than an actual evaluation of the needs of the shelters. I would rather spend my time helping to raise some actual funds than a remote chance that we could "win" something.

hymcheng
3 months ago

A handful of supporters of WAHS have posted their displeasure with the outcome of the makeover contest. In looking more closely at them, I realized that MOST of the complaints are coming from people who have earned very few points for WAHS: in fact, most have written only a couple of product reviews at best, made a few comments on news stories, and that is it! While I agree that there appeared to be many mistakes made in the management and execution of the first-ever makeover contest, I find this attitude of self-entitlement by these WAHS supporters, who are so outraged, to be rather irksome. Yes, you earned the most points by a landslide. But you also had 16,000+ supporters registered. You had a local news media that helped you tremendously to spread the word. Be grateful for that. There were many shelters where their local media was not quite so supportive. These shelters had fewer memberships. These shelters made it into the Top 20 with considerably fewer supporters, but the ones who did registered worked their hearts out and battled and clawed their way into the Top 20. They are just as DESERVING of the million dollar makeover as WAHS or any of the other shelters. Once you put things into perspective, you should not be so upset.

Yes, ZooToo could have done a better job in advertising this contest. BUT did you ever think that your local news media is also responsible for distributing erroneous information about this contest? How did you find out about this contest? I bet you it was through your local TV news channel rather than ZooToo news! Did the leaders of WAHS contact the local TV news stations and ensure that the rules of the contest were clearly stated? While I do feel sorry that some supporters of WAHS feel that they have been misled, at the end of the day I also feel that the blame needs to be shared by multiple parties. The first makeover contest is in the past now, with the announcement of St. Louis as the winner. Let's just all move on and see if there is anything that we ZooTooers can do to ensure that the second makeover contest is not plaqued by similar problems, shall we?

Julie Kay S. (JulieKaySmiths0n)
3 months ago

I've read and pondered this response since right after it was posted, letting my own comment "gel" and finally come forth through the keyboard. There's still no way to top this comment, IMHO. We all tried very, very hard and for those that didn't make the "top twenty," it's the positive attitude that makes the winners: The "no matter what, we're giving our very best, win or not" mindset is what makes winners, winners. The fact that the shelter I support (Humane Society of Madison County, in London, Ohio) eventually made tenth place does not color my comments. There were bound to be growing pains and a lot of learning on the first contest. Heck, I didn't even know there was a contest until there was only five weeks left! I can tell you, with a slow dial-up connection and no way to get my AVI 29-second videos to upload, I had to learn what to do to add points and do it legitimately. Reviewing products and then photographing Wiggles using those products was my "secret." It was very time-intensive and I let other things slip during those five weeks, but the need to help our little shelter was so strong, the cause so good, the deadline approaching so quickly, and the conviction so urgent, somehow the points went from the teens to the hundreds and then to the thousands. Sure, I could grouse about not having a highspeed connection, or about the fact that, for whatever reason, AVI videos don't match with ZooToo, but to what end? We are trying to help our beloved animals. That's what it's all about. Nothing else matters! We do our best. If the powers that be for whatever reason don't measure up to whatever our standards are, so what? Life is life; let's make the second contest all it can be and keep trying for our animals. They deserve our best. Quitting is not an option. It never is. Trying means seeing problems merely as opportunitied in work clothes!

Cupcake
3 months ago

well said, you must feel like a broken record by now, but everything you have said her and on other journals has great merit

peasNlove
3 months ago

And PS- Stray Rescue was who I was voting for. So I guess you could say I'm pretty happy. But I'm definitely not biased either. I was a bit confused about the whole ending process of things... But Stray Rescue was in second place virtually the entire time... And they needed this! They DID visit all of the top 20 shelters and I guess the point of that was to decide who needed it most. So I guess I applaud their judgment. Either way, it was free. It didn't cost any party any involvement unless they paid to advertise... So stop whining and complaining!

peasNlove
3 months ago

I agree completely! This is starting to become something of the high school aptitude.

Michele (MicheleZ)
3 months ago

I was thinking along the lines of "Cupcake". You wrote a nice response, Hymcheng. I don't know how you do it, but I admire and envy your patience and perseverence.

hymcheng
3 months ago

*sigh* I absolutely do feel like a broken record! But it's important not to let misinterpretations, from BOTH sides, go unchallenged. It'll just come back to haunt us....

Cupcake
3 months ago

Did you ever contact zootoo to confirm that they won before you put it in your newsletter, some shelters might not have even met the eligibility and there forth did not stay in the top 20. I understand your frustration, but I would have researched before putting my company on the line if it was me but that is my opinion, seeing as that is my lively hood

Patti B. (slavetoabunny)
3 months ago

I agree. Those of us that read the rules were aware that there would be a "vetting" process after the contest ended to ensure that they were both eligible and the points were valid. I believe two shelters were disqualified at the end of the contest. Even though they were disqualified, I understand that Zootoo gave them a cash award anyway for their hard work. If this is not the case, please feel free to correct me. This is just what I heard.

Michele (MicheleZ)
3 months ago

You have made a very good point about good business practices. I might add that it was clearly pointed out from the onset that Zootoo wouldn't be announcing the official makeover winner until May. This, alone, indicated there was a "winner confirmation" proces--like every other contest has. Zootoo NEVER to my knowledge stated that any shelter would be an "instant winner" on the day the contest ended (March 31, 2008).

Michele (MicheleZ)
3 months ago

(Correction: "proces" should be "process")