Verizon’s Storm Challenge NYC goes off without a hitch, other than all the hitches
Well, it looks like the Verizon Storm Challenge went down in Times Square as scheduled yesterday but not everything went according to plan. You remember the deal right? Contestants step into a booth one at a time and a whirlwind of cards is blown around them. Each contestant who can manage to snag at least seven black BlackBerry Storm cards wins a shiny new Storm (once released) and a $50 VZW gift card. According to the accounts of some people at the event, the reps in charge of the booth managed to screw the pooch big time. At the start, things were running smoothly but after a while, no one was winning. We’re talking about a loooooong losing streak here – like, the polar opposite of Nick Papagiorgio. Finally when the crowd got restless enough and it looked like no remaining contestants could possibly win, a rep decided to look into the situation. Yup, you guessed it… There supposedly weren’t enough black Storm cards in the booth. Smooth Verizon, real smooth. Once the realization was made, reps tossed in 25 black cards and the next two contestants in line won. Go figure. The kicker in all this is that the many annoyed people who were still around after learning they participated and couldn’t possibly have won, were not allowed to get back in line and try again! Well, sorry to those who basically got screwed. Hopefully things will go a bit smoother when the Challenge hits the next city in line…
[Thanks, Robert!]
screwed
i was there and can confirm this story. i was in line when the storms were flowing like champagne in ron browz video, while standing in the rain. once the people in front of me got closer we starting to notice the winning stop. i didn’t get one which sucks. there was some people behind me and we were able to figure out what was going on with the disappearance of the black tickets.
Who cares that they got screwed, it was for free stuff. Stop being cheap bastards and buy the phone next week. Pfffft, everyones always looking for a handout. Get a job, bums.
whatever, i went by at 11am i saw a guy win, people had a good time, i got to hold the demo for a minute, these things are about advertising. I’m sure i would feel screwed if it was me but that’s life i guess. Either way, next Friday will be a good day.
does anyone know what city they will be going to next???
I was there also at one point there was a lot of winning going on (about 10 people in a row) with a lot of black cards in the booth. Then there was some reshuffling and there were almost no black cards in the booth (the few black cards that were in there had Verizon logos which gave you a bluetooth headset). The booth looked filled with white cards. Later on, additional black cards were put in. When the winning streak happened, it looked like they were going to run out of phones (100 were available) so to prolong the event, they put more white cards in.
I was there also , there were like 20 handsets left and they totally effed up my chances after about pockets of people back to back were winning effortlessly.
Practically no Sorm tickets in the booth in addition to MORE white tickets .
I had 5 out of the 7 tickets needed .
Needless to say i left with a stupid lanyard .
Super screwed .
Ha. Counting on marketing and PR types to do simple math regarding how many cards in the tank is like teaching your poodle to order pizza.
They should have just given the screw-ees a $50 gift card.
good thing i didn’t go
Im hearing next stop is in New Jersey , where in NJ im not exaclty sure .
Hey Nick from Yuma
lol that sucks
I was there when it 1st opened at 10am by 12pm only 6 winners including me….definitly more white cards than the other colors….I heard that all 100 was not giving away according to local newschannels…but I’m glad and happy I got mine they said 4-6weeks but I hope not that long being that the relase date is the 21st….thanks boy genius for the heads up on the event and location 100 percent reliable
Who gives a shit? This was an isolated incident, not some huge scheme where Verizon is trying to screw every one. This is a fucking joke.
i had seven black tickets….. (tear)
Windy city folks sing with me: “Won’t you please come to Chicago…”
They were already in Chicago at 400 block of N. Michigan Ave last week.
wow, I think people are just pissed that they didn’t walk away with a storm like me and my girlfriend did, I was 5th from last in line, and got there promptly at 3 registered at 4 and things seemed to go smoothly, I don’t know if you guys were at a different location (THATS A JOKE I KNOW YOU WERE) but people where winning left and right, and you guys have to remeber they were only giving out 100 (all 100 where given away, they guys behind me at the end of the line won the last 2) so i mean if they gave a blackberry storm to everyone they would have been gone with the first 100 people, and there wouldn’t have been a chance for the one at the end of the line like me to win, you guys need to stop being such cry babies, and BG, you need to get the facts straight before you post a story, this was a perfectly legitimate contest, people are just pissed that they lost.
CRY ME A RIVER!
anyways check out a photo of me and my girl with our winning tickets
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30217621&l=f1b28&id=1245480017
Ya, that doesn’t seem quite fair and if I was one of the people that got “screwed” I probably wouldn’t be too happy, but in the end, what can ya do? I guess some chance is better than no chance at all…
I won one also. Went at 11 and left at around 3 but it was worth it!
“screwed”??? it’s free, no one was screwed.
Crap. Guess that’s what I get for snoozin’.
It IS “screwed” if they say you can win but the game is stacked so you CAN’T. That’s tantamount to false advertising. Free stuff or not, a rigged game just isn’t cricket.
thats the point of the contest to give away phones but when you rig the game for people you take the outcome out of there hands, there was no chance for some of those people to legitimately win. The outcome for some as soon as they got in the box was predetermined.
thats bull! I was there in the thick of it and I damn near got pnemonia trying to get this damn thing. Walked away with a crappy bluetooth.