Finally won a gun raffle

[AlBeight]

Agree with Rambler and rseymourjr -

- I would NOT delay at least letting the raffle organizer know - today or tomorrow - that you‘re looking forward to getting the prize BUT if you call them again down the road it will be because you have not.

Said another way I wouldn’t wait until you don’t receive the prize to at least make the raffle organizer aware— for the very first time - of what’s going on …

Good idea, I’ll shoot them an email tomorrow letting them know that I’m disappointed in the turn of events, and that I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt to allow them time to make it right. I will let them know on a personal note how this seems a bit sketchy and they need to audit their fundraising practices and/or partners.

Thanks all for the advice.

 

[Straightshooter]

Not all raffles have the guns in stock.
The Glock A Day raffle that several MDS members enter, sends winners an order sheet to select the model you want. The gun is then shipped directly from Glock to your FFL. They tell you in the instructions that delivery can take from 3 to 6 months.
The gun I won in May, arrived at Duffy's last week. Right at the 3 month mark.

 

[jlowe23]

I handle several raffles for Friends of the NRA, Ducks unlimited, and some different Fire houses. All of them order the guns ahead of time and I have them on hand prior to the drawing taking place.

 

[aervin]

Only raffle I ever won the FFL had the gun in their possession and it was only a matter of getting down to them to do the transfer. Sorry to hear about your experience but hopefully it gets sorted quickly!

 

[StantonCree]

I handle several raffles for Friends of the NRA, Ducks unlimited, and some different Fire houses. All of them order the guns ahead of time and I have them on hand prior to the drawing taking place.

Ducks unlimited had my rifle to me in like 9 days

 

[budman93]

I've never won anything but the ones I've been to had the prize guns on a table so you could look at them.

 

[lawrencewendall]

I suck at raffles/lottery/casinos. My Son has the gift. I'll just keep plugging away at my investments which brings in 5k a month. That's a lot of guns if I choose to go that route. You do you.

 

[AlBeight]

Good idea, I’ll shoot them an email tomorrow letting them know that I’m disappointed in the turn of events, and that I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt to allow them time to make it right. I will let them know on a personal note how this seems a bit sketchy and they need to audit their fundraising practices and/or partners.

Thanks all for the advice.

Update: it got even weirder today, I typed a very concise and professional-like email and tried 3 times to send it. It kicked back for an invalid email address each time. Looked up their website, a quite poor site that looked like it was done by a 5th grader, no contact info except for a picture of a business card with their PO Box mailing address, and an email address that isn’t valid. No phone number of any kind. I’ll be sending an old fashioned snail mail letter to the PO Box address, probably certified mail to make sure they get it.

I’ve attached a screenshot of their website homepage that even notes they won’t be awarding gun prizes as usual due to the gun inventory shortage (presumably this was noted at the beginning of their competition season), yet they still sold gunraffle tickets at $20 a pop to the public.

I’ve also attached a copy of my ticket, you’ll see there is no wording about availability, nor is there any contact info for the raffle holder. I circled in red the date/prize I won.

All this is adding up to just plain sketchy. I’m going to pursue this a little more aggressively now, as far as I’m concerned this is on the razor’s edge of fraud.

I might be overreacting but at least the raffle organization will be put on notice, of course this could be malfeasance on the part of the gun shop too (they might have sold the gun or guns that were designated for the raffle).

FYI - It was for Craley Fish and Game, in Craley, PA. The gun shop is Hake’s Sporting Goods in Wrightsville, PA. All of this has my BS detector on high alert.

 

[slsc98]

MD has some pretty clear, concise and comprehensive laws regarding raffles and I imagine PA does also, if not even more stringent … may be worth your time to research and inquire who is most appropriate authority to contact, should your bs alarm go off, completely …

(Also, this could be one of those situations in which the organization being used by the raffle scammers isn’t even aware raffle tickets are being sold with their name on ‘em.
… in fact, I’m close to betting that’s what this situation involves …)

 

[AlBeight]

I suck at raffles/lottery/casinos. My Son has the gift. I'll just keep plugging away at my investments which brings in 5k a month. That's a lot of guns if I choose to go that route. You do you.

What does ”you do you” mean, in this context? What did I do to earn smart-ass replies?

 

[lawrencewendall]

What does ”you do you” mean, in this context? What did I do to earn smart-ass replies?

Whatever floats your boat. No ill intended.

 

[AlBeight]

Whatever floats your boat. No ill intended.

Since when does the act of buying a raffle ticket of any kind “float someone’s boat”? WTF are you talking about?

 

[rseymorejr]

Update: it got even weirder today, I typed a very concise and professional-like email and tried 3 times to send it. It kicked back for an invalid email address each time. Looked up their website, a quite poor site that looked like it was done by a 5th grader, no contact info except for a picture of a business card with their PO Box mailing address, and an email address that isn’t valid. No phone number of any kind. I’ll be sending an old fashioned snail mail letter to the PO Box address, probably certified mail to make sure they get it.

I’ve attached a screenshot of their website homepage that even notes they won’t be awarding gun prizes as usual due to the gun inventory shortage (presumably this was noted at the beginning of their competition season), yet they still sold gunraffle tickets at $20 a pop to the public.

I’ve also attached a copy of my ticket, you’ll see there is no wording about availability, nor is there any contact info for the raffle holder. I circled in red the date/prize I won.

All this is adding up to just plain sketchy. I’m going to pursue this a little more aggressively now, as far as I’m concerned this is on the razor’s edge of fraud.

I might be overreacting but at least the raffle organization will be put on notice, of course this could be malfeasance on the part of the gun shop too (they might have sold the gun or guns that were designated for the raffle).

FYI - It was for Craley Fish and Game, in Craley, PA. The gun shop is Hake’s Sporting Goods in Wrightsville, PA. All of this has my BS detector on high alert.

Looking at this I'm not really feeling fraud. More like volunteers with good intentions. I'll bet this is being run by a comittee. I think you'll eventually get your gun.

 

[lawrencewendall]

Since when does the act of buying a raffle ticket of any kind “float someone’s boat”? WTF are you talking about?

All I meant was that it's your money. Do what you want with it.

 

[AlBeight]

All I meant was that it's your money. Do what you want with it.

Thanks for your permission.

 

[RegularJay]

lady I work with won 2 guns at one of these about a month ago a Glock 19 and some rifle I forget.

 

[AlBeight]

lady I work with won 2 guns at one of these about a month ago a Glock 19 and some rifle I forget.

Hopefully she got lawrencewendall’s go ahead to purchase the tickets with her money....

 

[bratgirllcp]

I have won more than 1 of these raffles and the item was in stock, in hand all along at the FFL in question. Considering the supply chain of firearms these days, having a raffle for something they have to order is hinkey at best and suspicious at worst.

I agree item should be there for a raffle not on BO

 

[LRoberts]

I thought about that, but unfortunately the gun looks like it has a MSRP of a little over $500, but they are only offering a $200 cash prize substitution. I definitely don’t need another rifle, but I still don’t think that is a fair cash equivalent. I don’t expect full cash value, but that’s way too lowball to be honest.

I know, beggars can’t be choosers, right?

Don't forget, yer dealing with yankees.

 

[Calpoke]

I’ve purchased many raffle tickets over the years for gun raffles, mostly to support those organizations but also hoping to get lucky and take home a prize. Well, I finally actually won a prize, 2 weekends ago. My MD CCW permit was in my mailbox that Friday night, and Saturday morning a PA Fish and Game organization called me to tell me I won Friday’s raffle drawing for a Henry Single shot rifle in 450 Bushmaster. They told me I’d get a postcard from a local gun shop with instructions to claim my prize. Pretty cool weekend, especially since Monday morning the York County Sheriff approved my PA CCW.

I finally received the post card yesterday and it instructed me to call the LGS to verify I still wanted the rifle. I spoke with them this afternoon, and to my surprise the lady told me they didn’t have the rifle and it wasn’t in stock anywhere, and she’d have to backorder it for me. WTF?

Has this ever happened to anyone here? Is this how gun raffles typically work? I’ve never won a gun raffle before, I’ve only ever won small things at bull roasts and such, where the prizes were on a table at the front of the room. How does an organization raffle a firearm they don’t actually have? Is that even legal? At the minimum I believe it’s dishonest as hell.

If I was really counting on or depending on taking possession of that rifle I think I’d be really pissed. At this point I’m not mad, yet. I’m just wondering how long I should wait before I pursue this to another level, or is this typical procedure in a raffle of this kind?

At our American Legion the rifle hangs above the bar and when the ticket is drawn the winner takes the rifle immediately. No BS going on at our Legion. Can't speak for other organizations. Good luck getting it after back order is received.