Have you tried to enter a giveaway on the last day, only to find a message that says CLOSED?

I know this has happened to you because it has happened to me countless times.

Why does it happen?

The rules are very clear. It ends at midnight on the last day of the month. Yet, on the last day, it’s closed.

It happens because one of three things happens. The person setting up the contest didn’t:

  1. confirm the program had the correct end time, or
  2. thought that 11:59 am was correct, (not noon) or
  3. thought 12:00 am June 30th was correct (not a day early).

This mistake is squarely on the person programming the giveaway. I know this as I have set up or vetted many giveaways in various sweepstakes programs and have had to set or fix the start and finish parameters.

What irks me the most is that it’s so late in the game, and many times happens on the weekend, there isn’t any point in reaching out to the sponsor or agency as it will never be corrected in time.

Have you had this happen to you?