Roadtest #9: Phone and SMS Competitions

Don't be like ET and phone home. Call competition promoters and winning prizes will no longer be alien to you...


Confession time: A Doctor Who DVD is the only prize I've ever won by phone or SMS. At a minimum of 55 cents per call for 190 numbers, I'm not fond of the entry fee. My mobile service provider doesn't include these calls in my cap and entering regularly would be an expensive exercise. Having said that, I enjoy dabbling in these competitions on occasion. They're quick and easy to enter and have some highly desirable prizes (holidays, cars and $1,000 gift cards, anyone?). And my lack of runs on the board could be attributed to the small number of entries I make. Not in it, so don't win it.

So where do you find these competitions? Stickers on DVDs, meals in fast food restaurants, and magazines and television are all excellent sources. Beware of TV adverts asking suspiciously simple questions though ("Where is the Eiffel Tower? For France, text A. For Australia, text B"). These premium subscription services disguised as competitions are actually signing you up for regular pornography/retarded quiz questions/tacky wallpapers at an outrageous fee like $5 per message. Check terms and conditions and give late-night TV commercials a wide berth.

A quick tour of the Australian Comping Club "Phone In & SMS Competitions" list provides several likely suspects -- including some from Getaway, The Today Show and Mornings with Kerri-Anne on TV and Grazia and Woman's Day magazines. I phone for a chance at a Toyota Hybrid car for my fiance -- he's been wanting one for a while.

If you can't take a trip on a flying bicycle, a Toyota from a phone-in competition would be the next best thing. With a steely eye on the costs you're racking up, you could be ringing up a nice little win.