A Quincy man was thrilled when he won a big prize in a local morning radio show contest, but that excitement turned to disappointment when he couldn't collect it.
"I was so excited," said Garrett Schick. "You're feeling good driving on the way to work in the morning, you win a prize. I called my wife right away. I'm like, 'You won't believe what just happened!'"
Schick matched up two numbers and won a two-night Waterville Valley getaway on Jan. 20. He had been following Kiss 108's "Billy and Lisa in the Morning" show's match game and won big. It was a moment the station even posted on its Instagram page.
The station took his information and told him they’d be in touch. But he never got the prize.
"It was all good until it wasn't good. When you get the silence and you don't really know what to do when you've had your information out there," he said. "I never heard from them at all. Definitely a letdown."
Weeks and months went by.
"I've tried emailing, I tried calling the studio line a couple of times," said Schick. "I tried calling the numbers that were listed on their website. It was going to different voicemails that I had no idea what it was. It wasn't the same number that was represented on the website."
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In July, he contacted NBC10 Boston Responds.
"I had seen the other stories on there," he said. "It was a last resort, absolutely, that was the last resort to reach out to you guys."
We didn't get any response to the emails we sent to Kiss 108, so we took our inquiries to the executives at iHeartMedia, the station owner. And a few days later, Schick heard from the director of marketing.
"It was it was back to being like I had just won the prize in the first place. It was, wow, they actually came through. They actually want to give this to me, they are apologetic and they want to make things right," he said. "I told my wife, you won't believe who just called back finally, you know ... but is it's like, all right, I guess this is actually happening almost 10 months later."
iHeartMedia upgraded Schick’s prize to a three-night stay at Smuggler's Notch in Vermont and threw in four tickets to the Kiss 108 Jingle Ball concert at TD Garden, a $250 grocery store gift card, a $100 restaurant gift card and a couple of T-shirts.
"The extra gift cards will definitely go to good use. We're a family of three, about to be four. So that'll all that all go to good use," said Schick. "I do believe it was an oversight. I'm glad, you know, other listeners can know that, you know, a big prize like that will come through if they win. But I do believe it was an oversight. It was a very sincere apology. The extra surprises along the way were great."
The family enjoyed a nice long weekend in Vermont and are looking forward to the Jingle Ball.
"I don't think it would have been resolved without your help,” Schick told NBC10 Boston Responds. "I'm glad it's over, glad to get some time up there and glad it finally came through!"
iHeartRadio did not respond to our request for a comment on the situation. But Schick said it told him the prize verification wasn't tracked properly and that it is updating the contact information on its website.
Have a consumer complaint? Reach out to the NBC10 Boston Responds team online or call 1-888-521-NEWS.
