Marlboro Party in a Box

Sera of Holbrook NY writes (8/17/01): On 4/2000, I was sent a promotion/contest order form from Marlboro stating that if I call on May 5 at 12 noon, and if I qualify, me and 4 other friends will be the lucky recipients of "Party in a Box" which consisted of 1 Weber bbq grill, 5 Polaroid disposable cameras, a Canon camcorder, 5 $50 gift certificates to Omaha Steaks, an Aiwa stereo system and 2 Coleman coolers.

Here was the catch: we had to save up 2500 miles (1 pack consists of 5 miles). So we saved up and sent our miles well before the deadline for the promotion. We were supposed to receive our gifts within 6-8 weeks. After months of speaking to numerous customer service representatives, which were extremely rude, impatient, and very unhelpful, we now are in the month of August 2001!

For 11 months now, we have heard the same thing over and over again, "call back in 3 weeks when our system is updated" or better yet, "I am sorry but you are not in our system and we are unable to help you".

What is interesting is I have an official letter from Phillip Morris stating that we did qualify and will be receiving all of these gifts as soon as they receive our completed form and our miles. What really burns me up is that I spoke to someone in their consumer affairs department last November she was very apologetic and promised that we will receive it ASAP, still no "Party in a Box".

Finally, I recently called the consumer affairs division to find out what is the status, the representative told me that I never qualified for this promotion and that I was to receive a complimentary gift only! If that was the case (which it wasn't) where is the complimentary gift? I asked how they could do this to their customers, and why they enticed us to purchase so many cigarettes?

He said in a stern voice "Listen, no one made you buy anything, it is not our fault that you are not entitled to this promotion and besides this promo was over last year why are you bothering us about this now, I am sorry but the promotion is over and we can't help you!" At this point, I am at my wit's end I don't know what to do and I would like to speak to someone that will be honest and straightforward with me. I wish Marlboro would stop the deceptive promotions, by doing this they are squirming their way into the consumers wallet! It isn't fair.

If Phillip Morris didn't have enough of this "Party in a Box" to go around they should have limited the number of recipients, but instead they deceived us and made us purchase their cigarettes (which totaled $2,250, considering Marlboro is not our regular brand of cigarettes nor will they ever be!) I let Marlboro know that I was going to write a letter to our local congressman and they (more or less) said "go ahead they can't do a thing to us".

The deception surrounding a barbecue grill and a couple of cheap cameras is nothing compared to the deception that leads people like Sera to take up smoking in the first place.

Steve of Pittsburgh (4/22/01):
Marlboro had a promotion in the fall of 1999. It was for a summer barbecue party. They requested you to get 5 people together and fill out a form, get copies of everyone's licenses to prove age, get a special code from them by calling on a specific day at a specific time and then mailing it all in along with 5000 points.

We did everything we were supposed to do. In return we were supposed to win a gas barbecue grill, cd player, camcorder, $100.00, gift certificates from Omaha Steaks, disposable cameras and coolers. It has now been almost two years and we have so far received the Omaha gift certificates. We keep getting letters from them saying first that the merchandise is now being sent and then next apologizing for the delay and being told they are not sending the merchandise. And then it goes right back to they are sending it. we feel that we have been more then patient with them. And we only want what they had promised all along.

We no longer save marlboro miles out of distrust for the company. We feel that we have been ripped off for the 5000 points that we have lost to them. And we have gone now for almost two years without purchasing these items ourself still believing that they are going to fulfill their side of the deal.

Tim of Palatine IL (4/16/01):
Four friends and myself have been having an ongoing problem of fourteen months with Marlboro Tobacco Company. In the year 1999, Marlboro offered a promotion to turn in 5,000 Marlboro Miles (found on the side of each pack of cigarettes – Approximately 1,000 packs of cigarettes) to receive what they were calling the 1999 Marlboro Party in a Box. That promotion was giving a Weber Gas Grill, Omaha Steak coupons, $200 in cash, a compact disk stereo, a video camera, etc. I still have all the documentation.

I dialed their (800) number (800-985-9889) in early December to receive a registration number. That registration number is 17693. The package was supposed to be delivered within sixteen weeks. I was given the 800-MARLBORO number to check on the status of the order. Every time I called I got a response that I was in the system and everything looked fine. Then on May 5th, 2000 I received a letter stating that three of the Illinois drivers licenses that were sent in with the Miles were expired. The letter stated that I had thirty days to respond or I would receive my Miles back.

I wrote a letter back (which I still have a copy of) stating that in Illinois the driver’s license can be renewed over the phone and issued a sticker. Attached was a Xeroxed copy of the front and back of the license, forms from the Illinois Secretary of State and the phone number to the office if they wanted to verify the information was correct and valid. This was mailed out the same day. I contacted them three weeks later to check the status and Marlboro verified that they received the information but it had to go through a review process.

On the 30th day, I received a call that said the licenses were not valid and I was ineligible for the promotion. At that time, I stated they were valid license that the other parties were using them on a daily basis to drive. Disappointed, I even said, “Ok just send me the 5,000 miles back”. That way I could give them back to the other four people and we could order something else. I waited several months and got no response or Miles back. Since October 26, 2000 I have been calling and they say they don’t see my PIN in their computer and manager from the “Special Handling” group will call me back within in three business days. This has gone on, on a weekly basis, for over four months now and still never a call back or the Miles.

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