Time Inc., will refund $4.9 million to more than 6,000 customers that spent more than $500 during any of the last three years on the company’s “Guaranteed & Bonded” sweepstakes, according to a statement from the California Attorney General’s office.
While individuals in 48 states, plus the District of Columbia, will be included in the settlement, California accounted for more than 900 customers slated to receive rebates.
The arrangement, which was announced yesterday, also calls for Time to make “major consumer disclosures” in its sweepstakes mailing, the statement said.
The settlement was the second made with a major sweepstakes operation this week. On Tuesday, Publishers Clearing House reached a multi-state accord as well.
As was the case in the PCH settlement, Time Inc. also agreed to include a “Sweepstakes Facts” flier in its mailings. The flier will clearly state the odds of winning, the fact that the consumer has not yet won, that making a purchase will not help the consumer win, and that the consumer does not have to purchase anything to enter the sweepstakes.
In addition, according to the statement, Time will not be permitted to “misleadingly state that a consumer is the winner or about to become the winner of a sweepstakes, misleadingly tell consumer that they have a better chance of winning a sweepstakes than they actually do or represent that the sweepstakes package has been sent by special courier or a special class of mail if it has not.”
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