Can I just say, firstly, that in no way has this post come from sour grapes, bitchiness towards my fellow blogger or anything else which I'm sure certain
I'm not going to name and shame, I'm sure some of you will guess who I'm referring to but, for the rest of you, its a pretty big British firm, who have worked with bloggers before.
Twice now, twice people, I have been invited, even encouraged, to apply for a programme they ran this year and have launched again this year. Twice I have basically been told by two different people from the same firm who represent this company that applying is a technicality as someone in my position will obviously be first choice.
After this happened last year, and I wasn't chosen, I found out that several other bloggers had been told the exact same thing, about it being a technicality. So, this was just a joke, and frankly, I didn't even bother to apply at first this year. The fact that, last year, we all got an email saying we'd not been chosen at the same time as the 10 or 20 who had was fair enough, if a little disappointing due to the technicality bit.
What really made me cross was that they (the company) expected us to place the same badge as those who had been chosen on our blogs for an infinite time, for no money or reward. I don't know any of the non-chosen bloggers who bothered as it was such a cheeky thing to ask.
Cut to this year, and, as I said, I didn't bother to apply at first. Then, I happened to be at an unconnected day out and was again hit up to apply. I said I was so disappointed in how the scheme was handled last year, with regards the being almost promised that I was already chosen and the free advert bit that I wasn't going to apply. The PR even chased me up regarding applying via email, saying I had an even better chance this year of being picked.
So, sucker that it appears I am, I did so. Such was the PR's insistence that I sign up, I was allowed to apply after the closing date. Sure thing right?
Wrong.
To keep up the kick in the teeth that this firm and its reps seem to find is best practice when handling bloggers, they allowed those of us not chosen to find out via Twitter when the few who were chosen started the inevitable brag all about it. Nice.
This was Thursday by the way.
Today, I finally receive a standard email much akin to last years, saying by now we'd have guessed we aren't chosen (no shit, Sherlock), and she tried so hard to get us all picked (you know, since I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was a sure thing and is now pretty pissed off, again) and how about applying next year (err, do I look daft? BLOCK).
As I said previously, its not the not being chosen. Its the lies two years in a row, the fact that yet another firm feels its OK to treat bloggers as if our little blog is akin to jam making and only as a distraction to being our mumsy (thus stupid) selves, and the fact it took between Thursday and Monday to have the decency to email about us not being chosen.
They wouldn't dare treat journalists like that. They wouldn't make promises to anyone else. So why treat bloggers as if we are just there to dangle a carrot at before retracting it?
Now, most cases of PR v Blogger angst pass me by, and can be written off as a bit of a silly error. But this, this is just rudeness.
So, dear company, as I will be telling you via email. Please do not email me again, chase me to apply, and treat me like crap. Cos you'll find that your emails bounce back.
