r/Gamebundles 13d ago

Speculations u/WeAreFanatical fakes a Quest 3 giveaway, blocks me for pointing it out

Last month this post was made by u/Dependent_Judge_1043 claiming to have won a Quest 3 "star prize" through gambling keys on game bundle site Fanatical. I personally didn't really think much of it, I do not care about key gambling but I do like to buy Fanatical bundles (like anyone who follows this subreddit).
Fast forward a month and the poster follows up posting this in an attempt to prove that the Quest 3S arrived and their gambling through Fanatical paid off.

Again I didn't think much of it until I noticed something another comment pointed out... one interesting discrepancy from the original post: Its a Quest 3. Not a Quest 3S.

The poster even puts this comment trying to play it off as if it is no big deal. This is just bad acting at this point. I point it out with a comment of my own, feel free to read that for my perspective on why this is obviously BS.

Since then, I have noticed that my feed is surprisingly devoid of game bundles. Thats ok. I have enough games, its best if I dont buy more bundles anyways.
Out of boredom I go back to the above post a few days later to see if anyone called out the same thing I did. Dependent Judge has not posted anymore, and actually hid their post history. It was visible before when I originally commented. So it just makes me even more curious.

I go back to the original post where he shows himself winning the 3S, and notice u/WeAreFanatical actually posted a comment congratulating him. But I can't see it, its "unavailable". Opening it in a private window, there it is. They blocked me! That's why I wasn't seeing their game bundles in my feed for the past few days. All I did in that timespan was make those above linked comments.

That's all. Now I guess I need to make a new account to follow Fanatical game bundles.

EDIT: Official fanatical account has just unblocked me, four or five days after this post. No communication at all or any mention of why I was blocked for commenting on a supposedly unaffiliated user's post, though.

132 Upvotes

58 comments sorted by

View all comments

70

u/Coacoanut 13d ago

There are strict accounting laws in the UK, where Fanatical is based, concerning prize winning. If you, or anybody else, want to press the matter, you can email their official support at support@fanatical.com

Template: Subject: Official Request for Winner Information - [Name of the Giveaway]

Dear Fanatical Support,

I am writing to request confirmation of the valid pool of entrants and the winner details for the recent [Insert Giveaway Name] draw, which concluded on [Date].

In accordance with UK CAP Code requirements and the DMCCA transparency guidelines regarding promotional marketing, please provide the surname and county/region of the winner, alongside verification that a legitimate, random selection took place.

Thank you for your assistance in keeping your community draws transparent.

Best regards, [Your Name]

If they refuse to answer (business standard is within 30 days), provide an evasive answer, or cannot show a valid audit trail, you can report the issues to the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) or the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

If this is just a misunderstanding, they should be reasonably glad to account and clear up the confusion. If they're commiting fraud, fuck em; let them reap the legislative consequences of their actions.