Publishers Clearing House / PCH.com
reviews and complaints

I was playing on pch search & win back in march my page went off like the 4th of july. Then said prize patrol has been notified. Saturday the 17 the they said I won ten thousand dollars an hour later my heart was broken they said it was a mistake & I was the only one who recived this email 'not true ' lots of people recived the same email this is just wrong I need help with a lawyer. I filled 2 complaints with the attorney general in illinois & new york. Please some one help me they just keep selling false dreams & they send emails that say someone in your zip code will win 1 million dollar never happens. [protected]@gmail.com if anyone can help me please do so. Thank you...

sept 17 2016 pch said (on screen) i won $10, 000, hours later they emailed me saying it was a mistake, they were sorry and gave me extra more chances to win. check my complain similar to many at consumer affair. I emailed them saying that they need to pay me my prize, again they said it was a mistake and gave me 50, 000 extra worthless tokens and said enjoy playing. i'm not the only one with the $10, 000 fake prize to my surprise! with me others hundreds of thousands were duped.

PCH games = fraud/scam. been playing for years. won worthless tens of millions of tokens. played hours daily. wasted my time. the other day on sceen they said i won$10, 000, wow, next day i received email from pch that it was a mistake and the winner was somewhere else. emailed them a couple of times, said it was a mistake, they were sorry, and enjoy playing have fun.scam! fraud! dont waste your time. they'l use you only!

I order a frying pan from you and now they are saying it will take up to 3 weeks to get this item it already has a shipping label but they will not send it too me i want to get my money back from this item iand i will never do business with you ever again and i will also tell all my friend not to either this i outrageous to make me wait so long to get this item it isn't a magazine it is a frying pan

I received a message stating that I won $10000 and then received an email stating that there was an error and that my name was inadvertantly added in error. That someone else had won. I believe that they should honor what the message said to me. It seems through reading some comments on this site that others have gone through the same thing. I want to know what I need to do to correct this problem. I wish I had taken a picture but I do have all email correspondence stating the error. Incident # [protected]

I received a letter stating I have won I sent in the 12.99 and nothing. Now I got a third letter stating the same thing. You given up my hopes and dreams and have scared me very badly. I will never have my hopes and dreams fullfilled of building a homeless shelter because of this I am getting an attorney and during you. Take this email very serious because I am. One way or another you will pay for giving people false hopes. In my case it was a dream. Contact me if you wish but I might not be happy to speak with your company but I will. Either I'll see you in court or not if you decide to show up. Let's just say the pile of evidence is more than enough to win a case. Please fix whatever the hell is wrong with your website and that screwed up company you call of yours PvP or whatever the hell you call it

People people, do you really think pch is going to pay out on any of their online games lol now did you :-) this site isnt even monitored by pch I doubt they even own it.
The slot, the wheels, th scratch offs, lol they are there for entertainment only. They are people who have 80 million tokens who have never won anything on pch online games nothing but tokens that is, and than they use million of tokens to try and win at a drawing lol did you think you would win, now did you haha tuff tits.
Pch is a junk moving money making con job, this gaming con has been sued for millions and still they use tactics to get you to buy and play games thata you wont win at.
Pch has never paid out any 2g or 5g or even 10g prizes come on,,, how do you think the rich stay rich,, its from conning fools out of their money.
Just like you.
Do not buy their junk, they say it doesnt help you to win, in other words, they mean to say, buy our junk that you can get whole sale for half what you pay us and we will make you think you have won something later on, just to get you to buy something else you do not need or really want.

I'm complaining of the error mesages i keep getting that send you back to the begining of a game or it blanks out iv'e gotten poor responce from pch and i'm tired of the fake email from danille lam about that i was a winner only to get nothing or to not have some one show up .iv'e been playing pch games for over 4 years to not even win once they sent me a bogus check for ten dollars i'm sure it will bounce .I'm also sick how they keep telling you are a finalist and then you waste your whole day playing these stupid game that i'm up to 12am i'm a retired senior and i cant take any more of these frekin lies of theirs i wish the FBI would shut them down period..

I received a package of paper cup cake molds I never ordered. This is the
second time this year they sent me something I didn't order. The fist time it was glass storage bowls. I called them and told them I didn't order this.
I got the same reply about to late to cancel. I told them I cannot pay because
my only income is social security. When I Said this sounds like you are scamming the elderly. She told me to just keep the bowls and there will not be any charges.
This time I will cross out my name and address and drop the package in the mail marked return to sender.

Has anyone been able to track how frequently they do this?
Can anyone track the ages of the people they do this to?
I feel very strongly about this type of ripoff.
Do they actual give out the money they say they do?
P.S. I am 68 years old.

This company takes advantage of people by giving false promises with "last chance sweepstakes." Everyone receives the same mass produced form letters. My mother has been taken advantage of repeatedly and this is a shoddy way of doing business. I inquired at the Post Office when requiring the 3rd time shipped drying rack and the Postmaster told he just keep returning the items.

Folks, by law any item that is shipped, but not ordered is yours to keep free and clear.

PCH can afford to send items out to each of you because they are making a large profit margin and money on the back end for shipping charges. As an example they are charging $11.95 for a $2.00 bag of licorice twist twist + 5.95 Before shipping this equates to a 91% profit margin. The candy is of poor quality ingredients and my mother doesn't eat licorice. Order #[protected] will not be paid for and should be credited immediately.

If need be, I will get parents a PO Box and pick up their mail daily to sort through PCH crap, Returning to Sender before leaving the PO.

As part of enter the sweepstakes I could spin the wheel for a discount on items I ordered. I landed on getting $30 off, so I ordered a couple of items that totaled over $35.00 before shipping. When I received the items and bill there was nothing showing I received a discount. I paid part of the bill. I called the number on the bill and was told that was never an offer. I am sure it was. I asked to speak with a supervisor and, right or wrong, I do not appreciate having someone repeatedly insinuate I was confused. What happened to the customer being right? I know what I saw. Also, online it says you can pay so much a month until it is paid off. Nowhere on the bill does it say that. It wants you to pay in full and pay it now.

I will not be ordering from PCH again. I feel for the elderly who get sucked into thinking they have to order something in order to be entered into the contest. PCH are a bunch of crooks.

In 1994 Publishers Clearing House sent mailings telling recipients they were all "finalists", which led to[10] a lawsuit involving the attorneys general of 14 US states.[19][20][21] Later that year, Publishers Clearing House denied wrongdoing, but agreed to pay a settlement of $490, 000 and to change their practices.[20] Under the agreement, Publishers Clearing House said it would define terms like "finalist" and disclose the chances of winning.[22]

In 1997, a contestant of competitor American Family Publishers flew to Tampa, Florida thinking he had won, though he had not. The resulting publicity caused more lawsuits for both companies.[6] Publishers Clearing House reached a $30 million national settlement in 1999.[8][23] In 2000, another $18 million settlement was reached with 24 states, after the company sent mass mailings that said "You are a winner!" and used mock personalized checks.[17][24] Publishers Clearing House agreed to avoid similar mailings in the future, and add a "sweepstakes fact box" to mailings.[17][24]

State attorneys spoke out against the national settlement from 2000 and additional lawsuits were filed by individual states.[8] Another $34 million settlement was reached in 2001 in a lawsuit involving 25 states.[1][25] As part of the settlement, Publishers Clearing House was required to avoid terms like "Guaranteed Winner, " add disclaimers to mailings saying that the recipient has not won and that purchasing merchandise won't increase their chances.[26][25][27] Publishers Clearing House reached settlements with all fifty states and agreed to work with a "compliance counsel."[6] Publishers Clearing House apologized in the settlement and said it would contact customers who had spent more than $1, 000 on merchandise the prior year".[28]

Publishers Clearing House also reached an agreement with Iowa in 2007.[29] In 2010 the company paid $3.5 million to the Attorneys General of 32 states and the District of Columbia to settle possible contempt charges that it had violated the terms of the 2001 agreement. The company denied wrongdoing, but agreed to work with both an ombudsperson and a compliance counsel who would review its mailings quarterly.[30][31][32][33]

In April 2014, an investigation by the Senate Special Committee on Aging concluded that Publishers Clearing House had "pushed the limits" of prior agreements and that additional legislation may be needed.[34]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publishers_Clearing_House
Lawsuits total to date: $85, 990, 000

I am complaining about how, ever since I have went into the website, PCH.com, I have been receiving emails, saying that in order for participation into a contest on this site, such as some of the emails telling me to open immediately in order to still be in the contest. The problem is when I go into the site to get access into the authorization of being in the contest, they would send me to the search page, or would send more messages that are not so seriously urgent. As for the responsibility, having to go to this site everyday, and still get the same type of emails before you even get access to the site, is a definite no if you do not want these emails everyday. Even after I tried to sigh out of www.pch.com, they had me signed in, even after I had cancelled an account with them over the computer. As my suggestion, if you believe that anyone can still have your information even after you have also told them that the page does not load or you need to reload the page in order to get access into the site, do not try this on a smaller PC! this would cause the computer to run slower, even on cold, winter days, or when there are already viruses affecting the PC. Trust me, but do not quote me on this. This is my complaint.

I'm getting an error message every time I try to respond to the e-mails I get from PCH telling me to confirm my entry or search to claim an entry. Basically any time I click a button to Continue, Confirm, etc. in any of the contest e-mails I get from PCH. The error message I continue to receive is:

Service Unavailable - Zero size object

The server is temporarily unable to service your request. Please try again later.
Reference #15.a0b31bb8.[protected].[protected]

This has been happening for a few months, and I don't know what happened that caused the error to generate one day. Furthermore, it doesn't seem to be an issue if I'm accessing my e-mail on someone else's laptop. At this point, I don't feel it's worth the time or energy to try and get the issue resolved, especially after seeing the complaints of others on this board relating to customer service (or lack thereof).

You enter the contest, then you get bomb-barred with emails telling you will forfeit your entry if you don't do everything they say. I already entered I don't want to play all the stupid games they keep sending me. They say if I don't do it I forfeit my entry. Sorry you advertise no purchase necessary!

I was sent a bill back in November of this year for 27.45 which had been paid. However I called your company and had a discussion with one of your people and decided to pay it and get you off my back. On NOvember 17 the amt was taken out of my First Niagara bank acct and the acct was satisfied. The gentlemen told me that I wouldnt get anymore nasty letters. I checked my acct after I got his letter and low and behold it shows where your company took the money out of my accy on november 17th, the same day I spoke with your representative. Im done, this is paid and I aint paying anymore!

I've grown tired of the same error message(s) when attempting to play PCHLotto / PCH Scratch Cards Service Unavailable - Zero size object The server is temporarily unable to service your request. Please try again later. Reference #15.6234d417.[protected].bad395a9 To be followed by the following Warning! Your entry will be forfeited if you leave this page. When PCH Server is operating, sadly PCHLotto and Scratch Cards do not work. Enter Lotto numbers, PCHLotto acknowledges but card never submits, #2 Card of 19 Cards total in this never ending game. Scratch cards have same issue, able to submit up to 3 scratch cards with no additional cards (and there are many) appearing to play or to 'qualify' to win. PCH will provide a 'technical service phone number aka: customer service, alas I've already completed the clean cookies/cache as recommended by the customer service screen PCH reads from, then to be placed on death hold to then be disconnected. Servers fail, contests do not operate correctly, and poor customer representation is what winning is all about at PCH?

I received a package on 11/21/15 that held a Gold Mercury Pendant that I did not order. In addition to the item, I received a $31.95 bill. Since I did not order the item, it is now my responsibility to return the item. according to the return instructions, I am forced to send it "return receipt requested" or UPS for a signature. I am extremely upset that I am having to pay to return an item that I did not order nor do I want. I am sick and tired of getting these envelopes 2 - 3 times each and every week and after years of ordering, I stopped ordering and now am getting packages that I did not order or want. If I get any other packages with items that I do not order, I am going to throw them away along with all envelopes coming from PCH. This is extremely unfair mailing practices and you are costing me money that I should never have to pay. I do not order jewelry through the mail. You can go back to any of my previous orders and you will not see anything that resembles jewelry. Remove me from your mailing list. I will no order, enter or accept another package from PCH due to this. Brenda Sandifer Tampa, FL