The location of the world’s most remote dealership has been revealed as 30kms out of Silverton, NSW (a small town north-west of Broken Hill) in the Jeep $10k competition.
However, issues have arisen over the way the promotion has been handled, while social media sites have been set up for people to vent their frustrations.
The 10 people chosen to purchase a new Jeep Cherokee for just $10,000 drive-away had until 5pm last Friday to pay for their new Jeep. Once their purchase is complete, they will travel to remote NSW on Saturday week (July 26) to take delivery of their new Jeep Cherokee Longitude.
The ‘world’s most remote dealership’ is a promotion to celebrate the launch of the all-new Jeep Cherokee – and since the competition was announced on Sunday June 22, more than 49,000 people registered via the Jeep app download. When the app revealed the dedicated number to call, there were over 30,000 calls made.
Many who missed out, however, complained about the time it took for the mobile number to show on their app, while some said it didn’t appear at all. Some have argued that the leak constitutes a technical glitch and are suggesting that under the terms and conditions of the competition, it should have been halted.
Facebook pages have been set up to encourage members to take action against Jeep. One website called ‘If you think the Jeep giveaway was a scam’ has seen 659 join as of today, July 18. Others say they are directing their complaints to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
An ACCC spokesperson made the following statement: “The ACCC is aware of consumer concerns relating to the Jeep ‘Remote Dealership’ promotion. Generally speaking, the Australian Consumer Law prohibits businesses from making false, misleading or deceptive representations and concerns may arise where consumers are misled into error from representations used as part of the promotion of products or services.
“Whether the activities of a business raise concerns under these provisions depends on the circumstances of each case. In making any assessment as to what action it will take, the ACCC will have regard to the elements set out in its compliance and enforcement policy,” the statement adds.
The Australasian Promotional Marketing Association (APMA) says Jeep and Cummins and Partners have been victims of their own success.
Speaking to AdNews, APMA chair David Lo notes: “This is a very grey area because an agency like Cummins and Partners and a brand like Jeep don’t deliberately set out to frustrate consumers or to have something run poorly.”
Lo admits that the promotion could have been handled better, which is “always easy to say in hindsight.”
“Maybe there’s some valuable lessons here about how popular that promotion was, what the likely redemption was, the kind [and volume] of calls and the app that was set up to handle it. They may never have envisioned that so many people would have jumped on,” he says.
The 10 winners who did manage to get through, and will now travel to pick up their new Jeep, come from all corners of Australia – Tasmania, Western Australia, as well as South Australia, Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
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