>>> Mona Pillay 02-Dec-10 01:24 PM >>>

Dear Carl,

Thank you for your response.

However what you fail to understand is that not everyone was aware of the fact that Chanel Ferreira worked for the Aleit group, even though you may say "it was clear to most of the contestants that Chanel was employed by the Aleit group". I personally do not know who those contestants are that knew this information and was openly discussing it in the competition as you say. I’m not sure as to how you would know this information as you were not around with the contestants for most of the event. I’m sure if you personally contact each of the contestants and ask them for their views about the issue of an employee from Aleit Group entering the competition and actually winning, then I’m sure you would certainly receive mixed unhappy reactions. Furthermore other contestants and I only found out that Chanel works for the Aleit group minutes before they announced the winners so how were we suppose to raise an objection at that point. Most of the contestants were shocked, upset and had left. It is still bias and unethical because even though Aleit was not one of the judges, he was a Sponsor and does have an association with Chanel Ferreira, despite the fact that there was an independent panel of judges. The facts speak for itself. If I had known this information prior to the 26th of November, I would have never wasted my time and money to be a contestant.

Regards,
Mona Pillay

>>> Carl Wallace info@weddingdiary.co.za> 01-Dec-10 05:26 PM >>

Dear Mona

We would like to thank you for taking part in the 2010 Bride of the Year competition. It was wonderful to have had the opportunity to meet you and I certainly hope that our paths cross again in future.

I am saddened about the way you feel the results of the event were handled. I would like to stress – most importantly - that The Aleit Group was not in charge of the competition or the related rules and regulations. They had no say in the method chosen to select the finalists nor did they have any input into the evaluation of the contestants on the night. In fact, they were not even consulted on how we ultimately came up with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions.

Furthermore, The Aleit Group has no form of ownership or profit share in Wedding Diary or in the Bride of the Year Competition. Regarded as South Africa’s top Wedding and Events Coordination company, I merely approached them to assist in executing the mechanics of this event. It was vital to gain sponsorship from the top suppliers in the industry because without this, the event would not have been possible. Aleit was clearly the key and his good relations with vendors in the industry helped us achieve our goal.As you may or may not be aware, Aleit Swanepoel was originally part of the judging panel. The minute one of his staff members entered the competition, I asked him to step down which is what he did - immediately and with grace. The ultimate results of the competition were decided upon by an independent judging panel and to this end I can confirm that everything was above board. This statement is supported by the extended time it took them to award a winner on the night. The decision was a clearly a tough choice!From a legal perspective I would like to bring the following points to your attention:

· The competition was open to all brides who were married between June 2009 and June 2010. There were no restrictions of any kind as to the status of the entrants.

· There was no condition as to the exclusion of any entrants, whether they were employed by the organizers, sponsors or anybody else involved in the competition or otherwise. This was clear to all the entrants before they entered this competition. It was therefore to be expected that ANY bride could enter, whether the bride was involved with any of the related entities or not. Such terms would have been written into the competition rules should we have had reason to exclude a special class of people. A complaint could thus also be made against any of the other contestants entering for any reason whatsoever·

The judges were all independent of the Aleit Group and Aleit resigned as a judge to ensure fairness. There is further no averment that the winner was favoured due to her connection with the Aleit Group.

· Apart from a form of working relationship between some of the entities, there is no suggestion of any bias by any of the judges or any proof thereof.

· It was clear to most of the contestants that Chanel Ferreira was employed by the Aleit Group as this was openly discussed during the competition. Should this have been a problem for the contestants, or if they felt during the course of the competition that the judging would not be fair due to the said fact, this surely would have been raised by the contestants before the final decision was made. The fact that the same was not raised as an objection indicates to the merit of Chanel being chosen as a clear winner.

· With regards to the point raised regarding the Lotteries Act, the Lotteries Act, Act 57 of 1997, does not apply to this competition as there was no competition entry fee or subscription fee payable by the entrants. Furthermore, the competition cannot be seen as a “lottery” as the prizes were not distributed by luck or chance.

· There is, in summary, no legal basis for the complaints lodged to date.With regards to the complaints regarding the judging, the costs and the association between the relevant entities - the rules are clear namely:

9.1 The orginasiers reserved the right to amend the terms and conditions at any time;

9.2 Rule 6 – The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into;

9.3 Rule 7 – Flights and accommodation will not be paid for by Wedding Diary;If you have any further questions or wish to submit feedback regarding the above please do not hesitate to contact me, Carl Wallace at info@weddingdiary.co.za.

Kind Regards

Carl Wallace 084 501 5910

Managing Director

Wedding Diarywww.weddingdiary.co.za

"TOP BILLING FIASCO OF THE YEAR" - yummie.co.za

The pre-event blurb read ‘The Aleit Group in collaboration with Wedding Diary and Top Billing is creating the most spectacular bridal competition ever – an event that promises to be the most glamorous night of the year in the SA wedding industry.’ The first prize was advertised as being worth R300 000.00 and included an overseas holiday, a local holiday and a R12 000 shopping voucher. Brides all over South Africa rushed to enter this prestigious competition.  Your wedding screened on Top Billing? Come on, every self-respecting wannabe bride-to-be in South Africa would kill for that.

Suspicions should have been raised when Aleit Group founder Aleit Swanepoel stepped down as a judge for the competition after entry to the competition had been closed. In fact, suspicions should probably have been raised when Wedding Diary announced that The Aleit Group has been chosen to create and coordinate the event. After all, The Wedding Diary does state on their website ‘We will assist you in planning your own wedding, without the use of a professional wedding co-ordinator.’ The final was hosted at The Stars’ Mixing Room at Cape Town Stadium on 26 November, and Chanel Ferreira walked away the winner. But contestants are crying foul, and with good reason. Turns out that dear Chanel is a senior co-ordinator for none other than..............drum roll..... Aleit Wedding and Event Co-ordination! Arrogantly, Wedding Diary managing director Carl Wallace states that it is a complete co-incidence that the winner worked for Aleit and as far as he was concerned the matter was settled. And Aleit? Swanepoel said the complaints stemmed from “sour grapes” on the part of one of the brides and that ‘The Aleit Group had no stake in the competition and did not have any input into the evaluation of the contestants on the night. ‘ Ja right.  The Wedding Diary blurb prior to the competition being launched clearly states that The Aleit Group had been chosen to create and co-ordinate the competition. Albeit? http://www.yummie.co.za/content/december10/articles/top-billing-fiasco-of-the-year.htm

"Brides cry foul after contest" - IOL News Article

Brides cry foul after contest

December 5 2010 at 07:44am
By Thandanani Mhlanga and Leila Samodien

Reuters

A row has broken out over the winner of a bridal competition because she is a senior employee of one of the event’s biggest affiliates. The competition is to be aired on Top Billing.

Chanel Ferreira walked away with the top prizes, which included an overseas holiday, a local holiday and a R12 000 shopping voucher, after winning the Wedding Diary Bride of the Year Competition at Cape Town Stadium last month. It is not clear when the insert will be aired.

But some contestants have cried foul, calling the competition “rigged from the start”, after it emerged that Ferreira is a senior co-ordinator for the company that organised the event, Aleit Wedding and Event Co-ordination.

Wedding Diary managing director Carl Wallace said the company was aware of the complaints and had communicated with all the brides. As far as he was concerned the matter was settled.

He denied any unfairness and said the Aleit Group had organised and co-ordinated the event but had no stake in it.

“The judging panel was independent,” said Wallace.

When it became clear that an Aleit employee had entered, Aleit founder Aleit Swanepoel stepped down as a judge.

Wallace said the fact that the winner worked for Aleit was a “complete coincidence”.

In a letter to all the brides, he said it had “come to his attention that some of the finalists are discontented with the results of the competition and feel the judging to be unfair, mainly because the winning bride worked for Aleit”.

However, he said in the letter, there had been no restrictions on who could enter the competition, other than getting married between June last year and June this year.

He wrote: “There is, in summary, no legal basis for the complaints lodged to date.”

Swanepoel said the complaints stemmed from “sour grapes” on the part of one of the brides, and that they had received phone calls and e-mails from several other brides praising the event and the outcome.

“They couldn’t believe the response from the brides who complained,” he said.

“We went out of our way to make it fantastic for the brides, and most of them were very happy with how the event went.”

He had also sought legal advice and had found that everything was above board in terms of the competition rules, which made it clear the competition was open to anyone who wanted to enter.

The mother of one of the brides, who did not want to be named, said because Ferreira was a senior co-ordinator at Aleit, she should not have been allowed to enter.

“I’m not saying my daughter should’ve won. They were all such lovely girls. I just felt that it should not have been somebody who works for Aleit,” she said.

A bride, who did not want to be named, said none of the contestants knew that Ferreira worked for Aleit until after she was announced as the winner.

“She said she was a wedding co-ordinator but she didn’t say she worked for Aleit.

“It was only after the event that we saw for the first time that she was a senior staff member there.”

http://www.iol.co.za/news/back-page/brides-cry-foul-after-contest-1.950813?showComments=true

From: Alexandra Sharnock
Sent: 02 December 2010 12:15 PM
To: 'Carl Wallace'
Cc: 'Mona Pillay'; 'melijedi@gmail.com'; 'kirstenvj@brandsrock.co.za'; 'kobah@ymail.com'; 'cbotha@live.com'; 'casey_julia@mac.com'; '14026465@sun.ac.za'; 'Tyron Sharnock'; 'info@topbilling.com'
Subject: RE: Bride of the Year

Dear Carl,

Thank you for your email. Whilst I appreciate the reply, I do feel it necessary to bring a few aspects to your attention.

Firstly, online Wedding Diary magazine clearly states in recent publications that " the Aleit Group is a partner of Wedding Diary", " The Aleit Group in collaboration with Wedding Diary and Top Billing is creating the most spectacular bridal competition ever" and " Our national bridal competition in association with The Aleit Group and Top Billing". As such, it can under no circumstances be deemed that Aleit was merely a sponsor. It is ludicrous to assume so given the promotional statements made by both Aleit and Wedding Diary.

In any event should one have cognizance of the CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT NO. 68 OF 2008, a “promotional competition” means any competition, game, scheme, arrangement, system, plan or device for distributing prizes by lot or chance if it is conducted in the ordinary course of business for the purpose of promoting a producer, distributor, supplier, or association of any such persons, or the sale of any goods or services and a “promoter” means a person who directly or indirectly promotes, sponsors, organises or conducts a promotional competition, or for whose benefit such a competition is promoted, sponsored, organised or conducted. Further to same, any person who is a director, member, partner, employee or agent of, or consultant to the promoter or any other person who directly or indirectly controls or is controlled by, the promoter; or a supplier of goods or services in connection with that competition may not participate in such competition. In this regard, it is clear that a distinction must be drawn between what is a promotional competition, and what is covered by the Lotteries Act.

From the above it is apparent that Wedding Diary’s conduct as well as that of Aleit are clearly in contradiction to the spirit of promotional competitions and against the intention of the Legislature.

In so far as “an independent judging panel”, it is with respect that I deem such statement to be utter nonsense and a complete fabrication. Aleit was physically involved in the judges deliberations and the video footage of the event shall attest to that.

In addition and further, your statement that “Chanel Ferreira was employed by the Aleit Group as this was openly discussed during the competition”, this is once again a gross untruth, and frankly irrelevant. As mentioned in my correspondence previously I only became aware of this fact minutes before the winner was announced. However, had I known prior to the 26^th November 2010 of the unorthodox manner of conducting this competition, I would not have wasted time, money and energy attending such event. As noted, participating in the competition necessitated 2 days leave from work, and expenditure in excess of R8000.00.

As previously noted, whilst I am disappointed in the handling of the competition, I note that I am even further disappointed by your lack of accountability and responsibility. To the extent that you fail to acknowledge the wrongfulness of the above, I reserve my rights in toto.

The sponsors' email - Exclusive Serenity

From: "Melanie Floor - Exclusive Serenity"
To: <info@aleit.co.za>, <aleit@aleit.co.za>, "Carl Wallace" <info@weddingdiary.co.za>
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2010 15:15:39 +0200
Subject: FW: WEDDING DIARY BRIDE OF THE YEAR

Dear Aleit,

Following the two emails that we received in copy from the two brides, Alexandra Sharnock andMona Pillay, I would like to know the status of this matter since we are not aware of a reaction to their emails.  

As I already mentioned to Carl on Monday by phone, we also received comments that reflect the sentiments of the two brides. I personally feel that the event has an aftertaste of being unfair which I assume is nobody’s intention nor interest. As one of the main sponsors, we are concerned about the negative publicity which is not in the interest of our clients especially not after having sponsored such generous prizes.

I kindly ask you for your statement and comments so that this situation can be rectified and dealt with accordingly. Until this is clarified, we would like to put the two prizes we sponsored (stays at Trogon House and Forest Spa and Coco Palm Bodu Hithi) on hold.

Kind regards,

Melanie

With exclusive regards,

EXCLUSIVE SERENITY

Melanie Floor

CEO

Exclusive Serenity

Hotels & Resorts Representation

My e-mail to Wedding Diary - Alexandra Sharnock

From: Alexandra Sharnock 
Sent: 30 November 2010 11:58 AMTo: info@aleit.co.za; Wedding DiarySubject: WEDDING DIARY BRIDE OF THE YEAR

Dear Carl and Aleit,


Whilst the Bride of the Year event was great fun, and the girls who were finalists were an amazing, dynamic bunch, there is one aspect which has left a bitter taste in my mouth and resulted in huge disappointment, and disgust at the manner in which the competition was handled.


When entering and participating in an event of this nature, one assumes they enter “on a level playing field”. However, this appeared not to be the case.Minutes before the winner was announced, I was told by one of the finalists, who shall remain nameless, that Chanel Ferreira actually worked with Aleit. I couldn’t believe that it could be true as surely that would be grounds for disqualification as it indicates bias, and a gross conflict of interest. However, upon perusing the Aleit website the following Monday morning, it is clearly stipulated that Chanel is indeed employed by Aleit as a Senior Co-ordinator, and is even described as “Aleit’s right-hand lady”!!!


It is my submission that under no circumstances should Chanel have been allowed to enter, as even if she were to win on merit, the validity and “fairness” thereof would certainly be questioned by the other contestants. Whilst I believe that Chanel is great woman, the question must be asked – Did she win on merit, or because of her association with Aleit?


The end result has left several of the contestants and myself feeling that the entire process was rigged, and was nothing more than a publicity stunt for Aleit, Wedding Diary, Jagardi and Pasella amongst others. Further, such publicity stunt was held at the vast expense of the finalists. Indeed, my Husband and I travelled up from Johannesburg on Thursday – As we were told by Carl that we had to be there on Thursday evening for the rehearsal – and were required to stay Friday night as well. As such we expended R3050 in respect of plane tickets, and R2880 in respect of Accommodation Costs. The aforesaid sum of R5930.00 does not even take into account the cost of car hire, purchase of tickets to the show or incidental costs occasioned by the event such as dry cleaning our dresses. I anticipate that my husband and I have spent in excess of R8000.00 in respect of taking part in a competition which was essentially biased, and “rigged”. In addition, it should be noted that I am a Director at a large Law Firm in Johannesburg, and my attendance at the competition necessitated taking 2 days leave – Entirely unnecessary and a complete waste given how the competition turned out.


I note that one of the reasons we decided to fly to Cape Town for the event was due to the fact that reputable entities such as Top Billing, Aleit and Pick n Pay had attached their names to it, and thus seemingly lent credibility to the event. However, this appears not to be the case. I cannot imagine that Top Billing and P n P would knowingly endorse an obviously biased event. As an aside, I further note it is for the above reason that competitions usually contain a rule to the effect that Anyone working for such entity or for the specified competition partner, or for any of such entities affiliated companies, as well as any family members or associates of the aforesaid persons are prohibited from entering a competition…for obvious reasons. 
Whilst I do not expect anything to be achieved by this, I wish to express my extreme disappointment in respect of the above. Unfortunately I am left feeling taken advantage of, foolish, and certainly poorer in pocket.

Regards,
Alexandra Sharnock




Response from Aleit:

From: Aleit - The Aleit Group [mailto:aleit@aleit.co.za]
Sent: 30 November 2010 12:15 PM
To: Alexandra Sharnock
Cc: 'Carl Wallace'
Subject: RE: WEDDING DIARY BRIDE OF THE YEAR

Dear Alexandra

I hope this finds you well.  Thank you for your email.  I am extremely saddened by your email, especially because of the fact that you were one of my favourites.  You can ask any of the organisation team. 

The winner of WEDDING BRIDE OF THE YEAR, was chosen with a completely independent panel of judges.  I personally know quite a few of the contestants, and that also why I did not get involved on a non coordination and event execution basis.  I will get Carl Wallace, the Managing Director, to be in touch re the terms and conditions of the event, that was clearly stipulated.

Please note that this competition is not owned by The Aleit Group.  We are merely a sponsor, as in the case of Pick and Pay, and other companies that you have mentioned – and we have adhered to the rules set out by WEDDING DIARY, that owns and execute this competition on a yearly basis.   

I agree that it would be unethical for employees of Wedding Diary to enter.  That would have indeed been unethical.  No one from Wedding Diary entered the competition.    

I did not see the need, as you did, to copy so many individuals, as they were all independent and sponsors. 

Carl Wallace, Managing Director from Wedding Diary, will handle your complaint further. 

Regards

Aleit SwanepoelManaging Director - The Aleit Group
Tel: +27 21 887 4448 / Fax: + 27 86 638 4919
Mobile: +27 82 883 7056info@aleit.co.za
www.aleit.co.za

My e-mail to Wedding Diary - Mona Pillay

From: "Mona Pillay"
To: <info@weddingdiary.co.za>
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 2010 10:59:29 +0200
Subject: WEDDING DIARY BRIDE OF THE YEAR

To Carl Wallace,

I would like to express my views regarding the bridal competition. It was brought to my attention and the other finalists that the winner of the competition ‘Chanel Ferreira’ is in fact an employee of the Aleit group. This came as a shock because this is the first competition to my knowledge which has allowed an employee of a major sponsor to participate in the competition. It was felt that she had an unfair advantage against the rest of the finalists and it looked like a publicity stunt to promote the Aleit group, especially since in theJuly, August and October issue of the online Wedding Diary magazine, it clearly states respectively that " the Aleit Group is a partner of Wedding Diary", " The Aleit Group in collaboration with Wedding Diary and Top Billing is creating the most spectacular bridal competition ever" and "In our national bridal competition in association with The Aleit Group and Top Billing". So why would Wedding Diary make so much reference to The Aleit Group if they are just a sponsor (like Pick n Pay)? 

In addition, the other finalists and I had thought that we were all at the same entry level but was unaware that an employee of Aleit Group was in fact one of the finalists. I’m sure that employees from other sponsors i.e. Pick n Pay or Top Billing had not entered the competition.

It is very disappointing to know that ‘Wedding Diary’ had allowed such a situation to occur. Please note that I am not the only finalist with these concerns as other finalists have also expressed similar views to me. Another concern is that the selection process was not transparent and that no explanation was given to the finalists about this process and if the following was taken into account: smses votes, ticket sales, best gown, best answers to questions, etc.

Please note that this was a costly trip (flights and accommodation) as I am from Durban and taking leave from work was an inconvenience for my husband and I, and for this to occur is disappointing as I felt that the competition was biased. I will not recommend this competition to any of my family members, friends and colleagues.

Regards,

Mona Pillay