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Tim Hortons 'Roll Up The Rim' $100 Prize Winner Loses Due To Little-Known Rule

Always... ALWAYS read the fine print.

It's hard enough to win a big prize through Tim Hortons' "Roll Up the Rim" contest.

It's harder still when you win, then lose out.

Clarenville, N.L. resident Samantha Burke had just that experience when she unrolled a rim to find that she had won a $100 Tim Hortons gift card, CTV News reported.

But with a big prize came a problem: she was unaware of a contest rule that she had to present both the rim, and a PIN number attached to it, when she went to claim her winnings.

Burke would have had to either punch in the PIN online, or mail the whole tab to Tim Hortons to obtain them.

Because she didn't have the PIN (she had kept part of the tab and thrown the cup away), she was disqualified.

"I just cut off the tab that said I had won," Burke said in an interview with CBC's Central Morning radio show.

"It just said [$100] gift card — Tim's card — I just cut that piece off, as I assumed that was all I'd need to claim my prize as that's all I'd ever needed for doughnuts and coffee."

Burke recounted this experience in a Facebook post last Thursday that was shared over 18,000 times before it was removed.

Her story caught the attention of David Weeks, owner of the Clarenville Tim Hortons where she bought the winning cup. He also didn't know about the rule and decided to give her a $100 gift card anyway.

Burke initially didn't want to accept the card, but later decided to take it and to highlight Weeks' generous act, said CTV News.

She has also warned other Tim Hortons customers not to make the same mistake.

A company spokeswoman told the network that PINs were added recently in an effort to accelerate prize confirmations. Winners also must sign forms declaring they agree to abide by contest rules.

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