Ever experience that heart-stopping moment when you inadvertently throw that unfurled Roll up the Rim cup in the trash or recycling? What if it was the $32,000 car you just threw away? Or that pre-paid Mastercard?
It seems that phobia is warranted.
Four of the 40 Toyota Camry Hybrids offered in Tim Hortons’ popular contest went unclaimed last year. Just 93 of 100 Panasonic 3D televisions, 896 of 1,000 Coleman camping packages and 4,327 of 5,000 Panasonic digital cameras were claimed during the 2012 contest, according to the restaurant chain.
Still, Tim Hortons spokeswoman Alexandra Cygal says “the redemption rate on the top prizes is excellent.”
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Cygal couldn’t provide many details on why no one came for them or what happened to the prizes.
“What happens to the unclaimed prizes really depends on the prize as we don’t always have all prizes upfront before distributing,” she said, adding that since agreements with suppliers are confidential, she can’t provide details on individual prizes.
So far this year, six of 40 Toyota RAV4s have been claimed, along with 14 of 100 pre-paid MasterCards worth $5,000 each; 32 of 1,000 Napoleon gourmet grills; and 584 of 25,000 $100 Tims gift cards, as of Monday.
Five of the six Toyotas were doled out to winners in southern Ontario, and one went to a winner on Prince Edward Island.
Tim Hortons says it produced around 261 million Roll up the Rim cups for this year’s contest.
About 17.5 million are distributed in British Columbia; 41.3 million in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories and Yukon; 130 million in Ontario; 32 million in Quebec; 27.9 million in the Atlantic provinces and 12.2 million throughout the United States.
The odds of winning at least a doughnut or coffee are one-in-six. The company says it audits the odds daily during the contest and those reports are monitored weekly to ensure the odds are always one-in-six.
Winning cups are distributed by a third party and scattered throughout the cup cases, which are randomly distributed in an attempt to ensure no one restaurant gets more winning cups than another.
Roll up the Rim cups will be distributed until Apr. 26 or until supplies last, whichever comes first.
Tims is also holding a concurrent online contest, Rockin' RRRoll Up Roulette, which offers 10,000 more prizes. That promotion ends March 17. Winners of both contests have until May 19 to claim their prizes.