Chatelaine behind ‘win a castle’ raff le could face £5k f ine
WITH great fanfare, she declared she was giving people the chance to buy her £2 million castle – for the price of a £5 raffle ticket.
But months after announcing the worldwide competition, Susan DeVere had raised only £107,000 and decided to offer cash prizes instead of the keys to historic Orchardton Castle.
Now she has been censured by advertising watchdogs and could face a fine – or even prison – for not sticking to the terms of the raffle.
Ms DeVere’s decision to withdraw the top prize – her 45-room house on the Solway coast in Kirkcudbrightshire – prompted complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Last week, the ASA ruled: ‘Because neither the advertised prize nor a reasonable alternative had been awarded, we concluded that the promotion had not been administered fairly and was in breach of the code.
‘The promotion must not appear again in its current form. We told Win Your Castle that they must ensure they awarded prizes as described in their ads or reasonable equivalents – for example, cash to the same value.’
If the matter is referred to the Gambling Commission, Ms DeVere could face a fine of up to £5,000 or up to 51 weeks in prison – and could also be hit with a 12 per cent ticket charge by the taxman.
But last night, Ms DeVere defied the ASA, saying: ‘I already told them that I was going to go to war with them. They wanted me to say I would not do a competition again but I’m not going to listen to them.’
Author Ms DeVere is not currently facing legal action as the ASA does not have statutory powers, but it is able to report cases to the Gambling Commission.
Ms DeVere bought Orchardton – built by a 19th Century smuggler – just under 16 years ago after seeing an advert for the property in a countryside magazine. She later described the baronial building as being ‘just like a Disney castle’.
At £450,000 it seemed like a bargain, but she soon discovered extensive renovation was needed.
With dwindling returns on her investment, Ms DeVere and her then-husband Alan put it on the market in 2010. Valued at £2.7 million, it was priced at £1.4 million for a quick sale and featured on Channel 4’s Million Pound Properties.
But the difficulty of finding a buyer led to Ms DeVere running the raffle in the hopes of paying off debts, buying a new home in an urban area and donating to charity.
She sold tickets at £5 each and offered two free entries for anyone buying one of her books on Amazon. But when the competition ended last May, Ms DeVere said only £107,000 had been raised and cash prizes would be awarded.
The ASA stated: ‘Consumers would understand that the advertised prize was freehold ownership of Orchardton Castle. The terms and conditions of the promotion stated there might be circumstances when a lower cash prize might be awarded instead, but that was not made clear in the ad.
‘A share of the property or any cash alternative that was less than the value of the property were not reasonable equivalents.’
Ms DeVere said: ‘The whole thing’s rubbish. They are attacking house competitions.’
The ASA said: ‘We will publish our ruling in due course which will set out our findings in full.’