Free gifts

I just ordered a golf jacket from Glenmuir and got a free hat which I can put in the next raffle.

In 1968 we bought our first cooker to go in our first house, through the electricity board with the payments included in the electricity bill. This came with a Kenwood Chefette handheld food mixer which is still used!

We always get a minuscule bag of Haribo when we buy contact lenses online.

I'm a comper (meaning I enter competitions as a hobby) and win some lovely prizes. I enter for us as a family and friends if I see something some others may like. I have also won prizes for my charity choice.

I also subscribe to the websites for decent freebies with or without a purchase. The freebies to try I either keep or pass on depending on whether I will use or not.

I always look for vouchers off, free gifts etc via Google before I checkout online on a website

I once had a man knock at my door with a selection of wines in a box. I told him I didn't drink alcohol, and he asked if I wanted the wine to give to guests. I said no, and he accepted that, but insisted on giving me the free gift that he gave to everyone who bought the wine. It was a case of screwdrivers and various fittings in a very small metal case, and has been one of the most useful things I have. No hard sell from him, and he was very polite and pleasant.

I had a free small light coloured leather handbag from Hotter a couple of years ago. It has been so useful as a summer bag and goes with anything. I don't think the free gifts come if you buy in their shops and I now prefer to try before I buy with all shoes.

We were sent two beautiful wineglasses when ordering a favourite wine from Laithewaites. They are dishwasher safe and very sturdy, although they look quite fragile. Sweetest gift (literally) was last year when we flew transatlantic on Virgin Airlines to see DS and family. The steward gave out little rolls of LoveHearts and when I said that I'd save mine for DGC, he brought me a paper bag full of them!

I returned an umbrella, sent completely unsolicited, to a cancer research company (not the usual one) with a terse note saying they should be spending the money on what they were supposed to and not on 'gifts' to encourage people to give - or rather guilt people into giving!

I agree with Magrithea. I get very annoyed when charities send unsolicited free gifts....pens, cards etc....although individually they are worth very little, there is a cost involved and imo it's wasted money. It has the opposite effect on me and I never support those charities.
However, I once had a quite upmarket clothes shop and I sold a few inexpensive but good quality small gifts. I had one customer who would always pick up one of these and, at the cash desk would say, 'And I'll have this as a gift!'.

Many years ago there was a little slip of paper in some face powder I'd ordered (by phone, pre-computer) to indicate I might have a free gift. I responded and a small case arrived. It has wheels, folds flat, has a pull-out handle and is the right size for a cabin locker. It has two flat zipped pockets on the front which are ideal for having travel documents secure but accessible. It's been on several holidays and is perfect in every way. I think it was from Dr Pierre Ricaud.

keffie, hello, glad to meet a fellow comper! I used to win some wonderful prizes back in the day, but this was when the slogan was king and there was always an element of skill. I’ve more or less given up since free draws took over. What sort of comps are you entering these days?

I bought a coffee machine at Christmas and the company offered a free gift of coffee samples on registering the guarantee. I was expecting maybe a small packet or two of coffee beans but got 3 full size bags!