Giveaway Official Rules

The Rating Matters Monthly Giveaway (the "Giveaway") is organized and run by Rating Matters GmbH, 8045 Zürich, Switzerland, UID CHE-413.986.632, info@rating-matters.com ("Rating Matters", "we", "us"). If a co-sponsor is named on an entry page, it acts only as prize sponsor; Rating Matters remains the sole organizer.

The local businesses where the Giveaway is offered ("Partner Businesses") are not organizers or sponsors of the Giveaway and are not responsible for it. The Giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Google, Yelp, Instagram, Meta, Apple, Giftly or any other platform or provider mentioned on the Giveaway pages.

By entering, you accept these Official Rules and our decisions, which are final and binding in all matters relating to the Giveaway.

Entering is free. You do not need to buy anything or follow or like any account to enter or to win.

• Joining the Giveaway is optional. On every entry page you can go straight to the review platform without the Giveaway ("Go straight to … without the Giveaway").
• Your entry is completed when you tap the rating button in the confirmation window after submitting the form. That button opens the public review page of the Partner Business. The tap completes your entry.
• We do not check whether, where or what you post. Whether you leave a review, and what it says, has no influence on your chances of winning or on the prize.
• We never ask for positive reviews. Positive and negative reviews are treated exactly the same, and nobody is rewarded for a particular rating.
• If you write a review, it must be your own honest opinion about a real experience with the Partner Business, and you must follow the rules of the platform you use (for example Google's or Yelp's content policies).

• The Giveaway is open to natural persons who are at least 18 years old and of the age of majority in their place of residence at the time of entry.
• The Giveaway is void where prohibited or restricted by law. You are responsible for making sure that taking part is lawful where you live.
• Not eligible: employees, officers and contractors of Rating Matters, members of their immediate families (spouse or partner, parents, siblings, children) and persons living in the same household.
• Owners and employees of a Partner Business may not enter at the Partner Business where they work.
• Persons who have already won a Rating Matters Giveaway are not eligible again.
• We may ask any entrant or potential winner for proof of age, identity and eligibility.

Each calendar month is a separate Giveaway with its own entries, draw and prize. The entry period of each monthly Giveaway starts at 00:00:00 on the first day of the month and ends at 23:59:59 on the last day of the month, Zürich time (CET/CEST).

Entries do not carry over to the next month. Our server clock is the official timekeeping device for the Giveaway.

• The Giveaway can only be entered on the entry pages at Partner Businesses: scan the QR code or tap the NFC card, enter your first name, last name and e-mail address (phone number optional), confirm that you are 18 or older and accept these Official Rules and the Giveaway Privacy Notice, tap "Join now", then tap the rating button in the confirmation window to complete your entry.
• Entries by e-mail, post, phone or any other way are not accepted.
• Limits: one entry per person per Partner Business location per month. Entries at different Partner Business locations in the same month each count as one separate entry. Each person may use only one e-mail address.
• Entries that are incomplete, late, made automatically (scripts, bots), in bulk, under several identities, with temporary or throwaway e-mail addresses, with false information or by third parties on someone else's behalf are void.
• We are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, misdirected or unreadable entries, or for any technical failure that prevents an entry. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt.

• One prize per monthly Giveaway: a digital travel gift voucher with a face value of USD 1,000 (approximate retail value USD 1,000), delivered by e-mail through Giftly (giftly.com) or a comparable provider.
• The voucher is subject to the terms of its provider. No cash alternative. The prize is not transferable and cannot be exchanged, except at our sole discretion. If the prize is unavailable, we may replace it with a prize of equal or greater value.
• All costs of using the prize, including travel, bookings, insurance, visas and personal expenses, are the winner's responsibility. Rating Matters does not organize, and is not responsible for, any trip or booking.
• The winner is responsible for any taxes, duties or fees on the prize. Where required by law, we may withhold taxes or report the prize to the tax authorities, and we may ask the winner for tax information (for example IRS Form W-9 for winners in the United States) before delivering the prize.
• The prize value is stated in US dollars. Exchange-rate changes do not change the prize.

• The winner is drawn at random by computer at about 12:00 Zürich time on the 2nd day of the following month, from all eligible entries received during the Giveaway period. Each eligible entry is one chance. Every draw is logged.
• The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
• If a technical problem prevents the draw at the planned time, it takes place as soon as possible afterwards.

• The potential winner is notified by e-mail to the address used for the entry, normally within 3 days after the draw. A person is only a winner once eligibility has been verified and the claim steps below are completed.
• To claim the prize, the potential winner must reply within 5 days of the notification e-mail and (a) confirm identity, age and eligibility, which may include signing a short declaration of eligibility and a publicity release where permitted by law; and (b) publish a short Instagram reel and story about the win, tagging @rating_matters and the Partner Business where the entry was made, and saying how the prize was won (for example with #Giveaway).
• The winner's post must be truthful and must make clear that the prize was won in a Rating Matters Giveaway. Instagram is not involved in the Giveaway in any way.
• If the potential winner does not use Instagram, we will agree a reasonable alternative (for example a short written statement and photo that we may publish).
• If the potential winner does not reply or complete the claim in time, is not eligible, cannot be reached, or does not comply with these Official Rules, the prize is forfeited and we may draw an alternate winner at random from the remaining eligible entries of that month, under the same rules (up to three alternates).
• The prize is delivered by e-mail, normally within 30 days after the claim is completed.

• Except where prohibited by law, by accepting the prize the winner agrees that Rating Matters may publish the winner's first name, the initial of the last name, city and country, the Partner Business and the content the winner posted, on Rating Matters' website and social media channels, for up to 24 months and without further compensation.
• To receive the name of a monthly winner, send an e-mail to info@rating-matters.com within 60 days after the draw.

• Partner Businesses only display the entry page at their premises. They do not run the draw, do not choose the winner and do not receive entrants' names or contact details; they receive only anonymous totals (for example the number of page visits and entries).
• Some Partner Businesses may choose to show a short star question before the review page. This is the Partner Business's own choice and responsibility. Your answer has no influence on your entry or your chances.
• Google, Yelp, Instagram, Meta, Apple, Giftly and any other platform or provider mentioned on the Giveaway pages are not involved in organizing the Giveaway. All questions about the Giveaway must be sent to Rating Matters, not to these companies.

• We may disqualify anyone who tampers with the entry process, breaks these Official Rules, gives false information, or acts in an unfair, abusive or disruptive way.
• If fraud, technical failures, viruses, legal requirements or any other cause beyond our reasonable control affect the proper running of the Giveaway, we may cancel, suspend or modify the Giveaway or a monthly draw. In that case we may draw the winner from the eligible entries received before the event.
• We may update these Official Rules at any time; changes do not affect a monthly Giveaway already running unless required by law or to protect the fairness of the Giveaway. The current version is always published on this page.
• Any deliberate attempt to damage the Giveaway pages or undermine the Giveaway may violate the law. We reserve the right to claim damages to the fullest extent permitted by law.

• To the fullest extent permitted by law, by entering you release and hold harmless Rating Matters, its affiliates, officers, employees and agents, the Partner Businesses, the prize provider and the platforms named above from any liability for loss, damage or injury of any kind arising from taking part in the Giveaway or from accepting, using or misusing the prize, including any travel.
• We are not liable for technical malfunctions, network or server failures, incorrect or incomplete entry data, unauthorized intervention, or printing, display or typographical errors in any Giveaway material.
• Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the value of the prize. Nothing in these Official Rules excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law, in particular liability for intent or gross negligence under Swiss law.

Personal data of entrants is processed as described in the Giveaway Privacy Notice and in our general Privacy Policy. Partner Businesses do not receive entrants' personal data.

• These Official Rules and the Giveaway are governed by Swiss law, excluding its conflict-of-law rules and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
• The exclusive place of jurisdiction is Zürich, Switzerland, unless mandatory consumer protection law of your country of residence gives you the right to bring proceedings there.
• To the extent permitted by law, any dispute is resolved individually and not as part of a class, collective or representative action.
• If any provision of these Official Rules is invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in force.
• These Official Rules are available in English and German. Translations of the Giveaway pages are provided for convenience; in case of any difference, the English version of these Official Rules prevails.

Questions about the Giveaway and requests about your entry: Rating Matters GmbH, 8045 Zürich, Switzerland, info@rating-matters.com.