Posted on 04/14/2025 1:16:36 PM PDT by Red Badger
As a child, I remember my grandparents, my parents, my aunts and uncles, and all their children too, spending countless hours licking stamp after stamp, just so they would have a chance to win Publishing Clearing House and have Ed McMahon personally deliver them a multi-million dollar prize.
And I can personally vouch for Publishing Clearing House being the real deal.
In 2015, my father had the prize patrol show up and hand him a giant check for $10,000. They gave him a smaller cashable version too, but he still has the big one in his closet, so he can drag it out and show it off when new people come to visit.
You have to admit, $10,000 is a heck of a paycheck for all those years of licking stamps.
But I guess saliva just isn't worth what it used to be. Publishing Clearing House has announced they are filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Chapter 11 proceedings, filed in New York on Wednesday, arrive amid growing financial strain for PCH — which has struggled with rising operational costs and changing consumer habits in recent years.
But, Chapter 11 bankruptcy doesn't spell the end for Publishing Clearing House. They plan on continuing to offer their sweepstakes.
They're just restructuring their debt, clearing some pesky bills off the plate so to speak: things like bank loans, landlords, and previous prize winners.
The company pays about $30,000 to prize winners each week, with approximately $1.8 million owed to recent prize winners. It also offers lifetime prizes, and it currently owes those prize winners about $26 million over the next 60 years, according to court documents.
In that light, I'm glad my dad got his $10 grand up front and didn't win one of those $5,000-per-week-for-life prizes.
It’s all those Mercedes Benz that they bought to give away to me.
They keep calling me about them.
Ed McMahon says I may owe him ten million dollars?
Married With Children - Funny Ed McMahon Scene
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U15Frq907MQ
“You don’t have to buy anything to win our sweepstakes!”
Turned out to be a damned lie.
My mother got one of those calls. Telling her that she won several million dollars and a new car and the publishers clearinghouse team was on their way to her house right that very minute to award her the prizes in person. All they needed was a payment of $3800 from her.
She actually thought this was genuine and raced to get her debit/credit cards. It took me and brother to stop her and it took a few minutes to talk her down and convince her this was a scam, she so wanted to believe it was real.
I get calls all the time from “publishers clearing house” I always say, OH BOY! How many millions did I win this time?
The line goes blank after that.
Like a lifetime warranty until the company goes tits up.
That was the way I always viewed it. Of course it all depended on whether or not you were actually entered or in particular, if you purchased anything.
I’m pretty sure I won this several times but failed to follow-up.
I despise Publisher’s Clearinghouse. I’m cleaning out my parents’ house after their recent passing. I found years & years worth of PC’s mailings to my Mom. She bought things hoping she would win. I found a piece of paper where she wrote her kids’ and grandkids’ names and the millions she would give each. I cried. I think of all the older people affected by the depression and WWII PC lied to, making them think they could make a better life for their families. All the years worth of letters I had to take her name off before I could recycled each envelope full of their lies. I really hate those shysters. Hope they never come back.
They need to close down for good as they come no ware close to matching ‘Uncle Sams Entitlement and Reparations Petrol’.
My wife got one of those.
She actually called PCH and they told her about the scams..............
Try reading the article
“They’re just restructuring their debt, clearing some pesky bills off the plate so to speak: things like bank loans, landlords, and previous prize winners.”
L
Try reading the posts.
RESTRUCTURING is not DUMPING.
Try not being a jerk.
It’ll be a big change for you, of course.
L
“Try not being a jerk.
It’ll be a big change for you, of course.”
Living rent free in your head for decades...
“Try not being a jerk.
It’ll be a big change for you, of course.”
That response indicates you realize your trolling post fell flat.
“ Living rent free in your head for decades.”
Flattering oneself is unseemly.
L
Mine recently received the same call. She didn't fall for the scam, but there was a moment when she started wishing it were true. But we'd all do that.
Very sorry for your loss... Finding those mailings and that paper must have been heartbreaking. But your mom probably was doing what I do - I call it 'dreaming on paper.' It's just something people enjoy doing. I've made lots of notes of what I'd do when I save some money again (which will never happen). One day, my kids may find those notes, and I hope they won't feel sad about those things. I'd rather they smile, just knowing that I wanted more for them. It sounds like your mom was dreaming on paper, too.
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