Ashley Furniture free promotion may be a bust

Ashley Furniture's "Tiger Free for All" promotion may be no sale at all. The promotion that lasted three days in December promised customers free furniture if the Tigers won the National Championship.

The store ran the promotion to help boost holiday sales, allowing customers to spend $1,500 in furniture with hopes that the Tigers would run all the way to San Antonio. The sales event was influenced by a similar event in Boston when the Red Sox were making a run at the World Series.

However, Attorney General Robert E. Cooper issued an opinion last week stating that it is illegal for a business to conduct a promotion that requires a purchase when that purchase is induced by speculation that a person may receive partial or full rebate, depending on a particular team winning the NCAA tournament.

"Our owners are handling that now," said Robert Hardin, chief financial officer at Ashley's Furniture. "It's something we are working to resolve."

The Tennessee Code states that this type of gambling is contrary to the public policy of the state and means risking anything of value for a profit whose return is to any degree contingent on chance. The statute defines profit as anything of value in addition to the gambling bet.

Hardin said the attorney general's opinion caught them by surprise.

"It was something that hit us in the blind," he said. "This wasn't something we just ran without an attorney in Memphis. We did our research in advance. One particular manager was amazed the attorney general would issue such a thing."

Jonathan Ozier, Ashley Furniture store manager, said the store received clearance to run the promotion.

"It was brought to the attorney general before we rolled it out, and he okayed it," Ozier said. "We made sure it was kosher."

Historically, Tennessee's gambling statutes have prohibited such prize give-a-ways. The promotion is limited only to purchasers, leaving no opportunity for anyone else to participate.

If the opinion stands, it will create a problem for customers who purchased the furniture at full price, expecting to receive it free with a Tigers NCAA triumph.

Sheryl Lipman, University counsel, said it would be difficult for people to get their money back.

"I don't see how people would get their money back. You, as an individual, don't have a right," she said.