Help Me Howard

WSVN -- Danielle is 12 and loves what you'd expect 12-year-old girls to love.

Danielle Colsen: "Everybody's into music, movies that sort of thing. I'm into cheerleading though."

She is a cheerleader at school -- a pretty good one.

That Danielle mentions victory is appropriate because she recently won a radio contest.

Danielle" "20th caller, you would answer a questions and you would win $1,000 dollars."

Danielle and her girlfriend started calling 95.3, an alternative station on their cell phones.

Danielle: "It's not a very popular station, or it wasn't at that time."

But the prize was big. A thousand dollars if Danielle could name the planets in order.

Danielle: "Mercury Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Pluto."

The DJ told Danielle she had it right. She remembers the scream that only a 12-year-old girl could pull off.

Since Danielle and her girlfriend were underage the radio station invited the friends mother to come down to take a photo of the prize.

Danielle: "Like a little party or what ever and they presented her with a check. You know one of the big ones."

That big check was for show -- but when it came time to collect a real check, the station had an unreal story.

Danielle: "My friend's mom said basically the sponsor's didn't come through and they couldn't afford to give it to us and they weren't going to give it to us."

Daniel didn't think that was fair at all.

Danielle: "We won the contest and they shouldn't be broadcasting it on the air if they can't come through with the prize."

Wondering if she had a right to collect the prize, Danielle called "Help me Howard."

7 News Legal Expert Howard Finkelstein: "Danielle does have rights. She has the right to get her money. The radio station staged a contest which the law considers a contractual offer. When Danielle participated in the contest, she accepted their offer and by winning the station is contractually bound to pay her."

But 95.3 doesn't see it that way. They told us the contest was paid for by a sponsor, and that it is the sponsor who has to pay Danielle.

When we asked for proof of that, they told us they didnt have it. We called the sponsor several times -- they would not return our calls.

Howard says it appears the radio station has to pay the prize unless they can prove they told the public the sponsor had to pay.

Howard: "Danielle should take them to small court where I think she will win. She should also do what you do to any business that doesn't treat you right, whether its a store or a radio station, tell your friends what happened and don't do business with them."

As for Danielle -- she thinks the radio station should be careful about what they put out over the airwaves.

Danielle: "I'm a 12-year-old girl and all my friends are 12 too, and it's a lot of money to us. It may not be to other people, but it is to us. We won it fairly, it's not like we cheated or anything. We should be getting it."

Some good news for Danielle. A DJ at the station felt so bad he gave Danielle $300 dollars out of his own pocket and they are trying hard to collect the money from the sponsor so they can pay her the rest.

Problems occurring with frequency. Dial us up -- sometimes when we get involved, the results are no contest.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Contact: helpmehoward@wsvn.com

DADE: 305-953-WSVN
BROWARD: 954-761-WSVN