A decade after the infamous Hoover "free flights" fiasco, thousands of consumers are wondering if they may have signed up to a similar deal. BT customers tempted by the company's broadband plan following an offer of free flights to the US have told Jobs & Money they are so fed up with chasing them they wish they hadn't bothered.

It is believed that as many as half of the 10,000 people who have applied for free flights under the BT promotion are still waiting for their travel offers to arrive.

Harry Cichy, who came to prominence after organising a class action lawsuit on behalf of those left without Hoover flights, says he has received hundreds of emails from frustrated BT consumers wanting to know if they are the only ones who are having difficulty in obtaining their flights. "At one point I was receiving at least 50 emails a day and it did bring back a sense of déjà vu. It's almost as though the big companies have learned nothing from the whole Hoover affair - they keep coming up with these offers, and seem surprised when people get upset when the flights aren't forthcoming," he says.

BT strenuously denies there is a problem and insists everyone who has applied will receive their flights. But Rise Travel, the company behind the promotion, admits that that there have been delays - which it blames on the Post Office.

The BT deal was first advertised in May, and offered new subscribers to its broadband service a free flight on certain routes to America's east coast, or to one of several European destinations. Customers had to agree to take the £19.99 a month broadband service for a minimum of 12 months to receive a flight worth around £200.

Despite the fact that they had to agree to pay the airport taxes and the extra costs of flying from some regional airports, it was certainly an attractive offer. Of the people who took out a subscription, around 10,000 went ahead and applied for their free return flight.

However, the promotion, handled by Rise Travel on BT's behalf, has been plagued by problems, according to those customers who have contacted Jobs & Money and Mr Cichy.

Those signing up for the offer are required to name three different destinations and a host of dates when they are happy to fly.

Some BT customers have been sent vouchers after their applications have been processed, but others haven't received anything at all from either firm, and all their requests for infor mation as to how their application was proceeding have, they say, been ignored.

Janet Copp and her husband Michael Stanway, who live in north London with Janet's son, contacted Jobs & Money after becoming frustrated with the lack of response from BT and Rise Travel.

They signed up to BT's broadband at the start of the summer and say they were heavily influenced in their choice of provider by the free flight offer from BT.

"My son has a girlfriend in America, so it was one offer that made a lot of sense for us. However, all our attempts to get our flight have, so far, failed. Emails have batted back and forward to no avail.

"At the start they just fobbed off our requests, then they keep asking us to send in the voucher with our chosen dates. When we explain that we haven't received the voucher, the whole thing falls apart," says Janet.

Andrew Bryant, an IT consultant from Leeds, tells a similar story. He signed up to BT's broadband offer in June and was lucky enough to receive his voucher. He filled it in quickly and returned it, only to hear nothing more.

"The paperwork says you will be given a booking within 28 days. I waited around six weeks and then started trying to contact Rise Travel. Every time I rang them I would hold on for five minutes only to be put over to an answerphone."

Next he tried contacting BT and it was the same story. When someone finally rang him back last week, they confirmed the flight details and said they would call back to confirm the booking within 24 hours - a deadline that came and went without a call.

"The free flight offer was the only reason I took out the subscription with BT. There are cheaper broadband providers out there; I'm starting to wish I hadn't bothered," he says.

Both BT and Rise Travel have defended the offer as being very successful and say that everyone who has applied for a flight will receive one.

John Cookson of Rise Travel says: "It's true that we have had problems with the post in this area that has severely hampered our attempts to get vouchers out to those who signed up to the offer. The post was so bad that we took the matter up with Adam Crozier's (Royal Mail's chief executive) office.

"The delays were then exacerbated by the fact that we had to go back to BT and confirm that those whose vouchers had gone missing were eligible. There have been a few administrative delays but everyone will get their flights - and we will be extending the March deadline by which people have to have taken the flights if required."

He says half the 10,000 applicants have been offered bookings on actual flights, although he declined to say how many people had actually flown, citing client confidentiality. He promises that the remaining 5,000 will be processed over the coming weeks.

When we spoke to BT, its spokesman also declined to say how many people had flown using the offer. A BT spokesman told Jobs & Money that 90% of applicants had been "booked on flights", somewhat contradicting Rise's claim that just half of applicants had so far been offered a flight.

"This is not going to be a Hoover and it's ridiculous to suggest it will become one - everyone who is entitled to a free flight will get one," said the spokesman.

Prepare for turbulence

Free flight promotion schemes are designed to attract the maximum publicity for the smallest possible cost.

Typically they work by offering off-peak flights at inconvenient times that are being sold off cheaply by the airlines. The wording of the offers is such that you have very little say on when and where you get to fly.

Those taking up the recent BT offer who want to visit the US had to name three airports which could be as much as 500 miles apart. They also have to be extremely flexible on dates - and the promotion companies effectively rely on most applicants being put off by such restrictions.

The companies try to make up their income by selling add-ons such as travel insurance or extra flights to allow a partner or friend to accompany the person taking the free flight.

But the promotions can go wrong when there is a considerably higher take up than anticipated.

Californian wine company E&J Gallo recently offered a free transatlantic flight just for buying a half case (six bottles) of wine, costing £40, and in some supermarkets as low as £24.99.

Behind the offer is organiser Rise Travel, which also managed the BT Broadband offer. And like the BT offer, it has also kept Harry Cichy's inbox full with angry correspondents wanting to know what is happening.

Sainsbury's, one of the retailers involved in the promotion, said it has had customers complain - largely over delays and lack of response - but said the complaints have been resolved now.

E&J Gallo's marketing manager Ian Belcher told J&M that he recently called Rise Travel staff into his office to give them (in his words) a "kick up the backside" to speed up the distribution of flights to the 8,000 wine case buyers that had applied for flights.

"There have been a few delays but I can confirm that everyone who is entitled to a flight will receive one," he said.

These offers are certainly back in vogue. The motorway catering firm Little Chef is currently offering a free weekend away in Europe or the US -including hotel accommodation - to anyone who eats five meals during September and November. The travel company involved is listed as MKM Marketing & Promotions, which owns Rise Travel - the company behind both the BT and E&J Gallo wine offers.

Make it work for you

A retired accountant who wishes to remain anonymous makes it his business to extract the maximum value out of these promotional deals, and he told Jobs & Money how best to work the system.

· Once you have bought the offer don't let the promotions company off the hook by not applying for the freebie.

· Be absolutely punctilious with your administration -take copies of everything you send, have a diary sheet, check the days off since you sent your application.

· Send letters by recorded delivery. A lack of proof of delivery is a golden get-out used by lots of promo companies. Recorded delivery means you can use the Royal Mail website to prove when it was delivered.

· Don't let your application slide - if you haven't received it by the deadline, it isn't happening. Time to go into attack mode. Fax, e-mail or send a recorded letter, as this leaves a trail.

· Badger senior managers until you get some joy.

· If you're being fobbed off, check the internet: holidaytruths.co.uk is a good starting point.

· If all else fails, threaten legal action. "I am always prepared to go to court but then I am a retired accountant who has been likened to Victor Meldrew."

The offers that turned sour

The greatest free flights fiasco of all time was the Hoover debacle of the early nineties.

A bright spark at the firm came up with the idea of offering free flights to the US on all purchases over £100. It was before the era of the budget airlines, and the company was overwhelmed by demand, with vacuum cleaners and washing machines walking out the doors of retailers across Britain.

In a damage limitation attempt, the company vigorously applied the terms and conditions of the deal.

More than 100,000 claimants were refused flights, prompting several groups to take the company to court.

It was a PR disaster and to this day Hoover remains tagged with the failed offer, which ended up costing it around £48m - wiping out years of profits.

However, Hoover is not alone in having underestimated the zeal with which people will take up freebie offers.

In February 1992, DIY chain Texas launched an extraordinary promotion.

Customers were told that if they spent up to £5,000 on a kitchen, they would receive the full refund on cost of the kitchen 10 years later. The only catch was that they had to keep a certificate and receipt and remember to apply in February 2002.

Perhaps the company was relying on a high level of inflation to devalue any repayments, coupled to the fact that most applicants would lose their papers, forget, or simply die.

The trouble came when thousands of customers defied the firm's best laid plans and actually asked for the money back - many said they were counting on the windfall.

Plans by Texas' customers to try to get their money back was hindered by the fact the store had changed hands twice in the intervening decade.

Eventually, the new owner Hilton Group had to cough up £11m to settle the problem once and for all.