Capital FM/KLM Trip to Beijing win (a comping tale of woe)

Amilucky?

I was the winner of 7 nights in a 4* hotel in Beijing and £500 spending money from the comp posted by Laks here
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3519603

the prize had to be taken by November 2012

because of my wife's ill health I decided that I wasn't going to take the holiday so in May 2012 I wrote them a letter explaining my personal circumstances and I said that I couldn't take the holiday so could they pass the prize on to someone else

yesterday I received a call from the PR people saying that they couldn't pass the prize on to someone else and that they would like to offer me another prize they said would I like a holiday in the UK

only trouble is my wife has just had a bad fall and has been in hospital for the last 3 weeks and she is struggling to regain her mobility the doctor say's that the fall may have brought her Alzheimers on more and that her lack of mobility may be psychological rather than physical

so I said to the PR person that I don't think that I would be able to take any kind of holiday in the foreseeable future they then said that the prize would have to be travel related and asked me if I would like a day trip I said no

they then said what would I like? rather cheekily I said that a bit of cash would be nice thinking that they might give me the £500 spending money that was included with the original prize

they said unfortunately that the "rules" of the competition wouldn't allow them to give me a cash prize but they would have a think about what other prize they could offer me and that they would get back to me and hung up

a friend of mine told me that I shouldn't have told them that I wasn't going on the holiday and that I should have waited until I had got the £500 spending money and then cancelled the holiday at the last minute

I didn't really want to do this "being a honest person" and I honestly thought that they would offer me the £500 spending money as a consolation prize how wrong could I be!

so in summary Capital FM and KLM have saved quite a lot of money and it looks like at the end of the day that I may get NOTHING at all

and to top it all the final insult is as per Capital FM's rules I am now banned from winning any major prizes from Capital FM for at least12 months! :mad:

Dee-Dee

I'm so sorry for your situation and I hope your wife is feeling better soon. Can you tell them that your circumstances have changed and that you can go after all? Then as your friend suggested you will have the spending money at least. I personally don't think that would be dishonest - it is part of your prize after all. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

Amilucky?

Dee-Dee wrote: »

I'm so sorry for your situation and I hope your wife is feeling better soon. Can you tell them that your circumstances have changed and that you can go after all? Then as your friend suggested you will have the spending money at least. I personally don't think that would be dishonest - it is part of your prize after all. Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.

I could I suppose but it would go against all of my moralistic values so I think that I will just have to put it down to experience and just move on

indie

That's a shame you missed out and I do think it's mean of them not to offer you just the money.I hope your wife regains her mobility soon.

toniq

I often wonder how you and your wife are, It's a very cruel illness Alzheimers, Hope you win something nice to make up for it.

xxxxx

Barnabysue

Really sorry to hear this, you deserve a nice treat, I know how hard life is when caring for someone with your wife's illness. It wouldn't hurt them to at least offer the spending money. I sincerely hope that something really nice comes your way very soon.

Mamzie

Amilucky, my heart goes out to you ((())) I am so sorry for the situation you are both in, and Capital could have been more forthcoming considering your circumstances xxxxxx

I am wondering if you would be able to do a UK holiday if you went with one of the specialist Disabled/respite holiday providers? I looked into a few of these in the last few years when I was really bad, and was actually suprised how much help you could get. They are quite expensive, but you won an amazing prize originally, so the least they could do would be a holiday like this instead for you both.

Theres lots of links from this page, hth http://www.scope.org.uk/help-and-information/leisure/holidays

And some even do specialised holiday for Alzeimer suffers inc their partners, http://www.vitalise.org.uk/centre_breaks/centre_breaks_brochure/#anchor_3

all the best, xxxxxx

Amilucky?

Thanks Mamzie for your reply and for the info

the other problem that I have was is that if they offered me a UK holiday they want me to take it before November as per the original T&C's

and as I don't know how long my wife will be in hospital and I also would like her to re-acclimatise to her home again before taking her off on holiday it gives me a very narrow time window for arranging a holiday

the specialised holidays for Alzeimer suffers with Vitalise sounds like that it could be the ideal holiday for me and my wife and I will certainly look into this - many thanks

Amilucky?

I have just sent an email to ask if they would be willing to offer a replacement prize for one of the Alzeihmers weeks at Vitalise as suggested by Mamzie

Mamzie I cannot thank you enough, you have put a way forward where I thought there was none :j:j:j:j

I have my fingers crossed now that Global Radio will agree to it and also extend the time that I have to take the holiday in as the the specialist weeks are very limited

will let you know how I get on

Barnabysue

Well done Mamzie, wish we'd known about that when my FIL was coping with his wife, he could have done with that. Hope you get something sorted Amilucky?

sheils6

I will keep my fingers crossed that you manage to get something sorted out Amilucky?