New York Competition Win; Worst Time Of Our lives!

zer01

We have just got back from a competition win from New York City and The Hamptons. And I must say it was one of the worst experiences of our life.

The competition was through Channel 4 in association with DKNY. So it was from reputable companies. The company that they contracted to deal with the organisation of the holiday was The Black Tomato.

So the competition was to fly to New York City, spend 2 nights there then fly out on a seaplane to The Hamptons for 2 nights. We got into the City on Wednesday and flew home Sunday night.

Let me just jump right in and tell you all where it went horribly wrong.

We spent the 2 nights in the city and went to catch the seaplane on Friday. We took and flight and when we landed up in The Hamptons we got escorted off the plane in front of everyone. We got took to the office and they demanded payment from us. We explained it was a competition win. They told us that the credit card that was used had been declined and they needed payment NOW! So I got out the 24 HOUR EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBER that The Black Tomato had given us. We called them and no answer. Called again, no answer. Tried for what seemed and eternity and it just kept going to voice mail. Eventually they told us if we didn't pay we were going to have a serious problem. Now we don't have a lot of money and this holiday wouldn't have been possible otherwise. We had to do some serious budgeting before we went just to have spending money. Anyways, finally they held us there until I paid with my credit card. $1050.00 dollars! At this point my girlfriend is in tears, I'm upset and we are both about as stressed as we could have been. Finally we are allowed to leave and have to take a cab from East Hampton Airport to our hotel. Which cost $100 dollars because of its location. The airport is a small private one and is in the middle of nowhere so it had no other transportation links out of there. We knew that though and had budgeted for it.

So when we got to the hotel I started emailing The Black Tomato because at this point we couldn't have taken the seaplane flight back because that was supposed to have been paid for to, which obviously it hadn't. At this point we were worried. Really worried! About 24 hours later we finally got a email reply from The Black Tomato apologising and telling me they would reimburse for the seaplane fair. And that they were looking into. Paying for the return flight. Eventually, what seemed like an age, they got back and said payment had gone through for the return flight but I could let get my money back until today (Tuesday) because of the bank holiday.

Anyways, onto the next thing. My credit card hit its limit because of the $1050.00 that was taken from it. We have a few notes on us for food. Certainly not enough for another $100 cab ride. So we couldn't get to the airport. We had to walk to the train station in The Hamptons and pay 40 dollars to get back to the city so we could catch our international flight from JFK. Luckily we already had metro cards so could use the subway from the city to JFK.

The whole thing has left me and my girlfriend quite shaken if I'm honest. Not to mention it ruined this holiday that was advertised as THE HOLIDAY OF A LIFE TIME.

We just wished we had stayed at home.

cagsd

OMG what an absolute nightmare!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
I would as a first point of call contact the IPM and complain, ask them if there is anything you can do to claim compensation not just for the huge amount of money you had to pay out, but also for the massive disappointment in the holiday of a lifetime turning into a disaster!!
Please keep us posted!

rugmaker

It would be worth contacing Channel 4 and DKNY as well. They would be quite embarrassed to be associated with this if it were to end up in the papers, for example.

Blulu

OMG, what a dreadful experience - even worse because it was supposed to be such a lovely one. Yes, please keep us posted about what happens. I would hope that the absolutely minimum you should expect would be to be reimbursed for their errors. I hope they also recognise the need to compensate you for all that stress as well.

At least you're home now, safe and sound with a story to tell for the rest of your life!

Sending you a huge {{{{{ HUG }}}}}

Blu X

zer01

Thanks for replies. I have thought about contacting the IPM but will give Channel 4 time to respond to all this as rugmaker said. I have CC'd them in all emails since the first one I sent from over there. But the IPM will be my next port of call if Channel 4 have nothing to say about it.

The sad thing is we haven't been on holiday in about 9 years because we couldn't afford to.

zer01

Thanks Blulu :–) Your right, it's certainly an experience we will always keep with us.

We are so glad to be back home. We were the only ones smiling getting on the BA flight back home lol.

Sunny_Saver

I don't really have much to add in the way of advice, but I just wanted to express my sympathies for such a !!!!! break. Don't know what to say really, it sounds as if it aged you 10 years instead of relaxed you.

EllasPa

What an awful experience. You assume as prize winners you would get VIP treatment, not this shoddy service. I hope they compensate you accordingly, so you can put this behind you.

d0nner

Oh zer01 - how awful.
I remember you posting before your trip and I was so jealous you poor things... I hope the promoters recognise how upsetting this must have been and sort your refund and compensation ASAP!

Zanzib

That's dreadful.

Do hope Channel 4 and DNKY compensate you. They had contracted the company to deal with it all and the company didn't.

surfboard2

Oh no, sorry to hear this has happened to you.

Going to New york and The Hamptons is a dream win - how dreadful for you to have such a stressful experience.

Do keep us updated with the outcome!