New York Competition Win; Worst Time Of Our lives!

LadyMorticia

That's horrible. Sending massive hugs to you and your girlfriend. x

fishermanrus

OMG! That really makes you wonder if doing these competitions is worth the trouble, I have only been doing comps since Feb 2013 and have had one small win which was all taken care off, but I would have hated to be in your position, I too would not have had the money to cover these costs, I really feel for you.

c5ryl

This is absolutely terrible and makes me worry a bit if I ever did win a holiday....I dont own a credit card and prefer to pay for everything with cash so I would have been well and truly stuck if I was in your position because I certainly dont have that amount of cash! Thank goodness you had a credit card....even though the whole thing was extremely stressful and unacceptable

Elsbells21

How horrible, thank goodness your money has been reimbursed, I sincerely hope they do something towards healing your upset.

Did you enjoy the NY part anyway?

Just wanted to add something to c5ry....

c5ryl wrote: »

I dont own a credit card and prefer to pay for everything with cash so I would have been well and truly stuck if I was in your position because I certainly dont have that amount of cash!

It's just for future reference anyway... but If you go to any upmarket hotels in America (and I think some other places, Paris was another one) you HAVE to leave a credit card behind the desk as a deposit - just wanted to say in-case you ever get caught short! :eek:

Edit - not physically leave, but they block an amount off and then release it.

c5ryl

Thanks Elsbells...I will perhaps have to order one especially or take my Mums.....! Do they not accept a debit card? Because they wont know what your balance of your credit or debit card is?

surfboard2

c5ryl wrote: »

Thanks Elsbells...I will perhaps have to order one especially or take my Mums.....! Do they not accept a debit card? Because they wont know what your balance of your credit or debit card is?

I think they are usually quite strict with wanting a credit card.

I see quite a few terms and conditions for holiday comps to the US where a credit card is a requirement.

I was reading the overseas travel forum recently and someone mentioned trouble with car hire in the US because they had no credit card!

jeddentad

simply_tash wrote: »

I think they are usually quite strict with wanting a credit card.

I see quite a few terms and conditions for holiday comps to the US where a credit card is a requirement.

I was reading the overseas travel forum recently and someone mentioned trouble with car hire in the US because they had no credit card!

Yup, was going to mention car hire.

It's the actual reason I got a CC about 5 years ago!

You MAY be okay with a debit card with a large amount of cash available in the account, but read the T&Cs closely.

solfleur

What an awful experience, hugs to both you and your girlfriend. I do hope Channel 4 and DNKY compensate you in some way or another.

Oh my, after reading your post and a few others, its made me rather nervous of my own up and coming family holiday win, which we are going on in a few weeks. Like others we have scrimped and saved so we have enough money for our meals (its only half board) and for a little spending money. (This is the first holiday abroad my youngest son has been on and I really would hate it if anything went disastrously wrong)....
anyway hugs once again to you and your girlfriend, chin up and put this horrible experience far, far behind you.

Ms_Chocaholic

OMG how awful for you both. I started reading your post and thought it was a joke at first, unfortunately not. I do hope you can get this sorted with DKNY/C4.

Good luck and keep us updated.

zer01

Thanks again to all of you for your kind words, it really does mean a lot. I'm on my phone at the minute so I'm finding it hard to "quote" posts so I'll have to try my best.

To the poster worried about entering comps for holidays and the poster worried about your up and coming holiday, I really wouldn't be. From everything I have read over the years on this forum, everything usually works out fine. I fully understand what happened to me was rare. I'll still be entering holiday comps because I'm a full on comping addict and I just can't help myself lol.

The first part of the holiday was really nice! Very hectic, but that's New York! The food was great and most of the people we met were so friendly. On a few occasions we were standing around looking at a map, trying to find our way, and someone would just come over to us and ask if we needed help. We came across the occasional misrebel person but you find that any where. Overall it was brilliant, until it all went pear shaped.

UPDATE; The Black Tomato have offered £600 compensation. What does everyone think? I don't know how to feel about it to be honest. £600 is a lot of money to us, but in the grand scheme of what the holiday was worth, it's a drop in the ocean. I don't want to seem greedy though. The seaplane that we couldn't make, because of running low on money, was worth £675 alone. And that's before factoring in all the stress. This offer was made from The Black Tomato and not Channel 4. Again, I don't want to seem greedy though, it just doesn't seem like a lot for what we were put through and what we missed out on. I would really love to know what everyone thinks though and if you feel this is a fare amount. I may just be so peeved off with it all that I'm not thinking clearly, so input is welcome.

I was also informed that they "will be amending their processes around the 24 hour support line and putting two additional contacts in place so there will always be someone on hand to help in these instances". I am genuinely pleased about that part because that's the situation that got to me the most. Hopefully this recifys things for future comp winners that have to deal with them.