Dubai: A Syrian man who first refused to fill a raffle draw coupon at a Metro station and then handed the receipt to a cleaner ended up winning a Nissan car, which he says is a “gift from God in a time of need”.
Abdullah Eisa, 49, who has been living in the UAE for 21 years, decided to get the prize in cash. He said his family in Syria have been going through tough times since the beginning of this winter and that it was always a challenge for him to find ways to financially support them during their ordeal.
In an unexpected sequence of events, Eisa left his office which is inside the etisalat Metro station and headed to Zoom to buy mobile credit. Upon spending Dh85, he received nine coupons but told the saleswoman it was a waste of time to fill them out because he knew he’d never win.
“I told her to keep them with her and to fill them in her name. But she followed me back to the office and told me she was not allowed to fill them in her name. So, I told her to fill them in for me and to fill in two coupons in the name of a Bangladeshi cleaner who was cleaning my office on that day,” he said.
When the coupons were filled out, Eisa gave all the receipts to the cleaner and told him to either keep them with him or throw them away since he was convinced that he would not win.
“I got two calls two days in a row telling me I had won a Nissan Micra, but I thought it couldn’t be true. After making sure of the news, I had to search for the cleaner at the same Metro station to ask him about the receipt to be able to claim the prize, and luckily he still had them,” said Eisa.
Eisa said the cleaner and the saleswomen both brought him luck.
“Once I receive the prize, which I chose to get in cash, I want to surprise the cleaner and give him some of it. I thank God for everything, because it’s a very critical period for my family back home, and they urgently need my help. I will be sending almost all of the money to them,” he said.
The coupon promotion Eisa won is part of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) daily Nissan Grand Raffle draw which follows the lead with 32 Nissan cars — one car a day — plus a Nissan Patrol every week.
Shoppers can get a chance to win any of these cars for every Dh20 spent at the convenience store Zoom or at Pronto, Dh30 spent for a car wash at Enoc or Eppco or Dh100 spent on an oil change or any AutoPro service.
The annual festival this year runs from January 1-February 2.
