My wife and I won an all expenses paid holiday…or did we?

I live by the saying that if something sounds too good to be true it most probably is, that being said, there is a part of me that wants to believe that I am the winner of Kyrgyzstan’s latest lotto draw.

I received a phone call from a very amiable guy called Jurgen from the Horizon Group the other day, who gave the impression that he previously spoke to me about Standerton’s crime statistics and the efficiency of our local police.

Obviously this conversation never happened, but as soon as what he said became potentially feasible in my mind, a sense of doubt infiltrated my ability to make a sound judgement.

Usually my conversations with telemarketers have one outcome, a telemarketer that experiences a sense of utter failure within  a few seconds.

But Jurgen was different, he had me captivated…

I was the winner of an all expenses paid, seven day international or local holiday, just for being a human being.

From the outset I was sceptical, but for every question I had, he had a plausible answer.

At one point I used my title as the editor of the Advertiser to threaten that, if this were a marketing ploy for a vacation club, I would not hesitate to expose him for false advertising.

His response could not have been better rehearsed, he was willing to write the article himself if this turned out to be a sham.

He got me hook, line and sinker…

Even though I was not willing to share personal details with him such as my wife’s occupation and her age, something no living man should ever consider revealing, I answered his questions and we ended off with him giving me a reference number.

With all of the formalities out of the way, he informed me that he would be handing over our prize the next day.

He also stated that it would take only 45 minutes of our time – which had me thinking again, but not to the point that I would not pitch up.

I phoned my wife to tell her about our free holiday and yes, you guessed it, her response was potentially the same as mine would have been if she phoned me with such nonsense.

However, with all of the things I learnt from Jurgen during our conversation, I managed to convince her that this was the real deal.

My wife and I, along with several other people who spoke to Jurgen about Standerton’s crime statistics, were supposed to pick up our tickets the next day after receiving an e-mail-invite.

I did not receive the e-mail, but a woman phoned me to confirm our appointment and I told her about my reservations regarding their so-called free holiday.

She kindly reiterated Jurgen’s rehearsed lines and stated that their company would do some marketing before the official handover.

I agreed that I would be picking up the tickets from her later.

She abruptly interrupted me and insisted that my wife needed to come along as well.

I explained to her that my wife was busy with month-end and that it would not be possible for her to get off work.

Outraged she said that I was extremely unprofessional for not attending a set appointment, to which I replied that I would be there, but just not accompanied by my wife.

This enraged her even more and she kept on babbling about my so-called unprofessional behaviour to the point that our conversation went south very quickly.

Needless to say, my wife and I are no longer the winners of a free holiday due to our “unprofessional conduct”.

If you ever deal with this group or similar groups, trying to sell you something or market their business, using very questionable methods, just know that you won’t get the promised winner’s treatment.