Questionable promotions

Dear Sir,

I have been a Doha resident for more than 20 years now. And through my days in Qatar, I have seen, participated and won prizes in many promotional marketing campaigns. Here, I would like to share a different experience I had recently, hoping it would help Gulf Times readers from the trap and to caution them about such “initiatives”.
While coming out of a restaurant with my family after attending a dinner party the other night, a person approached us for filling in a coupon. Even though I was not interested in filling in unsolicited coupons, seeing the pressure and earnest request of the person, my daughter filled in the coupon. He never revealed the establishment he represented while accepting the coupon which contained our personal details.  
The next day I got a telephone call, informing me that I had won three prizes. I didn’t understand what it was about at first. When I asked him for details, the caller explained that the coupon we had filled in the other day had won us three prizes. They included a dinner voucher from an Indian restaurant in Doha, an offer from a hotel and a holiday voucher for six nights. I was surprised I had won  three prizes just for filling in a free coupon. But the caller wanted us to visit his office to collect the prizes but still without mentioning the name of the company he was representing.
But when he explained the route to his office I had some doubt that he was referring to a group whose so-called “promotions” and “offers” had raised some sort of heated debate in the social media. But I wanted to learn the real situation and went there following the caller’s directions.
When I reached the office in the Bank Street area, the staff there refused to deal with me, saying I had not brought my wife along with me to collect my prizes! I had gone there with my daughter who filled in the coupon in my name.
I never filled any coupons in my wife’s name. The coupon was in my name and I could not understand the logic behind denying the prizes they had offered because my wife was not with me.
What kind of promotion is this? Is it even a legally-permitted promotion? If yes, how can anyone deny the prize, already announced?
On what ground could they ask me to bring my wife with me, especially since her name was not mentioned in the coupon? Why did they not mention the name of the group while filling in the coupon or while contacting to inform me about collecting the prizes? Why did they not print the name of the group on the coupon?
I am fully aware of marketing strategies and planning of different companies. But this is quite strange and senseless.
Qatar is a country which follows ethical decency in every action. I think what happened with this “promotion” is against the system being followed in this great country.

AV, (Full name and address supplied)

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