Dubai: A man who almost binned a raffle coupon ended up winning one kilo of gold worth around Dh146,000.
Indian trader Amjad Baig said he was reluctant to fill out the coupon thinking he wouldn’t win but was finally convinced to do so by the salesman of a jewellery store he had shopped at in Dubai.
The coupon promotion is part of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) offers that award one kilo of gold and one carat diamond every day of the month-long festival.
The annual festival this year runs from January 1-February 2.
This DSF, the biggest gold and jewellery promotion is taking place with Dh15 million worth of gold and diamonds to be won on every purchase of just Dh500.
Baig, 37, had purchased jewellery from the Joyalukkas branch on Al Fahidi Street in Bur Dubai on Friday, entitling him to the raffle coupon.
“I didn’t really want to fill out the coupon, I never could have imagined I would win. But I want to thank the salesman who encouraged me to enter the draw. I have no words to describe how happy I am that I took that advice,” said Baig, who runs a kaftan business between Dubai and Mumbai, India. The father-of-two then flew to Mumbai unware he had won.
“I shuttle between Dubai and Mumbai often. This time, I kept my Dubai mobile number with me as I had bought a new phone and wanted to keep the SIM card active in it. As soon as I reached home in Mumbai on Saturday, I turned the phone on and got a text saying I had won.”
Baig flew back to Dubai and claimed the prize on Tuesday evening. He said he has not yet decided what to do with the windfall.
Since the beginning of this month, one kilo of gold and one carat diamond have been up for grabs every day including a weekly draw for five kilos of gold. At the end of the month there will be a mega draw for one prize of 20kg gold, two 10kg gold prizes and one five-carat diamond prize.
The last day of the promotion is February 1.
The Joyalukkas DSF campaign offers customers the chance to win 100kg of gold on every gold and jewellery purchase worth Dh500 to commemorate the 20th DSF anniversary.
“My shop is located in Dubai’s gold souq and it’s great to finally get my hands on some gold,” he said.
