Dubai: Filipino salesman Peter Morete couldn’t help but smile when colleagues touched him to share his “luck” on Monday afternoon. He, after all, was the one who sold tickets to three of this year’s Infiniti Mega Raffle winners.
Morete is a salesman at an Enoc petrol station in Muhaisnah, which has proven to be a lucky charm for its customers with no less than four winning raffle tickets being sold here.
“I am very happy that somehow we are being used as instruments for these life-changing events. I can’t express how deeply happy I am for them,” Morete, 35, told Gulf News with a smile during a visit.
Seventy-five out of 5,000 tickets are sold in his station each day. If you do a bit of maths, the probability of winning if you buy from Morete is so much more — about 1 out of 625 (according to our calculation) — compared with buying from other outlets, if his lucky streak over the last 25 days is any indication.
The station’s four winners each won two Infiniti top models, QX60 and G25, and a cash prize of Dh100,000 for the 19th edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF). Last year, the station had two Infiniti Mega Raffle winners.
Morete was responsible for selling the raffle coupon to Mohammad Al No’man, DSF’s first winner on January 2.
Morete recalled how the 74-year-old Omani winner was down in his luck that day after losing his ATM card. Morete said he persuaded Al No’man to buy raffle tickets twice, but the man declined.
But when his ATM card was found, Al No’man came back to the petrol station to thank the staff, including Morete. That’s when Morete thought he’d try once again to sell Al No’man a ticket. He bought one. A day later, he won.
Lucky hand
“When I first learned that his ticket was drawn, it didn’t really sink in. Three days later, he came back to the station to thank all of us. Unfortunately, I was off that day,” Morete said.
Little did Morete know that that wasn’t his station’s only win. Another of his customers, Jehad T.M., a Jordanian expatriate, became DSF’s 13th winner on January 14.
Four days after that, Morete’s lucky hand struck again. He said he remembers Godfrey Cabral, the third winner from the station, very well.
“I had four tickets left and approached them. I asked if their child could choose the ticket for them and they said yes. The next day, their ticket was drawn,” Morete said.
Ameer Ali, site-in-charge at the station, said he had seen an increase in coupon sales since the winners’ names had been posted in front of the station. Ali, however, doesn’t believe that the wins were because of luck.
“I don’t believe in luck. I believe they won because it’s God’s will for them,” Ali told Gulf News.
Ali said he is proud to have very hard-working promoters and described Morete as his “number one promoter with a very good character”.
Roxanne Tamaca, Morete’s workmate, is yet to get lucky this year, although she had a happy story to tell two years ago. Tamaca said she bought an Infiniti ticket two years ago and one of her customers picked the ticket after hers. That man’s ticket was drawn the next day.
“I felt really happy. It was as if I had won,” Tamaca said. “I really do pray for most of my customers to win, especially those whom I think are having a tough time in life yet would like to buy tickets.”
Energy running high
Over at another Enoc petrol station on Oud Metha road, energy is high among the staff who sell tickets.
Anna May Tamayo said her station had one winner during last year’s raffle. They are hopeful they will have their first winner soon.
Egyptian expatriate Romani Lavid, who also works at the Oud Metha station, has a spirited approach in selling tickets. The secret?
Just explain the process properly to customers, he said.
