Ever felt a fool...

This afternoon I had a telephone call out of the blue telling me that I had won a competition for next weekend in Belfast with flights from Manchester, two nights in a top hotel, tickets to several attractions and £100 in shopping vouchers.

Oh yes said I, what sort of a fool do you take me for, you must think I fell out of a Christmas tree, and promptly put the phone down, my reasons for doing so were as follows...

1. I cannot remember entering any competition.
2. Even if I had, I have never won a competition in my life.
3. All the signs of a scam were there, you've won a competition with great prizes that you can't remember entering, the prize has to be taken almost immediately and if it seems too good to be true then it almost certainly is.

However, after joking about the call with my wife she reminded me that I had, a few weeks ago, visited Visit Belfast's website as we were thinking of going there this year, and with that I remembered answering a question regarding the construction of the Titanic..... I then brought up the number on redial and guess what, it was the number of the Belfast Tourist Centre...

I sheepishly rang back but the prize had been given to the next winner out of the hat.

Ever felt a complete bl***y idiot? Just like winning the lottery only to have lost the ticket.

Re: Ever felt a fool...

What a shame Barry, but I am sure we can all understand why you hung up.
Can I suggest that, if you answer any more questions on the internet, you keep a note of them by your phone.

Re: Ever felt a fool...

Oh dear Barry ... that's such a shame

Re: Ever felt a fool...

Even if I had realised it wasn't a scam, a trip to Belfast wouldn't be on my agenda, so I would have told them to give it to someone else.

Re: Ever felt a fool...

What a shame, Barry.

A shame you're not tarantula....the pill would be easier to swallow.

Re: Ever felt a fool...

Knowing how careful we have to be these days re scam phone calls, I'm surprised they didn't try another means of contact or give you more time.

What a shame!

Re: Ever felt a fool...

Wouldn't life be so easy in retrospect? I really should have let her finish, I really should have asked her to email the details, I really should have asked her name so that I could check the number and call her back, I really should have.....

But I didn't, hey ho, maybe next time..

Re: Ever felt a fool...

Oh dear never mind Barry 'What you have never had you never miss' they say .

A shame the tourist office wasn't a little more patient allowing you chance to reflect before giving the prize to someone else.

Re: Ever felt a fool...

Oops.

I strung this guy on from my credit card company thinking he was a scammer. Said all sorts of nonsense to him. Only realised he was a genuine caller later on. Not the first time I have been mistaken either.

Bad call there. Just goes to show how we have all been plagued with these scammers over time. Must say I seem to have a lot less of them now though but the occasional one still gets through.

Re: Ever felt a fool...

Aw Barry that's awful, i would never get over it..

The thing is Barry these days there's so many scams that the honest winning competitions no-one ever believes them anymore.
So they'll be a lot more people like you losing out and kicking themselves afterwards..