A leading online credit platform has apologised after telling customers in the UAE they had won a Dh5,000 ($1,360) Emirates flight voucher – before having to swiftly retract the offer.
Tabby, a buy now, pay later company, sent out an email on Friday morning to inform customers of their big win, in which it asked for delivery information and Emirates ID details to hand over the prize.
But the joy proved short-lived for the would-be raffle winners, who were quickly alerted that the message had been issued in error. Tabby customers were able to enter the raffle, which ran from May 20 until June 21, by spending a minimum of Dh500 on their account card.
"Today we sent an email to a number of our customers telling them they had won a prize in a raffle. They hadn't and that is entirely our mistake. We're sorry," Tabby said in a statement issued to The National. "We immediately closed the form linked in the email and wrote to all affected customers to apologise and correct the mistake."
Tabby said personal data shared by customers who responded to the email would not be stored by the company.
A review has been launched to establish how the email was inadvertently sent to customers who not been selected as winners.
"We understand why this is upsetting," the company added. "An email from an official Tabby address is something people should be able to trust and this one let them down. That is a fair thing to be angry about.
"The form is no longer accessible and any information submitted before it was taken down has not been used for any purpose and will be deleted safely. We are reviewing how this happened and have put further controls in place so it does not happen again. To everyone affected, we're sorry."
Raffle win falls flat
A number of Tabby customers took to social media to share their disappointment after their hopes of a free holiday were dashed. Rob Scott, who lives in Dubai, was among the users who received the email on Friday telling him of his "win".
The thought the raffle success had come just at the right time, because he is planning to fly to Glasgow in the coming days. "I didn't even apply for the raffle. I thought, this is great," said Mr Scott, 38.
"Then I heard from a couple of other people who received the message too. I filled in the form and put down my Emirates ID. I had to check it wasn't a scam at first. I got the email telling me I had won at 10.30am and the second message at 11.37am, saying it had been sent in error."
