The £1,000 star prize has been won in the Britvic Vend2Win Promotion.
Pictured: Bryan Raphael of Britvic, winner Claire Pinder; Mark Booth and Karen Sargeant of Wilkes Group
Claire Pinder’s nail salon, Cherish, is one of the places where the ladies of Heckmondwike choose to gather for a spot of girl talk and pampering.
‘One of my clients always seems to be winning things’, Claire said. ‘I said to her, ‘that’s not fair, I never win anything.’ Then she asked me, ‘do you ever enter?’ and I said, ‘no!’ ‘Well’, she said, ‘that’ll be why you never win, then.’’
This was the exchange that came into Claire’s mind when she was with her kids on their regular trip to Spenborough Pool & Fitness Complex, in the small Yorkshire town of Liversedge.
The vending machines are an integral part of the outing… ‘To be honest, I bribe the kids with the vending machines’, Claire admits. It’s part of a strategy to get her little darlings into the swimming pool to do some exercise: the promise of a treat afterwards.
‘I saw the Britvic competition advertised on the drinks machine and despite the fact that I never enter competitions I decided that this time, for once, I’d have a go.’ Claire duly bought a bottle of Drench – ‘not what I’d normally choose’ – and scanned the QR code on the bottleneck collar. The QR code led her to the App store. She opened up the app and an image of a vending machine appeared. Seconds later, she’d scooped the star prize in Britvic’s Vend2Win promotion.
‘It came up straight away that I’d won a thousand pounds’ worth of shopping vouchers’, she said. ‘My husband didn’t believe it. He thought it was a con, and even though I told him this morning that I was going to be presented with the prize today, he still doesn’t believe it. So I’m going to send him a photo now.’
And that’s where we could help. We took the picture and Claire sent it to her sceptical other half. We’d tell you how he responded; except we don’t use rude words in Planet Vending.
‘It proves the old saying’, Claire said, with a fistful of vouchers in her possession, courtesy of Bryan Raphael from Britvic and Mark Booth of Wilkes Group, the vending operator that serves the complex. ‘I’m glad my client pointed out to me that ‘if you’re not in it, you can’t win it!’
And then she was off – presumably to buy a lottery ticket…
