By FRANCESCA MOLD
Matthew Edwards thought it was too good to be true when he won a new Volkswagen from Sky City casino.
He was right.
When Sky City discovered he was only 18, it refused to give him the car because the competition had an age restriction of 20.
Mr Edwards and his
family were dining in the casino restaurant when they were given entry forms for a competition with first prize of a VW car worth about $39,000.
The restaurant was about to close, so they filled in their forms quickly and left.
Mr Edwards said he did not have time to read the conditions of entry, which included the age-restriction clause.
He complained to the Herald on Tuesday, and also sought legal advice. After the Herald asked for comment, Sky City immediately phoned Mr Edwards and arranged a meeting for yesterday.
Sky City media relations manager Sonya Haggie refused to answer questions before the meeting, including whether the casino would give Mr Edwards the car.
Asked if the casino would make any offer of compensation conditional on Mr Edwards' not continuing to cooperate in a Herald article, she said it would not.
But after the meeting, Mr Edwards said he was reluctant to talk until he had a firm cash offer from the casino.
At 6 last night, Ms Haggie released a statement saying the casino had given Mr Edwards a cheque for $5000 and would pay his travel and tourism tertiary fees of $5500 next year.
Sky City was not legally obliged to provide the alternative prize, she said, but wanted to "recognise Mr Edwards' disappointment."
Mr Edwards was unable to be reached for comment after the casino released its statement.
The quick decision to compensate Mr Edwards after it was revealed that he was going public with his complaint follows a flurry of bad publicity last year when Sky City initially refused to hand over an Alfa Romeo car won by Hopoi Taumalolo.
Mr Taumalolo was refused the second of two cars he won on a 20c slot machine because the casino said the machine had malfunctioned.
Sky City later changed its mind because of the outcry.
