DUBAI // A shop employee is being recognised for a gesture of honesty and selflessness that led one of her customers to win a new car.
Abdullah Eissa got nine raffle tickets while buying mobile credit and, convinced he would not win, gave them back to the employee, Janet Nacional, who works at the Zoom shop in Dubai’s Etisalat metro station.
But Ms Nacional, 29, could not accept the vouchers due to an Enoc policy that states that employees cannot use their name for the raffle tickets. She ran out to find Mr Eissa, who gave her his name and contact information – and he won a Nissan Micra.
“I’m very happy for our customer,” said Ms Nacional, from the Philippines. “I’m hoping all customers win like that.”
Ms Nacional has worked for Enoc, the Emirates National Oil Company, for three years.
Like many expatriates here, she supports family back home. Her parents, Thomas and Josafina, still live in Samar province, where work is scarce, she said.
“I want to help my family,” said Ms Nacional, adding that she is the only family member able to work. “My parents are still in the Philippines.”
Here in the UAE, she has a lot of friends, particularly at the Dar Al Ber Society, where she is studying the Quran after converting to Islam in 2013.
Ms Nacional said that she was just following company procedure. She said she tries to promote the raffle in a positive way, especially when people, such as Mr Eissa, think they will not win.
“I told them you have hope,” she said. “We have different forms of luck in our hands.
“People do not know if God intends for them to win a prize, but there’s hope,” said Ms Nacional.
Enoc held an appreciation ceremony for Ms Nacional and introduced her to senior management and gave her a “financial gift” for her actions, said Suhaila Ahli, Enoc retail area manager, who is in charge of Zoom stores.
“I think that she did a great job, to be honest,” said Ms Ahli. “She took the company policy and implemented it. She could have easily took the coupons and written her relatives’ names.”
Ms Ahli was impressed that Ms Nacional had chosen to put the customer first.
“It’s really something great. We’re very honoured and blessed to have someone like her working for us,” said Ms Ahli.
Ms Nacional has been surprised by the reaction and did not expect so much appreciation from the management, said Ms Ahli.
“Even when I called her telling her that, Janet, there will be another photo shoot with you with The National newspaper, she was like, ‘Thank you ma’am, but what did I do?’
“She thinks that what she did was not that big of a deal.”
Many people in customer service feel that a good reputation comes before money, said Ms Ahli.
Enoc said that another employee that week, 31-year-old Engelbert Ancajas, returned a wallet on top of a raffle box at the Enoc outlet on Al Wasl Road. It contained Dh21,520 in cash.
Mr Ancajas reported the lost wallet to the customer care hotline, as well as the Emirati man, whose number he found on a business card inside.
The man, a regular customer who had left his wallet after buying a raffle ticket, was “overjoyed” to find the wallet with all of its contents, Enoc said.
The Nissan Grand Raffle and Infiniti Mega Raffle were part of the Dubai Shopping Festival, which began on January 1 and finishes on Sunday.
lcarroll@thenational.ae
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