Antonio and Theresa dela Cruz thought they had won the jackpot at a local car dealership until they went to collect their prize. That’s when they approached McLaughlin on Your Side for help.

“They said they would pay us and they haven’t,” Theresa said. “We’ve made… numerous attempts and they don’t take our calls.”

In December, the Richmond, B.C. couple was awarded a huge $53,000 dummy cheque at a publicity stunt at Kia Richmond. It was part of a splashy campaign held at the dealership during the 2015 sales year that promised every new customer who financed or leased a new or used car with Kia Richmond would be eligible to win their purchase. All they had to do was show up for the draw on Dec. 16.

“When my name got called…. It was just unbelievable," Antonio told CTV News.

The cheque was to pay off their 2016 Kia Sorento the dela Cruzes bought last October at the dealership. 

The dela Cruz’s SUV was financed for nearly $52,000 which was well over sticker price because they still owed money on their trade in, purchased from the same auto group and the debt was rolled into the deal. 

That’s where things got bogged down. The winning couple told CTV News that the dealership only wanted to pay the sticker price of about $40,000. 

However, the dealership had made a commitment to pay more than $53,000 and that’s why CTV accompanied the couple to the dealership to find out what could be done. Perry Kaye had just started as the new General Manager at Kia Richmond and greeted us in the show room. 

He said he wasn’t familiar with their situation but said he would help. 

"I spend the money that's done here to get good promotion, not bad promotion so let's make it right and make it great. Make it a good promotion, " Kaye told us. Within hours she personally hand delivered a cheque to the dela Cruzes for the full amount of $53,791. 

Kaye says Kia Richmond regrets the hassle but in a written statement told us “past contests have always been a great success and delays were caused this time because it’s company policy to only payout the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price.

It wasn’t clear if those terms were ever disclosed during the promotional campaign but the dela Cruzes said it wasn’t disclosed to them. Regardless, they were thrilled that the dealership stepped up and honored their commitment and we glad that McLaughlin On Your Side had stepped in to help.