# What prize would you not accept? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2019, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829 "2019-02-02T10:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/81 "2019-02-05T20:56:12Z")
I just saw something on Facebook about free Golden Corral for a year. Um, no. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/82 "2019-02-05T21:41:39Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I just saw something on Facebook about free Golden Corral for a year. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/83 "2019-02-06T00:16:09Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Well, the problem is I kind of have my heart set on either the Ahwahnee (now The Majestic Yosemite Hotel) or The Stillwater Bar and Grill at Pebble Beach. I really doubt he’d hate either one of those places. 😃 Maybe pick the farther one and sabotage his car? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/84 "2019-02-06T04:19:15Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: I wouldn’t even donate it to local shelters. They deserve better. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/85 "2019-02-06T05:01:25Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I just saw something on Facebook about free Golden Corral for a year. > > Um, no. What’s Golden Corral? ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/86 "2019-02-06T05:07:16Z")
Prostate massage by guy with big hands. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/87 "2019-02-06T05:16:17Z")
My things are anything sporty, anything boaty, anything INGROUND swimming-pooly and anything rock-concerty at a stadium. No taxes on prizes here in Aus, so that doesn’t factor in, but yeah, if I can’t transfer the prizes listed above, they ain’t getting redeemed. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/88 "2019-02-06T05:16:57Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > What’s Golden Corral? Yeah, had to google that. They’re not in Canada, but apparently a budget buffet restaurant, from what I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/89 "2019-02-06T05:20:47Z")
Let me add a spa treatment, like a massage and stuff. I don’t like massages, even by SOs. Nope. Never gonna happen. I like intimacy, but massages are creepy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/90 "2019-02-06T12:15:02Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Yeah, had to google that. They’re not in Canada, but apparently a budget buffet restaurant, from what I can tell. When they first opened near me I took my kids to one. The majority of the people there were taking “all you can eat” as some sort of challenge. I felt like I was in the middle of a SNL skit. Haven’t returned. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/91 "2019-02-06T12:18:23Z")
Prizing apart my jawbone. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/92 "2019-02-06T14:57:17Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Let me add a spa treatment, like a massage and stuff. > > I don’t like massages, even by SOs. > > Nope. Never gonna happen. I like intimacy, but massages are creepy. Seconded. Hate 'em. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/93 "2019-02-07T00:43:56Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > What’s Golden Corral? Let’s just say it’s a buffet where you get what you pay for. There’s a Doper who has said that he had to go to another city for business, and his co-workers wanted to go there, and he went along even though he’d always heard awful things about it. Even though he was very hungry, he couldn’t eat ANYTHING there - it looked awful and smelled worse, and for him, dinner was something like a bag of chips from the hotel’s vending machine. Remember the duck boat disaster in Branson last year where something like 20 people died, many of them from the same extended family? That was their last meal, although some of them were children and one had fairly severe autism and this was one of very few sit-down restaurants he could handle. ☹ Their mom did say they were very excited about the cotton candy, something they had never previously had a chance to try. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/94 "2019-02-07T00:56:56Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Let’s just say it’s a buffet where you get what you pay for. I recently passed one; their billboard out front advertised that they do catering. As for me, I’m not a beach person so you can have your (typically overpriced) Caribbean vacation. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/95 "2019-02-07T01:42:46Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Let’s just say it’s a buffet where you get what you pay for. My mother, for years, has called it “The Scarf and Barf.” ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/96 "2019-02-07T05:49:49Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I just saw something on Facebook about free Golden Corral for a year. > > Um, no. > [@kayaker](#): > > When they first opened near me I took my kids to one. The majority of the people there were taking “all you can eat” as some sort of challenge. I felt like I was in the middle of a SNL skit. Haven’t returned. > [@TimeWinder](#): > > My mother, for years, has called it “The Scarf and Barf.” We’ve always referred to it as the “Golden Trough.” ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/97 "2019-02-07T06:11:07Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > I’d turn down a cruise _ **if** _ it was on one of those huge mega ships with umpteen thousand other people, an on-board theme park, so many shows that some people probably never even look at the ocean, shops full of overpriced junk, and shore excursions that only took you to the most touristy spots in town for an hour or two before you’re rushed back to the ship. Not my idea of a vacation. If it was on a smaller ship with less than two hundred passengers and with a relaxed and casual atmosphere and nature-oriented programs that get you away from tourist hotspots, I’d be interested. I’d love to travel the Inside Passage this way. > > I have no interest in going to a Disney theme park or anything of its kind, either… Two things I always insisted I had no interest in were cruises and Disney theme parks. I had no interest in Disney parks because I used to live in Orlando, and you get very sick of the tourists when you live there. Plus I had “been there, done that,” and had no desire to return. I had no interest in cruises because a cruise is kind of a sick joke to a Navy veteran. That is, until my wife insisted we take our son to Disney back in 2007 (when he was 10 years old). There’s something completely different about taking a kid to WDW for the first time, and I found out I’d made a bunch of rookie mistakes when I’d gone previously. Anyway, we had the best vacation of our lives, and will be going back for our 10th vacation there to celebrate my son’s graduation from college. We also started taking Disney cruises. (Apparently enough time had gone by that the thought of going back to sea was tolerable for me.) I happen to hate casinos, and Disney cruises don’t have them on their ships. There’s also a dearth of drunk 20-year olds. Finally, there are a number of adult-only areas so you’re not overwhelmed with kids all the time. We’ve now been on a half-dozen Disney cruises. Go figure… ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/98 "2019-02-07T07:13:32Z")
A cello concert. I hate cello music. It’s just dark and depressing, even when Yo-yo Ma plays it. Fortunately, my children are learning the violin and piano. But since my wife plays it, then I’m forced to go sometimes. I smile and put up a good front, but there’s no way I’d go to anyone else’s concert. Japan has something called enka, a ballad type music. I can’t stand that, either. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829/99 "2019-02-07T07:26:49Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > You are under no obligation to accept a prize. If you don’t accept a prize, you don’t have to pay taxes on it. In fact, reports from contestants on game shows say that after the show, the producers give them a list of prizes they’ve won and tell them to check off which ones they want or don’t want. > > However, you can’t do something like say “give it to relative” or “give it to the Red Cross.” If you get to direct where the prize goes, then it’s treated as if you received the prize and gave it away yourself, so you have to pay taxes on it. > > [The State of California has a 7% withholding tax](https://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/You-win-some-you-lose-some-2737195.php) on prizes over $1500 that applies to NON-RESIDENTS of California only. This is not the final amount due. The final amount due when you file your annual California tax return could be more or less than this. This amount is only a sort of security deposit to cover state taxes. Federal taxes are separate. > > I don’t know that you have to pay “immediately.” I would guess that most show producers would give you a reasonable amount of time to go get the money. The producer could also pay the tax for you, but the amount the producer paid would also be subject to tax. I am pretty sure you could use a check or money order or wire the money to the producer in addition to cash. Every single article I’m seeing on google talking about Price is Right prize cards has people first-hand saying they were told to pony up the cash for the taxes on the car upfront. Maybe it’s just a weird Price Is Right thing but it’s definitely a thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-prize-would-you-not-accept/828829.md?page=4)