The National Lottery app accidentally double-charged players − but there’s a happy ending
The National Lottery has admitted, via email to customers, that it accidentally duplicated some in-app ticket purchases and charged users twice. The organisation blames a technical error.
Camelot Group, the company that operates The National Lottery, told Trusted Reviews: “This affected around 42,000 players out of our seven million registered players – with an average duplicate ticket cost of £4.”
They added: “We are in the process of contacting the affected players to say that we’re sorry and to let them know that nobody will be left out of pocket.”
In an email to customers, the company said: “Due to a technical issue that affected some players purchasing tickets for one of our National Lottery games via the mobile App between 9th and 14th January 2020, some ticket purchases were duplicated and paid for twice.
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“The issue has now been resolved, but our investigations have highlighted that this may have had an impact up on you. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. These tickets are valid tickets which have been entered into the draw, and you will be paid for any prizes won as per the normal process. In the event that any duplicate tickets do not win a prize of equal to or more than their cost, we will credit your account wallet to ensure you are not negatively impacted by this issue.”
So, ultimately, this could be a good thing for National Lottery ticket buyers. If your tickets were duplicated, you’ll get double your usual odds of winning and a re-fund if your duplicate ticket doesn’t cash out.
It’s good to see this sort of a response from a company, which turns a potentially irritating issue into a bit of a treat, as long as it plays out as explained in the email.
At the moment we are unsure as to the extent of the issue and how many customers have been affected. We have contacted The National Lottery for comment and will update this page with any relevant responses.
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Have you been affected by ticket duplication while using the National Lottery app? Get in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
