Punters fury at National Lottery glitch instructing winners to discard tickets
OUTRAGED punters have slammed the National Lottery after a glitch on its apps meant some players may have been told to discard winning tickets.
Dame Dianne Thompson was paid £800,000 by Camelot last year, despite not working for them
App users were encouraged to manually check their results on the official website after a software upgrade meant “non-winning” messages were wrongly delivered to some people.
A message on the site said: “We’re sorry – the National Lottery apps are currently unavailable.
"Some players may have recently seen an incorrect non-winning message caused by a technical issue with both the QR scanner and manual-entry results checker on the apps.”
The National Lottery app was telling winners that they had been unsuccessful
The “QR” scanner enables players to scan a paper ticket with their phone to see whether they have matched any numbers.
Lottery players vented their anger on social media.
Dai Haines said on Twitter: “Used my national lottery app to scan my ticket. Said no winning numbers. Checked. Had two – worth a free draw. App doesn’t work. Worrying.”
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I’ve checked tickets using your app and threw them away after you’ve gave a ‘no win’ message
Another said: “I’ve checked tickets using your app and threw them away after you’ve gave a ‘no win’ message. I don’t know the numbers. Disgrace.”
The bungle emerged amid reports that the former boss of lottery operator Camelot, Dame Dianne Thompson, 65, was paid £800,000 last year despite no longer working for the company.
Angry players took to social media to vent their anger at the problem
Thompson, who ran the business for 14 years before retiring in 2014, received her jackpot as part of a bonus plan that could be worth up to £1m a year until 2019.
Now a non-executive director at the retailer Next, she is eligible for the payments for work that she completed in her final years in charge of Camelot, according to accounts filed at Companies House.
Camelot said the payments would be made by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, the owner of the lottery operator.