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Watch moment £100,000 lotto jackpot ‘suddenly DISAPPEARS due to bizarre glitch’ – leaving player with nothing
The distraught couple just want one thing - and it's not the cash prize
A COUPLE who thought they won a £100,000 lotto jackpot have been left with nothing after their "winnings disappeared" - but there's a perfectly good explanation.
Julian Heeks, 57, entered the Cash Brix game and thought he had banked the winning numbers - until they appeared to "change" at the last minute.
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While playing in an instant win game online, the dad-of-two jumped for joy to tell his wife, Julie, they had won big.
But when she looked at the screen, the three yellow squares that would need to be banked for the top cash prize had "glitched" and changed colour to orange - meaning the win was no longer valid.
Lotto bosses said orange bricks flash up in yellow when they are collected and the game is working as it should.
In other words, Julian was mistaken to believe that the orange bricks were jackpot-scooping yellows.
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Julian said: “The game is a bit like battleships, with different coloured squares on one side which you spin for a random draw.
“Then on the other is a bank of squares you’ve claimed and you have to get so many of the same colour to bank a cash prize.
“Each colour is worth a different value so when I saw I had enough yellow squares to hit the jackpot I just couldn’t believe it.
“I immediately told my wife. But then she told me to look again, saying I hadn’t won."
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Julian added: "I was in even more disbelief and I was absolutely gutted.”
Believing there must be something they could do, the couple quickly watched the game again with their family who came to the same conclusion - they should have won the £100,000.
Holding out hope, they made sure to avoid playing for a second time knowing that their winning attempt could be viewed for 24 hours.
However, the pair from Stratford-upon-Avon were left even more disheartened after phoning up the National Lottery helpline the following morning.
They claim that the supervisor agreed that they had “definitely won” but that they could not claim their winnings due to an “unfortunate” and “regular glitch”.
After replaying the game virtually, the couple filmed the repeat for reassurance and to prove that the “glitch” occurred.
Julian added: “I really don’t believe this has happened.
“I’m sorry but ‘unfortunate’ is not winning £100k and then watching it disappear before your eyes.
“It’s just not good enough, I’m a lorry driver and we don’t own any property.
“That kind of money would have been life changing, in fact it would have been security for our future and made life a lot easier.
“£100,000 is a hell of a lot of money but I’m just one of those unlucky people that don’t get anything.”
The pair were then informed that they should have attempted to try the game first, a practice run to prevent any technical issues that is included as a warning on the site.
But Julian, who was using a Windows Desktop PC with no plugins and has even won a couple of quid in the past few weeks from the same game, refuses to believe the fault is on their end.
He explained: “I just wish they would take the game down so people don’t get sucked into it.
“I have absolutely no hope at all of seeing that money, I just wish they removed it.
“Using the excuse of a glitch doesn’t cut it and I’ve been left absolutely gutted.
“It’s just not fair, people trust the because its the National Lottery, it just doesn’t make any sense.
“I won’t be touching the lottery with a barge pole, I could have had a nice holiday and given the boys some cash to pocket.
National Lottery operator Allwyn said: "To be absolutely clear, there's no issue whatsoever with the Cash Brix game.
"In the game, when orange bricks are collected from the right-hand side of the screen, they highlight in yellow before moving over to orange row in the left-hand prize table.
"This happened twice in the in the game recording submitted by the player.
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"Once earlier in the video when eight orange bricks were collected, and then later in the video when the player collected three orange bricks."
A spokesperson added: "This game played out exactly as expected."
What are my rights in this situation?
THERE have been many examples of online errors being taking to court by lottery entrants believing they should have won a jackpot.
In some cases a huge pay-out has occurred with the national lottery operator, Camelot, being fined £3.15 million two years ago.
In that specific incident, there were three errors on a mobile app which affected tens of thousands of players.
However, others have not been so lucky.
Joan Parker-Grennan sued Camelot saying she was entitled to a £1 million prize.
After considering the Game Procedures and relevant clauses, Mr Justice Jay did not rule in her favour.
Joan attempted to appeal the decision but this was later dismissed.
Although it may seem confusing, those unsure should look to the Terms and Conditions before entering into an instant win game.
It is also advised to check you're using appropriate software on a compatible device to reduce the chance of glitches.
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