Gina Nolan and eleven of her colleagues we elated when they were informed that the ticket they held was one of three who would share an advertised £6.2 million jackpot from the National Lottery. By their calculation, eleven of them were set to receive £159,709 each, while a 12th member will get double that amount for contributing twice for their bet.
Two days later, they received a call from the National Lottery operators Camelot, informing them that the jackpot amount to be shared was actually £1.5 million less. Camelot apologized and said that human error has caused the amount of the jackpot to be erroneously reported and advertised at £6.2 million.
Gina and her colleagues have accused Camelot of misleading them by refusing to honor the advertised jackpot amount. They feel shortchanged because they have been playing the same combination for 12 years before posting this win, and find it hard to believe that a big company like Camelot would make that kind of mistake. Gina says “It takes the excitement out of winning.”
For their part, Camelot insists that they did everything in accordance with regulations and only erred in announcing the amount of the jackpot. The National Lottery has been criticized of late due to a revamp that saw the price of a ticket doubled from £1 to £2.
Maybe it was indeed just human error that caused the miscalculated amount to be declared, but the National Lottery cannot afford more bad publicity at this time. It may be worth forking out £1.5 million extra to honor the advertised jackpot, and put this controversy behind them. After all, the side who makes the mistake is the one usually expected to pay.
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