Gala Bingo ‘glitch' causes chaos as players LOSE out on 'winnings' of up to £10k
Thousands of Gala Bingo players saw joy turn to anguish after their winnings of up to £10,000 were blamed on a 'technical error'.
Gala Bingo blamed an error with their system after thousands of players won their share of a £1.6 million prize pot on Monday night. The company has apologised for the error and said it has made a goodwill gesture to punters, but some of those who thought they had won big are still upset
Jacqui Norrish, 41, thought she had won a hefty £9,599.47, but later received an email from Gala Bingo that said an error had 'incorrectly credited [her account] with Bingo winnings '. It comes after reports state pensioners could lose DWP payments after 'unfair' £10,000 rule.
The furious business owner told The Sun: 'It's absolutely outrageous how big companies can play with people's lives like this, it's disgraceful. I'm a fairly regular player with Gala Bingo, but I don't pay big stakes or anything.'
She said she began playing at around 4:30pm on Monday and first won over £1,200 less than three hours later. 'I couldn't believe my luck,' she said.
Jacqui, from Torbay in Devon, added: 'Then I got another win 20 minutes later for £2,280 and was already spending the money in my head. 'Then I won £1,600, £2,400 and then another prize of £1,800. I won a few more prizes before it stopped, I had almost £10k in my account.'
Jacqui then said she saw other winners asking the Gala chat host if the winnings were real. It said 'enjoy your winnings', but the money never made it to Jacqui's account when she withdrew her prize.
She said she was going to pay for private care to get her daughter tested for autism due to a wait on the NHS lsit. She also planned to pay off the rest of her husband's car and said she is 'absolutely gutted' by what happened.
'When you've been told you've won something and then it's snatched away, it makes you feel terrible.' she said.
A pensioner in Kent, meanwhile, hoped to pay for an operation for her beloved Collie-cross Cooper. Jill Douthwaite, 72 and from Edenbridge, thought she had won £2,700. She said: "I was so relieved because I thought I could spend £500 to save my dog's eyesight. We're a family who can't afford to go on holidays and we've been struck with a lot of bad luck in the past too.
'My daughter even phoned her dad to say she could repay his loan for the car, but then she had to go back on her word because Gala Bingo did.'
Gala Bingo, which has contacted the Gambling Commission due to the incident, has said customers would not receive their winnings. Instead, they would be refunded what they spent on Bingo Tickets.
A Gala Bingo spokesperson said: "We apologise to customers for a technical error which occurred during our Summer Nights Bingo promotion for a short period of time, resulting in all players receiving incorrect payouts. Our customer Terms and Conditions clearly state that in the event of a malfunction, winnings can be voided. Affected players have been contacted directly with a gesture of goodwill."
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