Imagine the nightmare of an "official" lottery retailer telling you that your ticket did not win so you throw it away, but it was actually a winner. 
That worst scenario just happened! Read http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/01/c0230.html for the shocking details. Remember to always check your tickets with at least two sources, e.g., Internet and retailer. Do not rely solely on a retailer to tell you if you won as both the lottery corporation and clerk can screw you, which is what happened to an Ontario winner cheated out of a jackpot and is now suing.
Atlantic lottery players who attempted to
redeem select draw tickets Monday, Feb. 28, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., are
being advised by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation to bring these tickets back
to a lottery retail outlet for re-validation.
For 45 minutes yesterday, winning-ticket redemptions were impacted for
only the following games and draw dates:
- Atlantic PAYDAY and TAG on PAYDAY on Thur. Feb. 24
- LOTTO 6/49 and TAG on LOTTO 6/49 on Sat. Feb. 26
- Atlantic 49 and TAG on Atlantic 49 on Sat. Feb. 26
- LOTTO Super 7 and TAG on LOTTO Super 7 on Fri. Feb. 25
- KENO Atlantic and TAG on KENO on Sun. Feb. 27
Instead of receiving information about their prize, winners heard the
terminal sound most associated with non-winning tickets, but received a slip
that read, "Call ALC with ticket for prize claim instructions."
Validations for instant tickets or older draws were not impacted.
"Our investigation has determined that about 900 winning tickets across
Atlantic Canada, that retailers tried to validate between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Monday, are still outstanding," said Pierre LaPlante, Vice President of
Information Technology.
"The vast majority of these tickets hold a prize value of $2 to $10. At
the highest end, five have a prize value of between $100 and $150," added Mr.
LaPlante.
These tickets represent about 0.4% of total winning tickets from the
impacted draws.
Atlantic Lottery today was able to determine the number of impacted
tickets and the value of the prizes due to the many safeguards the Corporation
has in place to ensure the integrity of its products.
"This type of incident has never happened before," said Mr. LaPlante,
"and we're taking all the necessary steps to ensure it does not happen again.
Regardless, we always encourage our players to check their tickets manually."
Any player who may have inadvertently thrown out a winning ticket can
call the Atlantic Lottery Corporation at 1-800-561-3942. As long as a player
can identify the game, and the approximate time and location of the purchase
and the validation attempt, the Corporation can correlate this information to
one of the outstanding prizes as recorded in its system, and pay out the prize
accordingly.
Any prizes that are not claimed after one year will be returned to the
Corporation's Unclaimed Prize Fund, which is eventually returned to players in
the form of prizes or special promotions.
This information is also posted on ALC's web site, at www.alc.ca.
For further information: please contact: Robert Bourgeois, Public
Affairs, (506) 867-5825, or 1-800-561-3942 (toll-free)
That worst scenario just happened! Read http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/01/c0230.html for the shocking details. Remember to always check your tickets with at least two sources, e.g., Internet and retailer. Do not rely solely on a retailer to tell you if you won as both the lottery corporation and clerk can screw you, which is what happened to an Ontario winner cheated out of a jackpot and is now suing.Atlantic lottery players who attempted to
redeem select draw tickets Monday, Feb. 28, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., are
being advised by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation to bring these tickets back
to a lottery retail outlet for re-validation.
For 45 minutes yesterday, winning-ticket redemptions were impacted for
only the following games and draw dates:
- Atlantic PAYDAY and TAG on PAYDAY on Thur. Feb. 24
- LOTTO 6/49 and TAG on LOTTO 6/49 on Sat. Feb. 26
- Atlantic 49 and TAG on Atlantic 49 on Sat. Feb. 26
- LOTTO Super 7 and TAG on LOTTO Super 7 on Fri. Feb. 25
- KENO Atlantic and TAG on KENO on Sun. Feb. 27
Instead of receiving information about their prize, winners heard the
terminal sound most associated with non-winning tickets, but received a slip
that read, "Call ALC with ticket for prize claim instructions."
Validations for instant tickets or older draws were not impacted.
"Our investigation has determined that about 900 winning tickets across
Atlantic Canada, that retailers tried to validate between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Monday, are still outstanding," said Pierre LaPlante, Vice President of
Information Technology.
"The vast majority of these tickets hold a prize value of $2 to $10. At
the highest end, five have a prize value of between $100 and $150," added Mr.
LaPlante.
These tickets represent about 0.4% of total winning tickets from the
impacted draws.
Atlantic Lottery today was able to determine the number of impacted
tickets and the value of the prizes due to the many safeguards the Corporation
has in place to ensure the integrity of its products.
"This type of incident has never happened before," said Mr. LaPlante,
"and we're taking all the necessary steps to ensure it does not happen again.
Regardless, we always encourage our players to check their tickets manually."
Any player who may have inadvertently thrown out a winning ticket can
call the Atlantic Lottery Corporation at 1-800-561-3942. As long as a player
can identify the game, and the approximate time and location of the purchase
and the validation attempt, the Corporation can correlate this information to
one of the outstanding prizes as recorded in its system, and pay out the prize
accordingly.
Any prizes that are not claimed after one year will be returned to the
Corporation's Unclaimed Prize Fund, which is eventually returned to players in
the form of prizes or special promotions.
This information is also posted on ALC's web site, at www.alc.ca.
For further information: please contact: Robert Bourgeois, Public
Affairs, (506) 867-5825, or 1-800-561-3942 (toll-free)