A mother-of-two who believed she had become a millionaire was left ‘gutted’ after being told by William Hill the jackpot win was a ‘glitch’.
Claire Ainsley thought she had more than £1 million playing the Jackpot Drop game on the William Hill app and got in touch with the gambling company, attaching screenshots as evidence of her winnings.
William Hill responded by requesting identification documents, which she provided and claims they told her the money would be in her bank in the coming days.
She said: ‘I was so excited, I had planned for my kids to go on holiday, to get a house for them when they get older.
‘I was thinking it was going to go into my bank in 72 hours.’
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Ms Ainsley continued: ‘They just wanted me to send my ID over, so I did. So I sent that all over, and they said, ‘Yes, it will be in your bank’.
After trying to withdraw the money, her request was denied at the ‘last minute’ before receiving an email two days later from William Hill that her win was a ‘glitch’ and no payment would be paid.
William Hill said they spotted the ‘glitch’ during a ‘routine review’ and that the issue ‘temporarily resulted in incorrect sums being credited to players’ balances’.
Claire Ainsley thought she had more than £1 million playing the Jackpot Drop game on the William Hill app
She emailed the gambling company, attaching screenshots as evidence of her winnings. However, her request was denied at the ‘last minute’ before receiving an email two days later from William Hill that her win was a ‘glitch’ and no payment would be paid
The glitch is understood to have stemmed from the Jackpot Drop Pool, a mechanism used by Evoke.
Ms Ainsley has since joined a Facebook group with several others who have been led to believe they too had won life-changing money on the app.
She said: ‘A lot of people have won, and some people have taken the money out, some people haven’t.
‘So I’m quite lucky it didn’t go into my account because I don’t have the money to pay it back.’
Earlier this month, one William Hill customer suffered a heart attack days after finding out his £285,000 ‘jackpot’ was also a ‘glitch’.
John Riding, 76, was one of many customers who thought they had won prize money – only for it to be removed from their account following a malfunction, it is understood.
Mr Riding, from Burnley, was rushed to hospital less than two weeks after his six-figure prize turned out to be a mistake.
His son Adam told The Mirror: ‘One minute he thought he’d won £285,000. It was like all his worries were finally over, and the next it was just taken away without any proper explanation.
‘The shock of that has been unbearable. It’s not just about the money, it’s the way it’s been handled. It feels like a real injustice, and the stress of it has had a serious impact on his health.’
Some customers reportedly made ‘major life decisions’ after thinking they had won up to a million pounds, only to find out their victory was a malfunction.
Paul Kanolik, from Ellis Jones Solicitors, previously said around 50 people had been in contact with the firm claiming they had fallen victim to the error, although it is unknown how many people have been affected overall.
Postman Steven Harvey, from Dunstable, thought he could finally buy a property, only for his £330,000 prize money to be removed from his account, leaving him ‘crushed’.
Mr Kanolik said some customers had already relied on their winnings to make serious financial decisions.
John Riding, 76, (left) suffered a heart attack days after finding out his £285,000 jackpot was a ‘glitch’
Andrew Green, 54, was handed £1.7million by the High Court after he was prevented from withdrawing his winnings from the Betfred app due to an alleged system glitch
A legal expert appearing alongside Ms Ainsley on Good Morning Britain explained that William Hill’s terms and conditions permit the company to void gameplay in the event of errors.
However, Ms Ainsley is demanding comprehensive evidence of the alleged technical fault.
‘I feel like I deserve that money, they said I could have it, so it’s my money,’ Ms Ainsley.
A spokesperson for Evoke, William Hill’s owner, said: ‘During a routine review of platform activity, we identified an issue affecting the Jackpot Drop game which temporarily resulted in incorrect sums being credited to players’ balances and withdrawals being processed incorrectly.
‘Whilst we quickly identified and resolved this issue, for a short period of time funds were erroneously credited to some customer accounts that were not correctly generated through valid or properly functioning gameplay.
‘We have contacted relevant customers to clarify the issue, and are in the process of retrieving the funds in line with our standard terms and conditions.
‘We have been grateful for our customers’ understanding on this matter and apologise for the inconvenience caused.’
In previous years, cases have seen betting giants made to honour payouts to customers.
Andrew Green, 54, was handed £1.7million by the High Court after he was prevented from withdrawing his winnings from the Betfred app due to an alleged system glitch. He described the ordeal as ‘torture’.
