Claire Ainsley thought a win of more than £2million was a gift sent from her late mum… but instead it was an error made by betting agent William Hill after a technical error
A mum told how she thought her million-pound jackpot win was a “miracle from beyond the grave”, but instead of a “gift” from her late mum, Claire Ainsley, 27, received a message from William Hill stating it had been an error.
“It’s been a nightmare. My mum recently died as well and she was only 45 and I thought it was a gift,” said Claire, who has a six-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter.
“Every single day before they go to bed my daughter Skylar and son Logan say ‘goodnight twinkle star nanna.’ So I thought it was a miracle.”
Her mum, Lisa, died of Crohn’s disease two years ago and Claire wanted to give some money to their charity to help other sufferers. The single mum thought Lisa was the reason she came up as a £1million winner while playing the Jackpot Drop game on the William Hill app.
But she later received an email stating the win was the result of a technical error and that she would not receive a penny. She is now fighting for the prize she was promised.
“It’s been terrible and so stressful. I thought we would be able to live a better life and get a bigger house for us,” she said.
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“I told my daughter and family and she was so happy. But then I had to tell her I didn’t win and she got upset and I got upset too. I told her ‘the game didn’t work properly so mummy didn’t get the money’.
Claire from Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire, explained how she put £14 on her account and was doing £1 bets at a time “when the jackpot came down”.
“I could not believe it at the time and went back off it three times. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack, I couldn’t breathe, I was crying with joy in the kitchen and saying ‘thank you to my mum’. I was telling her I’d look after her grand-babies even more. She loved them so much. My kids really miss her.”
The mum said she was even getting more money after the £1.27m: “I was then getting £20, £30 and it was going up like that. It’s all still there now, it’s so annoying.”
The mum says she even messaged William Hill and they confirmed it would be in her bank in 72 hours. “I screenshotted it all and it was declined after three days. I was gutted and heartbroken. Then telling my children made me feel so guilty. Their faces were so sad and disappointed.
“We had so many plans, my kids have never been on holiday abroad as I’m a single mum. I was going to take them to Spain and get passports. I was going to get them a house when they get older so I knew they would be stable and looked after for life. I’m just so gutted.
“My mental health has got a lot worse because of all this. It’s been really depressing and so frustrating, I log on and look on my account and the proof is all still there. They are just ignoring me now.”
She claimed at one stage they offered her £34, but said: “It’s not good enough and that would not even buy one passport!” Claire revealed that this has not only happened to her but also to multiple other people in a Facebook group she is in.
The Mirror has previously told how one grandad had a heart attack after struggling to withdraw the money after a big win of more than £275,000 and desperately trying to get hold of William Hill only to be told later it was a ‘glitch’.
An Evoke spokesperson 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.” They refused to confirm how many customers were affected by the issue.
