- Have YOU been affected by the Gala Bingo glitch? Email: poppy.gibson@mailonline.co.uk
Almost 2,000 players were left furious after they believed they had won up to £10,000 each from a prize pot of £1.6million.
Some bingo players believed their lives had been changed on Monday night after scooping what they thought were legitimate prizes.
But when they attempted to withdraw their winnings, they were told by Gala Bingo that the prizes were in fact glitches and they would not be able to cash the winnings.
The glitch in the bingo company’s system resulted in the prize pot increasing to £1.6million when it should have only reached a maximum of £150.
As a result 1,188 players were left disappointed and out of pocket.
The gambling site then sent out an email to it customers explaining the wins were a result of a technical fault.
One couple believed they’d won almost £10,000 between themselves on the Monday-night game.
The Scottish pair, who wished to remain anonymous, had hoped to spend their winnings on the funeral of a relative but were shocked to find their accounts frozen and the money nowhere to be seen.
The woman told the Daily Mail that her partner had recently lost his mother and was over the moon to find the 1p game providing winnings of up to £7,200.
She added that they were relieved and planned to spent the jackpot on a fully pink-themed funeral in honour of his mother.
The woman said: ‘My partner went up to get his medication and when he came back and sat down he looked shocked. I double checked and it said we had won £2,400.
We thought we could take care of the funeral with no worries about the expense.’
But the Scottish native added that she feared something wasn’t right when she saw there were as many as 1,000 winners and the jackpost was still available.
But her and her partner continued to play and their fears were even soothed by the bingo chat room host who told them to enjoy their winnings.
She said: ‘I wasn’t sure about it all but then the host said “enjoy your winnings” – they obviously didn’t realise what was happening.’
The 52-year-old woman said that some players were able to withdraw the money straight to their Santander bank accounts but others couldn’t.
She told the Daily Mail that since the shocking incident, Gala Bingo has frozen her and her partners accounts and even disabled her husband’s chat room privileges. because of his complaining.
As recompense, she said they had been given some money back in the form of vouchers but felt it wasn’t enough.
She said: ‘My partner is angry and it’s become all-consuming, especially at such a difficult time. this has just knocked him sideways.
‘It’s all been dealt with so badly, it wasn’t right.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Gala Bingo for comment.
