Gala Bingo players have been left “angry” and “disgusted” after a technical glitch led them to believe they had won thousands of pounds.
Several punters received notifications saying they had won an online bingo game, with some able to withdraw the money. But they were later told there had been a “technical error” and the winnings did not exist.
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The affected customers were playing the Summer Nights Bingo promotion, which cost 1p a ticket or bingo card and had a maximum prize pot of £150.
The Money team understands the issue occurred when the consolation prizes were being awarded during the game.
Due to the error, the prize pot ballooned, with people seemingly handed a share of more than £1.6m over the course of two hours.
Screenshots shared with Money showed players getting prizes of between £40 and £2,400.
However, players later received this message: “Unfortunately, due to a technical error on Monday 4 August, your account was incorrectly credited with Bingo winnings.”
More than 166 people have joined a “Justice for Gala Victims” Facebook group, with many customers sharing their experiences of the glitch.
The Gambling Commission, which is responsible for regulating and licensing gambling businesses in the UK, told Money it was investigating the technical issue.
‘I’m on universal credit – I thought I could treat my children’
Emma Wills, a mother of three, was excited to see a notification telling her she had won a runner-up prize of £920 after spending around £1.20 on the 1p tickets.
“I was shocked, I was thinking ‘oh my gosh, I can take the kids out somewhere nice while they’re with me for the holidays, I can pay off a few of my debts, and I can give money for a car,’ and obviously that quickly went out the window,” the 34-year-old from London said.
The following morning, she tried to log into her Gala Bingo account but found it had been suspended for 24 to 48 hours.
She contacted the company and was told there had been a “malfunction” and she hadn’t actually won anything.
Instead, she said, Gala Bingo refunded some of the money she deposited – a total of 77p.
“I was really angry, along with a lot of other people, because I feel like we won. It’s quite upsetting because I thought I could do quite a bit with that money. I just don’t think it’s fair,” Wills said.
“I’m on universal credit, so I don’t get a lot of money. Because I thought I’d won, I ended up buying little things for [my children] to do. It wasn’t a lot, like £41… when I realised I wasn’t getting the money, I was like ‘crap I shouldn’t have done that’.”
Wills had been a regular Gala Bingo customer, logging in each day to use the free spins and depositing between £10 and £20 a month, but said she had now been put off playing it.
“I haven’t used it since. I want to get all my winnings back… I don’t feel like it should be taken off me or other people. I don’t think [Gala Bingo] care,” she added.
Gala Bingo’s terms and conditions set out that if an account is credited with winnings as a result of a “malfunction”, it will void the relevant transaction and withhold any resulting winnings.
This applies whether the malfunction was clear to customers and Gala Bingo or not.
“If you have withdrawn any such winnings, you agree that you will pay them back to us as and when we ask you to,” the T&Cs state.
‘I started planning my wedding’
Technician Adam Wall believed he had won enough money to start planning his wedding after spending around £20 on the game.
After only three games, he was told he’d won three £2,400 prizes. After £7,200 hit his Gala Bingo account, he immediately withdrew the funds.
“Me and the Mrs were sitting on the sofa… we’re quite elated because we’d just won a serious amount of money. We sat there making plans to pretty much elope and get married,” the 45-year-old from North Wales said.
“We’ve been together 10 years and we haven’t had the chance. That’s how we went to bed, we were in dreamland.
“All sorts were going through my head. I woke up Tuesday and stopped that, put my teeth back in. I had no notifications from the bank or Gala.”
Wall said he tried to log in to his Gala Bingo account, but it had been suspended. Later that day, his account was restored and he saw his winnings withdrawal had been cancelled.
He contacted the company to complain and was told about the error.
“It’s a pretty big technical glitch when you’re playing around with people’s lives like that,” he said.
“It might be alright for me, but what happens if you are on the breadline? You’re talking real dangerous play by Gala Bingo and that’s what’s got my back up the most.
“I had a right s*** week. You’re on a massive high… planning a marriage, bits and bobs around the house, and then you wake up and you feel like you’ve been scammed.”
After he complained, the father-of-one said he was offered 10 free spins and given £50 extra in his account.
But his account was closed again later while the site was “undergoing maintenance”, he said, and reopened with only £17 in it and gambling limits applied after he was asked about his mental health during the complaints process.
“It’s disgusting,” Wall said. “You don’t treat your customers like that.”
A Gala Bingo spokesperson told Money: “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.”
