Lotto NZ is blaming MyLotto online upgrades for "poor customer experiences" that has left frustrated punters unable to check tickets nearly 24 hours after the must-win $50 million draw.
Ten people shared the massive jackpot, but people still can't check tickets on the app and website at the time of writing this afternoon.
Lotto NZ released a statement on the issue, saying in part: Lotto NZ has work underway to upgrade the MyLotto website and app, which is due to be completed by early 2021.
The significant project has been underway since 2019 and involves a $25 million technology investment, says Lotto NZ Chief Executive Chris Lyman.
“To support the move to online play, and the big increase in the number of people playing online, Lotto NZ is making a substantial investment in the upgrade of MyLotto. The current website is ageing, and the upgrade is required to meet higher demand online.
“While this work is underway we have been making interim improvements. However, regrettably there have been some issues on MyLotto. This has in turn resulted in some pretty poor customer experiences, and for that I sincerely apologise.”
Mr Lyman made assurances that the integrity of Lotto NZ’s games have not been impacted by the recent issues on MyLotto.
He says the reason why MyLotto cannot open until later today is because all of the winning tickets need to be processed first.
“What’s really important is that we pay our winners their prizes – and there are a lot of winners! In fact we’ve never had so many. Not only did 10 players share the $50 million prize, but hundreds of thousands of other people won prizes across all of our divisions."
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