Mum refused £1 million William Hill payout issues update after offer from rival firm
Claire Ainsley says she's got the money a rival betting company offered her after she thought she'd won a £1 million payout on William Hill which the bookies refused to give her.
A lot of William Hill customers have been left shocked recently after the bookies said a 'glitch' resulted in many more people getting a payout than expected, meaning their big wins didn't really count.
Some people's apps told them they'd won thousands of pounds, while mum-of-two Claire had been told she'd won more than a million quid, and many of those who thought they'd be getting the money started thinking about what they could do with that kind of cash.
After going public with her disappointment the boss of online betting firm MetaWin got in touch to offer her £50,000, as their CEO Richard Skelhorn said it was 'absolutely shameful' she hadn't got her money.
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Now in an update on social media Claire confirmed that Skelhorn had 'sent her a life changing amount of money'.
"I want to thank you so so much for the money I still can't believe it I really do appreciate it," she wrote in her update where she confirmed the money had come through.
"Just wanted to send everyone an update on what has happened since my appearance on Good Morning Britain, MetaWin has sent me a life changing amount of money £50,000."
She wrote that when it came to Skelhorn 'I can't thank him enough what an amazing gesture'.
MetaWin is a cryptocurrency-based online casino - and it's important to note that dealing in digital currencies and online gambling in general each come with financial risks and the prospect of losing money.
As the firm is not regulated in the UK, you also can't rely on the same protections that sites approved by the UK Gambling Commission offer.
Claire had told LADbible she'd been astonished when her William Hill app told her she'd won a jackpot worth £1,279,019.95 and 'went off the game three times' just to check if it was correct or not.
She thought the jackpot had been a 'gift' from her late mum who passed away three years ago and started dreaming about setting up savings accounts for her kids, only for William Hill to tell her she wouldn't be getting the money.
Claire said that William Hill had been in touch with her since she went public with the whole matter and offered her some reimbursement, though it was quite a lot less than a million quid.
She said: "I got an email back saying 'We'll give you £39'... they're just saying that so we don't go higher.
"They're just saying that because if we go higher it will look bad on the company."
The mum confessed that her ordeal with William Hill has 'definitely' put her off having a flutter in the future, as she explained: "I think [gambling] is all a scam now. 100 percent.
"I’m not a gambling person and the one time I thought I’d won that much money and then, now this! The stress…I swear I’ve only had a couple hours of sleep."
She had been reluctant to trust Skelhorn given that someone getting in touch out of the blue to offer £50,000 is the sort of thing that you'd expect from a scam.
However, she decided that she'd 'got no money anyway' so provided her bank details, with the online betting company boss asking her to write a post about what had happened online and tag them in it.
Since she's posted it seems as though the money has gone through and she at least has some cash to treat her kids.
She's still been getting in contact with William Hill and is now waiting to see if she gets a response from them.
A spokesperson for William Hill owners Evoke previously told LADbible that a number of users were 'erroneously credited' due to a glitch.
They 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," they said in a statement.
"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.”
LADbible has previously contacted William Hill for comment.
Please gamble responsibly. For help, support and advice about problem gambling, contact the National Gambling Helpline anytime on 0808 8020 133
Joe Harker