Camelot's advertising legality

sheffstevie

Hi

Simple question (that has done my nut for years - in fact ever since the introduction of the lottery) and, yes, I have googled this question on and off for years and still not come across a satisfactory answer

How can Camelot legally call a refund of your stake a win?

If Paddy Power or Ladbrokes tried this they would be hammered in the courts.

So is there something in the John Major Government's legislation that allows for this chicanery.
If not could a mass class action (as with the current Mastercard case) be feasible


Steve Goulden

mjm3346

It is not a refund of your stake - you have participated in whatever the game was and won an amount that happens to be the same amount as your stake - so you have had the chance to win whatever the main prizes etc were and it ended up costing you nothing.

Unlike say a horse race where your horse did not run and you simply get your money back without ever having a chance to win. If a lotto draw was cancelled and not redrawn then you would get a refund and it would not be called a win.



Move to compers chat requested.

sheffstevie

But you have still not won anything its a mangling of the English language and common sense! So ergo it IS a refund of your stake

mjm3346

sheffstevie wrote: »

But you have still not won anything its a mangling of the English language and common sense! So ergo it IS a refund of your stake

You have paid to participate in a lotto draw/scratchcard etc and at that point you have now spent whatever the stake money is - that's gone, goodbye and that part of the transaction is over.

As result of the game you now win what happens to be the same amount as your stake - you might have won an amount that was only 50% of your stake and that would still be a win as your entire stake money was used for your participation in the game and anything back is a win.
(Slot machines can payout less than the stake on some lines but they are still winning lines)

(A free lucky dip isn't even the equivalent of money back but they are still allowed to count it when calculating the odds of winning)

I_luv_cats

sheffstevie wrote: »

Hi

Simple question (that has done my nut for years - in fact ever since the introduction of the lottery) and, yes, I have googled this question on and off for years and still not come across a satisfactory answer

How can Camelot legally call a refund of your stake a win?

If Paddy Power or Ladbrokes tried this they would be hammered in the courts.

So is there something in the John Major Government's legislation that allows for this chicanery.
If not could a mass class action (as with the current Mastercard case) be feasible


Steve Goulden

It's sheer manipulation of the odds to make them look more favourable.

If the prize tier started higher-up, the odds would be higher!!!!! :eek:

Very clever of them :rotfl::rotfl:

sheffstevie

You dont happen to work for Camelot do you? In any case I have still had no suitable legal explanation as to why a £5 lottery ticket is advertised as a "WIN" when it pays back £5 - i.e the original stake money it's just a f%%%% con!!!

mjm3346

sheffstevie wrote: »

You dont happen to work for Camelot do you? In any case I have still had no suitable legal explanation as to why a £5 lottery ticket is advertised as a "WIN" when it pays back £5 - i.e the original stake money it's just a f%%%% con!!!

Your £5 has, foolishly, been spent on a ticket so the £5 has gone and it is no longer yours.

The ticket has a range of possible prizes and now you have a chance to win them. Doesn't matter if the prize is £1, £5 or £250,000 if you get one of them you have won a prize.

The value of the potential prizes is displayed and accessible before you purchase a ticket (may even be on the ticket I don't know) so if you don't think the chance to win a prize that is the same amount that you paid for the ticket then don't buy one (I never do and would love it if they lost their state sanctioned monopoly).


Should you wish you can always complain to the ASA about what you consider to be misleading claims

https://www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html