Beware - People's Postcode Lottery!

flashy01 · 15 February 2012 at 7:05PM

Since subscribing to this in summer of last year, I have won the princely sum of £4 (twice winning £2). However, I have yet to ever receive either payment which I was told by e-mail would be paid into my bank within 28 days(the sub is paid by direct debit).

I finally phoned today to ask what was going on and was told that this happens often and that they need bank account details to pay the cash in. I take it from this, the only way you're likely to receive any winnings is if they are presented in the form of a gigantic novelty cheque. I know it only amounts to £4, but what if it was two wins of £100?

I urge anyone who subscribes to PPL, to please ensure that they are actually receiving the payments for any money they win as I feel this is a somewhat fraudulent practice. I'm awaiting an e-mail from them as I asked them to contact me to provide a full explanation before I cancel my subscription.

wealdroam · 15 February 2012 at 7:26PM

Why do they need your bank account details to write you a cheque?

Or have I completely missed the point?

Edited to add...

They do say on their website:

Payment

You pay in advance by monthly direct debit or credit card. When you win, we transfer the money straight into your bank account.

So if you haven't given them your bank details, how are you expecting them to pay you?
Also, if they don't know your bank details, how are they processing the direct debit?

Former_MSE_Andrea · 24 February 2012 at 11:31AM

Hi there

Postcodelottery has asked us to post a reply. MSE doesn't endorse anything a company says on the Forum.

Hi flashy01, sorry to hear you’ve had a problem with receiving your winning payments. We pay our players’ winnings directly into their bank accounts. As stated on our website here http://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/HowItWorks/FAQ.htm#prizes, “If you haven’t registered your bank details with us yet, please ring us on freephone number 0808-1098765 and we can arrange to pay out your winnings.”

If you have already registered your bank details with us and have still not received your winnings, please contact us on the above number so that we can investigate the issue. This kind of problem is extremely rare and typically occurs only if there is an error in the details we have for a player. Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you.

Thomas_Heald · 1 January 2013 at 12:40AM

The complaints about the Postcode Lottery, Health Lottery and Players Lottery are stacking up on the Internet, everywhere I go I see more and more complaints about them.

People I know in the media who have done a lot of background work on the above lottery system companies have made it clear that they are operating borderline practices and it seems as though some or all may well end up being closed down.

Within the last few months hundreds of complaints have appeared on the Internet about them regarding telesales marketers constantly calling, unwanted postal mail, warnings from the ASA and so on.

Google for "postcode lottery complaints" or "asa postcode lottery", "asa health lottery" and so on. If you take your time you will find so many complaints it will make your head spin. I've got a list of complaints about the above lotteries a mile long!

Everyone needs to wake up and stick to lotteries that are legit, and moreover WORK like the National Lottery, if indeed that is the type of game you like to play.

All I can recommend is that people should spend their hard earned money with companies who have a proven track record and offer a genuine chance of winning a prize while protecting your interests.

Best regards,

Thomas.

Techhead_2 · 1 January 2013 at 9:02AM

Thomas_Heald wrote: »

The complaints about the Postcode Lottery, Health Lottery and Players Lottery are stacking up on the Internet, everywhere I go I see more and more complaints about them.

People I know in the media who have done a lot of background work on the above lottery system companies have made it clear that they are operating borderline practices and it seems as though some or all may well end up being closed down.

Within the last few months hundreds of complaints have appeared on the Internet about them regarding telesales marketers constantly calling, unwanted postal mail, warnings from the ASA and so on.

Google for "postcode lottery complaints" or "asa postcode lottery", "asa health lottery" and so on. If you take your time you will find so many complaints it will make your head spin. I've got a list of complaints about the above lotteries a mile long!

Everyone needs to wake up and stick to lotteries that are legit, and moreover WORK like the National Lottery, if indeed that is the type of game you like to play.

All I can recommend is that people should spend their hard earned money with companies who have a proven track record and offer a genuine chance of winning a prize while protecting your interests.

Best regards,

Thomas.

However, there are ASA complaints made about the National Lottery. At some stage all advertisers will accidentally infringe some regulation.

As a general point, the warning would be better issued against scam lottery mailings than genuine companies who make mistakes. Even if they are a gambling business.

squeaky · 1 January 2013 at 9:08AM

Hi,

Thanks for the heads up. I think our Warnings board would be the best place for this one.

Forum_Team wrote:

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL='forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com']forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

Ronaldo_Mconaldo · 1 January 2013 at 9:16AM

People should have had their alarm bells ringing when they heard the name "postcode lottery". It's obvious that some group from a country that don't understand that the term "postcode lottery" is associated with bad things in this country such as not being able to get adequate cancer treatment etc. i always laughh when I hear the name and wonder who would fall for a company like this when we have the good old National Lottery, but it seems a fool and their money are soon parted.

paddyrg · 1 January 2013 at 11:47AM

I always get wary around commercial concerns applying a layer of legitimacy whitewash - 'peoples' (as in Peoples Republic of China maybe), 'health' (we have an incredible national health service), etc.

yangptangkipperbang · 1 January 2013 at 1:01PM

I have great suspicion of these "national" lotteries that have sprung up recently and certain would never use them.

They are all exploiting an anomaly in the Law concerning setting up a lottery. As they cannot set up a single company (such as Camelot) they set up a large number of individual companies to cover the whole country. Read the small print: "People's Postcode Lottery manages multiple society lotteries"
If a company sets up a lottery that is "sailing close to the wind" as far as UK Law is concerned, I have to wonder just how they might respond when they have to pay out to lots of individuals?

I don't believe that there is any legal control on what percentage of their take they actually give to charity.

alanrp123 · 2 January 2013 at 11:33AM

I have been subscribing to this lottery for the past 6+ months, won £5 only.
Why is it that the vast majority of winners have Scottish postcodes??.:mad:

Stephb1986_2 · 2 January 2013 at 11:49AM

They called me and I told them I wasn't old enough to play lol

Steph xx

Beware - People's Postcode Lottery!

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free