$42.2 million Powerball jackpot scooped up by one lone ticketholder in the same night
By Kate Northrop
In a digital glitch, around 25,000 Kiwis were overcharged on their lottery tickets for Lotto New Zealand's $42.2 million (US$30.2 million) Powerball drawing on Wednesday, the second-largest jackpot won in the country's history.
The high volume of traffic on the Lottery's "MyLotto" website prior to the drawing led to issues with the card processing systems operated by third party "payment partners," spokesperson Lucy Fullarton told news media website Stuff.
One Auckland resident was left without any money heading into the weekend as a result of the glitch. The man, whose identity was not disclosed, was appalled that his payment history showed $200 had been taken out of his account, four times what he thought he spent.
"I just can't believe this," he said in an interview. "It's a disgrace."
The Lottery reached out to him on Friday and told him that it would take three to five days to process his refund, but that left him insufficient funds for the extended holiday period to come. New Zealanders had just celebrated Labour Weekend a couple days ago.
According to the nameless player, waiting three to five days for his repayment was unacceptable.
"They should be doing the right thing," he stated.
The system error occurred just before 7:00 pm and lasted until 7:30 pm on Wednesday night, which meant that players who purchased tickets for that evening's draw during that time were overcharged.
"This issue unfortunately meant some customers attempted to top up their MyLotto wallets multiple times because they did not see the funds appear after the first attempt," Fullarton explained.
That's a total of 25,000 lottery players, or 4% of the total who bought tickets.
"We identified the problem, and on Thursday we processed refunds for affected customers," Fullarton continued. "Many customers have already had the funds credited back to their accounts, but the time it takes will depend on the time it takes for the bank to process the transaction."
In light of the blunder, the spokesperson expressed empathy for players who were negatively impacted.
"We do understand the concern this issue has caused, and we sincerely apologize to this customer and to all those affected."
On the bright side, a family from Pokeno won the $42.2 million Powerball jackpot on Wednesday night with a single ticket, but they "had no idea" they had hit the jackpot until the next morning. The ticketholders, who remain anonymous, saw the news online about the winning ticket and were prompted to check their own numbers.
The woman who bought the ticket thought it must have been some sort of mistake that she won one of the nation's record jackpots. She handed the ticket to her husband, who could not believe what his wife was telling him.
"It took a second or two to get my head around what she had said," he recalled. "She handed me the ticket and asked me to check it as well, just to make sure. I checked it, then checked it again — and again — but no matter how many times I checked the ticket, I kept getting the same thing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."
"Tonight's $42.2 million Powerball win is the second largest prize ever won in New Zealand — there's no denying that it's a life-changing win," Lotto NZ Senior Corporate Communications Manager Kirsten Robinson said last week in a press release. "This year is shaping up to be a lucky one for Powerball players, with sixteen Kiwis winning big with Powerball so far this year. We can't wait to congratulate our newest overnight multi-millionaire!"
As unreal as it feels, the couple said that they are already formulating plans for the future.
"It's a lot to get our heads around," the woman said. "We feel incredibly lucky and want to take some time to really think things through and make sure we have a good plan in place to set our family up for the future."
She surmised that the money will help support her children as well as the people in their community, but they are particularly looking forward to supporting small businesses.
The lone winning ticket was purchased at the Countdown Pokeno grocery store on Great South Road in Pokeno. The winning numbers for the drawing on Wed., Oct. 20 were 2, 3, 4, 7, 19, and 31 with Bonus ball 8 and Powerball 9. The winners matched the first six numbers plus the Powerball to take home the jackpot.
The largest jackpot ever won in New Zealand was a $44 million (US$31.5 million) Powerball prize claimed by a family from the Hibiscus Coast in 2016.
Thanks to dannyct for the tip.
Inexcusable...where are the checks and balances? Perhaps a new third party vendor should be considered.
As usual the consumer left holding the bag whereas the folks affected have to wait days for funds to be deposited. As we all know if the shoe was on the other foot 'they' want their money right here and now.
That's a lot of manuka honey, they should be repaid with interest.
I'm old school anyway, but I would never buy my tickets like that. I like handing over cash for my tix.
Congrats to the family that won the NZ$42.2 Powerball jackpot. It is fantastic that New Zealand law, grants winners the option to remain anonymous and all prize money is tax-free.
"The largest jackpot EVER won in New Zealand was $44 million." It's really hard to believe we have players here in the US who would look at that prize and say it's "not big enough". Some of us are really spoiled. Congrats to the winning family. Looks like they are going to take their time and spend the money wisely.
"One Auckland resident was left without any money heading into the weekend as a result of the glitch. The man, whose identity was not disclosed, was appalled that his payment history showed $200 had been taken out of his account, four times what he thought he spent."
If I'm reading that right, this guy was down to his last $200 and intended to spend $50 of it on lottery tickets? LOL. That man needs Gamblers Anonymous.
Hey NZ Lottery, do the right thing and pay that man back with interest -- it'll end up back in the lottery's coffers the next day anyway.
The charging is done by a third party vendor.
What (I assume) happened is that people used credit cards to make deposits to their lotto accounts and somehow the amount credited to teh account was 4x what they planned.
The buyers would have been able to immediately ask for the money to be credited to their account...
The banks want to hold onto your money for at least one working day.. and as the issue happened on a Saturday, that means nothing gets done on Sunday, Monday they might process it.. or they might just start processing it. So, deposited in your account 8am Tuesday or 8am Tuesday...
My understanding (NZer, I buy online too) is that he was depositing money into his lotto account, from which he would then purchase $6 or more worth of tickets.. in this and future draws. So, probably wasn't buying $50 worth of tickets on tht one draw.
As for refunding.. It is as easy as the punter making a withdrawal on his account.. Unfortunately, it is then in the hands of the banks.. who like at least one business day between asking for the money and getting the money credited to your account.. which is why there is the delay.
Also, at about 1% interest rates, calculated daily.. for three days.. 3/365 x 1% x $150 = 1.23 cents....
Checks and Balances? Are you kidding? Have you seen what is happening in New Zealand politics?
Have you seen Jacinda Arden?
That woman is a dictator wanting to create a two tiered society. Pretty soon, you will not be able to be to buy lottery tickets over there unless you get the clot shot.
The only checks they need over there is an old Mick Dundee check on her.
Never mind the lottery money, We need a transvestigation asap!!