UK National Lottery app unable to cope with record draw

Customers took to social media to vent frustrations at being unable to buy tickets online for the £175m EuroMillions jackpot.

UK.- Customers reacted furiously on social media after the National Lottery app appeared to crash under the weight of demand for tickets for the record £175m EuroMillions draw last night (Tuesday).

Angry customers took to social media to vent frustration at being unable to buy a ticket. 

Responding to a tweet from EuroMillions that claimed there was “still time to buy,” one frustrated customer commented: “No there’s not as your website and app is F****** S*** AND CAN’T PROCESS ANYTHING.”

Another customer wrote: “What an absolute farce. I’ve been trying to log into my account for 15 minutes to play this EuroMillions and the site is blocked or busy or whatever.

“And when it came available it just happened to be 7:30pm. I think it’s ridiculous. Shame on u.”

One customer asked: “Are you extending the time we can buy a ticket? I have been trying to log on for 45 minutes for the EuroMillions.”

The official National Lottery account retorted that the app had not crashed and that players should keep trying.

In response to one tweet, it said: “Please keep trying Ray, the website and app aren’t down. They might just be running a little slow with the number of people trying to get on at the last few moments.”

A Camelot spokesperson said: “We’ve been experiencing high volumes of traffic into the National Lottery website this evening and because of this a small number of players may have experienced a delay in buying tickets for tonight’s EuroMillions draw. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.”

The British Gambling Commission has launched the tender process for the next licence to run the National Lottery.

The incumbent Camelot, the only operator in the lottery’s history, has confirmed it will bid to keep the licence. It faces competition from Sazka and India’s Sugal & Damani.

Meanwhile the British government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed it will increase the minimum age for buying National Lottery products from 16 to 18 by October 2021.

Camelot had warned that it would take at least a year to implement the change.