Retailers across the UK have been losing out on scratchcard sales due to a glitch in Allwyn’s new automatic replenishment system.
Several retailers told Better Retailing errors in the system over recent weeks meant they’d been missing some of their bestselling scratchcards.
Andrew Board, of Premier Core Convenience Store in Durham, said: “Scratchcards are supposed to be on an automatic replenishment, but it doesn’t happen. Ironically, we get messages coming up on our screen reminding us to make sure our scratch-card dispenser is full, but we have pockets empty on our dispenser because they haven’t bothered to replace the stock.
“I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to chase them and put in orders myself. The latest order I put in was not properly fulfilled. On other occasions, I have been waiting up to two weeks for scratchcards.”
Board added he had also experienced issues communicating the errors to the National Lottery operator. He said: “When I get through to the scratchcard department, it’s an automated message. When you do finally get through to a person, they are quite helpful and they seem equally as frustrated as they are getting lots of calls from retailers.
“However, it hasn’t solved the problem. Plus, every call takes around 10 minutes and that’s time out of my business.”
Complaints
Raju Patel, of Premier Eldred Drive Stores in Orpington, south-east London, added he was missing his number-two scratchcards due to the issue. He said: “We haven’t had stock in for five days. The stock is supposed to be sent automatically based on sales, but it just isn’t happening.
“We have complained on several occasions, but it’s so frustrating we’ve ended up putting the phone down.
“It’s hard to get through to a person, and they’ve been quite rude and not resolved the problem.”
However, despite retailers experiencing ongoing issues with scratchcard replenishments, some store owners told Better Retailing Allwyn was quick to help them resolve the problem.
Eugene Diamond, of Diamond’s in Ballymena, said: “I was experiencing some problems, but they seem to have been resolved. I think part of the problem is that all lottery retailers have old terminals, but I have been reassured things will get better when new terminals are rolled out.”
Allwyn responds
An Allwyn spokesperson told Better Retailing: “We’re really sorry to hear this. Our scratchcard-replenishment system is working as it should in the vast majority of our retailer partners, but we do understand that, in some stores, there are still challenges with availability, which we’re urgently working to resolve with our partners.”
The company urged stores affected to call Allwyn on 0800 8 40 50 60.
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