Retailer’s Lotto upgrade is plagued with problems

A four-year wait for a full lottery machine has ended in disappointment for a Kent retailer who has been plagued by Lotto problems since upgrading.

This follows other Lotto problems with the huge rollover jackpots not driving consumers in-store.

Kate Mills of Heath Stores in Horsmonden, Kent, said she upgraded at the beginning of the year so she could sell Lotto tickets, doubling her monthly fee to £50.

But software issues have resulted in the homescreen needing constant rebooting and the scanner regularly not working, leaving Mills to input numbers manually and lose business when customers won’t wait around.

“I asked for compensation as I now have increased costs, but was told I wasn’t entitled to any,” she said. “We were very excited when we got it, I wish we hadn’t bothered.”

A Camelot spokesperson said: “A small number of retailers who have recently had their standalone scratchcard terminal upgraded have reported various intermittent IT issues. We are dealing with each of these instances on a case-by-case basis, providing specific support depending on the particular circumstances.”