Camelot won't pay out winnings

[kt.]

Camelot have peeved off a lot of service personnel! They have just replied to an email asking if they pay winnings to armed forces personnel who play by direct debit when they are posted to Afghanistan and other operational areas from UK.  They said no because they are not resident in UK. You have to be in UK at the time of purchasing the ticket to be eligible for any winnings they say. 

Gonna pass the email to The Sun newspaper I reckon.....

[kt.]

[PurpleHeather]

It has been exposed before that one and it is in the rules.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/article.html?in_article_id=488931&in_page_id=5

Something to do with international laws about gambling.  Tickets can be bought in advance but you have to be in the UK at the time of purchase. Last time it came out Camelot were told to get their system sorted so that they could identify where the call which placed the bet came from to make sure that only UK telephone numbers could go through their system.

Also it means that if it was opened up to the 'rest of the world' it would not be a national lottery but an international lottery.

[dtw]

Surely their partners/family at home could buy the ticket and claim on their behalf.

[Old bird]

The other alternative would be to buy the tickets online in advance when they are home and then - if they do win - either wait for their return to the UK or if it is a biggie apply from abroad - as they bought the tickets legitimately when they were in the UK.  There is no law that says you can't go abroad when the draws take place I shouldn't think!

O B

[Slug_killer]

I was always told :-

Rule number 1 : dont upset the nice man with the big gun.

I would have thought  just being in Iran/Afghanistan was a big enough gamble in itself, without a lottery.

[lottiedolly]

I think that is disgusting, it is bad enough our troops do not have all the kit they require, they are without proper support from the goverment and now they are shafted by the lottery. I think that they should be entitled to doing the lottery whilst abroad, it is not as if they are jaunting around the world on a jolly, they are out their fighting on behalf of our country.

sorry to rant, but i do not think they get a fair deal on many things  .....................hangs head, slinks away and hopes no one shouts at her for ranting off

[OllieC]

Am I missing something here, what has this got to do with the armed forces? Surely it applies to everyone that doesn't always live here?  ???

Everyone in the army at the moment has known that they are likely to be fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, they are all there by choice, and frankly I can't see why they should be treated differently to anyone else. Of course they deserve the best kit so they can do their job of killing people with minimum risk to themselves, but I don't see why gambling laws should be changed especially for them. I just can't see the link?!

Oh, and they're not fighting for me or on my behalf, if they were then I'd ask them to stop.

[betula]

oh dear,any opportunity to have a go at the Armed Forces.

OK ,many do not agree with what is going on at the moment and that is fair enough but why be so damned petty??

If the men and women of the second world war had this attitude you would not be able to sit at  yer computer saying anything you choose now.

Give it a break.

I think a special system should be introduced for our Armed Forces,good luck to them.

Happy Christmas.

[asbean]

It's not being petty.  This is GAMBLING we are talking about, right?

The rules are quite clear, it is a national lottery, not an international lottery, and one has to be resident in this country to participate.  If anyone who is overseas and wants to gamble, I am sure they have enough relatives or friends in this country to buy their ticket for them. 

The invasion of Afghanistan or wherever the soldiers are sent to is nothing to do with this. 

[betula]

Well technically they are resident in this country,as I say they should have a system especially for Armed Forces IMHO.


ASBEAN............I thought the previous post to that was VERY petty..........sorry Ollie but that is how I feel.

Many members of our Armed Forces do not have people to buy for them.

I have read about this and that is why they are so happy to have cards and gifts from members of the public at Christmas time.


Don't know why I am going on about this as I don't even play the lottery meself   ;D

[OllieC]

Ah but you see, I am not grateful to them. I feel sorry for the guys on the ground getting shot at on both sides and I think that this could be stopped by us bringing "our" guys home. Our troops all choose to be there, why on earth should I be grateful for them doing something that is actually damaging our security in the long term?

And again, I can't see what it has to do with playing the lottery.

[betula]

I don't know.......what has it got to do with playing the lottery  ?? ;D ;D ;D

[kt.]

The other alternative would be to buy the tickets online in advance when they are home and then - if they do win - either wait for their return to the UK or if it is a biggie apply from abroad - as they bought the tickets legitimately when they were in the UK.  There is no law that says you can't go abroad when the draws take place I shouldn't think!

That is correct.  Only downside is the maximum draw tickets you can purchase is for 8 weeks.  Yet when we go to Afghanistan it is usually for 6 1/2 months with a small break in the middle.  So we cannot buy enough tickets to cover the weeks we are away.  Some of us play via direct debit from a UK bank account when in UK. 

Surely their partners/family at home could buy the ticket and claim on their behalf.

Yes; but why should we have to have other people do our shopping

what has this got to do with the armed forces? Surely it applies to everyone that doesn't always live here?  ???

Oh, and they're not fighting for me or on my behalf, if they were then I'd ask them to stop.

Nobody said we were fighting directly for you.  Those of us who are complaining about this do always live here, UK citizens employed by the UK MOD on behalf of the UK government that was elected by the majority of UK public.  If all of us volunteers were not fighting on your behalf... where would you be...?  It is all of us volunteering that mean the rest of you do not have to do national service.  If troops were short then that is where we would be.  It was only abolished in the 1960s. 
My post is not into the political whys and wherefores of government politics.  It is to do with the rules etc of camelot. The reasons for the afghanistan situation is a different topic that covers more than can be written on any thread.

[tonybloke]

on behalf of the UK government that was elected by the majority of UK public.   

Actually, LESS THAN HALF of the UK public voted for them, but that's another thread.