A Canadian lottery corporation in Ontario is withholding a Windsor man's $100,000 winnings because he couldn't remember the date and time he bought the ticket.
Christopher Longden, 54, won the prize in the Sept. 6 drawing of the Super 7 game, and took a day off work to travel to Toronto to collect his prize, the Windsor Star reported.
During the interview with Ontario Lottery and Gaming officials that is mandatory for all prizes above $10,000, Longden said he bought the ticket at his neighborhood 7-Eleven store.
When he was asked about the date and time of purchase, he said he went blank.
"I don't know anybody that would remember the exact time and date they bought them," he told the newspaper.
Nearly three weeks later, Longden sent OLG a copy of the store's security camera video showing him making the purchase
But, he still hasn't been paid.
OLG executive director of communications and public relations, Rula Sharkawi, told the Star she couldn't comment on the situation because it's under investigation.
"Nobody should have to go through this," Longden said.
Incredible. You would think a security tape would do it, but noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Wow. I hope the guy gets his money soon since they have on tape him buying his tickets. There should be no reason to not give him his money.
I have a question. Is the date and time not printed on the tickets in Canada? Because here in Idaho, a timestamp with the date and time the ticket was purchased is on the bottom of the ticket. So basically, one just needs to look at their ticket to determine when they bought it.
This is crazy! Pay up!
There must be more to this story.Maybe he's suspected of stealing the ticket from someone else.Maybe the tape is of him buying a ticket...but is it THAT ticket?Something is missing in this story because the lottery wouldn't be allowed to refuse payment without a reason.A lottery ticket is a bearer instrument,meaning that the bearer of the ticket can claim the prize.For the lottery to refuse payment they must know something that we don't know.
Let's go to the video tape and get a lawyer.
In nj there is no timestamp, only is the date of the drawing the ticket is for. There are numbers and barcodes on the bottom but if that is a timestamp I wouldn't know how to decode it, and also the agent number is on there. I try to keep track of where/when I play. I like to cash in at the same Store I bought from. I never heard of this before, or seen timestamps on any tickets in nj or surrounding States I play in. Just to play it safe I will take a photo of where I played and of the ticket so this way I can have no problem recalling the information. If someone plays in all different places like me then it might be hard to remember especially if the ticket was bought a while back, maybe he was checking old tickets and found the winning one from a few weeks ago.
YEAH something is suspicious here, time will tell. maybe its standard questions and hes 1st not to answer str8 out.?
if there is no other claimant, how can they refuse payment of a bearer instrument?
They could refuse payment, because a bearer bond doesn't mean what most people think it means, but they aren't refusing payment. The delay is a result of their new rules because of insiders winning too many prizes. There's an article with more info here:
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=05c5068b-bb69-4f8f-8298-4915eb0ea20f
@ scarychick: Some lotteries print the time on the ticket and some don't. I can't figure why any of them do, other than complete stupidity. The lottery knows when and where the ticket was issued, right down to which terminal if the retailer has more than one, so they certainly don't need to print it on the ticket. In the event there is some dispute over ownership, where and when it was bought would be among the most basic security questions.
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I'm here in Ontario and it'strue.
The tickets barcode will have all that info, but awhile back it was foundthat the lotto retailers were winning more than the odds said they should - a universityof Toronto mathematician said the odds of the retailers winning that much was aTRILLION TRILLION TRILLION to 1 – yes that many TRILLIONS – so there was obviouslyfraud ie theft by the retailers – ie someone, maybe an older person, gives theticket to the retailer and says did I win. Retailer would say ya only $100,when it was in face $10000 etc.
Sio now all tickets must be signed and big money then you must remember therough time and place where you bought it.
A retailer claimed a $3.5 million prize but couldn’t remember where and whenhe bought it – so they took all his money in bank and houses etc and the realwinners got it.
If the guy got a security tape with him purchasing the ticket, then shouldn't the footage on the tape be accompanied by the DATE and Time?
I think they should pay out
I've always had a bit of fear of this problem should I win the big one. I travel frequently throughput four states (PA, NJ, DE, MD) and purchase Powerball and Megamillions tickets at various places in each. I have my "favorite" places, but these are fairly many and if asked when and where I purchased a particular ticket I would have a difficult time remembering. This is compounded by the fact that I often buy multiple draws, so my Delaware Powerball ticket may be good for 10 draws (5 weeks), decreasing the chances I'll remember precisely when and where I purchased a particular ticket.
I guess this means I should just plan better and only buy from the exact same place in each state!
BTW, I live in PA so buying Powerball tickets here would be most convenient and twice I've lived within a mile of where a jackpot ticket was purchased - but I try to get my Powerball tickets in Delaware because remaining anonymous is possble in DE, not PA. But part of me feels this isn't so bright an idea since so few Jackpot winners are bought in DE. Shouldn't make a difference, I know, but it just feels that way.
Also some new security they made recently because of this mess.
All tickets must be signed before the machine can check them - the retailers start paying fines, which get hefty if it occurs often. I think the scanner also checks for a signature and if it doesn't have one it sends info back to main office.
The display terminals now more loudly and with bigger type fonts show your winnings - but to me it's still not loud enough!!
Have lotteries become scams to keep prizes from winners? So that people with winning tickets should be investigated like criminals in hopes they will drop their claims and financially strapped governments will keep more money?
The first thing I would ask is if knowing the time & place of purchase is stated in the rules. Then I would if such a rule exists, is it publicized so winners can have an answer prepared when they cash the ticket in? Then I would if any previous winner was subjected to this treatment.
Well sometimes it helps. They caught a retailer in California trying to cash a 500 000 MM ticket - he told the customer $5 is what the ticket is worth, then signed it and brought to the lottery office. Obviously he couldn't tell even approximate date and time of purchase, so now the actual winner has those money and the thief is serving I believe 5 years or something like that in prison.