Winner doesn't have much hope of claiming her prize after messy debacle
By Kate Northrop
RIDGE MANOR, Fla. — It's every lottery winner's worst nightmare in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic — your winning ticket getting lost in the mail. Sadly, that's exactly what happened to a Florida woman whose certified mail containing a ticket worth $1,000 was lost by the U.S. Postal Service. Worse, the Florida Lottery said her prize was forfeited and awarded to someone else.
Since claim offices have closed or limited their in-person visits at the start of the pandemic, lotteries have been encouraging players to trust and opt for the mail-in option for claiming a prize. It doesn't look hopeful for Sue Burgess, who is caught in the unfortunate and unlikely circumstance that many players fear.
Burgess was ecstatic after learning that she won a $1,000 prize in the Florida Lottery's Second Chance Lottery drawing last month, but her happiness and hopes were dashed away weeks later when the Lottery told her she would have to forfeit her prize despite having the ticket postmarked by the prize claim deadline. Instead, her winnings went to another player.
It's the reason why many players would rather hang on to their physical ticket over claiming their winnings sooner — the USPS did not deliver the ticket to Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee and lost track of the package even though it was sent through certified mail.
At the time Burgess was considering options for filing a prize claim, the Lottery told her she could either send the ticket through the mail or hand-deliver it to a drop box. All claim centers were closed after she won the Second Chance drawing on July 29.
She opted to send the ticket through U.S. Postal Service certified mail thinking that it would be safer than leaving it at a drop box. According to the tracking information on the package, the ticket only got so far before stopping at the Tallahassee post office for good. The most recent activity on the package shows that it arrived there at 7:12 am on Aug. 12. It never made it to Lottery headquarters.
Although it is required for a legitimate winning ticket to be delivered to the office in order for a player to claim a prize, the Lottery said the situation is unusual and that they have limited flexibility since they are not responsible for mistakes made by the postal service.
"Because the Lottery did not receive Ms. Burgess' ticket within the seven-day claim period, an alternate winner was selected and paid," the Lottery stated. "However, if Ms. Burgess' package arrives at Florida Lottery Headquarters with a date stamp prior to the original expiration date, our Claims Processing department will process and pay her claim."
"They said, 'No ticket, no prize,'" Burgess said the Lottery told her after she asked about her missing ticket.
The Lottery requires that Second Chance players must register their tickets and contact information, unlike most other games. They also give Second Chance winners one week to submit their winning ticket — an incredibly short period of time compared to the more common 6-month submission deadline for other lottery games in the state.
Initially, the Lottery reached out to Burgess by phone, but she missed the call. They were able to contact her via email and notify her of her win, which, at that point, left Burgess mere days to submit the ticket. But since her only requirement was to get the ticket postmarked by the deadline, she decided to go with certified mail.
"That's why you choose certified mail," Burgess explained. "With COVID, I understand the mail is a little bit slow, but for safety sake, certified mail usually has priority."
After the closure of its claims offices, the Lottery encouraged players to mail winning tickets or leave them at the designated drop box while the ongoing pandemic increased the possibility of shipping and mailing delays. They also have records of all Second Chance winners and can therefore verify the identity of a legitimate winner, uncommon in other games but helpful in proving someone's win. These factors considered, it may seem odd to some that the Lottery does not offer a more realistic timeline for Second Chance prize claims.
On the other hand, should the valid winning ticket arrive at their office postmarked by the original deadline, they're out an extra $1,000 that they have to honor. It may be a drop in the bucket for the Lottery, but it's still fair for the player.
USPS admitted blame for losing the ticket but only provided a generic apology for their error in misplacing the high-value package.
"The Postal Service strives to always provide the best possible service to our customers," USPS said in the statement. "We apologize to this specific customer for any inconvenience they may have experienced. In this specific instance, we are continuing to work with the lottery office to confirm receipt of the mailpiece."
Seeing as how it has been six weeks since Burgess' package supposedly arrived at the Tallahassee post office, it's unlikely to be found, but one can only hope.
The USPS has not made any indication that they are willing to compensate Burgess for the value of the winning ticket. Instead, the postal service continues to investigate the package's mysterious disappearance.
Sadly, it doesn't look like Burgess will get her $1,000.
Sue should get a lawyer, even if that is going to costs her $500.00. Send a message!
Oh wow how horrible. I feel bad for her. I would be so angry.
Condolences to the Second Chance Winner!
Can we really Trust Voting in the Next Election via the USPS?
"the Lottery told her she could either send the ticket through the mail or hand-deliver it to a drop box."
The choice was either put the ticket into the drop box and probably get it validated the next business day or take a chance by mailing it.
"Initially, the Lottery reached out to Burgess by phone, but she missed the call."
Always is a "rest of the story".
I would bet money a postal employee, upon seeing that the envelope was addressed to the lottery office, opened it hoping they could intercept a winning ticket to cash for themselves. Seeing that it was a second chance ticket registered to someone else they destroyed the evidence of their crime.
Reminds me of someone I used to know who liked to mess with unscrupulous postal employees. He would send letters to friends and family in very flimsy envelopes that you could see through, and include fake $20 bills printed on his crappy home printer. if you held up the envelope to the light it would look like real money in there.
Registered Mail is the most secure postal mailing method. It is signed for by every hand that touches the package.
She may not get her $1,000 prize, but since the USPS didn't deliver her package, she should at least, get what she paid for the certified mail delivery refunded.
Drop box is the better option because you are not actually dropping it in a dropbox. You are basically hand delivering it to a lottery employee at a lottery office by dropping it in an envelope held by the lottery employee. The only bad part is your check is then mailed to you but at least a check can be reissued if lost.
Good Luck, Chris
I was thinking the same thing about an employee intercepting it. Sad .....
Also - if this started happening multiple times in the state would the lottery drop that option?
Sad. But I had $1,000 scratch off ticket that I sent via FEDX. It was worth the $15 bucks. It got delivered the next day. Had my money within 3 days.
And I took copy of all the documentation and signed my ticket.
That was my very first thought. It had been proven that last Christmas season postal workers stole many gift cards from the mail. Not sure if anyone was caught. As for the gift cards IDK how it could be implemented but have some kind of email with a special code that the giftee would need to activate---isnt going to happen.
Skimmed the article too quickly, but was the ticket signed?
Here is the address to claim our prizes in Wisconsin:
Prizes
PO Box 777
Madison, WI 53774
Doesn't exactly scream lotto ticket inside but a player should be able to get it
mailed, shoot, might be safer sending it regular mail.
It's not like the envelop left the state, how the heck did Florida postal lose it
I don't know if a dishonest post office employee was involved with the lost ticket or not, but it's worth pointing out that these days The USPS is a train wreck with regard to it's finances. There is no money available to the Post Office to do anything. Ask your mailman if he/she is allowed to work overtime and see what their reaction to that question is.
Given what the current daily working conditions are for post office employees, there are many reasons why a ticket sent via The US Mail could disappear. G5
Saw this story. Shame. In the first P, it says it was certified mail, then it says at the end, that's why you choose certified mail. I don't believe she sent it with certified mail. Could be wrong. Confusing though.
Here's the saddest part of the story: The lady lives 49 miles from Tampa where The Florida Lottery has a District Office with a drop box. It's a very easy 49 minute drive down I-75 from where she lives to Tampa according to Google Maps.
Although I don't know her personal circumstances (she may not have much time available for her to drive down to Tampa) if it was me, I'd be dropping that ticket in the Tampa District Office drop box.
I live in New York State (in a month I'm moving to the west coast of Florida) and The NY Lottery's Regional Offices are also closed. They are open by appointment, or you can use the drop box at any office. You can mail them a winner too, but there's no way I'd ever do that. Should I be so lucky as to win any $$ after I move to Florida, it looks to me like I'll be driving to Tampa. G5
That's true, but if you want to create a conspiracy theory, you must pretend that method is not secure.
I wouldn't trust the USPS. I just had my birth certificate sent certified mail and they mis-sorted it and couldn't find it for a week. Should've sent it FedEx or UPS.
My daughter sent me an Easter card year before last and I got it a little over a year later not opened and it looked
like it had not been tampered with at all...now figure that one out.
When I first opened it I thought it was a joke from her but she's never joked like that before and it was nowhere
near Easter of this past year but remember is was around a little over a year later when I got it....she did have a check in it but after several days of me saying I did not get it she cancelled the check.
This was sent by regular mail.
It's a shame about the lady who sent the ticket in and got nothing in return!
I would never have sent it by mail...would have driven there especially since a drop box was only 49 miles
away.
One more thing a man came to my door this morning saying he was doing a survey for GOP and wanted
to know if I was voting by absentee ballot and before
he could ask anymore questions I told him I was going to the poll
to vote...have never voted by mail and sure am not going to start now....he was already at my neighbor's door
by the time I got to my door but he still asked me the question...my neighbor was telling him the same
thing I did.
And Pennsylvania wants you to mail in large jackpot tickets too!
NAH!
According the NY Post she got her money after all. A TV station there ran her story according the article. Happy ending, now she can get her new washer/dryer and car tires!
l guess sending anything with the USPS that has to do with the lottery, should come with a warning label " Send at your own risk." Fortunately for myself, l will have no excuses, it's a 10 minute trip from my driveway by way of the Nimitz to their Dropbox.
Excellent news Jeff.The squeaky wheel * TV station- gets the oil. Sometimes shaking the tree is necessary.
That's great to hear! I'm glad she got her money.
Well.. sad as it is, I found out when I had a $5000 winning scratch and couldn't make the trip 4 hours to the state lottery office.. I had to ship the ticket. I signed the back of it with my name and address, made a copy of it and sent it via overnight letter so I had tracking. No since insuring since they don't cover it.
I found out in all the fine print, that things such as lottery tickets, the US postal service does not reimburse the cost of losing a winning lottery ticket. That is the risk you take sending them in, even though they will tell you they get them in everyday.
Lucky for me they got my ticket, since I was able to track it on line and then they sent me a check for my winnings within the week, much to my relief, since I too was worried to death about it being lost in the mail system and now with everything we have going on with the mail in balloting fiasco and they are probably overwhelmed, I would wait til well after the election before I mailed a lottery ticket using the US postal system, just to be safe.
Hope this helps anyone else and hope this lady is able to get some restitution but I doubt it. But fingers crossed!
LottoMomma
Congrats on the hit! Nice to hear the ‘system’ worked for u.
Glad it worked out for you just fine.
Brings back memories of that guy in N. NJ who casually mailed his 'Big Game' (predecessor to Mega Millions) ticket to the lottery headquarters in Trenton, NJ. He got paid no problem.
Of all the states I've played in and mailed back small winners to the worst is by far the Georgia Lottery. First visit to New Orleans played and won about $36 or so, mailed it in and it came by within 3 days. Thought I did something wrong, no, it was a check with a tiny post-it note attached saying I didn't need to fill out a claim slip.
The ticket should have been sent Certified and insured for the full value.
She did send it certified. Didn't someone say that you can't insure a lottery ticket?
My other thought process is the FL should know, perhaps, which ticket it was so maybe inactivate it? If she signed it and the thief, if there is one, would have problems showing ID should it be required to cash it. Just my humble opinion.
All's Well That Ends Well!
https://www.lotterypost.com/news/333990