William Hill has been forced to plead with their customers to return millions of pounds paid out in error following a technical glitch.
Their Jackpot Drop slot game malfunctioned to the point that an estimated seven-figure sum was paid out to some of their account holders, who took to social media to share screenshots of their good fortune.
Of course, William Hill was able to recoup much of the money while it sat in their customers’ account, but those that withdrew their funds have left the bookmaker with a job on its hands to get the money back.
Hitting the Jackpot
The firm immediately began to manually readjust account balances where possible, while also locking the accounts of those who had withdrawn their ill-gotten gains.
Those players were sent emails by William Hill, politely requesting that the funds be returned. The firm even went as far as sharing their bank account number and sort code, as well as requesting that a ‘settlement agreement’ be signed by the affected parties.
If the customers don’t return the money paid to them by mistake, they may be opening the door to a legal battle – William Hill’s T&Cs protect them against losses in instances of technical error.
In cases of malfunction, the firm is legally obliged to void transactions – or take further ‘corrective measures’ as necessary.
According to Next.io, customers that had withdrawn the funds were offered a ‘commercial resolution’ of an 11% goodwill payment of the amount paid by mistake.
It’s a figure that those involved may be best advised to take… this is ‘free money’, after all. The alternative of a lengthy and expensive court battle against a cash-rich betting firm well protected by contractual terms and conditions might just turn out to be sub-optimal…
A spokesperson for the Evoke Group, who operate William Hill, said:
“During a routine review of platform activity, we identified an issue affecting the Jackpot Drop game which temporarily resulted in incorrect sums being credited to players’ balances and withdrawals being processed incorrectly.
“We have contacted relevant customers to clarify the issue, and are in the process of retrieving the funds in line with our standard terms and conditions. We have been grateful for our customers’ understanding on this matter.”
William Hill customers that have received a payout – and are happy to take the firm on in court – may use the legal precedent set by Corrine Durber last year.
She was playing a slot game on Paddy Power’s website back in October 2020 when she was shown a congratulatory message on screen, proclaiming that she had won £1 million.
That was the result of a technical malfunction within the game, so Paddy Power offered Durber a settlement figure of £20,000 instead.
Durber refused and, after a protracted legal battle, ultimately ended up taking the Flutter Entertainment firm on in the High Court. Her team was able to successfully argue for the entirety of the £1 million to be paid out.
“When a trader puts all the risk on a consumer for its own recklessness, negligence, errors, inadequate digital services and inadequate testing, that appears onerous to me,” reasoned Justice Ritchie.
Timing Is Everything
There’s no good time for a calamity of this nature, but when you’re trying to pitch yourself as a possible takeover target, you could do without giving away shareholder profits to your customers.
Evoke have confirmed that their financial results for 2025 will be published on April 29, with interim reporting suggesting that they turned over around £1.79 billion – which is a 1.8% percent increase in revenue on 2024.
They have attributed that positivity to ‘profitable growth and the successful delivery of cost savings through the year.’
However, the Gambling Tax hike announced in November, which will see firms paying almost double the amount of tax on remote gaming as of next month, could mean that the 1.8% revenue rise at Evoke is wiped out by the time that their accountants reconvene at the end of 2026.
That probably helps to explain why plans to break up the Evoke Group are ongoing, with bosses seeking to sell off one or more arms of a business that includes William Hill, Mr Green and the 888 family of brands.
Although no formal takeover has yet been made, the suggestion is that Bally’s – the American gambling firm that has begun to open casinos in the UK – could be plotting a swoop into the online sector as well.
However, it’s thought that Bally’s want to purchase Evoke in its entirety, rather than individual brands, which could prove to be a stumbling block.