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Brit expats in Spain gutted when National Lottery site crashed
| Published: | 7 May at 6 PM |
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As if lockdowns and deadly viruses weren’t enough, expats in Spain now can’t even chance their luck with the UK’s National Lottery!
Many British expats living in Spain are long-term fans of the National Lottery, buying their tickets either on its website or its smartphone app. Nowadays, it’s a British tradition, even although the chances of winning are miniscule. For expat retirees struggling with Spain’s lockdown as well as the fear of contracting the infection, the lottery is a reminder of life in the home country when all was straightforward, at least until this week’s draw.
To the dismay of regular punters who logged on for the latest draw, all they got was a message saying the service was ‘temporarily unavailable’. Searches revealed the cause – a power cut near Watford had rendered the service unavailable at exactly the wrong time, depriving optimistic Brits of the chance to change their lives forever. A second message pleaded with punters to bear with the delay, adding techies were still working to get the website up and running, but by 15.00 Spanish time the site was still down.
By mid-afternoon British time, the app and website were up and running again, although the contact centre page was still unavailable and the £5 million draw was on schedule to take place as usual even although a good number of Brits living in Spain weren’t able to buy their tickets online. Social media had a field day after the draw took place, with winners of a few pounds going online and making much of what they’d buy. For a good many Brit expats, it took their minds off the latest coronavirus news, which can’t be a bad thing!
Many British expats living in Spain are long-term fans of the National Lottery, buying their tickets either on its website or its smartphone app. Nowadays, it’s a British tradition, even although the chances of winning are miniscule. For expat retirees struggling with Spain’s lockdown as well as the fear of contracting the infection, the lottery is a reminder of life in the home country when all was straightforward, at least until this week’s draw.
To the dismay of regular punters who logged on for the latest draw, all they got was a message saying the service was ‘temporarily unavailable’. Searches revealed the cause – a power cut near Watford had rendered the service unavailable at exactly the wrong time, depriving optimistic Brits of the chance to change their lives forever. A second message pleaded with punters to bear with the delay, adding techies were still working to get the website up and running, but by 15.00 Spanish time the site was still down.
By mid-afternoon British time, the app and website were up and running again, although the contact centre page was still unavailable and the £5 million draw was on schedule to take place as usual even although a good number of Brits living in Spain weren’t able to buy their tickets online. Social media had a field day after the draw took place, with winners of a few pounds going online and making much of what they’d buy. For a good many Brit expats, it took their minds off the latest coronavirus news, which can’t be a bad thing!
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