As of Sunday morning, there were still no winning numbers posted for Friday’s record-smashing $15.2 million Edmonton Oilers 50/50 pot.
The winner was initially set to be posted Friday evening, but massive issues with the raffle website have led to a delay that is now stretching on.
Not only is there a delay, but many customers also had difficulty completing transactions due website errors. Some customers also tell Global News they were charged multiple times for their purchases.
“I only wanted one transaction but they dinged me with 10,” said Ina Macleod.
“I don’t have that amount of disposable income — $1,000 off my plate is massive.”
Other customers said they kept getting error notices — but then were charged. Bruce Audley said he assumed he had to try again after the website timed out.
“We had no way of knowing timed-out meant your order has been received and is being processed,” Audley said. “I checked my credit card statement, and yeah, we paid $1,250 for tickets into a lottery. That was an amount nowhere close to what we wanted to spend.”
Tim Shipton, an executive with the Oilers Entertainment Group, said the draw still remains valid.
“We will have a concrete update tomorrow morning, as we continue to work through communication with our customers today,” Shipton said in a Sunday email.
“We will not proceed with the draw until we are confident issues have been resolved.”
The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation also posted a statement Saturday saying that at times, demand for tickets exceeded $100,000 per minute, resulting in slow loading times, geo-location errors and duplication of some orders.
“Working with our technology service provider, Ascend Fundraising Solutions, we are endeavouring to quickly resolve any and all customer issues and are in active dialogue with our partners and the gaming regulator, AGLC,” the statement said.
The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission told Global News it is aware of the challenges associated with the online raffle and it is monitoring the situation.
There has been a massive response to the Oilers’ online 50/50 draws since it launched last weekend. This round of playoffs was the first time the organization had ever run an online version of its 50/50.
This 50/50 will be the last of the season, after Blackhawks eliminated the Oilers in the NHL’s qualifying round with a 3-2 win in Game 4 of the series.
—With files from Chris Chacon, Global News