Earning the trust of customers is important in the online gambling world.
It’s crucial for lottery couriers.
There are states with online lotteries, then there are those that feature courier services.
These third-party businesses offer online sales of retail lottery tickets in select states.
In some cases, the couriers work with the state lottery. That is not the case in Colorado.
So, when a Colorado Lottery player ran into an issue with a winning ticket they purchased through courier Jackpocket, the company had to ensure it resolved the situation.
That’s just what Jackpocket did.
Lottery player sent wrong winning ticket
During last week’s Colorado Lottery Commission meeting, the incident was brought up by one of the commissioners.
Though not all of the details were provided, here’s how the mishap was spelled out:
- A woman playing the Colorado Lottery through Jackpocket bought a ticket for an unidentified game through the courier.
- The ticket she was given was a $1,000 winner.
- Because the prize was over $600, she needed the ticket sent to her in order to claim it at a Colorado Lottery prize center.
- The ticket that was sent to her was not her actual ticket.
- While it was a $1,000 winning ticket, the courier labeled it with someone else’s name.
- Because of this, the woman wasn’t able to get her winnings processed with the ticket she received.
The Colorado Lottery was caught between a rock and a hard place on the matter.
Due to the fact that the woman’s ticket was identified as someone else’s, the state couldn’t pay her.
When reached for official comment on the situation, the Colorado Lottery provided the following statement to PlayiLottery:
“While the Lottery sometimes receives complaints from players regarding orders they placed through a courier, because the Lottery does not license and is in no way affiliated with couriers like Jackpocket, we send those players back to the courier to manage the issue.”
Jackpocket solves issue with Colorado customer
When the customer experienced this problem, Jackpocket didn’t just shrug its shoulders.
It began doing what it could to make sure she was paid out her winnings.
Attempts were made to send scans and emails of the actual winning ticket that she had purchased. The physical ticket was sent to the wrong winner and was not returned.
Due to the lack of a real ticket, the Colorado Lottery couldn’t get the customer her money.
Because of that, Jackpocket took matters into its own hands. A Colorado Lottery employee made that clear during last week’s meeting:
“Jackpocket owned it. It was completely their mistake, and the customer was made whole via Jackpocket.”
With online lottery still evolving, and couriers being relatively new to many around the US, it was important for Jackpocket to resolve the issue. It helped keep the integrity of the company and fellow couriers intact.
When asked about the situation, Jackpocket sent PlayiLottery the following statement:
“Jackpocket has fulfilled over $500M in winning tickets since its inception, and makes every effort to ensure that our customers receive the winnings that they are entitled to. While processing errors are very rare, if they do happen, we are dedicated to fixing them as quickly as possible.”
Lottery couriers expanding throughout US
Courier services are becoming more of a staple in the lottery industry with each passing month.
A total of 20 different states have at least one courier operating within their borders.
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming reported that couriers accounted for less than 1% of US lottery sales in 2023. That number is sure to rise in 2024.
In locations that haven’t legalized online lotteries, couriers have become an option that some states are comfortable with.
At least four companies operate in places like New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Texas.
Jackpocket is included in all four of those states. It has the largest reach of any courier, available in 17 states, as well as Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
EKG estimated that Jackpocket had 64% of the US courier revenue share in 2023.
Photo by Talaj via Shutterstock
Graphics from Jackpocket and the Colorado Lottery
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