An Ontario couple reached out to Speakers Corner after they won $10,000 on the OLG website and then ran into problems when they tried to withdraw the winnings.
Cheryl Hutley and Mark Randle have tried their luck with OLG for more than two years.
“We’ve normally used it just to purchase online lottery tickets and it’s funded from our joint bank account,” Randle said.
He then began trying out the online casino games offered on the website.
“In the first round of the casino, I win $5,000 in a jackpot,” He said.
Those winnings were quickly deposited into the bank account the couple registered with OLG years ago. As luck would have it, earlier this month, Randle hit it big again.
“I’m back on the same site and I hit a $10,000 win. And I’m thinking, wow, that’s pretty good.”
He went through the same process as before, requesting the winnings be deposited into their bank account.
“Then suddenly the following day, I get notification that the account’s been suspended and the deposit has been cancelled.”
Confused, Randle began reaching out to OLG. They were first told OLG needed additional information about the bank account.
“Nothing changed, it’s the same bank account we’ve used for years,” Randle said. “I once again supply all that information and still no reply. To make matters worse, when we try to log on to the account it won’t allow us to log on. It says that the account was suspended. And if you try and use a chat function to talk to an agent, it won’t even allow you to do that.”
They then reached out to Speakers Corner hoping we’d be able to get answers. We contacted OLG and within a day, the couple had the winnings deposited in their account.
As for the reason behind the delay, an OLG spokesperson could not give specifics.
“Unfortunately, we don’t discuss details about player accounts with anyone other than the account holder,” the spokesperson said. “We review many accounts every day using different triggers and various sources of information to determine if accounts are being used in accordance with our Player Agreement.”
While both Cheryl and Mark are relived the issue was resolved they’re unsure if they’ll play again.
“Why would you put yourself through a frustrating experience when you’re trying to have a little bit of fun?” Randle said.
“If it was a $500 win, then maybe we would’ve just chalked it up to experience and say, ‘we might never see the money’, but for 10-grand that’s important for me and the average Joe and we’re average Joe’s.”
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