A man has shared his heartbreak after being told his substantial win on a gambling app was a mistake, leaving him unable to fulfil a promise to pay off his ill mother's mortgage.
The Disputed Winnings
Matt Cook thought he had won almost £145,000 on the William Hill app and withdrew £33,000 before being locked out of his account. He had already promised his mother, who is battling breast cancer, that he would pay off her mortgage. He was later informed that the win was due to a glitch and that he had not actually won the sum.
Matt appeared on Good Morning Britain to tell his story, days after another woman, Claire Ainsley, shared that she had thought she had won a million pounds, only to discover it was not real.
"It's obviously quite a bad situation to be in," Matt told hosts Richard Madeley and Kate Garraway. "You think that you've won all this money. You can do a lot of things for a lot of people. It's not just about yourself anymore, it's the broken promises."
Another Affected Customer
Matt was on the show alongside Lee Oliver, who thought he had won £48,000, only to be told he had not. The show included a report stating: "Lee uses the William Hill app regularly. On the 16th of March, he thought he'd won more than £48,000. When he tried to withdraw the money, he could only get it out in increments totalling £18,000. Lee was then locked out of his account. He contacted William Hill but didn't hear back. Two days later, William Hill emailed asking for most of the money back, giving him a three-day deadline."
Matt thought he had won nearly £145,000 on the same day as Lee. He withdrew £33,000 before being locked out of his account as well. Matt gave some money to his family and put aside some for a car for his child with a disability, leaving £10,000. He asked William Hill when he would get the rest of the money. A day later, they called telling him it was a glitch and to pay the money back.
Broken Promises
Discussing how he had planned to use the money, Matt explained: "I promised, I have an ill mother, and I wanted to pay her mortgage off because she's 67. I told her this, and she currently has breast cancer. So I wanted to take a bit of ease off of her life."
He went on: "I promised other people, the mothers of my children, 'I can help you do this now. I can help you do that, set college fees up for the children.' Do all these things. And then for them to turn around and say, 'Well, no, you can't do these things. And in fact, you're now in debt to us. You have to pay the money back.'"
Matt said while his mother knew what had happened, he had "not really had the courage to break the news to her" himself. "It's hard to go through the day thinking, 'What if?'" he said.
Lee said he had been "so excited" about his win. "But then to be told that you haven't won it, it's just like you go from a high to a low within seconds," he said.
William Hill's Response
Presenter Kate shared a statement from William Hill during the segment. It said: "During a routine review of platform activity, they identified an issue affecting the jackpot drop gain, which temporarily resulted in incorrect sums being credited to players' balances and withdrawals being processed incorrectly. They've contacted relevant customers to clarify the issue and are in the process of retrieving the funds in line with their standard terms and conditions."
"I think it's disgraceful what's happened to you," said host Richard Madeley. "Absolutely disgraceful."
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am.
