A mother of three from south west London has described her heartbreak after William Hill informed her that a nearly £100,000 prize she believed she had won on its betting app was the result of a technical glitch. Millie Fox, 30, initially thought she had secured £300 on a jackpot drop game, but the displayed amount quickly escalated to approximately £94,000, prompting her to rush downstairs and share the news with her partner, Greg Evans.
Life-changing hopes dashed
Millie, who is expecting her fourth child, told The Mirror that the sum would have provided a crucial boost amid the ongoing cost of living crisis. She said: “It was life-changing; we could have bought baby supplies and done a big food shop because we have been relying on food banks. When we saw it was £94,000, we both just burst out crying. We were shaking; it was unbelievable. Things like that don’t happen to people like us, which is why we took screenshots of everything.” The couple had already started making plans for the money, including purchasing a car and taking their children on their first family holiday abroad.
Confirmation and subsequent disappointment
To ensure the winnings were genuine, Millie contacted William Hill through the app. Screenshots shared with The Mirror show a customer service representative named Frederick confirming the balance as £94,902 and stating that withdrawals of £94,895 would be processed. However, the company later contacted Millie to explain that the apparent winnings were due to an error in the game’s software.
“I feel absolutely heartbroken,” Millie said. “I couldn’t tell Greg for days because we had made plans and I didn’t want to shatter his or the children’s dreams. I didn’t want to get out of bed; I just said I didn’t feel well. When I eventually told him, he burst into tears. It was really heartbreaking.” She added that she believes William Hill should honour the displayed amount, arguing that if a customer gambled money and later claimed it was a mistake, the company would not accept that excuse.
Other affected customers
Millie is not alone in her experience. Numerous other William Hill players have reported similar issues, with winnings allegedly not paid out due to app errors. Claire Ainsley previously shared a story of believing she had won £1 million on the online casino.
An Evoke spokesperson, representing William Hill, told The Mirror: “During a routine review of platform activity, we identified an issue affecting the Jackpot Drop game which temporarily resulted in incorrect sums being credited to players’ balances and withdrawals being processed incorrectly. While we quickly identified and resolved this issue, for a short period of time funds were erroneously credited to some customer accounts that were not correctly generated through valid or properly functioning gameplay. We have contacted relevant customers to clarify the issue and are in the process of retrieving the funds in line with our standard terms and conditions. We have been grateful for our customers’ understanding on this matter and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
