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Exclusive: Allwyn assures support as Selby retailer slams new rollout

Exclusive: Allwyn assures support as Selby retailer slams new rollout

A convenience retailer has blasted Allwyn UK’s handling of its National Lottery terminal upgrade, calling the experience “an embarrassment” after being left without a working machine for weeks. Meanwhile, Allwyn UK has assured that "small number of retailers who are experiencing any residual issues" are being serviced.

Retailer Reuben Singh Mander, owner of The Three Singh’s in Selby, on Sunday (Aug 16) took to social media to slam Allwyn UK, stating that National Lottery’s presence in his store is turning out to be an embarrassment due to the alleged faulty rollout of the new terminals along with lack of support to the retailers.


Mander wrote on LinkedIn, “On Aug 3, the National Lottery carried out planned maintenance across all its sites.

"By Aug 4, I received an email from them stating that they already knew in advance that my store’s terminal would not be able to handle the update.

"They knew this specific problem was coming, they knew it would stop us from operating, and yet they did nothing to prevent it. No pre-arranged engineer visit. No replacement machine ready to go. No contingency plan whatsoever.

"The only 'solution' offered? Join the line and wait your turn, even though this wasn’t a random breakdown, it was a fully anticipated problem.

"I know I’m not the only retailer in this position, but it is simply unacceptable for a national brand to knowingly take a retailer out of operation and have no plan to immediately restore service."

A new Wave X terminal was installed at Mander's store on Aug 7, but it failed to work.

The retailer added that while he has been in frequent contact with the company chasing updates, he feels support on the ground has been lacking.

He wrote, “Since then, I’ve spent countless hours chasing updates, hearing promises of escalation, only to be told today that it will be a minimum of three more weeks before another engineer can return.

"Field representative? Nowhere to be seen.

"We’re now left with a valuable till space taken by an unusable terminal, a huge scratch card stand gathering dust, damaged customer confidence and the daily joke of explaining to customers that it’s not us, we don’t have a timeline, and no, we’re not turning them away on purpose."

Mander added, "For a brand that demands prime retail real estate and trades on its national reputation, this lack of urgency and absence of contingency for independent retailers is deeply disappointing.

"The National Lottery’s presence should be a win–win. Right now, it’s an embarrassment..”

Mander's comments on Allwyn UK's new roll out is echoed across the sector with other convenience retailers sharing the similar feedback.

Vikas Sud, Co-Founder at Racetrack Pitstop, commented, "We are exactly in the same position. Three of our shops have unusable terminals. Absolutely terrible for business and customers using our local services. No answers or realistic timescales set for them to start working."

Peter Robinson, Director at Robinson Retail Ltd, said, "The upgrade has been very poorly delivered. Two of my four shops had upgrade issues with one of them subsequently being upgraded to a new wave terminal. However my other store was offline for nine days.

"The ability to instantly settle (pay for) scratch cards hasn’t been carried over in the new software update, and we have wasted many hours waiting on hold trying to simply pay for packs of scratch cards when we activate them.

"Time will tell if any benefits emerge from the software upgrade, but so far our experience suggests it’s been poorly planned and delivered which doesn’t bode well for the good causes the lottery is there to support."

Meanwhile, Allwyn UK has assured that Mander's as well as all the retailers' issues will be resolved at the earliest opportunity.

Responding to the Asian Trader query, an Allwyn spokesperson said, "This was the biggest tech upgrade since The National Lottery first launched in 1994 and, arguably, the biggest lottery transformation anywhere in the world.

"Thanks to the support from our 43,500 retail partners, we were able to get all the systems back up and running several hours ahead of schedule. The vast majority of retailers were back selling tickets in good time, greatly helped by them following the guidance provided.

"We always said that we expected that a small proportion of legacy Altura terminals may experience delays coming back up for various reasons – including some that didn’t download the new software successfully. We've been busy visiting and troubleshooting with the very small number of retailers who have experienced any residual issues.

"In Mr Singh Mander's case, in addition to his legacy terminal issue, he has also experienced a further network/connectivity problem that we're trying to resolve urgently for him. We're really sorry for this and he'll be getting another engineer visit today.

"As always, we're extremely grateful to our retail partners for their support during this once-in-a-generation upgrade.”

Allwyn, which became National Lottery operator in February 2024, recently announced a £350 million transformation programme, including the rollout of 30,000 new Wave lottery terminals across the UK.

The rollout immediately follows the successful completion of its largest-ever technical upgrade since the inception of The National Lottery in 1994.

The company says the new machines offer faster transactions, improved functionality and a better player experience, and reports “positive feedback” from retailers who have already received them.

As reported earlier, the new terminals contain state-of-the-art technology that benefits both retailers and National Lottery players.

The machines feature a "high-speed processor that ensures faster transactions, a bigger and tilt-adjustable LCD screen, wireless 1D barcode and 2D code scanners, and a play slip reader that can be fed both horizontally and vertically"

They also provide retailers with more functionality, including enhanced reporting features and the ability to change numbers on National Lottery Fast Pay cards.