Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Atlantic Lottery Corporation's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Atlantic Lottery Corporation

  PO Box 5500, 922 Main Street Moncton, NB E1C 8W6

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  Atlantic Lottery Corporation

  Suite 33, 201 Brownlow Avenue Dartmouth, NS B3B 1W2

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/06/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The complaint is about the accuracy and clarity of ALC's promotional limited time offer for creating an account with them via their online app. They offer $20 to new account creators, the caveat being that you agree to receive promotional emails and info from ALC. After creating my account and waiting two weeks with no sign of the money, I called the ALC and I was told that that promo offer does not apply to residents of Prince Edward Island.
  
  I then decided to go back through the registration process for creating a new ALC account to see how I missed that. This was the first thing to appear as I went through the process:
  
  usp=sharing
  
  Note that there is no disclaimer/asterisked statement to say it does not apply to PEI. It then led me to this:
  
   When I went through the process the first time, I chose "Ok sign me up..." but will admit I did not read the Terms and Conditions. The second time around, I did click on that "Terms and Conditions" link and it took me here:
  
  usp=sharing
   
  Still no mention of the exclusion of PEI residents. I then proceeded to click on the link to access the "Full" Terms and Conditions. Once I did that, I found the statement that PEI residents were not able to participate in this promotion.
  
  Resolution: While having some of the tickets I bought, in anticipation of receiving the promo money, reimbursed, I would like the ALC to be more transparent. If all other Atlantic provinces are able to participate in this promo, then it does not seem like a significant constraint to add much closer to the beginning of the account creation process that this offer does not apply to residents of PEI. They took something simple and made it a lot of work.

  Business Response

  Date: 15/06/2023

  Hello and thank you for contacting us
  regarding this player’s experience.
  As part of our general business operations,
  Atlantic Lottery routinely engages in advertising and marketing activities
  intended for both existing and new customers alike. An example of this is the
  Welcome Bonus promotion cited in your letter.
  Atlantic Lottery is focused on providing a
  positive customer experience and operating in a manner that is consistent with
  our commitment to transparency and integrity. We believe this Welcome Bonus and
  its related promotion have been conducted accordingly, with multiple steps
  taken to ensure limitations and restrictions are properly communicated to
  potential participants.
  The limited-time promotion (May 16-June 30,
  2023) offers players $20 in free play if they create a new alc.ca account. It
  was advertised to players primarily through two avenues: a banner graphic on
  our website and digital ads on social media (both attached for your reference).
  These graphics state the “*Offer excludes PEI residents.” While this exclusion
  message does not appear on all images due to limited space in some places, such
  as a pop-up box on the mobile app or mobile website, it is repeated in
  subsequent steps to ensure maximum visibility. Thus, in reviewing all of our materials, it would likely not be possible for the player to not come across the exclusionary language up until the Terms and
  Conditions.
  For example, once a player clicks on any of
  the above images, they are taken to the “How
  it works” pageon alc.ca for more information about the promotion. Here,
  the same banner graphic as above appears prominently across the top of the page
  and states “*Offer excludes PEI residents.” The third bullet point also indicates
  “You must be 19+; a resident of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Newfoundland and
  Labrador” and this stipulation is visible in one of the images provided by the player.
  Finally, this page includes a link to the promotion’s Terms & Conditions the first line of which
  states “Promotion available to residents of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and
  Newfoundland and Labrador.” This information is shared in multiple locations
  before the registration process in order to increase the likelihood it is seen
  by players and to avoid disappointment for ineligible participants.
  As a publicly owned corporation, Atlantic Lottery is subject to the differing
  conditions within each of its four provincial jurisdictions. Each province
  makes informed decisions, based on factors that can include legislation,
  regulations and gaming strategy, to determine what products and promotions will
  be made available to players within their jurisdiction. As a result, some games
  and promotions may not always be available within each province.
  In such cases, we endeavour to inform players and create a positive
  customer experience. Moreover, we ensure province-specific games and promotions
  are only advertised in markets where they are available meaning, in this
  instance, no digital or social media advertising about the Welcome Bonus was directed to residents
  of Prince Edward Island.
  I hope this helps to provide more
  information about this player’s experience, as well as the steps we have taken
  to ensure eligibility for this promotion is properly communicated. We will take
  this feedback and determine whether any additional measures may be taken. We
  are happy to answer any further questions that may be raised by this
  explanation, as needed. Thank you.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 15/06/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  
  ALC's response focuses around how the fine print about PEI residents being excluded can be found on their website and through social media ads. I downloaded the app on my smart phone and created the account that way. The pop-up that appeared before I even had a chance to start inputting my personal information was Image A in my first email, dated June 4th. It does not give any impression that the contest may not be applicable to certain individuals.

  ALC states that not all information may appear in a pop-up due to limited space. My question is if they knew that to be the case, and I would assume that they did, then why wasn't an alternative found? Am I the only Prince Edward Islander who signed up for an ALC account during this particular promotion using my smartphone and assuming based on what was advertised that I was going to get $20 for signing up? That promotion is what tippled the balance for me in deciding to sign up. Look at Image A from my email of June 4th. There's plenty of room there to put the fine print. Look at Image B from the same email. The fine print could have been put at the end of the first checkbox statement - 'Ok sign me up! I want my $20 Welcome Bonus!'

  Instead, it was buried in something termed the "Full" Terms and Conditions, which could be found by clicking on 'Terms and Conditions' which could be found as a link next to the box you had to check to accept the terms and conditions. Except it wasn't the "full" terms and conditions.. It was just the partial terms and conditions. Why are there two sets of terms and conditions in the first place? And then why is it that PEI residents excluded from this promotion is buried in that second "full" set of terms and conditions when the ALC knows any Islander signing up using a smartphone will not see that fine print?

  The ALC could have handled this complaint in a very different way. They could have bit their collective lip, put $20 in my account for "the misunderstanding" and created a lot of good will. Instead, they took the position of defending their decisions and not accepting any responsibility for what from my perspective seems like a clear red flag for the clarity and accuracy of this promotion.

  Business Response

  Date: 26/06/2023

  Thank you for your response and we regret that
  our initial reply did not meet this player’s expectations. We always seek to
  provide an excellent experience and, in recognition of their negative
  experience with this promotion and for their time spent expressing their
  disappointment, we have provided this player with a $30 credit to their account.
  We hope this customer service gesture will demonstrate our commitment to our
  players and their satisfaction with our products.

  While the exclusions of this promotion were
  prominently presented in multiple locations before and during the sign-up
  process, this player’s specific journey through the mobile app indicates that further
  measures may be possible. As stated in our initial response, we have taken this
  feedback and are reviewing to ensure accurate and clear information is readily available,
  for this and future promotions. We are working to determine what additional
  measures may be taken to ensure any exclusions are clearly communicated in the future,
  on all platforms.

  Thank you for taking them time to share
  this experience with us. We hope this helps to reassure you that these concerns
  are being given proper consideration and that Atlantic Lottery is taking steps
  to resolve this in a positive manner.

  All the best,

  **** ******
  
  

  Communications strategist, Atlantic Lottery

  Customer Answer

  Date: 26/06/2023

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 20143435, and find that this resolution is ABOVE satisfactory to me.