If you were among those British Columbians worried this weekend after you couldn’t buy or check lottery tickets from BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC), you can relax.
Some took to social media to question the so-called outage after they hit roadblocks with the lottery company.
“Did BCLC get cyber-hacked? Can’t buy or verify Lotto Max or Daily Grand tickets,” they wrote in part on X.
Did @BCLC get cyber-hacked? Can’t buy or verify #LottoMax or #DailyGrand tickets. Retailer told me they are doing system upgrade. Riiiiiight, on a weekend where peak lotto sales are done. @cknw, @jillreports might be worth checking into! #bcpoli #canpoli #cdnpoli @TELUS
— Harry Charalambopoulos (@HCPoulos) May 25, 2024
However, while there was some confusion, service levels had returned to nearly normal as of Monday morning.
According to the lottery corporation, game tickets were impacted from May 23 to 25 in stores, online, and on the BCLC! Lotto App due to a system upgrade process.
“BCLC was excited to introduce new lottery terminals over the weekend, as they will offer players enhanced functionality, a faster purchasing experience, and enable new and exciting products,” BCLC told Daily Hive.
BCLC added that the planned outage was communicated to players through in-store signage, social media ads, pop-up messaging on PlayNow.com, and the BCLC Lotto! App.
“In the months leading up to BCLC’s lottery transformation, we have focused our efforts on our education and awareness campaign for our valued players and retail partners,” it said.
Ticket sales and validation have resumed on PlayNow.com and the BCLC! Lotto App. Meanwhile, “retail and hospitality lottery retail locations are planned to be brought up in batches the rest of today,” it added.
The new lottery terminals can now be found in retail and hospitality locations across BC.