On-site Confusion Caused by Donghaeng Lottery's Administrative Error
Ticket Issuance Suspended for Hours at Some Retailers
Customers Turned Away, Store Owners Miss Out on New Year's Sales Rush
On New Year's Day, a commotion occurred as lottery sales were temporarily halted in some areas due to an administrative error by the lottery operator. As a result, citizens who tried to buy lottery tickets had to turn away, and store owners missed out on the New Year's sales rush.
On New Year's Day, a commotion occurred as lottery sales were temporarily halted in some areas due to an administrative error by the lottery operator.
According to Yonhap News Agency, on January 1, lottery ticket issuance did not proceed normally at some lottery retailers, including those in Seoul. Although lottery tickets are sold year-round from 6 a.m. to midnight, the affected stores were unable to issue tickets for several hours after opening. The suspension was resolved only around 10 a.m.
This incident reportedly occurred due to a mistake made by Donghaeng Lottery while checking the status of surety insurance subscriptions for retailers. To ensure the safe management of lottery sales proceeds, retailers are required to subscribe to surety insurance every year. In the case of stores newly opened during the year, the insurance contract sometimes covers both the current and the following year. The staff in charge failed to properly recognize this, mistakenly identifying some retailers as uninsured, which led to the temporary suspension of lottery issuance.
As a result, Donghaeng Lottery's customer service reportedly received about 50 complaints and inquiries. A store owner in Seoul said, "Since it was New Year's Day, I opened the store early, but I had to turn away customers who came to buy lottery tickets," adding, "There was no prior notice, and I did not receive any explanation or apology afterward."
Previously, Donghaeng Lottery had announced a temporary suspension schedule for the online lottery system ahead of the year-end, but had informed that offline store sales would proceed as usual. Nevertheless, the unexpected suspension of ticket issuance at retail locations caused further confusion, according to critics.
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