Spreading the word

So I decided this wasn't going anywhere

Date: 01 May 2012
Subject: Re: Response from The National Lottery (Ref:NL399976)

Good morning,

Thank you for your reply - since it's obvious that the UK National Lottery
is unwilling to sort out their problem with their website not working
correctly then I am forced to take this issue to other organisations.

As an aside I tried some other IP location utilities and they all returned
the expected result - they have no issues with knowing where I am and
neither should the GeoIP software being used by your organisation.

Regards
To which I got a very extensive and polite reply:

Dear

Thank you for your email dated 01 May 2012.

I am sorry to hear that our previous reply to you did not resolve your enquiry.

I appreciate that your specific concern is the method we will be
adopting to identify player location. I must re-affirm that we do
understand that the new enhancements will adversely affect a small
number of players, including yourself, for which I apologise. However,
the fact remains that this will be the procedure moving forward.

The good news is that, based on the information you have given, you
are not prohibited from playing our games altogether. There are a
selection of alternative options that, if chosen, will enable you to
successfully purchase National Lottery tickets (below).

1, You can play by Direct Debit as long as you are a UK or Isle of Man
resident and are physically located in the UK or Isle of Man when
setting up or amending your Direct Debit Account, including buying
additional tickets, changing your numbers or payment details.As long
as you only make these changes while you are physically located in the
UK or Isle of Man, your tickets will be valid.

2, You can play via a mobile network and/or dongle as long as you are
a resident of, and physically located in the UK or Isle of Man. You
may receive a ‘warning’ message, however, if you are physically
located in the UK or Isle of Man, please click the ‘Accept’ button and
you will be able to continue to play.

3, You can buy tickets in advance – up to eight weeks for Lotto,Lotto
Plus 5, Lotto HotPicks and Thunderball and four weeks for EuroMillions
– or you can always buy a ticket from one of our 29,000+ National
Lottery retailers in the UK or Isle of Man.

4, You can also play the UK National Lottery with friends and family
as part of a syndicate whose Syndicate Manager is located and is
playing in the UK or Isle of Man – we provide advice on playing as
part of a syndicate on our website at www.national-lottery.co.uk.

If you’re accessing the mobile-optimised site via a mobile network
(i.e. not through a wifi connection) and you can’t get past this page
even though you are clicking ‘Accept’, please ensure your cookies are
switched to ON in order to be able to continue.

To turn cookies on using an iPhone (4/4S):
Select ‘Settings’
Click ‘Safari’
Under ‘Privacy’, select ‘Accept Cookies’
Select ‘Always or When visited’

To turn cookies on using an Android:
Open your web browser by selecting the browser application on your phone
Push the ‘Menu’ button
Select the ‘More’ option
Select ‘Settings’
Scroll down until you find the ‘Accept cookies’ option.
Click this to make sure a green tick appears on the RHS.

While I appreciate your concerns, I hope that this and our previous
reply have answered your queries. As previously stated, the next steps
for you to take, if you remain unhappy with our procedures, you are
welcome to outline your issues with the National Lottery Commission.

Yours sincerely

National Lottery Customer Care Team


Now please understand that I have nothing against these people (I have removed their names since they are immaterial) and I can understand that they have their procedure to follow, but I on the other hand am being penalised for something that is out of my control. I AM in the UK, what else am I supposed to do? 
Certainly I don't see why it's my problem to fix.


So I replied:

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately your previous reply has done nothing to address the
issue I am facing, which is that your GeoIP implementation is not fit
for purpose - it appears that it cannot do something that other
websites are able to do, ie correctly locate my location.
Your previous emails also introduce a further issues, which is that
you deem it necessary to inspect my previous web site history before
allowing a UK citizen access to your website - this moves your problem
from just a technical issue to also be a privacy concern.

Thank you for confirming something that I am already aware of - that I
am entitled to play UK National Lottery Games, now can you concentrate
on the issue of why your system doesn't work properly.

I already have an account which is automatically debiting my bank
account for the weekly draws, but I now have no way to add funds to
buy euromillions tickets.

If I were house-bound you would be making it very difficult for me to
participate.

I would go through the individual points, but I would like to point
out that we would not be having this discussion at all if the system
you use actually performed it's designed functions correctly.
I should be able to access your website to update my account, play
games etc. but I am unable to do so due to your systems putting
unreasonable constraints on my access.

I contacted the National Lottery Commision yesterday and I will update
them on our email discussion.

Regards




Now is the time to take this beyond a simple back-and-forth between myself and Camelot.


So I contacted my MP:

to:      <my MP>
date:    1 May 2012 21:34
subject:         National Lottery website.
mailed-by:       gmail.com

Good evening ,

This is to let you know of a problem I am having - I am not expecting
you to necessarily do anything beyond being aware of the problems that
crop up when systems are not implemented properly.

I am currently having a dispute with the UK National Lottery
(http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/) about their new GeoIP
functionality, which refuses me access to their website, not
necessarily because they think I am outside the UK (since I can prove
that I am) but of something more insidious.
They block my access because there is an anonymizer on my link
(apparently) which stops them from seeing my web page history (to my
mind that is none of their business) which I feel is going far beyond
their license remit.

I can provide more details should you wish, but I don't expect you
will be interested.


He did reply - which was nice. I'll scan that in when I get a chance - and when I boot into Ubuntu since Win7 doesn't recognize my scanner!


And the Register 


to:      news@theregister.co.uk
date:    30 April 2012 20:20
subject:         UK Lottery geo location doesn't work.
mailed-by:       gmail.com

Good evening,

I don't know if you would be interested but the UK National Lottery
website (http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/) now determines if you
live in the UK or not
<lots of repeated emails as above>
I await their response - have you come across this yet?


And the Lottery Commission - not the information commissioner - my bad...


Good evening,


I wish to raise a complaint against the UK National Lottery website blocking my access.

The UK National Lottery website (http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/) now determines if you
live in the UK or not
<lots of repeated emails as above>
 It turns out that the information commissioner is not the body I need
 but yourselves, oh well..

I can prove that I live in the UK, in the same town as Camelots HQ funnily enough,
I refuse to believe that they have a legitimate need to see my web page history,
I feel that I have right to complain due to their system not working and their attempts to fob me off onto my ISP to fix something that is not a problem for others.
I will now forward this to my MP and Virgin Media (though not to complain about their service) since I hope that some awareness of the National Lotteries behaviour is needed.
I cannot buy Euromillions tickets on the website due to their software not being correctly implemented - hardly the way to treat a customer.

Regards


They haven't got back to me yet, beyond a standard response email, which is fair enough.


From: NLC Consumer Protection <consumerprotection@natlotcomm.gov.uk>
Date: 4 May 2012 09:07
Subject: RE: UK National Lottery GeoIP is broken.

Dear

Thank you for your emails about Camelot's blocking software.

We will try to respond to your correspondence within 20 working days.


In the meantime, if you have any enquiries on this or any other matter
please do not hesitate to contact me on 0845 7125596 or 0121 2306702.

Kind regards

Consumer Protection Manager