State Refuses to Pay Couple Lottery Prize

[MERV]

Claims $500,000 Scratch-Off Ticket Has Misprint

OCALA, Fla. (May 18) - The Florida Lottery is refusing to pay a $500,000 prize until it can inspect the $20 scratch-off ticket , which officials said Thursday appears to be a misprint.

Joe Curcio, 56, says he got the ticket at a service plaza Sunday on Florida's Turnpike.

The Gold Rush ticket has the numeral 1 on the top row and a numeral 1 above the $500,000 scratch-off piece, making the ticket appear to be a winner. But when Curcio had it scanned, the ticket 's bar code indicated it wasn't.

Curcio, who owns a used car dealership, said lottery officials told him the top number actually was a "13" that was misprinted.

"They're saying it's a misprint. How do I know it's a misprint?" he asked. He has hired an attorney to press his claim.

Lottery spokeswoman Jacqueline Barreiros said Curcio still needed to turn over the ticket for a full inspection.

"We can't say whether we will pay the jackpot or not until we go through the process," she said.

[MedicCook]

If this goes into an arbitration they will have to pay it out. The consumer can not be penalized for their screw up. It is just like a product in the store getting the wrong price tag placed on it. The store can not say sorry that is not the right price and charge you more. They have to sell you at what they priced it as and go and fix the rest.

[Crystal]

I wish a mistake like that would happen to me. :blink:

[trojanmiro]

If this goes into an arbitration they will have to pay it out. The consumer can not be penalized for their screw up. It is just like a product in the store getting the wrong price tag placed on it. The store can not say sorry that is not the right price and charge you more. They have to sell you at what they priced it as and go and fix the rest.

thats actually not true. if the shelf price of the product is misporinted, then they have to give you that. but if an actual sticker on the item is wrong, a store doesnt have to sacrifice fair market value. cause sometimes consumers switch stickers. we used to give em a buck or two off if the sticker was wrong, but not the full amount if it was a big discrepency.

[MedicCook]

thats actually not true. if the shelf price of the product is misporinted, then they have to give you that. but if an actual sticker on the item is wrong, a store doesnt have to sacrifice fair market value. cause sometimes consumers switch stickers. we used to give em a buck or two off if the sticker was wrong, but not the full amount if it was a big discrepency.

That is only if there is a shelf sticker.

When I worked at Curtis Lumber we actually switched away from indvidually tagging items because of screw up with price changes.