Duplicate debacles: Goulds Chase the Ace not the only draw plagued by ticket trouble

It's not the first time Chase the Ace organizers have had to deal with multiple tickets printed with the same number

Events in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nova Scotia have also dealt with duplicate tickets

Peter Cowan CBC News Posted: Jul 21, 2017 5:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 21, 2017

During an SPCA fundraiser at a Happy Valley-Goose Bay Chase the Ace event last year, one ticket was drawn but both Krista Michelin Tuttle and Willina Mugford had tickets. (Facebook)

When Stephen Tobin heard about Wednesday's ticket mix-up at a Chase the Ace in the Gouldsneighbourhood of St. John's, he knew exactly what organizers must be thinking.

That's because Tobinran into a similar issue ayear and a half ago, while running a Chase the Ace in Sydney, N.S.

Like in the Goulds, tickets containing the same numbers were sold but the mistake wasn't caught until a ticket was drawn and two people came up to claim the prize.

Tobin said he's not surprised to hear it's happened again.

"It was unfortunate," Tobin recalled in an interview with CBC News Thursday.

"It's not something that is overly surprising because I do think it comes with the territory of a group of dedicated volunteers getting together to try and raise much needed funds for some well-deserving charities."

Stephen Tobin, second from left, says finding duplicate tickets is a chance for volunteers to examine the procedures around what has become a large-scale endeavor (Facebook)

In Sydney, volunteersusedstock pre-printed ticketsand, mistakenly, two rolls with the same numbers were sold.

But neither of the people in N.S. succeeded in picking the ace. Both, however, wereawarded the conciliation prize, with the charities involved coughing up the extra money to cover the extra prize.

In theGoulds,organizers used custom printed tickets, but some were printed with duplicate numbers.

On Wednesday night, the draw was called down when word began to spread about repeat numbers. The draw is postponed while Service NL investigates.

Goose Bay fundraiser dealt with duplicates

Another Chase the Ace in this province has also dealt with duplicate tickets.

Almost a year ago, the SPCA in Happy Valley-Goose Bay found itself with two winners when it drew the winning number.

The SPCAwas also using custom printed tickets.

The duplicate tickets were found and reported to organizers of the Chase the Ace fundraiser in Gould Wednesday, before the draw. Organizers are waiting for word from Service NL about how to proceed. (Twitter)

"We are destroying the remainder of the tickets we have left from tonight so this doesn't happen again. Again, just to reiterate, this was a printing issue," the SPCA posted on Facebook at the time.

Tobin said the ticket flub at the Sydney fundraiserwas a chance for volunteers to reexamine the event, and make it more professional.

He said no group starts out thinking they'll deal with a million-dollar jackpot.

"My only advice would be to partner with as many professionals as possible, retain the advice of some professionals in the accounting and auditing world," he said.

Moving forward, Tobin recommends implementing unique identifiers on the tickets "so there's no chance of this happening in the future."

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