We’re baffled why we can’t raffle our house
PayPal block scheme to sell £5 tickets to win £825k home
A FAMILY’S bid to give away their mansion as a £5-a-go raffle prize has hit the skids.
Shamus Fitzsimons put his £825,000 seven-bedroom home near Cumbernauld up for grabs to one lucky punter.
But now raffle ticket holders have learned that the draw is in tatters after being banned by online payment site PayPal.
Over the past 48 hours, thousands of punters have had a total of £71,000 returned to their PayPal accounts.
Shamus revealed the firm had pulled the plug and banned similar schemes.
Entrant Donna Galbraith, of Ardrishaig in Argyll, told of her disappointment at missing out on her chance to win Dullatur House, which was built in 1745.
She said: “They said they wanted to sell 250,000 tickets and the raffle was going to be drawn in December. I found it bizarre when my money was refunded – I’d still like to win.”
Shamus and wife Angie had been struggling to sell his home, which has a swimming pool, through normal channels.
Shamus, 46, said: “I’m utterly devastated. We’ve tried to argue with PayPal but they’re not having it.
“A lot of the entrants are blaming us but we’re desperate to keep the competition going.”
PayPal said: “These prize draws are difficult to carry out successfully and carry considerable risks.
“After much consideration, we have decided not to allow PayPal to be used to buy tickets for entry to house prize draws in the UK.”