A LOTTERY scratchcard has been withdrawn from sale by Camelot - because players couldn't understand it.
The Cool Cash game - launched on Monday - was taken out of shops yesterday after some players failed to grasp whether or not they had won.
To qualify for a prize, users had to scratch away a window to reveal a temperature lower than the figure displayed on each card. As the game had a winter theme, the temperature was usually below freezing.
But the concept of comparing negative numbers proved too difficult for some Camelot received dozens of complaints on the first day from players who could not understand how, for example, -5 is higher than -6.
Tina Farrell, from Levenshulme, called Camelot after failing to win with several cards.
The 23-year-old, who said she had left school without a maths GCSE, said: "On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't.
"I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it.
"I think Camelot are giving people the wrong impression - the card doesn't say to look for a colder or warmer temperature, it says to look for a higher or lower number. Six is a lower number than 8. Imagine how many people have been misled."
A Camelot spokeswoman said the game was withdrawn after reports that some players had not understood the concept.
She said: "The instructions for playing the Cool Cash scratchcard are clear - and are printed on each individual card and in the game procedures available at each retailer. However, because of the potential for player confusion we have decided to withdraw the game."
More than 15m adults in Britain have poor numeracy - the equivalent of a G or below at GCSE maths
Almost three times as many UK adults (15.1m) have poor numeracy - the equivalent of a G or below at GCSE maths - than with poor literacy skills, according to the government's Skills for Life survey.
Peter Hall, of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, said: "The concept of minus numbers is something we would cover with 11 or 12 year olds, and we would expect them to have come across it before.
"The concept of smaller numbers is something that some people do seem to struggle with. Seven is clearly smaller than eight, so they focus on that and don't really see the minus sign. There is also a subtle difference in language between smaller - or lower - and colder. The number zero feels lower.
"There have always been some people who find numbers and basic mathematics difficult. Maybe in the past it was less noticeable because people could find jobs they could excel in without having qualifications in maths."
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Yes, it can be confusing. I don't know if anyone else is aware that Camelot do not use the binary numeric system!
Got a cheque from Camelot the other week for £1000000 - thought it was only £64 and so binned it!
Why can't they be upfront about the system they use? Who knows how the hexadecimalists cope!
I despair.........had to check thr calendar for this one!
never underestimate the stupidness of the proletariat lol
Maybe it's time for me to emigrate to a society deserving of my intellect..... before I get dragged down to such a basic level!
People can't understand the concept of minus numbers? No wonder why some people freeze to death in winter!!
What sort of education have these people missed out on?!
Shocking!!
OMG It's basic maths!
Just another case of encouraging the lazy, stupid and moronic in our population to stay in their rightful places. Can't understand the basics? Don't worry, we'll ban the basics and give you benefits when you can't find a job because employers need you to be able to add up.
No wonder these people get into debts. They think that minus £80 is better than minus £70!
I remember when we used to laugh at the rest of the world. Now they're laughing at us. Such a shame.
goverment stastics show that 4/5ths of adults struggle with fractions while the other 2/3rds know enough to get by on!!
80% of the people will find this card hard to understand while the other 33% should be ok!!
im glad i ad a gud edukasion
duh! Thickos.
They used to say: "There's one born every minute" seems it is more frequent now!
This is the same class of the population which ITV and BBC executives target with their phone vote trash programmes and confirms the old adage "Fools and their giro's are soon parted" ! It must be so confusing for them rubbing off the silver boxes on these game cards whilst simultaneously texting their money away to television companies voting for the latest singing hamburger fryer and overweight ex soap actress stumbling over the dance floor !
I've just explained the instructions for this lottery card to my kids, aged 11 and 12. Then I asked them if they would have won with the numbers given by the woman in this story...........both said no. If they can understand that -6 is higher than -8 then why can't she. Nothing to do with not having passed GCSE's they haven't reached that stage yet!
Just because you are thick, it doesn't make you correct when you don't understand something. Camelot should keep selling these cards as a kind of stupidity tax. The thickos who can't cope with the concept of negative numbers should accept that they are in the wrong and do something about it like go to night school and learn to count.
"I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it."
HAHA!
Oh my, how that made me laugh.
They were trying to fob her off with proven mathematical rules that are taught to 11 and 12 year olds.
Well as she didn't leave with a Maths GCSE to begin we can't blame the education system for trying.
Camelot "fobbed her off"?!?!?! Camelot "misled" them?!??!?
I think she should be spending her money on some kiddies' maths books rather than wasting them on scratchcards....
Surely this woman must have had the concept of minus figures explained to her before she decided to put her thick face up for public ridicule.
I get the feeling that no matter how many times you explain it to her, she will come up with the question "Yeah, but -6 is still one less that -7 innit?"
I think we all should ask for a tax rebate because it was obviously wasted trying to educate her.
I think Ms Farrell should be made to go back to junior school where the rest of the population learnt how to measure the temperature.
Oh, I love it when the ignoance of the British public gets exposed like this.
They tend to reply with a phrase on the lines of 'Do they think we are stupid ?'.
I'm most suprised at the people mentioned weren't 'someone who didn't wish to be named'.
gladys rowbotham, Manchester, did you know that there are 10 types of people in the world - those that understand binary and those that don't ;)
Tina is "partly" right in that the magnitude of -8 is greater than the magnitude of -6. Maybe this is what is confusing?
Thanks Mike - nice one!
What a bunch of thickies. These people don't deserve to win anything.
""I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it...."
Tina Farrell -
You have completely shown yourself up.
Is this Aprils fools day?...
Is Tina Farrell a 'made up' woman?...
Can the basic laws of mathematics be re-written to ensure that she is indeed "not having it"?
Unbelievable!.....