We have long maintained that we love lotteries that aim to raise funds for charities or great causes that are not getting enough public attention. This love spreads straight to SurfLottery.com.au—a site dedicated to helping raise funds for lifesavers all around Australia’s coastline. In this SurfLottery.com.au review, we will look at what this site that is owned and operated by the Surf Life Saving Foundation does and how it works.
How Does It Work?
We have to start by saying that this site does not function like most other online lottery websites. For one, you will not be able to purchase any tickets for popular Australian draws such as Oz Powerball or Monday Lotto—or any big international lotteries for that matter. This is all for a good reason, however.
The site allows you to register as a Champions Club member. This membership automatically enters you into the various draws held by the Surf Life Saving Foundation each year. Alternatively, you can also purchase individual tickets for the available lottery draws.
To get started, simply visit the site and click the Buy Tickets button available on any page. After doing this, you will immediately need to decide if you would like to become a member of the Champions Club or if you simply want individual tickets to a draw. You can only select predefined quantities of individual tickets or a predefined membership tier for the Champions Club (eight tiers range from AU$2 per month to AU$200 per month).
Once you have made your selection, you can continue to pay for your tickets. To complete this, the site will require that you register a player account. This can be done in a matter of minutes and entails providing your name, address, contact information, and date of birth. Once you have completed registration, you will confirm your payment and then can relax and wait to hear if you are a winner.
Is SurfLottery.com.au Legit or a Scam?
The site is clearly legitimate considering they are operated by an official Australian charity organisation—meaning that they are forced to work under heavy scrutiny and rules. However, something that is surprising is that the site does not hold a very good reputation online. There are numerous complaints against the site for debiting more than they were supposed to, not releasing results of a draw, and a smattering of other things.
The worrying thing is that some of these complaints against the site are as recent as three months from the time that we are writing this review. However, we still feel that you should be able to trust this site and that you won’t have to worry about being ripped off. Of the many players that the site has, these negative reviews make up a very small percentage.
User Experience
The user experience offered by Surf Lottery is fantastic. The entire design of the site is modern, and getting around is also effortless thanks to the top navigation menu that gives you easy access to the different parts of the site.
As you can expect from a charity lottery, there are no mobile applications available. However, this is immaterial considering the site works well through mobile device browsers and can still be accessed by players on the move.
Lotteries Available
As mentioned, you will probably not be familiar with any of the lotteries offered by the site. This is because they are all hosted by the site itself. The main lotteries offered include home lotteries that award winners a new home and some extras. At the time of this review, other draws currently available include Lottery 201 (whose jackpot is a pretty AU$1 million in gold) and Lottery 415 (which boasts a Mustang Bullitt valued at AU$94,664).
The available draws change each draw period (there are six periods per year) and offer new and exciting prizes each time a new period begins.
SurfLottery.com.au Extras
Because of the nature of the site, there are no real extras. What we can tell you, however, is the extras that you receive when registering as a Champions Club member rather than just purchasing individual tickets. Every Champions Club member is entitled to the following benefits depending on their membership tier:
Entry into the AU$250,000 draw held every quarter
Entry into special AU$25,000 Second Chance draws held every draw period
Entry into four AU$25,000 seasonal draws per year
A chance to win AU$1,000 during your birthday month
Exclusive peeks at upcoming lotteries and the prizes available
Guaranteed tickets at discounted prices
Payment/Withdrawal Options
Payment can only be made by accepting to receive monthly debits on your Visa, MasterCard, or Diners Club debit or credit card. The site does not allow any other forms of payment, and you will need to ensure that your payment details are always up to date to avoid a missed subscription payment (if you register for a membership option).
Because of the prizes offered, there is no need for any withdrawal options.
How to Claim Your Winnings
One of the best things about the site is that you can relax even after you have been named a winner. The site will notify all winners of their win and handle all claims processes. This means that you will be able to get your winnings quickly and easily simply by following the instructions given to you by the site.
Customer Support
The site has a decent FAQ section that explains most of the reasoning behind what they do. Unfortunately, it does not really answer any of the intricacies that you may have questions about regarding how the draws work or how you can claim your prize from a different country. For this, there is an online contact form that you can submit.
Various contact numbers can be used to find out more about the site or fix any issues you may have with your account. There are different numbers for Australians (1800 642 999), New Zealanders (0800 442 501), and any other international player (+61 7 3177 5800). For Australia and New Zealand, customer support is open Mondays to Fridays from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm (AEST) and on Saturdays from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm. For all other countries, support is only available Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.
Welcome Bonuses/Promotions
There were no real promotions available on the site while we were reviewing it. There also do not seem to be any welcome bonuses for if you are a new player. This is not really surprising, as the site does operate to try and raise funds for a worthy cause—which is enough reason to sign up.
Rules and Regulations
According to the terms and conditions, the site and all its draws are open to all players regardless of location as long as you are not located in Western Australia—who is not eligible to register a player account. The only condition is that you must be 18 years of age or older to play.
However, there is something that we noticed in the terms and conditions that we recommend you take special note of. Specific draws, such as the quarterly AU$250,000 draws, are only open to Australian or New Zealand residents. This means that if you are playing internationally, you will be excluded from these draws—even if you are paying to have a Champions Club membership.
SurfLottery.com.au Review Conclusion
There is no denying that SurfLottery.com.au is an excellent charity lottery website with great draws that supports an even better cause. Based on the cause alone, we want to register on the site. However, certain things make us question certain practices of the site. The biggest of these is the exclusion of international players in a number of the Champion Club draws—even though the site will happily take the monthly membership fee without question.
All this aside, this is a fantastic website, and if you are looking for a great way to win some awesome prizes (while giving to a worthy charity that is making a difference in the lives of others), then this is the place to be.
I dont play lotto very often but most of the time when I do its charity draws like those offered here. Feels nice to help others even if i dont win anything.
I dont play lotto very often but most of the time when I do its charity draws like those offered here. Feels nice to help others even if i dont win anything.