Betfair Confiscated 2000£

[visavoyage]

I deposited 50£ in Betfair, got the 50£ bonus, turned it into 2000£, withdrew 1000£, turned the remaining 1000£ into 2000£, tried to withdraw and had my winnings confiscated and my account blocked. How can a casino as big as that do that?

[incrediblestuff]

well the reasons can vary, first thing to do would be contacting the support wouldnt you agree?
i take it you have not done this, as you wouldnt be asking how then?
if you did, have they reacted, e.g given a reason?
if you didnt i would ask them asap, in fact right now.
and then if theres no solution come back here
cheers

if your blocked then here:
http://help.betfair.com/contactus.en.html

[maxd]

The OP has gone through all the normal channels, even went so far as to Pitch-A-Bitch.

Initially the Betfair rep said it was a case of player fraud but that they couldn't discuss the case in detail because player details are private. I asked if they'd discuss it if they received explicit permission from the OP allowing us to see those details. The rep said 'yes'.

The OP wrote his letter, the rep said the details would be forthcoming, but when it came time to actually do so they clammed up:

Due to money laundering potential, fraud and other criminal influences, these teams [Fraud and Risk] are not allowed to discuss the cases with other departments within the company, let alone send details to third parties.

In other words they won't discuss the details of this or any other case. They simply say that the player was at fault, that their actions are proper and that we should take their word for it.

Needless to say the "no details" policy is their decision to take if they want to go that way. On the other hand players need to know this because it means they have no recourse if there is a disagreement, such as in the OP's case here. To that end I have posted an alert in the Warnings forum regarding this: Betfair will not discuss player issues.

[incrediblestuff]

wow that smells like rogue nomination to me right?
visavoyage, im truly sorry for you then, but at least you made a nice profit of your 50 right?
could be waaaay worse, try to look on the bright side...
i know its hard

[maxd]

wow that smells like rogue nomination to me right?

Unlikely. The Rogue list is for casinos that "are guilty of gross customer negligence bordering on the criminal." We have no reason to believe that is applicable to Betfair so no, no Rogue listing.

[incrediblestuff]

understood, but a non recommended would be in order?
e.g if you ever get issues with this casino, noone can help you..
i would say that is more then fair, because unwillingness to discuss anything openly is to me shady at the least.

[maxd]

That's not my call to make but again, I think not.

A casino gets listed as Not Recommended "because of substandard customer service, poor support, bad bonus terms, and questionable business practices."

Again, there is no evidence that these conditions exist in this case or any other Betfair related issue, though I understand how the "will not discuss details" policy might appear to meet the NR criteria in some people's eyes.

Frankly there is no evidence of wrong-doing in Betfair's current activities. All we have is the "no details" policy which I think players need to be aware of, hence the posting in the Warnings section. For now that's as far as it goes.

[incrediblestuff]

very nice that you are carefull with the branding of certain hard to loose casinomeister titles ^^
and indeed for now a warning might be enough, although i think this could be the next interesting discussion, as i personally find their statement as to WHY not commenting, especially after first saying "if the o.p agrees", they would, is to me a questionable business practice

[maxd]

you are carefull with the branding of certain hard to loose casinomeister titles ....

Sometimes it's good to be careful.

[Roanan]

There's always the 'no can do list'

Looks like Betfair qualifies for that one.