Betfair won't pay my winnings. Avoid them like the plague!

gfkostas

Ex-Bonus Whore
Joined
Sep 3, 2003
Location
London
I should have know better given their rogue status here but these folks are really an insidious bunch.

I recently gambled at Betfair by playing blackjack. I was down a few hundred pounds and after some sweat I managed to break even and with a small profit of £50.
I requested a withdraw only to find out that just my deposits were returned with the rest confiscated and my account blocked. Initially they told me that all my withdraws are under process. 2 weeks later when I never received
my winnings I was told that I had canceled the withdraw of my winnings on my own accord (I have this in writing). After calling them yesterday, they told me that THEY had actually cancelled it :what:

They wanted to verify me and as I was expecting the usual ID check I promptly sent to them my ID and utility bill. Nop, they wouldn't have it. Now they wanted photographs of my credit cards of which I also sent but nop, wouldn't have it again as they wanted me to send a picture of my self holding the cards next to my face. WTF ???? Do you also need me to sing kumbaya and sit on one leg? I AM NOT HAVING THIS. I am not going to become a clown for them.

I have opened accounts with numerous betting sites(unibet, william hill,casumo etc.) and I have seen on my credit profile at Experian that they have conducted an electronic ID check on me. That sufficed to them and I was never bothered during withdraws even with very sizeable ones in the 5 digits. If one bothers to do an electronic check on me they will see my address, name, DOB, that I am on the electoral roll in the UK and basically this is IRREFUTABLE evidence that I exist and all details supplied by me are accurate and valid. I have opened bank accounts in the same way and didn't have to provide any ID whatsoever due to the electronic checks that they do these days.

I won't be opening a PAB or waste anyone's time on this as I don't care about £50 but it just goes to show you that they are happy to allow you to lose your money but when is time to withdraw your winnings things become "difficult".

Had I deposited and lost my shirt would Betfair have refunded my loses on the basis that they couldn't verify my account and therefore my gambling might have been illegal/might have been my son playing with my credit card?


Given my graphic design background I could send to them ANY picture they want. Photoshop is your savior. They want something that can be faked while rejecting evidence that can't be faked. They don't have reasonable doubts.


I am happy to have my account closed but they are crooks in the way they dealt with me. Whether they are "legal" in their actions or not it doesn't matter. I won't trust them ever again.
The security team at Betfair can keep the £50 (hopefully in coins) and shove them up their ******.


With respect.

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Thanks for posting your experience and it does seem excessive to require you to take this picture after all the other checks. However if it was me I would just do it and not let them win. It would be satisfying to spend their £50 knowing that you will never play there again.

I recently opened a bank account with one of the new app-based banks. As well as doing an ID check on my credit file and providing a photo of my passport I also had to provide a video selfie of me talking. I think this kind of requirement will become more common in the future although it might feel a bit humiliating jumping through hoops to satisfy them.
 
Needless to say they have now stopped answering my emails.

I wonder why Betfair isn't rogued everywhere.
 
I had good experience with Betfair a long time ago, mostly with sports betting but that was back in 2009. I have just recently reopened my account there and tripled my deposit on playing on sports and live casino. I had no idea they were in the Rogue pit, although I am aware of their fiasco in 2012.

I will be attempting to make a withdrawal from my account by the end of this week and will let you know what they say. They have not asked for any details since I reopened my account and made a deposit. I have also registered another card, but now I'm not sure I want to make a deposit using that one.

Thanks for the heads up and will post here how my withdrawal attempt goes and what they say. GL
 
Heya. I used to work for them in CS so I might be able to help you out :)

They do sometimes request the picture of card near your face as a way of authenticating accounts especially when they're suspicious of an IP login or cause of multiple accounts in the area.

I'd just go ahead with it, and piss off CS to have it verified asap as Risk take ages.
 
I don't understand why people are so against this type of request - if someone has stolen your wallet and tried to deposit as you with your credit card details, they could easily send in pictures of your driving licence and cards. However, they could NOT easily send in a picture of you holding those items. To me this seems like a sensible (albeit new, and maybe a bit odd to people) way of proving you are who you say you are. Checking your bank account, or doing a credit search, does NOT prove you are the person holding your cards.

Sorry, but on this one i'm with the casinos... it might be odd, and it might seem strange, but actually it's the best way of proving the person on the photo ID is the person with the ID...

TM
 
Yeh ive read that, doesn't change my opinion.

The idea you class betfair a rogue alongside some sites that never pay is misleading and ridiculous.

They're the safest site to gamble with in terms of your money being safe.

So safe that if they fancy they will help themselves to it back :eek:
 
Confiscating people's money, or not letting them play because it's not "in the spirit of the promotion" is just ridiculous. They need to clarify what they feel playing in the spirit of the promotion means? The attraction to gambling is that you can win money (not will) but when this happens, to not payout because they did not expect that to happen is wrong. What do they expect to happen? Player sees an offer he is attracted to, player deposits, and player loses all of the money. Is that the spirit?

They really shot themselves in the foot with that one, and even if it was years ago, they never addressed the problem, or explained what they did wrong.

As I said, I have had a good experience with them back in 2009, before this happened. If I ever win money there again, I'm afraid I might be breaking their Terms and Conditions of playing, it might state that winning money from playing there is "not in the spirit of the company".

I understand other players might never had a problem with them, but a lot did, so much so that it was in the newspapers. I agree that they need to address the problem and the issue they had before they can be taken out of the rogue pit and players can trust them again to stick to their word.
 

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