Betfred self exclusion confusion

[amymc.]

Hi All,

Merry Christmas!

Any advice here will be appreciated. And bare with me if it’s difficult to read….

I’m currently learning the hard way that UK online casinos have lots of hoops to jump through and they will trip you up at any point possible.

Betfred are refusing to payout winnings to the sum of £6400.00.

They claim this is because of a duplicate account in my name, I did have a Betfred account which I asked for it to be closed via email. ***(Looking back on this, when I received no email reply to confirm the account was closed and it was probably the wrong way to close the account)

I was able to open a new account - as I thought my old one was closed at my request.

No verification was asked for and I was able to deposit. The only difference on the account is that I used a different email address.

I won £6,400 and withdrew this. I then excluded the account from Betfred as I didn’t want to ‘risk temptation/take a break from gambling!

10 minutes after the withdrawal and exclusion I received a email asking for full document verification…..

Taken aback by this I refused, as reading online the UKGC states winnings should NOT be withheld and asking for documents to pay winnings out shouldn’t happen.

Betfred also state in their terms, if I don’t provide documents they will still pay out if legal to do so.


I spoke to Betfred customer service and they responded stating that because I refused to provide documents my winnings won’t be paid and that only my deposits will be refunded…..

If Betfred insisted that they wouldn’t pay the winnings if I didn’t send the documents to verify.

I’ve now sent in all of the documents and waiting for a “complaints manager of the responsible gambling team”



Any advice what I can do here?

I do NOW understand that having multiple accounts is a break of Ts and Cs…… and winnings can be withheld.

• I have proof I asked for my old account to be closed.
• It seems strange nothing was flagged instantly (you already have a account in this name)
• There was no bonuses used/nothing activated etc….
• I’ve sent all verification documents as requested.


Thanks

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Hi Relentz: your post is very interesting to read it is very similar to mine and what's happened to me apparently I had a self exclusion on Betfred which I do NOT recall doing so but anyways I set up a betfrrd account about a month ago no problems with the sign up got fully verified email confirmation the lot I've been able to deposit and withdraw via PayPal on Saturday night 3rd June, I was playing even bigger catch I won scatters and then fisher man came on multiple times at end of the game I won £1600 I withdrew it straight away Sunday 4th I logged in to my account I put £30 on no problems no messages no nothing then the evening I tried to log back on just to check and go on chat to see when my withdrawal would be and I had problems logging in so had to contact customer service and they are refusing to pay my winnings out as I broke t's&C's with having a self exclusion which like I said I can not recall! If I was self excluded surely I wouldn't even of got as far as sign up not be able to deposit and withdraw they have been paying me out Friday night 11pm they sent me £920 I am absolutely devastated as I won that money fair and square is there anyway I can fight this and get it back?

 

[Mark_Lottomart]

Hi Relentz: your post is very interesting to read it is very similar to mine and what's happened to me apparently I had a self exclusion on Betfred which I do NOT recall doing so but anyways I set up a betfrrd account about a month ago no problems with the sign up got fully verified email confirmation the lot I've been able to deposit and withdraw via PayPal on Saturday night 3rd June, I was playing even bigger catch I won scatters and then fisher man came on multiple times at end of the game I won £1600 I withdrew it straight away Sunday 4th I logged in to my account I put £30 on no problems no messages no nothing then the evening I tried to log back on just to check and go on chat to see when my withdrawal would be and I had problems logging in so had to contact customer service and they are refusing to pay my winnings out as I broke t's&C's with having a self exclusion which like I said I can not recall! If I was self excluded surely I wouldn't even of got as far as sign up not be able to deposit and withdraw they have been paying me out Friday night 11pm they sent me £920 I am absolutely devastated as I won that money fair and square is there anyway I can fight this and get it back?

Sorry to hear this. When you signed up for the second account, did you use the same name, surname, DOB and address?

 

[amymc.]

Hi yes same name same d.o.b new home address though as I moved house last September and by putting incorrect information that's false info thing is I can not remember ever signing up to betfred in the past at all that's the truth I won £1600, withdraw Saturday night and by Sunday on chat they was saying I can't have my winning as I'm excluded but before getting excluded they paid me out £920 what I won how do I complain about betfred or is there anywhere I can take it higher I've read on the gambling commission and game stop if someone is excluded and they win by rights they have to pay out anyone's winnings how did you get your winnings back? Just a bit odd they verify me let me deposit multiple times and withdraw and as soon as I win big like you they refuse to pay out

 

[Casinomeister]

Admin note: just moving this complaint to its own thread since it really deserves its own.

 

[jasonuk]

I think these need to be split into two threads because they're not necessarily the same thing.

Given a lot of this area was discussed in a similar thread recently (although that player admitted to fraudulent behaviour, which is not necessarily the case here), it's worth linking it as background reading: Gambling under a fake name - Casinomeister Forum

In the first instance, you should establish whether the self exclusion is correct - Betfred should be able to provide information such as when it was applied, and for how long. As exclusions can go back five or more years, even if you have genuinely forgotten that wouldn't be a justification I'm afraid.

As discussed in the other thread, the rules have changed considerably because of fraudsters abusing the system, and so the part you've highlighted in the first screenshot may not apply because many operators now (because of the fraud element) consider it a breach of T&Cs first (which would void winnings and possibly deposits). They would then "return" the zero balance remaining.

In the case of Betfred, they are crystal clear:

1. Do we automatically return deposits and winnings if we discover that you have managed to find a way around your agreement to self-exclude? We will consider your history and circumstances but are not obliged to reimburse your deposits or your winnings as this may encourage you to continue gambling. Our general position is that we do not return deposits or winnings in these circumstances.

I doubt the "reasonable steps" clause would apply because you've provided a different address - if you were on a self-exclusion scheme then they would highlight that it's important that you keep your information up to date. It would be problematic for an operator to match based on partial information as it doesn't uniquely identify you. That argument may change if they've asked you to do photographic (passport, driving license etc) Know Your Customer checks after signing up.

See what information they provide regarding the self exclusion, then you can consider your next steps:

• If they have correctly identified a previous account of yours (which you can verify with your own banking transactions), then unfortunately you don't have much of a leg to stand on. With the changes in the rules, the onus is on the player more than the operator now-a-days.
• If they have incorrectly identified you, and/or you didn't request the self exclusion ("I don't remember" is not a strong enough defence here) then you can ask them to investigate further - if they have wrongly identified you then they should reinstate your account and balance in full.