Planet Sport Bet - Duplicated Account, No Payout

[herc83]

After a horrific day gambling day that spanned a few different operators some time ago, I signed up to Planet Sport Bet and somehow won £10k that covered my losses for that day. Not too long after, I was told I could not withdraw the winnings because I had a duplicated account. Only the deposits I got back, no profit.

I hadn't remembered but six months earlier I signed up to Planet Sport Bet. Deposited a large amount and before I could play, they asked me for my verification info (ID, proof it was my card that deposited). I supplied these and then a day later they asked me for an enhanced verification/source of wealth. By the time that email came in, I had lost some money with different casinos and then the last thing you want to do is go through your bank statements for money you used to had and no longer do. I wanted a break and not to think about gambling. I just asked for my money to be withdrawn instead and Planet Sport Bet then told me it had done this and then closed my account.

So having never placed a bet with that company, I forgot I was ever even a customer. I'm not even sure I was, though I guess legally I must have been?

So yes fast forward those six months and this £10k win they refused to pay out. I pointed out I wasn't aware, never used the other one. They told me they couldn't pay out because I was clearly trying to bypass the SOW checks by setting up a new account. I told them I would do the SOW checks right now, im not bypassing anything. Happy to send all the info they could need.

They said no.

I went to their ADR and I pleaded my case that how could I have a duplicated account when one was closed. They said that still means you have two accounts and the casino is in the right.

What are my options here, if any? I've long stopped gambling and im seeking help for an addiction. But it's really hard when you actually win and you've not really done anything wrong and they still won't pay.

I've ben a customer of about 60 casinos. I've never failed a SOW check. I wouldn't have failed that one. Why won't they run it for me? If I signed up as a new customer as a stranger to them and won this money they would run the checks. All they knew about me before was my card/my ID and that I deposit a big amount. WHat's the difference?

It's all arbitrary but has cost me £10k. It's not like I was banned or ever failed the SOW.

I should point out signing up to this site twice was a genuine mistake. I did not remember it at all. I used all the same information except a different email address as I switched using my personal email to another one for gambling during the six month time span. No deception at all.

Their website is so non descript and a template, I just presumed I had been a customer of a sister site (and I had been). Which again, is even harder to swallow, as I had passed these tests and gambled a lot with their sister companies.

I never tried to hide my identity etc


Anyway, can anything be done?

 

[mulven]

Deposited a large amount and before I could play, they asked me for my verification info (ID, proof it was my card that deposited).

Sounds like the CDD review was more on the ball at this site than their sister site in your other thread.

So having never placed a bet with that company, I forgot I was ever even a customer. I'm not even sure I was, though I guess legally I must have been?

You were a customer as you opened an account and transacted with the company. The initial deposit must have been large enough to trigger CDD and due to the site being unable to complete the CDD, they terminated their business relationship with you, in line with the requirements of the

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and in adherence to regulation 31(1)(c) of the

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. When you signed up 6 months later you violated the below term

14. Customers may open only one account. Should we identify any customer with more than one account Planet Sport Bet reserves the right to close any duplicate account immediately on discovery and without prior notice to the Customer and in such circumstances Planet Sport Bet will void all bonuses, free bets and winnings accrued using the duplicate account, which shall be forfeited by the Customer, and will return all funds deposited by the Customer into the duplicate account using the payment method used to deposit the funds in the first instance

Even if they didn't have a term like that, you'd probably still be in a bad spot due to the CDD refusal. It doesn't matter if you would have passed it or have done at other sites, the business relationship between you and the casino was previously terminated and that puts you in a bad position.

I should point out signing up to this site twice was a genuine mistake. I did not remember it at all. I used all the same information except a different email address as I switched using my personal email to another one for gambling during the six month time span. No deception at all.

It is very rough and really crappy but unfortunately whether or not it was a mistake would not matter to the company or the ADR. The terms are ironclad and unfortunately you already used up your "one account" with this particular company.

Whilst its of no use to you now, I would recommend using a password manager to keep on top of all your logins, I've been using one for probably a decade now and it really is a nice improvement to the web browsing experience. it would also be obvious when you go to a website if you have a saved login which would help prevent scenarios like this.

I've ben a customer of about 60 casinos. I've never failed a SOW check. I wouldn't have failed that one. Why won't they run it for me? If I signed up as a new customer as a stranger to them and won this money they would run the checks. All they knew about me before was my card/my ID and that I deposit a big amount. WHat's the difference

The difference is you aren't a new customer but one they terminated a business relationship with. Their terms were violated when you signed up again and clearly give them the right to void any winnings. It's open and shut as frustrating as that is.

Anyway, can anything be done?

You've already tried an ADR and they rightfully ruled against you as you didn't have a case. It wasn't about a duplicated account but the fact you can only have a single account ever. The case is unfortunately extremely clear cut against you so there really isn't anything you can do and you've already exhausted the ADR, the UKGC wouldn't rule in your favour either. I really wish there was some better news for you but even though it was a mistake, you violated their terms without realising and that gave them every right to void the winnings.

The sportsbook/casino unfortunately did nothing wrong and in the first instance perfectly adhered to CDD protocol and in the second instance simply executed on their terms and conditions which you agreed to when you signed up. I know it's not the answer you'd like to hear, especially after not being able to get anywhere with the other issue you posted about.

I hope that these are the only two issues you have left from your darker days and there aren't more posts like this. I say this because being able to put these things in the past and move on is exactly what you need to do as part of your recovery and holding on to any futile hope of getting that money back will hold you back. It's not as nice as the money but being able to finally leave these things in the past will be a silver lining.

 

[herc83]

Thanks for the response. It's just incredibly frustrating as I feel like the world is against me at the minute. Does it not account for anything that I was an active player with their sister sites? Like they were fully aware of me, very often it's the exact same people who emailed me with the exact same template across their various websites. I've requested an SAR and I can see they talk about me across multiple platforms in their internal note-taking. They even take the same complaint (giving me one complaint about one casino, that they consider to be across their full spectrum).

 

[herc83]

This is the kind of thing they have in their internal notes on me. You will see I passed the tests on me with their sister site but there was an issue where they weren't happy with the debit card I used. I think if I remember rightly it's because I used multiple cards and it confused them.

ANYWAY, I guess im pointing out that they are picking and choosing when to consider me as a customer of their whole brands or just one, depending on when they want to. Being suspended from all brands until I fix an issue with one, stuff like that. But then treating me as a separate customer amongst all brands in other cases.

The signing up to Planet Sport Bet (after being a customer of their other brands as you can see before then) happened in Feb 2023 when they were well aware of who I was. Then me signing up again happened in Sept 2023.

So frustrating this one as I was just too lazy / annoyed in Feb 23 to send them the exact same information, to the exact same template/same people as I had months earlier. It would literally have been the same email but I wanted my money back asap after a loss and, as I say, was lazy/annoyed/careless yes.

Hard one to get over.

 

[Guntis]

I had similar cases - and many times when i played on UK sites, sometimes i even had 3 accounts. There was no bonus or casino abuse intent - i simply was not sure if i had accounts on those casinos - and then was just setting up new ones. Plus there was an email address that I did not have access to anymore to receive casino passwords. And there was a time when i was losing phones - a new phone in a pocket, out at a party, and boom - the phone's gone. But that was a while ago, 10-15 years.

A few casinos i can name were Super Casino, Sky, Paddy, Grosvenor, and William Hill. All i did then was ask the casinos to delete those other accounts and keep only the existing one open. Later i even got used to asking the live chat after signing up elsewhere to check and remove all duplicate accounts if they found any. There were no payout problems.

 

[Reelsoffun]

Seems you have a habit of breaking terms of casinos and then seeing if there is any way to get money back, second thread of issues you have started.

I’m just glad these seem to be historical issues and that you have since got help, so hopefully your staying casino free now and not gambling anymore!

 

[herc83]

There was genuinely no intention to deceive. Like essentially I’ve lost out here because of laziness and bad timing when they asked for the checks I had already moved on to another casino and just wanted my money back without delay. As I say never had I failed any of these checks, not least 2-3 times with essentially the very same people via their twinned sites that all filter to the same place.

Incredible bad luck that a rare time I win something it’s when I’ve accidentally ballsed up. Not that I’ve hurt the casino at all. Realistically I’ve lost out because I sent them my id and signed up months earlier and decided myself not to gamble. Literally that’s it

 

[jasonuk]

I think @mulven has pretty much covered this - ignorance is not a valid excuse here and opening a second account still counts as two even if the first one has been closed. Especially as some of the user information has changed - even if for genuine reasons.

Additionally, by asking for your money back during the CDD process, they have - correctly - taken that as indication you are refusing CDD (even if you didn't mean to). That means they must terminate the business relationship (which is stronger than just closing your account) and thus there's a strong expectation that they wouldn't have allowed you to reopen the first account anyway.

Regarding sister sites, it would depend on how they are licensed - UKGC

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only lists four active sites, three of which (including PSB) are white label.

It's a harsh outcome, but it's the correct one - which is why ADR didn't uphold your complaint. ADR is the last step in the chain before legal action, and that would be throwing good money after bad given how clear-cut the case is against you.

 

[jeckiesz1]

Using multi-accounts in bookmakers is a very bad decision... Such guys immediately blocked my account with a refund of the last deposit for such actions.

 

[herc83]

In terms of the white label thing. I was a customer of Vickers and BresBet and bet heavily at both over the course of several months before and during this time. I bet a lot literally one day with BresBet and then signed up to Planet Spot Bet the next day where they ask me where the money has come from, knowing that exact same person has only weeks before looked over that data. All during this time I spoke to the exact same staff who used all the exact same templates.

As I say, my SAR request to PlanetSportBet, they themselves forwarded to Vickers email address and sent me my SAR that included all my information they had on me as if I was one customer. Not a customer of each individual brand.

I don't know if this matters much but it just adds to the annoyance as they knew who I was and are picking and choosing how they see me.

 

[Reelsoffun]

It doesn't matter how many ways you spin it you need to accept that the money has gone, just coming up with more ways to explain it is just putting you through more pain. You are very unlikely to see any of those funds again and think you should just move on for your own sanity.

 

[herc83]

I understand what you're saying, I'm just genuinely curious how it works with the white label

 

[jasonuk]

I don't know if this matters much but it just adds to the annoyance as they knew who I was and are picking and choosing how they see me.

They are picking the safest path each time, and regulation plays a large part in this...

So the "duplicate" CDD request is an abundance of caution to make sure your information is still accurate, and/or to avoid the wrath of the regulator by reusing existing data.

Self-exclusion (and possibly CDD failure) by comparison will be viral - as historically operators would have tried to play the system and minimise it, hence regulations state that they must now maximise it (across the license, across group companies, and in some cases beyond e.g. GAMPROTECT).

They might have been able to spot it quicker, but when you are registering with different details (whether legitimately or nefariously) that onus shifts to you... once you refused the CDD (whether you intended to or not) the situation changed dramatically because they cannot do business with you anymore until CDD has been completed.

As @Reelsoffun says, trying to spin it a different way isn't going to change things - the CDD failure slams the door shut, the duplicate account puts it beyond doubt.

 

[herc83]

thank you again everyone for the considered replies.

Just a final thing. When you say the casino must terminate relationship with me because of CDD. Would that extend to all casinos under their white label? Or would they have been fine to still take deposits from me on those despite me failing this one here by way of non compliance?