A PUNTER in the UK is claiming Bet365 owe her £54,000 in winnings that have yet to be paid out, and is threatening legal action against the English sports betting giants.
The unidentified punter believes the courts are her only avenue to get her funds after a fruitless two month battle against one of the world’s largest online betting agencies.
The gambler – who has chosen not reveal her name publicly – opened an account on April 16 and deposited £30,000 the next day, losing a total of £23,000 after a series of disastrous bets.
She received an email from Bet365 the same day, which stated that the size of the maximum bet she was allowed to place had been increased.
The punter waited until the next day to bet again, and proceeded to turn the remaining £7,000 into a huge £54,000 after a turn in luck.
The customer was then sent another email detailing that the company would be restricting her stakes to just £1 based on a ‘trading decision’.
Disappointed she was no longer able to place bets at the level she wanted, the punter then decided to withdraw the entirety of her winnings to her debit card.
More than two months later no funds have reached her account, despite there being no issue with the validity of her bets or the validation of her account.
The punter has since entered a correspondence battle, issuing bank statements to prove the funds were acquired by her from a legitimate source to which she complied; yet the funds are still to reach her account.
Unfortunately for punters this is not an isolated case.
Online gambling campaigner Paul Fairhead has spearheaded a twitter movement to rally punters into solidary against bookmakers who are withholding legitimately-won funds from punters.
Mr Fairhead believes online betting companies are not acting in the best interests of their customers.
“I see at least one new case like this every week,” Fairhead said.
“Nobody should have difficulties like this. They are holding on to the money in the hope that the problem goes away.
“This would not happen in any other industry – that a customer can choose to trade with somebody and at the point when you do that, there’s a risk you’ll never see it again whether you win or lose.
“I’ve heard stories of punters being asked to take selfies holding up documents, and then being told that the documents still aren’t enough and that they need to be signed by a bank manager or a notary as well.”
Bet365 has yet to comment on the situation.
This is not the first time ‘the world’s favourite online sports betting company’ has been impacted by negative press this year.
The Australian Federal Court found Bet365 guilty in early June of actively deceiving new customers and subsequently fined the online bookmaker $2.7 million dollars.
The online bookmaker was found to have created a ‘web of deception’ after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission successfully argued they offered a ‘false free bet’ which enticed new users.
Punters were not fully informed of the turnover needed to withdraw their winnings from their account.
Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said back in June he was “comfortable” the $2.75 million penalty was sufficient because the court could only take Australian data into consideration.
“I think it’s an appropriate penalty. It will send the message,” Mr Sims said.
