One of the biggest bookmakers on the internet, Bet365 is facing legal action from a customer over its failure to transfer a balance of £54,000 to her bank account despite her repeated requests over several months. While the company refused to release the backer’s winnings that she made on a series of horse racing bets, she was also told that there would be a restriction of a maximum stake of £1 if she wanted to bet with the balance. They also suggested and offered that she could instead gamble as much as she fancied on gaming products, like online Aristocrat slot machines, which gives the operator a guaranteed margin.
On April 16th, the punter opened an account with Bet365 and made a deposit of £30,000 the next day, when she placed a series of horse racing bets and lost £23,000. Bet365 sent her an email the same day, which stated that it had increased the size of the maximum bet she could place.
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She placed more bets the following day with the remaining £7,000 and won a total of £47,000, which increased her balance to about £54,000. She was sent an email the same day informing her that in future, there would be a restriction on her account to £1 maximum stake on racing bets due to a “trading decision”.
Disappointed at Bet365’s refusal of her bets, the punter requested the £54,000 to be transferred to her credit card. It has been more than two months and she is still waiting for the transfer to be made. The validity of her winning bets cannot be disputed and the firm sent her an email on April 27th confirming that her identity had been “fully verified”.
A large number of punters are becoming increasingly frustrated by the restrictions placed in bets by bookmakers in recent years. The Horserace Bettors Forum conducted a study which claimed that operators closed as many as 20,000 online accounts because they were not profitable for them.
However, this case highlights another important cause of frustration for gamblers who are required to deposit money with a bookmaker but can then go through extended delays when trying to return a balance to their bank account. In most cases, these depend on “verification” procedures that are used to ensure that money laundering is not taking place, which differ with each firm and can be strung out over as long as a couple of months.
The punter subsequently made contacts with Bet365 which included a long series of phone calls and emails and a request to submit bank statements so that her source of funds could be confirmed – she fully complied with this request. She has been assured by her bank manager that she does not have to be concerned about her account being used for money laundering and since Bet365 has encouraged her to make no stake limit bets on its gaming products, she believes that the bookmaker cannot have any problems regarding the source of her funds either. She has now come to the conclusion that it is futile to try and contact Bet365’s customer services team any further and that the only way to retrieve her money is through legal action.
According to a campaigner of gambling issues, Paul Fairhead, an increasing number of punters are being treated in a similar manner by online operators when they make requests to withdraw from their accounts. He said that he sees a similar new case every week and that no one should have to go through such difficulties. He also said that such operators hold on to the money hoping that the problem will go away.
Fairhead also said that this would not happen in any other industry. He has heard stories of operators asking punters to take selfies while holding up documents and are then told that the documents are not sufficient and that a bank manager or notary has to sign them.
Fairhead believes that it is time that verification is not just streamlined, but also standardized across the gambling industry by the Gaming Commission, which conducts regulation of all gambling in the UK.
He said that one of the aims that the Gaming Commission states is to ensure that gambling is conducted openly and fairly. A standard, transparent verification procedure is required in the industry and the Commission should set this down so that bookmakers cannot use their terms and conditions to hide behind and force people to go through an endless series of obstacles to access their money.
When contacted, a Bet365 spokesperson declined to comment on the case and the problems surrounding it.
Founded in 2000 and based in Stoke-on-Trent, the company has grown rapidly in recent years and has become a major name in the gambling industry. In its latest annual report, which was published in October 2015, it reported that its operating profit was £409 million in the year to March 2015.
