Can I claim a refund?

[Waynus1976]

I recently joined sportingbet.com and deposited £600 in numerous deposits. On the last deposit I won £500 back but when I went to withdraw it wouldn't let me! I had an email saying I needed to verify my age or my account would be suspended it didn't say I couldn't make withdrawals. I phoned them up only to find the helpline was only open 10am to 8 30pm useless! Needless to say later on I was tempted to play again losing all £500. I phoned up next day to complain that I couldn't withdraw my money and as a consequence I now had lost it all only to be told there is nothing they could do. I was expecting this but as I asked about closing my account the man said something about a refund but when I asked him about it he said he'd heard me wrong and proceeded close my account which is asked for. Is there any chance I can claim a refund of my deposits as I couldn't withdraw anything when I tried?

 

[quincunx]

Sadly,no.They are entitled to ask for ID proof,including proof of age,before allowing withdrawals.
No help to you now,but it's a good idea to send proof of ID and wait until it is accepted-as-verified before sending money and placing bets.Bad idea generally to place more bets when payment delayed pending ID verification,as you can lose but if you did win it could reduce the chance of ID acceptance/payout with some unscrupulous bookies [not suggesting this applies to Sportingbet].

 

[Trevrizent]

You have my sympathy, but Quincunx is quite right. My advice would also be to get your account verified (and have the bookmaker confirm to you in writing that it has been verified) before you deposit any money or place any bets. In that way you should be able to avoid a situation like this happening again (at least if you are dealing with a reputable operator and, despite your unfortunate experience with them, I would regard Sportingbet as reputable).

 

[Waynus1976]

Thanks I didn't think I could the sporting bet site was rubbish anyway I couldn't watch any of the races and the navigation was awful.