@williamhill Beaurocracy , Frustrating Service but OK in the end

I placed a bet on NYI to win and Tavares to score.The bet was placed many hours before the start of the game:

It then came to my attention HOURS BEFORE THE GAME STARTED that John Tavares was out for the season with injury so I contacted Hills via Live Chat immediately.The guy on the other end was polite and well meaning but slow and had to run everything by his Supervisor. The operative asked me to send a link with proof of the injury ,I told him to Google it. After we both agreed Tavares was indeed injured, I waited about in hope that my stake would be rightfully returned (I shouldn't have to hope it's a straight forward case but you never know with Bookmakers these days). After he told me to wait again for 5-10 minutes he came back saying the bet would be voided and sent a link with Terms and Conditions which is a bookmakers' way of saying we're not bothered that you have a common sense issue that we can help you with as a valued customer but what we will do instead is point to some obscure Ts and Cs that allow us to mug you off and add your stake to our revenue figures for this month.

There are 3 major issues here which I have contacted CEO Phillip Bowcock with:

1) The lack of common sense and flexibility at local level.

2) The total disregard for a customers' experience in the face of profit and legalese.

3) The slowness of response and the onus on the customer to take the matter further to achieve justice.

I turned to Twitter to shed light on the situation and after some naming and shaming Hills did indeed return the the stake for this bet but it was a long,frustrating experience.

Hills gain credit for getting it right in the end and they deserve a back handed compliment,they are far from the worse bookmaker out there but the lesson is be weary with bookies and ensure that you get justice when you have a completely reasonable case.

Bookies' Banter is Better than their Customer Service? Priorities all Wrong

All the leading bookmakers  persist in bombarding the twittersphere with a host of bad sporting jokes,sporting trivia and general drivel while their customer service Twitter handle goes unmanned 70percent of the time with the last tweet dated as in and around October 2016 in most cases.

Most people will hear this and say ,'So what?' Well it's a little more serious than that,bookmakers are basically trying to come across as the amiable,friendly mate that you have a wager with over a pint in The Swan and Mitre but the reality is very different.The truth is you are placing wagers with an exploitative, ruthless,sociopathic corporate entity that intends to siphon profit off of ignorant or lazy punters who bet without adequate research,prudence or care while limiting the action or even banning shrewd punters who consistently turn a profit.

The bookies tweet out general jokey rubbish all day with seemingly no let up ,'United fans wish Pogba played half as well as a retired 36 year old  Gerrard has in this legends game!' accompanied by a picture of a United fan with his head in hands. Tripe like this is as uninteresting as it is innacurate.If a vital cog in United's midfield has been playing so poorly why is it that the bookies shorten them up to 1/5 (1.2) at every opportunity and if the game is at Old Trafford you'll be lucky to get that!Pogba hasnt been a world beater but 6th in the league and a League Cup medal suggests he isn't doing that badly!

Bookies need to put as much effort into their '@support' accounts as they do on their main accounts,don't fall for their laughs or engage in the bets they jokingly suggest or bring up,do your research,be selective and see these sharks for what they really are.

@Unibet abysmal Verification Process.Avoid!

My experience with Unibet went from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I got a £100 'bonus' from them having won a prize draw I was entered into for doing a customer experience survey for them. The bonus required wagering of £100 so I placed a bet on a hockey game for £100. About half an hour later after placing the bet I was informed the bet was being voided (while the team I bet on were leading 2 nil and went onto win the game). The market was up,I placed the bet and this inexplicable void came in,fishy I thought.I looked into it and the game was scheduled to start at 9.30am ,Unibet claimed my bet was struck at 9.30.19 Basically they were saying the game had started, alledgedly for 19 seconds, the puck may not have even been dropped by 9.30.19 but that was their argument despite the fact they had the market open,so who's fault is that I wonder?

So after that I wagered another bet for £100 which lost. Did I gt a second chance to void a bet like Unibet got with my initial bet? Of  course not but who cares? That's £100 in the pockets of Unibet so why would they care?

Luckily I went on to have a decent winning bet later on so I went to make a withdrawal. All of a sudden Unibet now wanted verification of my ID ! I had been depositing and withdrawing on this account for weeks before with no issue. Now all of a sudden I was a suspected money launderer or criminal underworld black market dirty cash kingpin. On Trustpilot I see others have had the same nonsense from Unibet with regards to verification they need to get their house in order.

The verification process is very frustrating,the arrogant customer service staff are clueless on live chat and are constantly changing the story with what documents are needed and how the pictures of documents should be taken. By the end of the picture taking process I could have given David Bailey a run for his money. If it wasn't for a half savvy guy called Jake on there I don't know what I would have done to get money which is rightfully mine!

I contacted the boss Henrik Tjarnstrom who ignores tweets and seemingly ignores emails as well which is disappointing and poor from Unibet.

Unlike 888sport the Unibet new customer offer is pretty lousy so don't even bother with that,just stay away unless you want grey hair before your time.

@WilliamHill : Fraudulent Bet Advertising

The bookmaker's hall of shame is filling up by the hour. How poor Estate Agents and Tax inspectors get a worse shake than Bookies is beyond me. I had a cheeky punt on the Ice hockey NHL.The terms of the bet are clear as day for a punter looking online. Cam Atkinson scores and Columbus Blue Jackets win and you get paid right?

Errr not exactly. Hills tried to point to some hidden Ts and Cs that state the bet is only valid upto 60mins,the winning goal was scored in Overtime. Well it would have been nice if this was written directly by the bet! 

Looking at the advertising online this can only be viewed as underhand by Hills and I'm disappointed because I actually viewed them as one of the good guys.

I also note how reluctant Hills and all bookies are to give out their CEO's details,they never know the name of the boss or his/her contact details which is as convenient for them as it is unprofessional.They get credit for a 0800 phoneline but lose this for the evasive way they gave details for complaint contacts and CEOs details.

Generally Hllls are ok,their website is ok,their service is ok,but on this occasion they have come up short.

Totesport and Betfred.Beware of New Customer Offers

Totesport offer a £25 risk free first bet. It sounds good initially but please note that you are ineligible for this offer if you have an existing Betfred account. The offer could be worth a go if you have no existing Betfred account but you do so at your own risk.Good Luck!

Totesport do not tell you this up front,they wait for you to stake the £25 then they go through a phoney verification process asking you for identification,following this they close your account for seemingly no reason (if an existing Betfred account is detected by their system).

 If they close your account like this when you lose the first bet imagine how quickly they will close the account should you win!

When you ring them up they fob you off and terminate the call. When you ring back, eventually they admit Betfred and Totesport operate under the same umbrella like it is a dirty secret,they also admit they get punters ringing up complaining all the time but still they do nothing about it So effectively you are out of pocket  whether or not you win the initial bet and have been cheated out of the new customer offer you were promised.

I am astounded they have managed to pull this scam for years,IBAS (the Bookmaker's Ombudsman) have done nothing about it.

The best I can do is advise people to steer clear of Totesport and that reflects badly on Betfred too as they are the same organisation.

888Sport.Glitzy Enhanced Offers but no Substance

888sport have loads of enhanced offers , they are all over Twitter and the internet offering various new customer enhanced odds offers.Sounds good right? Well the opening gambit may be good but the ongoing customer service is lousy.The response time listed for emails is 24hours which is pretty useless if you have a query for an offer or event that takes place in the next 24hours.The mobile site is ok but is cumbersome and trying to find the live chat feature us like searching for the Holy Grail,it's exasperating and laboured.

I have found the @888support and @888sport Twitter handles to be totally unresponsive although they seem to have time to post unfunny comments and tweets inaccurately described as 'banter'.When you do get an email back from customer services it is disappointing and lacking empathy although this is not a feature confined to just this bookie in fairness.

The website is usable for placing bets and I'm sure regular users get by just fine ,the problem comes when you have a problem or a query,the response times and lack of Twitter service is simply unacceptable.

In summary you may wish to take advantage of the new customer offers but you will most likely have to look elsewhere for a regular bookie for day to day use,that's if you value your sanity.