SportsSpread.com - problems withdrawing

[MereNovice]

I have been an infrequent user of SportsSpread for a couple of years and have not previously experienced problems even when withdrawing decent amounts of money (thin, I know!). However at present I am experiencing severe problems trying to get money out of this company.

At the beginning of April I deposited money with them to take advantage of a free bet offer on the Heineken Cup. As is the nature of spread betting, I needed to deposit a significant sum to cover the bets. I was fortunate enough to make money on the qualifying bets and also on the subsequent free bet.
After the bets were cleared, I attempted to withdraw money by bank transfer but it was not forthcoming. When I contacted them about it I was told that someone would ring me (as their accounts apartment doesn't start work until 10am). Instead of a call I got an e-mail after a few days saying that they had closed my account without reason (which I accept that they are entitled to do) and would send me a cheque. When I queried this I was told that it would take up to 30 days for the cheque to arrive. I followed this up three times by e-mail and received no response on each occasion. I have rung them again and been promised that someone would contact me which has not happened.

SportsSpread are an Irish company and appear not to be regulated by any body with which it is possible to address this matter. Obviously, I'm a sucker for not checking this before using them! When I tried to address this with them this afternoon, the guy put the phone down.

Obviously, I cannot vouch for other people's issues but these reports seem very similar to my own:

http://www.bookmakersforum.com/bookmakers/sportsspread-not-paying/292
http://www.bookmakersforum.com/bookmakers/sports-spread/394
http://www.bookmakersforum.com/bookmakers/sportsspreadcom-review-do-not-honour-withdrawals/300

I'd love to hear if anyone has had a more positive experience with SportsSpread in the recent past or has any experience of getting money back from them.


I would feel remiss if I didn't warn people about these issues.

My advice would be to be extremely careful when dealing with this company.

[kpnuts]

Looks very bad alright. Couple recent-ish articles from The Irish Times too...
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/retail-and-services/sports-spread-argy-bargy-1.1633269
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/financial-services/betting-executives-adjudicated-bankrupt-1.1664686

[maldini32]

They closed my account after one withdrawal. They didn't give me a reason, I just use spreadex and spin now

[MereNovice]

Looks very bad alright. Couple recent-ish articles from The Irish Times too...
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/retail-and-services/sports-spread-argy-bargy-1.1633269
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/financial-services/betting-executives-adjudicated-bankrupt-1.1664686

Thanks, I hadn't seen these.

[MereNovice]

They closed my account after one withdrawal. They didn't give me a reason, I just use spreadex and spin now

spin closed my account too.

[bookiebasher]

Hi Vince

Do not feel too bad about betting with an unregulated bookmaker.

http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/gh-contact_us/complaints/canbet_response.aspx

The doughnuts from the Gambling Commission are a complete waste of time and offer no extra
protection because they only act once the horse has bolted.

[doubleup]

Hi Vince

Do not feel too bad about betting with an unregulated bookmaker.

http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/gh-contact_us/complaints/canbet_response.aspx

The doughnuts from the Gambling Commission are a complete waste of time and offer no extra
protection because they only act once the horse has bolted.

The GC are bringing in segregation of deposits later this year.

[bookiebasher]

http://www.thegamblingtimes.com/board/official-tgt-rules-feedback-questions-complaints/26741-canbet-payouts-complaint-thread-21.html

The GC have over 200 staff and a budget of £13m and they couldn't send one person round to Canbet's
headquarters to investigate , instead they relied on assurances from the company that everything was ok.

They are not fit for purpose and offer little protection to the punter.

You would have thought protection of client's money would have been top of the list when the GC was set up.

Instead all they want to do is enforce a load of bureaucratic red tape and charge thousands of pounds for it.

Toothless Quango when it comes down to it.

[MereNovice]

http://www.thegamblingtimes.com/board/official-tgt-rules-feedback-questions-complaints/26741-canbet-payouts-complaint-thread-21.html

The GC have over 200 staff and a budget of £13m and they couldn't send one person round to Canbet's
headquarters to investigate , instead they relied on assurances from the company that everything was ok.

They are not fit for purpose and offer little protection to the punter.

You would have thought protection of client's money would have been top of the list when the GC was set up.

Instead all they want to do is enforce a load of bureaucratic red tape and charge thousands of pounds for it.

Toothless Quango when it comes down to it.

Thanks for the insight!

[DungBeetle]

Hold on.   Spread betting firms are regulated by the FSA/FCA as opposed to the Gambling Commission so operate under much tighter rules (including segregation of deposits.  (My company offers financial spread bets sometimes so I have to comply with all the rules)
 
FCA doesn't regulate Ireland, but I'm sure there must be some financial conduct authority out there.  Oh no.  Just googled and apparently sports spread betting is unregulated in Ireland.  That's nuts.

As a general point, I'd suggest that nobody engage with a spread betting company in Ireland due to this. 

[MereNovice]

Whoopee.

I've received some money this morning, after 10 weeks.

Just to show their class, they were £7 short on the amount.
They also owe me for the profit on a free bet.

It seems that threatening legal action, a social media campaign and/or pestering their bank is required to get any action from them.


Made me smile, anyway.


A  lesson learned.

[horseplayer]

well done mere

[MereNovice]

well done mere

Thanks.

[tikay]

Whoopee.

I've received some money this morning, after 10 weeks.

Just to show their class, they were £7 short on the amount.
They also owe me for the profit on a free bet.

It seems that threatening legal action, a social media campaign and/or pestering their bank is required to get any action from them.


Made me smile, anyway.


A  lesson learned.

I would think of those potential recriminations, "pestering their bank" was far & away the most likely to be effective, & it's not even close. Banks cannot be seen to countenance that sort of thing these days. No serviceable bank account = no SportsSpread.com

Anyway, congrats.

Right, I'm off to the Royal Ascot Tipping Comp thread to see how I've progressed.

[Bunty]

Hi

I know this is an old topic but just wondering if these monies were eventually paid or has anyone had more recent problems?

Thanks