There is gambling legislation going through the Dail (Irish Parliament) at present (2nd reading) to tighten up gambling.
I sent an e-mail to two of the TDs (members of Dail) in this constituency about this, and other gambling company qualities.
My next e-mail will give a little more colour on gambling company practices. I am sure they are aware of their wiles, and will legislate accordingly.

*coffee

They came back after 21 minutes

Thanks for waiting *******, I have raised this for you with our payments team in order to investigate this further.
The team will be contacting you via email once we have further information.
I'm afraid that I would not be able to provide you a specific time frame, however, I can assure you that you will be contacted as soon as possible.

It has been five weeks since Betfair told me to go back to my bank and reclaim the money.
Betfair misled me as the Betfair bank, Barclays Bank, Hatch Street, Dublin will not refund the money.

How can Barclays not return your €200 when requested by your bank who's acting on your behalf? Do you have you a reference number from Barclays? If so, take it higher. The whipping boys/girls merely read from scripts and unable to think independently.

11th November 2021 16:28
I was told I would receive an e-mail about my missing Euro 200 which is in the Betfair Euro account in Barclays Bank, hatch Street, Dublin. I did not get an e-mail. This was first brought to your attention five weeks ago, and again yesterday. Regards Sean Kilroy

Info at 16:28, Nov 11:
This is ****** and I will be looking after your query today. I will aim to reply within 2 minutes.

******at 16:30, Nov 11:
Hi there ******, Hope you are well. So if this was raised yesterday for you, you will be emailed an ARN number within the next 48 hours to which you need to provide your bank.

You at 16:35, Nov 11:
You will need to explain ARN number.  I already, on 7th October 2021, instructed KBC Bank to recall the money as advised by Betfair webchat in early October 2021.
As explained yesterday to Betfair webchat Barclays Bank refused yesterday to KBC bank to return the money - no explanation given.  Are you telling me to do again what I and KBC Bank did five weeks ago?

****** at 16:38, Nov 11:
No ******, I am stating that the payments team will be in touch with you with the ARN and then pass it over to your bank and explain that betfair have stated they need to return the money to you.

I have exhausted all avenues, followed all Betfair instructions.  I asked you a few minutes ago to explain what ARN means.  Please explain.
I have given the transfer reference BFT3***** to KBC Bank who used it to identify the transaction.  Is this the ARN?
Are you telling me to do what I and KBC Bank have already done? 
Or if you are telling me something different why did Betfair webchat customer service not tell me five weeks ago?
It is Betfair who have to act to return this money. The Betfair bank refuse to return the money.

******at 16:43, Nov 11:
No that is not the ARN. AN ARN number is to prove we withdraw it to your bank so once this is provided to them, they have to return the funds.

You IGNORED this in my previous message "if you are telling me something different why did Betfair webchat customer service not tell me five weeks ago?"
PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION and
(1) will Barclays Bank return the money?
(2) why did Barclays bank not tell KBC Bank to supply the ARN you mention?
....... And, I was told yesterday I would receive an e-mail from Betfair Customer services, presumably explaining why Betfair have not helped.
I never received the e-mail.  WHY NOT?

You say "the payments team will be in touch with you with the ARN ". 
When will they be in touch with me?  They payment went missing in the first few days of October 2021.  It is now 11th November 2021.

You will be emailed within the next 48 hours as stated, I am not aware what happened a few weeks ago, But they will provide you with the ARN number, Once this has been provide, you then pass it to your bank and they will return the funds.
The ticket was raised yesterday ******, Standard time frame is 72 hours, so they will be in touch, There is nothing more I can do for you, You need to wait for the email I`m afraid.


In the meantime, this chat will now close. If you require further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us back. Thank you for contacting Paddy Power Betfair Support, please enjoy the rest of your day.

You did not answer my questions. It is a disgrace that you say you are not aware of what happened weeks ago. We acted on your instructions given to us weeks ago.

Thanks for the comments.
Betfair webchat ("the quickest way to get in touch" and get no action) said they would respond in 48 hours and respond in 72 hours, and that could be from Thursday 11th (afternoon) or Friday 12th (afternoon).
Next I expect it will be 72 "business" hours from the time next week I mention they did not respond by e-mail as promised.

At 15:15 today, 11th November, I sent a message to the local Garda Siochana station (police) setting out the interaction with Betfair.

Still no action from Betfair.
They have webchat people who talk to you, who appear to know nothing about all the previous contacts, and who do not communicate with the payments team who might resolve the problem, but the webchat person does not know how busy the payments team are, and it might take days for the payments team to respond.

Betfair said last week they will send me an ARN by e-mail.
They didn't send the ARN.
Next webchat person says the ARN is only when Betfair are paying and does not apply to deposits.
Today's webchat person says you should get your bank to send an ARN to the Betfair bank.
After a discussion he forgot about the ADN and said the payments team could be busy.


And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind, from where we came
And go round and round and round, in the circle game
And go round and round and round, in the circle game

Betfair webchat are at it again.  I asked for the Escalation Management Team (EMT) to handle this. 
The webchat reply "We are checking your account for any recent withdrawals."

I'd try emailing their CEO. It's unacceptible issue is not resolved after 47 days. Your money is in someone's wallet, Betfair or Barclays?

theguardian.com
Greg Wood Fri 22 Jan 2021 17.17 GMT


Betfair has apologised to one of its customers after he was left out of pocket for many weeks when an attempted deposit of nearly £100,000 to place bets on the US election in November was taken from his bank but did not credit to his account.

The customer, a long-standing account holder with the betting exchange who lives in Ireland and bets mainly on horse racing and sport, arranged the transfer of €110,000 (£98,000) a week before the election on 3 November, having confirmed with Betfair’s customer service department that there were no limits on the amount he could deposit and that the deposit would be accepted. He also fulfilled all of the firm’s “KYC” – Know Your Customer – requirements.

When the credit failed to appear on his account statement, he became increasingly concerned that his money had effectively vanished, but despite numerous daily contacts with Betfair’s customer service department, no one could tell him where it had gone.

His frustration increased as the election came and went with the money still missing from his exchange account. He then asked Betfair to return the money to the same bank account from which it had been transferred but again, despite “multiple requests and inquiries” to Betfair’s customer relations and escalations departments, the money remained somewhere in the exchange’s coffers.

Betfair’s market on the US election was the biggest in the exchange’s history, with around £500m matched on the outcome. Several weeks after it was finally settled, however, and more than 10 weeks after the customer attempted to make his deposit, his £100,000 was still missing. The money was finally returned to his account on Thursday, a few hours after the Guardian asked Betfair to investigate its whereabouts and the delay in returning it.

In an email to inform him of the transfer, a Betfair representative apologised for the “inconvenience brought about the delay”. The company declined to offer any further comment when contacted on Friday about the case.

I'd not leave more than £5 overnight with betfair. I'd not even bank with any supermarket so why the heck leave money with a betting entity? Consider pinging an email to The Guardian or engaging a solicitor. Maybe, just maybe, something constructive and positive will come of it. As it is no one from Betfair or Barclay is claiming respnsibility.

I sent an e-mail to the Guardian.  They replied briefly, but I doubt this is a big enough story.

I spoke to the local Garda station (Irish police) on the phone in midweek and another lengthy conversation on Friday evening.
It looks like fraud.
I kept copies of all the Betfair webchat and am preparing an evidence file, putting it on a memory stick, and it is going to the Gardai next week. (Thank you Larry Tesler RIP, Mr Cut and Paste)
The local Gardai will probably pass the case to a specialist investigation branch in Dublin, or to local district HQ.

I also sent a few e-mails to the Irish Government and had brief acknowledgements (redirecting them to the correct Department).
Betfair will regret their theft.  They picked the wrong target.

I had this on the racecourse three times:
A bookmaker at Leopardstown refused to pay out.  I am a bit shy, but moved back a few yards, and kept up a very loud conversation asking for my money.  He paid.
A Tote employee at The Curragh took my ticket, walked away, and didn't return.  I got the manager and was paid.
A bookmaker at The Curragh refused to pay.  I asked another bookmaker for advice.  He told me to see the Ring Inspector, pointing to their office.  They looked at his book, saw my bet, and I got paid out after the last race.
A few years later an English punter (no shirt, tattoos, had a few beers) was before the same bookmaker looking for payment.  When he walked away unpaid I brought him to the Ring Inspector and he was paid.

There are no e-mail or phone contacts on Betfair, only webchat.
Webchat "thank you for calling.  how are you today?  I will pass your query to our payments team"
I think "payments team" is a euphemism for "waste paper basket".

I'm back from bringing my dogs to the vet.
One dog was getting stitches out after an operation, and is glad to get rid of her cone ("cone head").

I started a Microsoft Word file yesterday with my evidence for the Gardai.
It is a while since I prepared a good Word file.
It has a nice Table Of Contents.
So far the file is 26 pages long, has 8,565 words, from 11 Webchats with Betfair support.
"payments team" and "e-mail" are tied for the lead in the word count with 21 each, both mentioned principally be Betfair support.
Nobody wants to read all the waffle from Betfair webchat customer services so I will be preparing a summary.

The file is with the Gardai, 56 pages, 16,990 words.

Yes, Paddy Power Betfair defrauded me of Euro 200.00.

My guess is five years ago Paddy Power, who have a mark-up of 17%+ on horseracing bought Betfair who have a 2% mark-up.
The exchange had taken the bulk of the betting business away from Paddy Power.
Paddy Power bought the exchange and bought its customers.
Paddy Power Betfair want to keep the customers, but move them to the sportsbook, charging them 17%+ instead of 2%.
It is probably Paddy Power Betfair policy to close low volume accounts.
They do this by defrauding them, or claiming suspicious activity on the account, locking the account, and keeping the money.

Today, 12 June 2022, 255 days after I deposited Euro 200.00 on 2nd October 2021.


Your query has been referred to the Customer Champion Team who deal with complaints, disputes and appeals.
I have reviewed your query and my understanding is that a EUR200 deposit was made on the 2nd of October 2021.
This did not reflect on the account and you raised a complaint with us as a result.
I have investigated your claims and I can confirm that we have escalated all the information that you provided us to investigate for you.
Following provision of the documents to our payments provider, we were able to locate the transaction and action this manually into your account which you will find available on your next log in.
Furthermore, we would be more than happy to offer compensation for the delays in service and for your cooperation during the investigation.
As such, we are offering EUR100 in free sports bets as full and final resolution to this complaint. Kindly reply to this email if you would like to accept this offer.


When I received the above e-mail this morning I immediately withdrew my Euro 200.00 to my bank account.  I will check if it arrives.
I have no interest in the Paddy Power Betfair offer of a Euro 100.00 free bet.
It probably has strings attached, like you have to lose a few grand before you can use the 100.00, or you can never withdraw the 100.00.

On 3rd October I missed betting Euro 200.00 on Torquator Tasso in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at odds of 110 and higher (see 2021 Arc thread) as my funds were not in my account.
I am deeply suspicious of the bank payee account to which I transferred the Euro 200.00 in October - Worldpay AP Limited.
The present CEO of Paddy Power Betfair, Peter Jackson, was chief executive of Worldpay UK, a funds transfer business.

I would not trust the Chairman of Paddy Power Betfair, Gary McGann, or the chief executive of Paddy Power Betfair, Peter Jackson, with Euro 0.01.



I will not deposit money in the future to an organisation that tried to defraud a customer of Euro 110,000 in November 2020, and tried to defraud me of Euro 200 in October 2021.

I will not be betting with Betfair again, and probably not with online bookmakers either.
I may have an interest bet with on course bookmakers if at the races.

My interest in racing now is two broodmares, their 2022 foals, their expected 2023 foals, a 2yo in training, and a 1/6 share in a 2yo in the UK.
A previous mare had the foal she was carrying when bought but she was infertile from then on.
Her two year old ran into a concrete wall the day before going into pre-training, and the present 2yo has offset cannon bones and a doubtful racer.

My big interest is analysing pedigrees.  I am always working on that, part of the reason I moved to rural Co Tipperary.