There is currently 1 person viewing this thread.
Last summer, i did many bets with Stanjames on my online a/c, totalling a few grand, over the course of 3-4 months. However, the money was never taken for these deposits at the time from my bank a/c, something I, and stanjames, only noticed months later. In November, they issued took the money from my bank a/c, and fraudulently (so my bank says) withdrew the funds for ALL the prior deposits in one fell swoop, with no warning or notice given. My bank, AIB, said that this was illegal behaviour and applied for the chargeback on my behalf, and within a week, I got all my funds back. Howver, I am just after receiving a letter, 6 months later, warning me I have an outstanding balance on my Stanjames a/c and if I do not deposit to settle it or ring them to organise a repayment schedule, they will begin debt collection proceedings against me. As I understand it, the fault which caused the error (and many many people I know had the same thing happen to them for smaller amounts), was with Stanjames/Betpack and not the fault of the bank. Can anyone more informed than me about gaming law help me out and tell me of I am liable to repay the funds to this gibraltar-based firm or who I should contact to discuss this, because I don't trust this rancid outfit (stanjames/betpack) to act lawfully or morally given their previous behaviour. To read about some others affected by this, have a look at this thread. http://community.betfair.com/irish_sports/go/thread/view/94110/28693797/deposit-query?post_id=512937883#512937883
sort by:
Show
per page
Replies: 201
|
By:
morally....pay it back
legally.....fu ck em imo |
|
By:
Whoever is at fault, you owe them money. Pay up.
|
|
By:
i would suggest that you dont have to pay the bets that you made as it would be there error,but just ask your lawyer or a lawyer,it will only cost you 30 quid or so to speak to one and you may even get a free consultation from one and he will tell you within minutes what the deal is
|
|
By:
You can legally offer them a £1 a week . . But i think you are better going and getting a solicitor then listening to us lot
|
|
By:
Unfortunately i think they have every right to ask for the money. If their credit/debit system hadn't
worked and your bets had won but no payment made due to an error on their banking system you would still want to be paid even if you only noticed 6 months down the line. I don't know the exact law(probably because there isn't one)but if it went to an betting arbitrator I don't think you stand a chance. The other option is to go a Solicitors but they'll probably string you along and end up charging you more than the losing bets. My advice would be to just stomach the incompetence and pay the money. |
|
By:
Same thing happened me on a new account, i just paid em back tbh
 |
|
By:
Putting myself firmly in the place of the prosecutor in a court of law, my questioning to you would be along the lines of.....C'mon son, you only noticed that bets 'totalling a few grand' hadn't gone from your account till months later? If that's the case, i'm surprised you noticed they took all the money owed in one fell swoop! Lets face it, you were having bets, you knew the money wasn't being taken from your account so you kept on having bets. That doesn't make you a monster, it's probably what many other people would have done too but don't bleat when the mistake gets discovered...........at this point, you agree to pay back monies owed and move on with your life.
|
|
By:
If the bets were with a UK licensed company they would be enforceable under law and they would be perfectly within their rights to take action against you to reclaim the stakes that have not been paid.
Not sure what the law in Gib is however I suspect it is not dissimilar to UK law. I'm sure someone on here will be able to help you with that. What puzzles me is why you would be looking not to pay? Would you be happy if they decided not to pay you your winnings? |
|
By:
Have some fun with the situation. Offer to repay them if they agree to never restrict your Account. Iif they refuse and it goes to court they would then have to admit publicly that they restrict anyone with a chance of winning.
|
|
By:
Gambling debts are not enforceable by UK law. If you made a £1000 bet with a friend on the basis of a handshake, due to there being no legally binding contract (in the form of signed legal documents) you would have no legal responsibility to pay him back.
Similarly with betting firms, the act of them taking money from you in advance and having a licence to operate as a bookmaker constitutes a legally binding contract, if they didn't take the money from you in advance then the obligations of the contract were not fulfilled. (source: law degree) |
|
By:
Thanks for the replies. I genuinely didn't notice at the time that the money had not left my a/c. The biggest single deposit was about 200 euro, but I had so many betting transactions on my a/c that I wasn't closely keeping track of it. I know that sounds silly but it's true. I also made a good profit over the summer and so wasn't surprised that the balance was going well upwards. If Stanjames had written to me and informed me of the error, told me who was at fault, and why, I would have repaid the money originally. However, they gave no notice, accepted no responsibility, and withdrew the money for every deposit at one time for deposits dating back to April 2011 in November. They did this after the legal window (so my bank told me) of 30 days they have to process transactions, and therefore did so fraudulently (again according to my bank). They were also unhelpful and misleading when I discussed these matters with customer services. I realise, morally, they should get their money back, but the way they have behaved, if at all legally possible, I don't want to repay them for their error.
|
|
By:
Also, for what it's worth, before this situation, they had me limited to literally pennies after having a fair few winning bets with them last summer. This has added to my frustration with them as a firm.
|
|
By:
bigdog24 that is complete nonsense.
If you have a law degree I can only say that your post goes to show that education in this country has slipped to a new low. I suggest you go and read the Gambling Act 2005. You might learn something. |
|
By:
They may or may not have made an error with the banking procedures but this does not mean that the contracts are voided.
If a bank accidently put £100k in your account and you spend it you would still be liable to repay it despite the fact that it their error. Be careful of the advice given by bigdog24. It is totally wrong and following it will only get you into further problems. |
|
By:
if they were limiting your A/C to a trickle then explain how karma works in our skewed minds and trickle what you owe back to them, about a fiver a week is about right. If they want to play silly buggers so can you.Paying up isn't going to get you on regularly is it?
|
|
By:
Gambling debts are not enforceable by UK law
You may have a law degree, but you need to get up to date. |
|
By:
I have never forgave them for voiding a winning bet of just £50 when they priced up a rugby team that i bet on and team subsequently won ,then 24 hrs later they claimed they didnt want to offer those odds and gave me my stake back and no winnings.
|
|
By:
**** em, go all the way
|
|
By:
The reason these pony companies choose to operate off shore is not only due to tax evasion, they also enjoy not being bound by UK law.
Punish them for their own incompetence and for everyone out there that has had a problem with a sportsbook and said sportsbook has denied any responsibility. I mean, they already tried to take the entire amount from you with on prior notice, jokers lol. I would not pay them and neither should you. |
|
By:
Reply simply saying........
SEE YOU IN COURT Waste no more time on this matter |
|
By:
has a bookmaker ever taken a punter to court for a gambling debt ?
I doubt it so I personally would not pay as they are shafting their customers on a daily basis my conscience would not be unduly troubled either tbh |
|
By:
Yes, many times.
|
|
By:
If the bank said they acted fraudulently in taking that lumps sum in the manner they did then why not tell them you will sue?
Even if its just a second case on negligence on their part I suspect the technicality would mean you'd be looked favourable upon against an arrogant multi million pound establishment who thinks they can get away with anything. Just a thought....oh and f uk em imo |
|
By:
I've personally attended court for betting related disputes and stood on both sides of the fence , rather than bore you with detail my only advice would be to read all of Banks comments carefully and ignore the vast majority of other posts on the matter.
Also having your name banded around debt recovery lists is something you'd want to avoid and could come back and bite you in other ways. Good luck whatever action you decide to take  |
|
By:
was only having a laugh, chill out. If someone was actually going to take advice from strangers on an internet forum, they really are an idiot.
|
|
By:
was only having a laugh, chill out. If someone was actually going to take advice from strangers on an internet forum, they really are an idiot.
|
|
By:
If they are not registered in the UK, I'd tell them to go screw themselves.
bigdog24, you haven't kept up with the law. Gambling debts are now legally enforcable in Britain courtesy of the aforementioned 2005 Gambling Act. I doubt that the British authorities would be breaking their backs to assist a firm that specifically avoids tax in the way that Stan James do though. Companies that are mercenary enough to base themselves in tax havens deserve every smack in the chops they get, and more. |
|
By:
Post ya bets
 |
|
By:
incidently, isnt there some ruling about time passed since it occured?
there used to be a law, perhaps still around where after 6 months some things get written off.....If a company were to send you an item in error (on an order) and they failed to retrieve it or attempt to rather, then after 6 months it legally becomes yours. If you made the payments originally in good faith and they funked up then.... |
|
By:
aero, legally you owe the money, if you go to court you will lose.
|
|
By:
Tell them you that you have considered their request but your Trading departments risk controls cannot allow a refund on this occasion.
|
|
By:
Tell them you that you have considered their request but your Trading departments risk controls cannot allow a refund on this occasion.
|
|
By:
Tell em to get stuffed.Bookmakers are thieves anyway.
|
|
By:
if you dont pay you will be extradited to the ROCK, wooooooo
 |
|
By:
Scary stuff
 |
|
By:
yeah,
 |
|
By:
Keep the money and put a bid in for Rangers with it.
|
|
By:
People rant about welching bookmakers on the forum all the time but I cannot believe there are some on here advocating a welching punter.ffs you cant expect to have a bet and not pay for it.
|
|
By:
you really need to pay up.
i also would not want my credit rating to be phucked up for the sake of a grand or so. |