reality BYTES Sunday, May 31, 2009 By Adrian Weckler A few weeks ago, I placed a considerable bet on Manchester United winning the English Premier League.
I am a Liverpool fan, you see. The prospect of United equalling Liverpool’s proud record of 18 league titles was more than I could stomach. So I placed a large bet on United with an online bookmaker. If United did win, at least I would be handsomely compensated (not that any amount of money could compensate a genuine Liverpool fan this year).
As it happened, my worst fears were realised and United won the league.
Logging on to collect my winnings, I noticed that the bookmaker I used, WilliamHill.ie, had not reimbursed my credit card. Confused, I searched the site for a winnings transfer button. Seeing none available, I rang the website’s help centre. ‘‘Hi, I don’t seem to be able to claim my winnings.”
‘‘Okay, let me see . . . ah yes, you bet using a Mastercard.” ‘‘Yes, I did.”
‘‘Ah yes, we can’t credit Mastercard accounts. I need you to send us a copy of your passport, a utility bill and your credit card.” ‘‘What? Why can’t you credit my Mastercard? I used that card to place the bet.”
‘‘Unfortunately, we cannot credit that account, due to anti-money laundering legislation.”
‘‘Anti-money laundering legislation? But I placed the bet using that card.”
‘‘Yes, but we cannot credit it.”
‘‘Where does it say that on the website? I had no idea that was the case.” ‘‘If you look in our terms and conditions, it says that we comply with anti-money laundering legislation and that proof of identity may sometimes be required.”
‘‘But that’s completely buried within your website. I didn’t see that at all. If I had known that, I would have chosen a different way to pay, like Paypal.”
‘‘Yes, we accept Paypal.” ‘‘Yes, I know you do. I would have used it. Can you credit my Paypal account now if I give you my details?”
‘‘No, we can’t do that. We need a copy of your passport, a utility bill and your credit card. If you like you can fax them through or take a photo of them and e-mail them through.”
‘‘But if anyone intercepts that information, they could take over my finances.”
‘‘It’s a secure fax line.” ‘‘Don’t you think you could have put this somewhere on the website where someone using a Mastercard to place a bet might see it?”
‘‘It is on our website, sir, in our terms and conditions.”
Following this exchange, I rang other prominent bookmakers to see if their websites had the same restrictions.
A spokesman for Paddy Power said that it operated the same rules as William Hill with regard to Mastercard.
Upon further investigation, I discovered that Irish banks issuing Mastercard have signed up to an industry convention involving Mastercard. The convention states that Mastercard transactions involving betting institutions – such as bookmakers or casinos – are flagged as being potentially suspicious. As such, it disallows money from such institutions to be credited to Mastercard accounts.
But the convention does not prevent you spending money on Irish bookies’ websites. It only appears to prevent you claiming your winnings.
Now, I am a very infrequent gambler, and I do not wish to make a federal case for the consumer rights of online gamblers. But the current system operated by William Hill.
ie, PaddyPower.ie and other bookmaking websites is misleading and unfair.
They do not properly mention the restrictions associated with claiming prize money on their websites. And they do not say that, if you use a Mastercard to place your bet, you must take a huge security risk with your financial details to claim your stake and your winnings. They should change this system immediately.
|
Text-Only