Betting company taken money but won't accept identity and won't refund

Dischordant

Hi guys - I tried to place a bet on the website betstars.uk 2 days ago.
It was not a large amount (150) but they wanted to do a security check. Fine I thought - I filled in all the required info as best I could (most of my statements now online so had to screenshot those) and sent that off.

They wouldn't accept electronic copies and demanded I print it. Unfortunately when I try to print their document part of the pdf doesn't print.

This was turning into a real hassle so I just used a different website and asked betstars.uk to cancel my bet and return my deposit.

They refuse to do this because they say I need to prove who I am before they will cancel the deposit I made.

Further attempts I have made to prove I am me have also been met with mass copied and pasted requirements or no reply. I have now sent/received over 20emails with a company I do not want to do business with.

Is this really legal?

What can I do? They have no telephone contact details and their email responses are always a different random person. I don't even care about proving I am me to place the bet any more I just want my £150 returned.

In case it makes any difference it was betting on the UK election so the outcome not known..but obviously the longer they take to resolve this the more contentious this could become!

Please help!

Many thanks,

Darren

angryparcel

it looks like they are a Canadian operation
The domain is registered in the Isle of Man, but the company is canadian

https://whois.domaintools.com/betstars.uk
http://www.amaya.com/rational-group/

but yes you will need to prove who you are. this is to do with the 'Money Laundering Regulations' ('2017 MLRs ')

Dischordant

I don't understand why that would prevent them refunding the money to the account they took it from.

worldlad909

Contact your bank straight away and start the chargeback procedure.

IAmWales

worldlad909 wrote: »

Contact your bank straight away and start the chargeback procedure.

The money has been used to place a bet that cannot be cancelled. The bank will not allow a chargeback.

Takeaway_Addict

IAmWales wrote: »

The money has been used to place a bet that cannot be cancelled. The bank will not allow a chargeback.

Not it hasn't

dacouch

Or this guy can help

https://justiceforpunters.org/

photome

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Not it hasn't

Are you sure

The op states it was a deposit but then goes on to say what the bet was on. If it was just a deposit then there would be no need to mention the bet as the bookies wouldn't know what the deposit was for if the bet hadn't been made

angryparcel

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Not it hasn't

This says it was a bet as why would he ask them to cancel a bet he has not placed.

Dischordant wrote: »

This was turning into a real hassle so I just used a different website and asked betstars.uk to cancel my bet and return my deposit.

daytona0

WOW!

That's pokerstars!!

Let me put it straight to you.... Pokerstars is probably one of the biggest and most legitimate poker sites going! They've been going for at least 12 years and their sportsbook has been going for a for a few years now (though I didn't realise they had expanded to betstars.uk). Back when Ultimatebet, Full Tilt and other sites were cheating people out of money Pokerstars was being pretty much above board!

Inclined to believe that the problem is on your end and not theirs....



Plus, what the hell are you betting on?! Checking a website (https://www.oddschecker.com) which compares bookies with betstars and I'm struggling to find ANY market whereby betstars offers better odds than the rivals for the Election....

Dischordant

Thanks Guys - I guess I just have to keep trying to jump through their hoops. Basically they started being crazy with not accepting my security evidence so I just used a different website to place the bet and told them to just cancel it.

I was betting on a hung parliament odds of 5 to 1.