William Hill – problem withdrawing funds

AuntyC

Apologies – this is a petty query within the grand scheme of things, but I'm going to ask anyway.

Last week I decided – at short notice – to have a flutter on a Six Nations game. I opted for William Hill's online service as they appeared to be offering a deal where you pay £10 and you get £60 credit to use on other bets. I deposited £10, via PayPal, using funds already in my account, and placed a bet, but the extra (£60) credit didn't show up. In an attempt to sort this out, I cancelled the original bet and ran out of time before I could place it again. (Actually a good move, as it would have been a loser anyway!) 

I decided to withdraw the £10 deposit before I forgot about it, but was told my account was locked and I'd need to contact customer services. A bit of Googling suggested waiting a while to see if the situation resolved itself, so I left it another week (until today) and tried again. Still locked, so my £10 is trapped in the account.

I tried customer service chat – clearly working from a script with hands very much tied. Helped as much as they could but effectively useless.

Anyway, it seems I'll have to jump through all sorts of hoops to get my tenner back. They're asking for selfies of me holding:

• My passport as ID.
• My William Hill username or account number handwritten on paper.
• Proof of address – bank or credit card statement with the William Hill transaction clearly marked.
• Proof of ownership for the payment methods used to deposit funds into my account.

I understand the need for a certain level of caution re. security – and obviously, there will be sums involved that are higher than my tenner! However:

• I find the whole 'selfie' request thing unnecessarily intrusive. (And it assumes you have the kit/means to provide this.)
• In comparison, I seem able to move money in and out of my National Lottery account quickly and easily.
• They're asking for this info to be sent by email – which surely lays me open to the risk of identity theft? (I think there's a secure portal so I've requested details for that.)
• Again, the deposit was made using existing funds in my PayPal account, rather than funds transferred from my bank via PayPal, so they're asking to see a bank statement entry that doesn't exist. And, even if there had been a bank transfer, it would merely show up as "PayPal" on my statement. (I sent a grab of the PayPal transaction showing the payment to William Hill, but this isn't sufficient.)
• They seemed happy enough to open my account and accept the deposit without any security checks, but my asking for a simple refund directly to the source of my original payment is being refused. (I've basically said, please close my account and refund any outstanding balance.)
• I'm also getting the impression that retrieving my money will hinge very much on the discretion of the 'security team', meaning it may be lost.

It just makes me wonder (pure speculation on my part, just to be clear), is William Hill coining it in from casual betters who can't meet these security demands or who simply can't be bothered to go through this palaver to retrieve small amounts? (Or who have the same concerns as I do about submitting so much sensitive information.) More worrying, are other people in a similar situation involving larger sums that they may need to access more urgently?

Any thoughts or advice gratefully received.

goater78

You’ve deposited £10 and then tried to withdraw £10 without spending it. You’re basically ticking a lot of money laundering boxes. You’re going to have to jump through all these hoops to get your money back. 

HillStreetBlues

goater78 said:

You’ve deposited £10 and then tried to withdraw £10 without spending it. You’re basically ticking a lot of money laundering boxes. You’re going to have to jump through all these hoops to get your money back. 

Yes, lots of people who money launder pay the money back into the same account!

goater78

HillStreetBlues said:

goater78 said:

You’ve deposited £10 and then tried to withdraw £10 without spending it. You’re basically ticking a lot of money laundering boxes. You’re going to have to jump through all these hoops to get your money back. 

Yes, lots of people who money launder pay the money back into the same account!

It was going to PayPal though

user1977

If they've decided those are appropriate security precautions, telling them you can't be bothered with them isn't really going to cut much ice.

You can get over the "intrusive" thing about the selfie, there appears to be a solution to the email security point, so that only leaves the bank statement point as an actual issue, correct?

ellenvan

Can you not use the money on another bet? May be easier.

goater78

Sounds like the account is locked now. 

born_again

HillStreetBlues said:

goater78 said:

You’ve deposited £10 and then tried to withdraw £10 without spending it. You’re basically ticking a lot of money laundering boxes. You’re going to have to jump through all these hoops to get your money back. 

Yes, lots of people who money launder pay the money back into the same account!

Hacked paypal account? Would not be the 1st or last time.

End of the day OP has 2 choices. Wash their hands of it & lose £10 (bet lost anyway) or jump through their hoops to get the £10 back & have a working account. 

newatc

Put it down to experience and keep away from on-line bookmakers.

Aylesbury_Duck

newatc said:

Put it down to experience and keep away from on-line bookmakers.

Or any bookmakers, for that matter. This is a money-saving site, after all.

tightauldgit

ellenvan said:

Can you not use the money on another bet? May be easier.

Even if they could they wouldnt be able to  withdraw any winings