Betfair account issues

Aristotle67

When I try and log in to the Betfair Exchange I get a message saying my account is closed.

I have no idea why this might be. I have been a customer of the Betfair Exchange for 20 years and in the past have enjoyed hospitailty at major events from them. At one time I was a VIP Customer with an assigned account manager. I have never used my account incorrectly.

When I try and get a response from livechat I get transferred to a "specialist team" but then there is no response from this team despite me waiting for hours on the livechat. On one occasion my enquiry was escalated to the Complaints Team who said they will be in touch by email but it could take up to eight weeks. I have even emailed the MD of Betfair, Richard Hayward, but have yet to receive a response. 

This is not acceptable. I have unused funds in Betfair which I cannot access. I have bets placed on events scheduled for the Christmas period which I cannot access. I have received no email explaining my account has been closed or any return of funds to my bank. I have no idea what has happened here. 

It surely cannot be legal for Betfair to deny me access to my monies and I can only conclude there must be some major mistake. But as no one will speak with me I do not know what to do. 

Any advice is greatly appreciated. 

powerful_Rogue

Aristotle67 said:

When I try and log in to the Betfair Exchange I get a message saying my account is closed.

I have no idea why this might be. I have been a customer of the Betfair Exchange for 20 years and in the past have enjoyed hospitailty at major events from them. At one time I was a VIP Customer with an assigned account manager. I have never used my account incorrectly.

When I try and get a response from livechat I get transferred to a "specialist team" but then there is no response from this team despite me waiting for hours on the livechat. On one occasion my enquiry was escalated to the Complaints Team who said they will be in touch by email but it could take up to eight weeks. I have even emailed the MD of Betfair, Richard Hayward, but have yet to receive a response. 

This is not acceptable. I have unused funds in Betfair which I cannot access. I have bets placed on events scheduled for the Christmas period which I cannot access. I have received no email explaining my account has been closed or any return of funds to my bank. I have no idea what has happened here. 

It surely cannot be legal for Betfair to deny me access to my monies and I can only conclude there must be some major mistake. But as no one will speak with me I do not know what to do. 

Any advice is greatly appreciated. 

Covered in their T&C's.

Suspension or Termination of Your Account by Us

13.1 If we have reasonable grounds to suspect that you have engaged in any Prohibited Activity, we will suspend your Account without notification, and your Account will remain suspended while the matter is investigated. You agree to cooperate fully with any such investigation. Your funds cannot be accessed or withdrawn during periods of suspension, and any balance will remain in the Account. We may also make a report to the relevant regulatory or law enforcement authorities.13.2 If our investigation results in our decision (acting reasonably) that the issue has been resolved to our satisfaction, we will lift the Account suspension. If our investigation results in our decision (acting reasonably) that you have engaged in any Prohibited Activity, we will restrict or permanently close your Account. In these circumstances, your details may be passed on to any applicable regulatory or law enforcement authorities or any other relevant external third parties.13.3 We may also from time to time be required by a competent authority to restrict, suspend or close Accounts for legal or regulatory reasons. Such restrictions, if applicable, may affect your use of your Account.13.4 We are also entitled to close your Account at any time for any reason (and without the obligation to provide a reason) by giving you no less than 14 days' written notice.13.5 Any balance in your Account at the time of any closure by us will be paid back to you, except that:
13.5.1 if you have engaged in illegal activity, we are under no obligation to refund to you any money that may be in your Account; and13.5.2 if we discover or determine (acting reasonably) that you have participated in any Prohibited Activities then we will void any affected transactions/Bets/string of connected Bets, withhold all or part of your Account balance which is attributable to those Prohibited Activities, recover from your Account deposits, pay-outs, bonuses and/or any winnings (if/as applicable) which are attributable to those Prohibited Activities and/or take any other action that we deem necessary. If you have withdrawn any sums which are attributable to Prohibited Activities, such sums shall be deemed to be held by you on trust for us and must be immediately repaid to us when a demand for payment is made by us to you.

https://www.betfair.com/aboutUs/Terms.and.Conditions/#suspend

born_again

It is legal for them to block accounts & withhold funds if they have a reasonable reason to believe improper conduct.
They also do not have to respond till they have a outcome of the situation. Even a complaint will not speed up anything.
It will be down to the team dealing with this to respond. Front line staff will not be able to do anything or even advise what the problem is.

Aristotle67

Thanks, but they have no reasonable reason whatsoever to believe any improper conduct has taken place. 

As I say I am a long standing account holder and have had no issues previously. The only current bets on my account are some lays on the antepost markets for the King George Chase on Boxing Day and the Welsh Grand National. The liability in question is no more than £500. I also have some back bets on the series score in the Ashes but these are less than £40 in total. These days I am a much smaller player than previously.

Even if they had a suspicion of improper conduct, I would have expected an email explaining the situation to me which would allow me to cooperate fully with them. I can easily explain and justify all bets, none of which are suspicious.

The account is not coming up as blocked or suspended; it is coming up as closed. I just do not understand this at all. 

MeteredOut

If betting companies suspect prohibited activity, they cannot engage with the person. Companies, and employees working there, can be heavily censured/fined if "tipping off" takes place, even mistakenly. As stated above, if you manage to speak to someone, and if you are told anything, it won't be any more than "we are investigating something".

Do you have much of a balance in your account? 

powerful_Rogue

Aristotle67 said:

Thanks, but they have no reasonable reason whatsoever to believe any improper conduct has taken place. 

As I say I am a long standing account holder and have had no issues previously. The only current bets on my account are some lays on the antepost markets for the King George Chase on Boxing Day and the Welsh Grand National. The liability in question is no more than £500. I also have some back bets on the series score in the Ashes but these are less than £40 in total. These days I am a much smaller player than previously.

Even if they had a suspicion of improper conduct, I would have expected an email explaining the situation to me which would allow me to cooperate fully with them. I can easily explain and justify all bets, none of which are suspicious.

The account is not coming up as blocked or suspended; it is coming up as closed. I just do not understand this at all. 

Clearly they do or they wouldn't have closed/suspended your account.

As for letting you know, this is covered in the very first part of the T&C's posted. 'If we have reasonable grounds to suspect that you have engaged in any Prohibited Activity, we will suspend your Account without notification'

Speaking from experience, I think you're very unlikely to get your account back. If you do - buy a lottery ticket!

Aristotle67

No they do not! There is most definitely no prohibited activity. And if there was, why haven't they said that is the reason?

As I say, I would expect any account where that was suspected to be suspended, not closed. I have been a professional sports trader for well over twenty years with no problems. At the height of my business I once had typical total liabilites of over £250,000 in one month. That was over twelve years ago. I was a big player. 

I have only a high three figure balance in Betfair at present 90% of which is committed on upcoming races. Chicken feed compared to the level at which I was playing. And no change in market or bet types so I do not know what the issue can be. My best guess is there is a serious mistake somewhere. 

A lesser guess is that there were data breaches at Betfair earlier this year and, if breaches are an ongoing possibility, I am concerned that my account has been compromised. I have spoken with people who I know worked with Betfair and they cannot explain the situation. The closure is what is puzzling to them and to me. If they would just get in touch with me directly I am sure that the matter can be resolved instantly. 

Denying someone access to their funds can be a criminal offence. I can pursue this myself and looks like I will have to do so. 

Edited to add. Something has come to mind. I say I haven't had any problems but a few years ago I now recall a similar thing that occurred (I am getting old). If memory serves, and that is not a given, Betfair were concerned about either the lay bets I was making which were the lay side of arbitrage back bets in Bookmakers' shops, or the regular deposits I was making to cover these. I cannot recall which. I managed to get in touch with someone at Betfair who was "old school Betfair" and who therefore understood precisely the nature of my lay betting. I was also able to provide copies of the back bet slips that corresponded to the lay bets and all was well. If that situation has arisen again, I can once more provide what is required. 

I have managed to get out of someone on chat the the account is "closed for review", but that is all. 

eskbanker

powerful_Rogue said:

Aristotle67 said:

Thanks, but they have no reasonable reason whatsoever to believe any improper conduct has taken place. 

Clearly they do or they wouldn't have closed/suspended your account.

Aristotle67 said:

No they do not! There is most definitely no prohibited activity.

Nobody is saying there is, but the test is that they have reasonable grounds to believe that there's something that needs to be investigated - you are understandably adamant that there's nothing that you know about, but at this stage can't know what they're referring to, while the investigation proceeds.  As you recognise, it's possible that the account was compromised and used for something untoward without your knowledge, for example?

Aristotle67 said:

Denying someone access to their funds can be a criminal offence.

Which law do you contend they're breaking?

Aristotle67

eskbanker said:

Which law do you contend they're breaking?

I can identify a few possibilites but I am not going to do so in an open forum.

Before I went professional as a sports trader/punter I was an academic lawyer and consultant; criminal law was one of my areas of interest. I am pretty confident on that aspect of the current situation.

Isthisforreal99

Course you were.

eskbanker

Aristotle67 said:

eskbanker said:

Which law do you contend they're breaking?

I can identify a few possibilites but I am not going to do so in an open forum.

Before I went professional as a sports trader/punter I was an academic lawyer and consultant; criminal law was one of my areas of interest. I am pretty confident on that aspect of the current situation.

OK, but your previous comment on the subject didn't exactly exude confidence:

Aristotle67 said:

It surely cannot be legal for Betfair to deny me access to my monies...