Two of Australia’s biggest bookmakers have been accused of brazenly trying to rob their own punters before reluctantly admitting their ‘mistakes’.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal Sportsbet was caught trying to cheat a punter out of $658 winnings on a $350 bet he placed on a T20 cricket match between Saudi Arabia and Cambodia on Monday.
Faisal Khan’s effort would have seen over 86.5 runs, and the Saudi delivered, going on to smash 101 runs before being caught.
But Sportsbet refused to pay out and declared the bet a loss.
The Melbourne gambler – who wanted to be known only as Cameron – told Daily Mail Australia he was stunned by the decision.
But the apology from a Sportsbet customer service representative turned his shock into utter disgust.
In that online chat, provided to Daily Mail Australia, Sportsbet dismissed the issue as nothing more than a routine error.
“Everyone makes mistakes sometimes,” Sportsbet support worker Lucien told Cameron. ‘It is now solved if you renew. Is that all for today?’
Pictured: Saudi cricketer Faisal Khan
Sportsbet dismissed the failure to pay out the win as simply a ‘mistake’
The customer service representative declined to discuss the error further and instead activated their AI chatbot to ask if Cameron would recommend Sportsbet to a fellow gambler.
When Cameron continued to press for answers, he was met with a ‘punishment’ by the useless representative.
“You treat your customers like shit,” Cameron lashed out.
‘Wow. That’s a penalty Cameron. There’s no need for that kind of language,” the representative replied, with a thumbs down and a somber emoji.
“Let’s both take a deep breath and you can tell me what I can help you with (add a keyboard emoji and a finger pointing down).”
Sportsbet corporate communications manager Luke Holmesby repeated the excuse that ‘mistakes happen’ when questioned by Daily Mail Australia about the row.
“This was a manual error in our pricing and settlement process,” he said. ‘After a customer reported the market was immediately re-settled and the bet was paid out immediately.
‘Sportsbet has extensive rescheduling documentation and process guidelines in place to address any errors. We encourage any customer who believes an error has been made to contact us directly.”
This bet was a winner but was settled as a loss until Sportsbet was reminded it was a winner, and then it was again
A Sportsbet customer service representative took issue with old-fashioned Australian feedback
A Victoria Police source told Daily Mail Australia that in all his years of investigating gambling practices he had never come across a major gambling agency making a similar ‘mistake’.
“Believe it or not, I’ve never heard of this,” he said. “I would think it’s an automated calculation from any sports betting authority.
‘I do know that they outsource all markets to independent betting ‘experts’ to determine the prices of all fields.
“I would have thought that once it’s all deposited, it would be an automatically calculated deposit into your account.”
Sportsbet is largely unregulated in Victoria, as it is registered as a bookmaker in the Northern Territory.
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission can only investigate whether it is in breach of the Victorian Ministerial Guidelines for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation.
Cameron told Daily Mail Australia he was now placing his bets with Sportsbet rival, Bet365.
“Sportsbet doesn’t give me any promos,” he added. ‘I can’t even make bets with friends.
“Sometimes I try to place a $500 live bet, paying $1.85, and they say my max is $12. As soon as you start winning, they interrupt you.
‘No industry in the world treats its customers worse than betting agencies.’
Antiques dealer Frank Grulli, 75, from Melbourne agrees. He has been feuding with TAB since the day of the Melbourne Cup, when he won a $7000 jackpot on the winner Knight’s Choice at odds of 151 to 1.
An email from the TAB demanding that Mr Grulli obtain a legal declaration confirming his identity
But the TAB refused to allow him to withdraw his winnings due to a slight discrepancy with the date of birth on his account.
Mr Grulli claims the mistake was made by the betting agency.
“I know my date of birth,” he said. “But they want me to sign a stat dec and do all this other stuff, and they won’t let me withdraw my winnings.
‘They blocked my account, but I can still bet and I can still deposit money.
‘They want a status with a driver’s license. I offered to go to the main office with my driver’s license and do it directly, and they said “No, you have to do it online”.
“Because of my age, I have a hard time downloading things and doing them online.”
Mr Grulli said the ordeal had caused him great stress.
Frank Grulli, 75, has been feuding with TAB since the day of the Melbourne Cup, when he won a $7000 jackpot on the winner Knight’s Choice (pictured), which had odds of 151 to 1.
“I’m just a small gambler so I’ve never really withdrawn any money from my account… usually I just leave it there and make small bets,” he added.
“I’ve never really had big wins, maybe $500. This was seven thousand… and now I’ve already put a thousand in because I couldn’t get it out. So they just force you to bet.’
On Wednesday, after being alerted to the issue by Daily Mail Australia, Ms Grulli’s winnings were released by the TAB.
The gambling giant declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.