A Question for Sportbet

[MonsterNco]

Today during Halftime of the Buffalo vs Tampa Bay Football game. I placed a bet on the side during halftime, while placing the bet I accidently selected the wrong team, that was my mistake, I am not trying to blame Sportbet for that.

Well I selected Buffalo, instead of Tampa. I noticed the mistake in seconds, and called in immeadiately. This all by the way taking place before the teams come back from Halftime. While I'm calling, I am also checking the line to see if it has changed,which it hasnt. When I talk to the Operator, I explain my mistake telling her it was my fault. I ask if I can switch over to Tampa, The line hasnt changed, the second half hasnt started, I just made a mistake.

I was told I would not be aloud to change, well I'm sure that is your rule on that and I Understand. You are protecting yourself against fraud, you cant let people just change there bet after they have been made, although I wasnt trying to gain an advantage on your book.

Anyway that Money is gone so I will just live with it, but I have a question.


I made a mistake, the same as if you posted a bad line, I just selected the wrong team, its bascially the same as if you accidently made Baltimore +15.5. So if someone places a bet on a line that is off, I guess the bet stands. Since in principle they are both mistakes. If not why are they different?

I would just feel better understanding where you are coming from.

P.S. I've have never made that mistake before, over 2 years of placing halftime bets on the internet. I just wanted it understood that I dont make a practice of trying to switch my bets after making them.

[tim]

You have been fortunate not to have had to deal with Sportbet's clerks until today. The ONLY way to bet with these guys is over the internet. Believe me, it's a cheap lesson. In the wake of this U.S. election fiasco, people have been calling the U.S. a "third world country", but when I think of my conversations with Sportbet's personnel...one is reminded of the true meaning of that phrase.

[sportshobby]

I can understand sportsbooks taking the "a bet is a bet" philosophy, or taking the "mistakes can be corrected" philosophy. But I just don't see how a sportsbook can have one policy for the player and another for the book.

[Chester]

MonsterNco,
Hi my name is Chester and if you will call me at the office I will try to clear things up for you on this matter. I am the wagering director here at www.Sportbet.com
Good luck to all with your future wagers.
Chester

[Socceroo]

Hi Sportshobby - I get the impression that we have been here before not too long ago.

monsternco - I cannot speak for sportbet personally because I have never dealt with them (and before I get accused of it, I am not nor have I ever been Sportbet). I will not defend sportsbooks on this policy that you have become an unfortunate victim of, because I totally disagree with it, but in a way I do understand it. So if it makes the pill any sweeter for you I will give you my 2 cents.

You are not the first person to make a mistake and I can tell from the tone of your post that you would be the last guy to try and screw a book. Unfortunatly we live in a world full of the the type of people that would be only too happy to screw a book by taking a bad line or changing a bet because it suited them better. In order for books to protect themselves from the many sharks out there they have to adopt these blanket policies.

As tim correctly states though, many of these books do not have the infrastructure in place for their CS reps to be able to differentiate between the crooks and the genuine guys, therefore they are not allowed to use the discretion that your situation so obviously called for. This situation can only be resolved by a) sportbooks spending more time and resources selecting and training staff to a higher standard. or b) The US government dropping this insane crusade against the 'despicable crime' of enjoying sport to the full. Then you would be able to bet in your own country with your own clerks. Ill take odds on which one if any you feel has the best chace of happening.

I realise that this offers no comfort what so ever to you in your plight, and I have complete sympathy with you.

[GM]

MonsterNCO, Sportshobby, and Socceroo,

Thank you very much for your professionalism when dealing with this type of situation. You folks are the type of players any sportsbook would welcome, in that you don't result to vile tactics to get an answer. I appreciate that. First, allow me to apologize for the delay in my response. I managed to take a couple of days off this past week. Now to deal with the situation at hand.
Unfortunately, I cannot be fully aware of how the situation transpired, but the way Monster describes it sounds accurate. It is our policy not to delete wagers made over the internet. However, there are always extenuating (sp?) circumstances. Monster, please contact me at 800-214-1788 and ask for Jake. I will see what I can do.

Tim,

I really am perplexed as to your posting. If you have ever received less than excellent service from any of our personell, I would be interested in finding out by whom and when. If you don't want to name names, that is fine, just let me know what happened. Tim, if you feel that you don't get treated the way that you would like, I would be very interested in hearing how we can improve. Please call me at 800-214-1788. Thank you for taking the time to respond to me and thank you for using our services. I sincerely hope, and am quite confident, that we will be changing your opinion of us in the not so distant future.

Look guys and gals, everybody wants everybody else to understand their point of view. Sometimes, after listening to a client's plight, we can help. Sometimes we won't tell you what you want to hear. The former is "great customer service", the latter is "their customer service clerks are horrible!" I am here to tell you that I promise to try my best to make you all happy, but I know the old saying. "You can make all of the people happy some of the time, and you can make some of the people happy all of the time, but you can't make all of the people happy all of the time."

If anybody else would like to talk to me personally, feel free to call. In the meantime, best of luck this week!!

Jake Slater
General Manager
Sportbet and Island Casino

[stardust]

I made that same mistake at two different books. One voided my wager and the other did not.

I still play at both places and don't hold it against them that they wouldn't cancel the wager. Myu fault, my expense.

Come to think of it, I haven't made that mistake again.

As always - Good Luck,

Sonny

[MonsterNco]

Well Jake was nice enough to void the bet, I've never done that on a second half wager before and if I do it again I will either buy the bet back, lose the vig, or just live with the wager. Jake was good enough to understand what had happen, and that I was not trying to pull something over on him. Sometimes mistakes happen and its great to deal with a book that will give you a fair chance to state your side.