betoto/ bwin stole my money (EUR 13,700)

[maria78]

I have a dispute with a gambling company betoto.com with the website <http://betoto.com/> a subsidiary of Bwin International Ltd which is registered in Austria and Gibraltar.
Please read below a short description of my dispute with betoto/ bwin.
I opened an account with www.betoto.com on 5th August 2009 and I made deposits with a total amount of EURO 3,122.

In the period August 2009 - February 12th 2010 I succeed to bring up the balance to about 16,700 EURO. 99% of my bets have been placed on live (in-play) games. Considering that for all the live games there is a trader who manages the odds and reviews the bets there is not way that my bets have been placed in another way than a lawful manner. Most of the bets have been of for 100-250 EURO which is well below the maximum limit.

All the money from my sports betting account had been earned by placing hundreds of individual bets and I did not receive any free bets or bonuses from the bookmaker. I did not play poker or other casino games.

Without notice on February 12th 2010 betoto.com <http://betoto.com> has disabled my account and I can not log to my account to withdraw the balance of the account.

I have contacted the betoto’s customer service and I have provided them a scanned copy of my ID card issued by the Romanian Police and my last Vodafone phone bill, as they requested in order to check my identity and personal details (full name, address, birth date etc).

After I sent them all the documents they have requested I have asked them to send the money (EURO 16,700) in my moneybookers account which I used to make the deposits to betoto account, in case they do not want to re-open my account in order to be able to withdraw my money in balance.
They have returned only the money I have deposited (EURO 3,122) but they have not returned the full balance accrued in the betoto account (EURO 16,700). I have asked them why they did not return the full balance (including the money which I won in 6 month during which I placed hundreds of bets) and I have asked them if I still have to provide them additional documents (confirmation from the bank, confirmation from Romanian Police etc.) but they did not ask any additional documents.

According to Gambling Act 2005 and Bwin/Betoto Terms and Conditions at point 5 Registration/ Account in case they decide to close a client account they have to return the customer's money accrued in the account balance as of the time they closed the account.

According to the terms and conditions bets can be made only using real money. Considering that before my account has been closed I could place bets using the entire balance of 16,700 means that real money stands for the entire balance of 16,700 EURO.
What betoto.com did is an unacceptable abuse and do not comply with Gambling Code of Conduct, Gambling Act 2005 and Terms and Conditions. If I would have lost the money my account would be still opened.
The money has been won by making bets on hundreds of live/ in-play games.

When I open the account I was convinced that being part of Bwin Group will be an extra guarantee for the safety of the money I deposit and win, but it seems that I was wrong.

After more than 11 months they are still refusing to pay me the money I won.
I can send you the full history of my account and I'm open to provide you any document to support the case.What betoto/ bwin did is a fraud as they have stolen the money I had in the account.

[jon2322]

Wow that's harsh. You have screen shots of betting history?

[maria78]

I have the full history in pdf file...Can I upload the files here?

[dreamylittledream]

Hmm you managed to get a balance of over 13k euros despite max bet at betoto being a default of 10 euors?

I think not.

[LFC81Eoin]

Hmm you managed to get a balance of over 13k euros despite max bet at betoto being a default of 10 euors?

I think not.

Max bet not 10 euros for everyone , I have bet up to 1k there , have not tried for more .I think maybe uk is 10 euro max .

[Fender]

Something not right here. If this dispute has be going on for nearly a year, at some point they must have told you why they were refusing to pay you your winnings, and only returning your deposit. So what excuse did they give?

[maria78]

You can see some of the emails received from betoto, they only say that I have violated the T&C but I do not know how. I did not receive any bonus or free bet and I have hundreds of bets in 6 months:

1.
Thank you for your e-mail.

We apologise for the delay in responding to your query.

We can confirm that your account has been closed for security reasons and will not be reopened. You are not eligible to open another account within our company.

Here is a reminder of our terms and conditions:

" 4. The company reserves the right to exclude users from participating in any of the games of bwin International Ltd. at its discretion."

https://help.betoto.com/General/Lega...l_tac_bto.aspx

In order to return your MoneyBookers inpayments please send us a copy of your passport and a recent utility bill valid within the last three months.

A utility bill can be any one of the following:

- telephone landline bill,
- water, gas or electricity bill

You can send us a scanned copy or a digital photo of these documents by fax to 0043 1 585 60 44 10. Please write down your user ID on the copy and make sure that your name and date of birth are legible.

We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further queries.

Best regards,

Your customer service team at Betoto.com
mailto:support.en@betoto.com
URL: www.betoto.com

betoto.com acknowledges its commitment to responsible gaming


2.
Thank you for your e-mails.

We have received your query regarding the review of your bwin account and your balance query. This has already been forwarded to the relevant department. They are investigating this case for you. We kindly ask for your continued patience as they provide us with the relevant information. In the meantime, we regret to inform that your account will remain temporarily blocked.

Please note, that we are unable to comment on the grounds of the blocking

Please see our Terms and conditions:
" 4. The company reserves the right to exclude users from participating in any of the games of bwin International Ltd. at its discretion."

(https://help.betoto.com/General/Lega...l_tac_bto.aspx)

Please be advised that our terms and conditions also state:

"5. In case of suspected manipulations or fraud, and in case of any violation of these Terms and Conditions, in particular the multiple simultaneous participation in games and the opening of several accounts, the company may exclude the respective customer from placing further bets and from participating in other games. Any criminal or suspicious activities may be reported to the appropriate authorities."

https://help.betoto.com/General/Lega...l_tac_bto.aspx

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and would suggest that you continue to be patient.

Best regards,

Your customer service team at Betoto.com
mailto:support.en@betoto.com
URL: www.betoto.com

betoto.com acknowledges its commitment to responsible gaming

3.
Thank you for your e-mail.

We can confirm that your MoneyBookers deposits have been sent back to your MoneyBookers account. These are the only funds you are entitled to and no further outpayment of funds will be made.

Since the 05.08.2009 you have made four inpayments to our company totalling 3.122,00 Euro. You have been returned two payments one of 1.700,00 EUR and the other of 1.422,00 EUR.

This is our final decision and we will not communicate further in relation to this issue. Please allow us to refer you to the relevant sections of our terms and conditions:

" 4. The company reserves the right to exclude users from participating in any of the games of bwin International Ltd. at its discretion."

"5. In case of suspected manipulations or fraud, and in case of any violation of these Terms and Conditions, in particular the multiple simultaneous participation in games and the opening of several accounts, the company may exclude the respective customer from placing further bets and from participating in other games. Any criminal or suspicious activities may be reported to the appropriate authorities."

4.


With regards to the decision taken on your account, we would like to inform you that we possess enough evidence of the violation of the Terms and Conditions from your side. The decision to block your account and not to pay any balance has been taken in compliance with the following paragraph:

<< In case of () any violation of these Terms and Conditions, in particular the multiple simultaneous participation in games and the opening of several accounts, the company may exclude the respective user from placing further bets and from participating in other games. Any criminal or suspicious activities may be reported to the appropriate authorities. In such a case, the company will pay the user any real money balance in his betting account after deducting a handling charge of 10%, provided that this has been acquired in a lawful manner ().>>

https://help.betoto.com/General/Lega...l_tac_bto.aspx

The decision is final.

Kind regards,

Your betoto.com customer service team

5.
Thank you for your e-mail.

We kindly ask that you take into account the whole content of the following paragraph, particularly the final sentence:

<< In such a case, the company will pay the customer any real money balance in his betting account after deducting a handling charge of 10%, provided that this has been acquired in a lawful manner. >>

In addition to that, we remind you that you have received all of your deposited amounts back and therefore no further funds will be forthcoming.

With communication we consider this matter as settled.

Kind regards,

Your betoto.com customer service team

betoto.com acknowledges its commitment to responsible gaming

6.
Thank you for your e-mail.

We kindly ask that you take into account the whole content of the following paragraph, particularly the final sentence:

<< In such a case, the company will pay the customer any real money balance in his betting account after deducting a handling charge of 10%, provided that this has been acquired in a lawful manner. >>

In addition to that, we remind you that you have received all of your deposited amounts back and therefore no further funds will be forthcoming. We will not discuss this issue further as you have been informed on several occasions that no other funds will be released. We have returned your deposits and therefore we owe no other monies.

With this communication we consider this matter as settled. All further communication from yourself will not be responded to. We regret that we have to take this step.

Kind regards,

Your betoto.com customer service team

[maria78]

I have asked them to request the Romanian police to investigate but they do not want.
I send them all the documents they asked (ID card, a recent bill, bank statement, print screen of moneybookers account). All my personal details were correct.
They sent me only the money I have deposited but all the winnings (about EUR 13,700) are still in the account which I can not access.
As I mentioned I made bets of 150-250 EUR.

[Fender]

Unless they are prepared to spell out what terms you have violated, they MUST pay you your full balance, particually as no bonus funds are involved.

This I find interesting:

In case of () any violation of these Terms and Conditions, in particular the multiple simultaneous participation in games and the opening of several accounts, the company may exclude the respective user from placing further bets and from participating in other games. Any criminal or suspicious activities may be reported to the appropriate authorities. In such a case, the company will pay the user any real money balance in his betting account after deducting a handling charge of 10%, provided that this has been acquired in a lawful manner


Are you sure you never claimed any bonuses, why would you sign up and not take advantage of the welcome offers

[maria78]

I avoid taking any bonuses when I make an account with a bookmaker because I know that they use the bonuses and free bets as excuse to not pay the winnings.

I had no bonuses or free bets. I have seen on different forums many costumers saying that their account has been closed and the only explanation given was "security reason".

They invest a lot in marketing and lobby and it very difficult to find justice against them, especially in Gibraltar where most of the people have a job mainly due to the gambling industry.

Did anyone have a lawsuit against bwin?