Betfair angers online punters with response to techie glitch

The management at UK online betting group Betfair has made another conroversial decision, the latest in a string of rulings that have angered and alienated many internet punters.
The Telegraph newspaper reported Tuesday that more than 10 gamblers who lost out on a GBP16,610 Tote jackpot after Betfair failed to process their wagers in time will only have their stakes refunded.
“In a statement that infuriated some Betfair clients, the company on Tuesday admitted to ‘technical issues in transmitting bets into the Tote pools in the last 10 minutes before the pool closed’”, the Telegraph reports.
“However, Betfair refused to honour the bets of punters who thought they had won the jackpot after finding six winners at Newmarket last Friday.”
Apologising, Betfair said it had “returned funds for the failed bets”, claiming that “at no point were these customers given confirmation that their bets had been successfully placed, or appeared as placed in their account statement”.
That appeared to contradict claims by some customers, including bloodstock manager Nick Bradley.
He staked GBP12,000 – meaning he lost out on a GBP4,610 profit – and said the funds were “taken out of” his Betfair account.
Company sources admitted the stakes may have been removed temporarily.
Some small punters lost out on a GBP16,000-plus profit.

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