18bet - beware of bonus play

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ajant

ajant

Joined
Jun 15, 2014
Messages
3
The point of this thread is not to slam 18bet - my issue with them is still open and I hope it will be resolved soon. I would like to warn all potential players that their system is not clear enough and that they should be cautious when decide to apply for a bonus.

I registered and decided to take a bonus with my first deposit. I was about to put in EUR 1000 and I would get 50 (100% match up to 50) bonus. The transaction failed - my bank refused as the company was suspicious to them. After few hours resolving the issue with my bank regarding credit card security, finally second time I managed to deposit. This time I decided not to enter the bonus code as it seemed to me a lot of hassle (rules) for only 50 EUR. So I had EUR 980 (20 fee for credit card) and was ready to play. What I wasn't aware is that I GOT the bonus - it wasn't shown in my account balance at the right top corner. You could only see it if you hover over the "balance" word - then the info window would appear showing extra EUR 50 bonus. I realized it only when the customer service told me about this as it's not intuitive at all. When you go to account balance section, you cannot see this info.

So, I placed the first bet on handicap without knowing it's not allowed in bonus play. I played with what I thought was my whole balance (980) and won. Everything seemed fine - I had EUR 1,577 on my balance, and good fun :) Then few hours later I had the next bet, I put EUR 577 to a normal 1x2 (allowed under bonus) and lost it. Ok, I thought, I'm left with 1000, initial investment.

But no! While the second bet was still ongoing, I got the message that I have manipulated the bonus and that my first winning is canceled. They revoked EUR 597 so I was left with 403. Then I realized that I was playing under bonus.

I'm wondering why such a non-transparent system? How is it possible to get the bonus when the deposit fails and why does it apply to the second deposit? Why 18bet doesn't better inform a player that he's in bonus and warn him if he's about to place an illegal bet? Why they needed so much time to react - I wouldn't play the second bet if I knew the first was cancelled.

All in all, it seems that if somebody/something is manipulative, it's the website and not me as a player. I don't have fun anymore :( and definitely curse that I have put that code in the first place and choose to do another deposit attempt with 18bet.

I oppose this non-transparency and think I should get the revoked money back. I didn't even play that 50 bonus and don't see whom am I manipulating and for what. I fairly played two bets, one I won and one I lost.

Another strange thing that I see in this situation are the bonus rules. They apply to the whole deposit - all 1000, not just part that corresponds to the amount of bonus (50). I cannot grasp why would all my deposit of 1000 be locked in the certain style of play - e.g. no handicap playing - because of 50? I cannot play handicap anymore until I rollover this bonus? That's completely ridiculous and unproductive from their side. If they lock 50 for 50, I would understand.

I sent them an email and chatted with their customer service. He didn't believe I wasn't aware of the bonus and said this info can be seen on 2 places - one by hovering in the top-right corner and in the main section (account balance). The later is not true. In their help section they mention customer service can be reached even by phone, but when I asked the guy couple of time for the phone number, he told me finally it's an outbound line only. I mean, ok, talking about being transparent. Now I can hope they will call me and return me my money.

in conclusion, if 18bet wants to be a good bookie, they should definitely become more transparent and not go the way bad bookies go.

Luckily, I can play this money for fun and it's not gonna ruin me. But I'm not gonna take it easily at all. I will continue warning the community and question their way of doing business if they don't react fast and do the right thing. I work in a public service in charge for consumer protection and will definitely raise this issues with my colleagues. Recently a couple of low-budget companies were fined due to misleading customers on their websites - maybe the attention should turn on bad bookies as well.

I hope other players will find this useful. I'm not the most experienced player out there, but not greenhorn as well.
 

ajant

ajant

Joined
Jun 15, 2014
Messages
3
UPDATE
Well, I gave them a chance, they pretend not to understand so it's time to take the next step. I see other negative threads on 18bet so I'm not surprised, after all.

After ping-ponging with the customer service, they reject any accusations that the way they operate might mislead players.

"Having this in mind, note that all of our bonuses' rules and general site's Terms and conditions are always on display for all of www.18bet.com's visitors to see." they say. Sure, the bonus rules - how about the pure fact that the bonus is actually applied when naturally it shouldn't be?! The guy had to explain to me on live chat how to see that the bonus is in play, so counter-intuitive it is.

There were several occasions where I was misled - application of bonus when it wasn't supposed to be applied, the fact that it's not visible so you're not aware you're playing it (e.g. not added to your balance), the fact that you can play the games you're "not supposed" to, that they accept your winnings although you were "not supposed" to play these games, that they leave you to continue playing for hours and wait for the first loss to decide that the first winnings were actually not valid.

I'm going to submit a complaint, and also contact a lawyer to explore legal options. My drive is not primarily reclaim of the money, but attitude that they are invincible to the rules of consumeristic society. Have they not heard about consumers' rights? Might be a lost battle, but definitely will be interesting to see what the EU rules has to say in the case of misleading bookmakers.

I post here to warn all the players not experienced enough to anticipate misleading operations that 18bet applies. These kind of bookmakers are not for occasional players - you have to be a hardcore player not be scammed out sooner or later.

All advices are appreciated.
 

ajant

ajant

Joined
Jun 15, 2014
Messages
3
I forgot the most poetical part of 18bet's reply:

"The Company's conclusion is final and will not be a subject to any alterations.."
"Please know that we have all the proof and resources to easily back up our decisions and rules, so take this under consideration before you take any negative actions."

That's the way to go 18bet, threat your customers. After you didn't give them a chance for a dialogue and making one-sided decision. A model company.
 

TZ

TZ

Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Messages
26
I dont use 18bet any more becouse of that:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to 18bet Terms & Conditions, section Withdrawals, point 6 : "18bet.com reserves the right to charge withdrawals with fees to cover administrative costs, in case the deposit amount is not rolled over at least 5 times."

Currently you could have your withdrawal processed with 7 % fees attached or have us cancel it and transfer your funds back to your 18bet account.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


NO BOOKIE will take me 7% from my money for costes when i made withdraw, and PUSHED me in 5 times turn over of my deposit....IF I DIDNT TAKE NO BONUS!!!!
Here we stop with any cooperation.....
 

yourmum

yourmum

Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
170
partizoni said:
<blockquote class="quote-msg quote-nest-1 odd"><p><em class="placeholder">denzel84</em> wrote:
</p><p>they are thief....stay away !!!!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes this is true, the <a href="http://www.18bet.com">www.18bet.com</a> are thief, STAY AWAY.<br />
They cleaned up my €240 and suspend account</p>

Rather than just post this on every 18bet thread, why not answer my question on the thread you started????

Normally when someone reacts like the way you are - they are either a fraudster or a player who fucked up because they violated t&cs.
 

partizoni

partizoni

Joined
Feb 26, 2015
Messages
15
They should cancel a bet and profits that has violated the rules of the bonus, but not to erase the whole amount that was in my account.
One of the points of rules was: (18bet reserves the right to cancel those bets and any winnings generated from them.... ) Why did not observe this point??
 

yourmum

yourmum

Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
170
partizoni said:
<p>They should cancel a bet and profits that has violated the rules of the bonus, but not to erase the whole amount that was in my account.<br />
One of the points of rules was: (18bet reserves the right to cancel those bets and any winnings generated from them.... ) Why did not observe this point??</p>

That is in every bookmaker + casino t&cs. If a player violates those terms then winnings are usually forfeited.
How long ago did this happen? They SHOULD return your deposit to your initial payment method. You should leave a fair amount of time before pursuing a complaint.
I'm not sure on banking methods in albania, but in the UK up to 7 working days would be a fair amount of time to wait for the return of your deposit. Maybe you wait until 10 days have passed and then fill out a form on here.

Failing that, you can always do a chargeback, but you will end up being blacklisted by bookies + casinos via the payment processor.

How much was your deposit?
 

partizoni

partizoni

Joined
Feb 26, 2015
Messages
15
This happened two days before, but with them I communicate by email and their decision is final and unchangeable. I've made payment through Entropay, and I paid €100 + 50 bonus.
I do not want a chargeback, I want to denounce their way abusive and people to know that 18bet.com is a site shakedown and thieves.
 

yourmum

yourmum

Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
170
partizoni said:
<p>This happened two days before, but with them I communicate by email and their decision is final and unchangeable. I've made payment through Entropay, and I paid €100 + 50 bonus.<br />
I do not want a chargeback, I want to denounce their way abusive and people to know that 18bet.com is a site shakedown and thieves.</p>

Just abusing a bookie on a forum constantly isn't going to help your situation. Please provide more information on the bets you made and whether you verified your account.

Add the email they sent you aswell stating what they said. Bookies usually send a generic email with terms you violated
 
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