Regulations, Shmegulations.

Well, I got my money from 188bet. I thought I had it all sorted when I last posted on the subject last Thursday, but then come Friday morning, another email hit my in box:

In response to your concern, we would like to reiterate that we will no longer require you to submit the copy of credit card ending in xxxx and its statement only. However, 188BET requires veriifcation on customer account on a case by case basis to satisfied the regulatory requirements.

In line with this, screen shot of Moneybookers account is required to be a proof of your new withdrawal method in order to process your withdrawal transaction.

Now, providing a screenshot of my Moneybookers account would not have presented me with any difficulties. But by now, my back was up. I was riled and grumpy. You may be able to tell from the email I replied with...

Can I please have details of your official complaints procedure and the gaming authority under whose jurisdiction you come?

Can I also have details of the exact regulatory requirements you refer to, preferably with a copy of those regulations attached?

I intend to submit a formal complaint, and copy in the relevant gaming authority. I will also be contacting IBAS.

I find it disgraceful that I provide all requested security documents, am told that my account is fully verified, then told that I have access to ALL account facilities, for you then to make further requests when I try to use one of those facilities. You have accepted my deposits, you have my Moneybookers account details which is attached to the same bank account as my bank card - in other words you happily accepted funds from a bank account but are now unprepared to put money back into the same bank account via Moneybookers.

I will also be contacting various gambling related blogs and media (plus social media) with details of your obstruction to allowing me to withdraw funds from an account that you have previously informed me is "fully verified".

Alternatively, you can just allow me to deposit and withdraw via Moneybookers.

I thought I should give them a "get out", hence that last line. Heh!

You know, if I was a Customer Service rep working in any company and had received that type of email, I'd have thought, what an arse. I was being. Deliberately.

Thing is, being an arse seemed to work...

We are pleased to inform you that we have completed the verification process for your account. We will now proceed with the processing of your withdrawal Transaction ID xxxxxxxxxx amounting to GBP xxxxx and notify you again via email regarding its status.

We understand that you have been exerting effort to comply with our verification requirements and we apologize for the inconveniences caused. However, kindly be informed that we need to do proper verification to ensure safety for our customer accounts and their funds. We assure that all the information that our customers supply to us are kept in high confidentiality as indicated in our Privacy Policy.

Thank you for your trust and co-operation.


Well, I'm not sure what to think now. In black and white terms, the security and verification procedures so important to 188bet were effectively dropped because I was being difficult. Admittedly, they already had copies of official ID, bank statement and had accepted deposits via Moneybookers previously. But even so. In some ways, it adds to my suspicions that these companies are simply being as obstructive as possible to customers hoping to withdraw their money. I have no evidence that this is indeed the case. It's just a hunch that could be well wide of the mark.

You know, I do understand that the Asian bookmakers do need to be very careful. They are handling big bets from betting syndicates and the like. I can see that they are vulnerable to dubious types who want to launder money and I welcome strict security criteria. But I also feel there is a line. Surely once an account has been verified, that should be the end of it and the customer easily and without fuss be able to deposit and withdraw funds to and from their account.

One further point. What exactly are these "regulatory requirements" so often referred to by the bookmakers? If there are indeed regulations dictating how they run their business, who or what is the authority that lays them down. I'm sure such regulations, assuming they do exist, are set out in writing somewhere and thus open to scrutiny? Can anyone shed any light? Surely they're not some vague, non-tangible, nay mythical regulations that don't actually exist. Are they?


Monday's Betting

A very quiet day yesterday. Just three bets but no profits, unfortunately.

Northern Monkey
A small win-only bet, which didn't.
Staked 0.5pts, -0.5pts

Form Lab Lite
Two bets, one loser and one on the Asian Handicap that returned stakes.
Staked 2pts, -1pt


Month to date figures...

Racing
Northern Monkey: Staked 23.5pts, -1.124pts, roi -4.78%
The Sportsman Racing: Staked 2pts, +1.166pts, roi 58.33%
Winning Racing Tips: Staked 4.7pts, +8.794pts, roi 187.11%
Total: Staked £999, +£709.78, roi 71.04%

Sports
Football Elite: Staked 3pts, +0.7pts, roi 23.33%
The Football Analyst: Staked 1pt, +0.19pts, roi 19%
Summer Of Football: Staked 22pts, +6.542pts, roi 29.73%
Skeeve (Asians): Staked 24pts, -12.805pts, roi -53.35%
Skeeve (Doubles): Staked 15pts, +11.512pts, roi 76.74%
Skeeve (Shortlist): Staked 9pts, -7.565pts, roi -84.05%
Skeeve Total: Staked 48pts, -8.858pts, roi -18.45%
The Sportsman: Staked 0.65pts, +0.178pts, roi 27.38%
Form Lab Lite: Staked 24pts, -0.646pts, roi -2.69%
Sportyy: Staked 15pts, -0.24pts, roi -1.6%
Service X: Staked 148pts, +8.545pts, roi 5.77%
Total roi 8.31%

Grand Total roi 16.62%