Hi Guys,

Im looking for advice although I know I will indeed get a lot of criticism.

So basically on two different occoasions I won a substantial amount and decided to withdraw the majority of it the amounts were ￡1,200 and ￡2,000.

On the first occasion I got an email that told me that my deposit had failed and they put the deposit amount back in my playable balance.

Needless to say when I got down to the 1,200 I carried on in an effort to recover the losses that brought me to 1,200.

I felt sick afterwards for been so stupid but I couldn't stop. (addiction I know)

Well guess what.... Exactly - The same thing again. attempted to withdraw, cancelled and lost it all.

Since then I lodged over ￡1,000 in total again to try and get back the ￡2,000.

So here we are I know I gambled it, I know I shouldn't have but this should not be allowed to happen.

When I made a successful withdrawal from unibet they initially put the withdrawal on hold - this was to request photos of my bank card etc KYC stuff.

So it is possible for them to hold the funds - but they choose not to. im certain im not the only person who has been found in this position, how many withdrawals do they cancel on a daily basis I wonder.

From the UKGC site;

"Ban on reverse withdrawals. Consumers must not be given the option to cancel their withdrawal request. Once a customer has made a request to withdraw funds, they should not be given the option to deposit using these funds. This requirement was introduced amongst a number of additional measures required by the Commission to counter the potential impact of the pandemic in May 2020 and now becomes permanent."

I have already complained to unibet and they have just restricted my account and told me to go to ecogra for ADR.

What is everyone else's views on this? Waste of time bothering with them?

Also I feel bad enough about this so if you feel like you just want to comment too say too my fault or that I should've known better please dont.

Thanks

C

Hi, it's quite a sad story what you described here. Generally speaking, it's just a normal thing that when a casino doesn't process a withdrawal, then the amount is automatically returned back to your balance. Then you can simply request the withdrawal again.

I'd say it's crucial in your situation to know why they cancelled the withdrawal. If the reason makes sense, then I wouldn't blame them for it, but it's hard to say what the reason was.

Anyway, your post here brings another aspect into the play and that's the gambling addiction. If you didn't have issues with gambling, then the cancelled withdrawal wouldn't be a problem for you. You'd just request it again. On the other hand, it's not so easy for someone who struggles with gambling.

What you described here from UKGC sounds like something that makes sense, but I'm afraid casinos aren't technically ready for it. They would need to create something like a 3rd type of money balance (real money, bonus money, money available only for withdrawals). In case the withdrawal fails for any reason, the money would go into the "money available only for withdrawals" balance.

The possible solution to this only depends on the tools that the individual casino can offer to you. In some casinos, you can request the withdrawal and self-exclude yourself for a week. In other casinos, they wouldn't process your withdrawal in a case the account is self-excluded etc.

Anyway, based on what you described here, I feel like taking a break from gambling would be the most reasonable solution in your case. The casino will always claim that they didn't force you to play with the cancelled withdrawal and they'll be right. Contrary to this, gamblers know it's not always so easy and simple as it sounds ??