Drunk Wife opened Ladbrookes online betting account and used my Natwest Card to spend £13k!!

[London1971]

There is always the option of some social media shaming on Facebook or Twitter.

 

 

[Mart1980]

I have threatened them with social media forum shaming and putting a complaint in to the gambling commission and I have threatened a letter to the CEO and lawyers and also a sar..

They are unmoved on any of them at all at the moment.

[dx100uk]

well until you actually do anything bar keeping to get stuck at the script jockey stage on email/webchat/phone portals ...they'll keep fobbing you off.

 

 

 

[London1971]

Best way to hit ‘em in the social media. Study their Facebook pages. Find the nice fake corporate responsibility posts like a video of them at some award for helping a charity out our something. Or how they have helped problem gamblers, make sure they have lots of views on said video or announcement.

 

Then you can lay into them , a with a concise, cutting post about what they did. You might have to keep repeating a few times on different posts , but eventually you may well get some joy.

 

I have a friend who is a master at this, I have watched and observed.

[Manxman in exile]

2 hours ago, London1971 said:

Best way to hit ‘em in the social media. Study their Facebook pages. Find the nice fake corporate responsibility posts like a video of them at some award for helping a charity out our something. Or how they have helped problem gamblers, make sure they have lots of views on said video or announcement.

 

Then you can lay into them , a with a concise, cutting post about what they did. You might have to keep repeating a few times on different posts , but eventually you may well get some joy.

 

I have a friend who is a master at this, I have watched and observed.

 

(Thought I'd posted this yesterday but obviously didn't)

 

What makes you think Ladbrokes would be susceptible to a bit of naming and shaming on social media?  They have to be capable of being shamed or have some sort of social conscience for this to work.  They don't give a sh1t about adverse publicity.  Do you not listen or watch news items about the gambling industry?

 

Do you really think they've won an award for helping a charity?  They're Ladbrokes.  Their whole business model is significantly based on exploiting vulnerable people and those with some sort of gambling problem.  Criticism on Facebook won't affect their profits.

 

EDIT:  Also the OP might well be reluctant to advertise this on Facebook.  His circumstances might not garner a lot of sympathy from some people. 

Edited January 18, 2020 by Manxman in exile

[London1971]

Tell you what, if you have any better ideas I am all ears, as is everybody here.

[unclebulgaria67]

Think this thread has covered many different options and it is now up Mart to decide how they choose to proceed.

 

I should imagine that Labrokes see many such cases every week and they will just refuse to consider any refund of the money lost, until they are forced into it. e.g. successful complaint to regulators, Court claim against them.

 

Although the Bank may not have been at fault in any way, if Mart had been willing to provide the Bank with his Wifes details, with an explanation of what has happened, there was a slim chance they would have refunded debits. Allowing 27 transactions amounting to £13000 with just 1 warning text, does not seem very satisfactory.

 

 

[London1971]

And the squeaky wheel gets the problem sorted.

[London1971]

Do research into who a betting company sponsors, in order to appear legitimate rather than the peddlers of misery that they really are.  They are the points I would be looking at to kick up a fuss if I wanted my money back from them.

[Manxman in exile]

On ‎18‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 11:00, London1971 said:

Tell you what, if you have any better ideas I am all ears, as is everybody here.

 

I've already suggested better ideas in posts 42, 45, 52, 85 and 90.  (Sorry about your ears by the way...)

 

To summarise: the bank is a non-starter for several reasons listed in earlier posts;

 

Ladbrokes appear to be at fault.  If they aren't going to budge then the OP needs to complain to the Gambling Commission (unless this Ladbrokes entity is incorporated somewhere like Malta, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man etc).  The potential difficulty here is that the Gambling Commission may have some sort of statutory duty to inform the authorities of what might look like some sort of potential fraud;

 

Hence the OP might find paid for legal advice helpful before going further.  Only the OP can decide if the cost of this is warranted compared to getting 13k back, or the possibility of a fraud investigation;

 

I'd also seek advice from a Gambling Charity, not because I'm suggesting the wife has a gambling problem, but because the OP is more likely to find people who have experience of dealing with gambling companies.

 

I'm not certain going down the social media route is right because the OP is going to have to explain that his wife had both his card and his mobile phone and gambled away 13k while drunk.  The OP may this embarrassing and not want to publicise it, and if he doesn't, I fear Ladbrokes might.  They may also decide to go down the fraud route.

 

I don't think you can shame gambling companies into doing anything.

Edited January 20, 2020 by Manxman in exile
clarification

[Manxman in exile]

Mart1980 - what have Ladbrokes actually told you?

 

I ask because, having spoken to people who do use gambling sites, it's surprisingly (to me at least) common for people to find that they cannot withdraw their funds and that the gambling company won't tell them why.

 

Apparently this happens when the account is "under investigation" for some reason (usually suspected breach of money laundering legislation).  When this happens they will not allow you to withdraw your money, and they also won't tell you why you can't (Catch 22).  Upon completion of the investigation the money will be released - assuming everything has been found to be above board.

 

I'm wondering whether in the circumstances you describe, Ladbrokes consider the transactions "suspicious" and are investigating the account.

 

Have they told you that they won't refund the funds without telling you why (despite the fact that this seems to be a breach of their own T&Cs), or have they simply told you that they consider your wife lost the money on bad bets (again despite their T&Cs) and that that's your tough luck?

[Mart1980]

Here is the latest from ladbrokes.

 

 

[Mart1980]

And my reply.excuse some of the spelling I was fuming writing the email on my phone and I noticed a few words had auto corrected.

[unclebulgaria67]

So threaten Labrokes with a Court claim.

 

Before you do that, speak to Gambling commission, to see if there is a dispute system you can use.

[London1971]

7 hours ago, Manxman in exile said:

 

 

I'm not certain going down the social media route is right because the OP is going to have to explain that his wife had both his card and his mobile phone and gambled away 13k while drunk.  The OP may this embarrassing and not want to publicise it, and if he doesn't, I fear Ladbrokes might.  They may also decide to go down the fraud route.

 

I don't think you can shame gambling companies into doing anything.

 

No advice on here is bad , I'm not 'dissing ' anyone, I just want to help him get his hard earned back.

 

No way should he mention his wife being drunk, he doesn't have to explain anything of the sort on social media. Why should he be scared of either?

 

The SAR is also a good plan, it will be interesting to see if they fully comply.

[honeybee13]

Hi. Whose name is the SAR in please? If it's you, they have an excuse not to reply but if your wife sends one as well, they shouldn't have any excuse.

 

HB

[Mart1980]

Might be getting some were.

Problem is she doesn't remember the user name or password so I have give them every other detail name, address ,email ,date of birth and phone number.

 

If they come back now and say they dont have

[dx100uk]

what device did she use for the gambling site?

dx

[Mart1980]

A mobile phone mine while I was out watching the football with all the lads.

[dx100uk]

did she install the labrookes app?

or if you goto the site on the phone

does it not already have the log-in name filled in?

 

dx

 

[Mart1980]

She installed the app but deleted it before I woke up the next day and weridly enough she has no emails off ladbrokes 

[Mart1980]

Bear in mind it was 10;days after before I found out I had no need to check ny bank because I had no calls 

Then got the shock of my life and even more when I finally found out it was her she had no idea what she was doing or how much was spenr

[dx100uk]

without specialist knowledge (which is easy to do if you link your phone as a USB device to your PC)

you will be able to see what the details were.

 

as an outside shot.

I have j known certain apps to retain info even when uninstalled

try installing the app back on the same phone

you might well see the login name when you click in the log-in name box, it might pop back up.

if it does the password will still be there too but you wont see it.

 

if you can log-in

go straight to the account info page and change the password.

all transactions should be viewable.

 

 

[Mart1980]

Thanks but the account has been closed apparently so that's another way of them shutting the account and not being able to find it and keep the money like it never happened.

So corrupt ladbrokes

[dx100uk]

erm..how they say the A/C has been closed when they clearly state they don't know anything about it?