[dynamite140]

Going to post this in a few posts as its going to be a bit long. I also had filed a complaint to sbr about this with matchbook and will discuss it later here. This whole situation has to do with Matchbook leaving the Canadian market and a policy/rule that they have which I nor anyone has heard of and is basically them making up a rule that makes no sense.


First off, I like to mention that I'm an American that relocated to Canada last year. I have funds in matchbook that they are not letting me withdraw and holding my funds. I created a Canadian bank account and created a skrill account along with matchbook as well also with pinnacle and other accounts. Sent documents to matchbook and had an account and deposited and played there with no issue. Also made a withdraw a while bacl via skrill with no issues. As most of you Canadians know, Skrill banned gambling transactions in Canada and thus its tougher to move funds since January 2014 because theres no ewallet. Yes theres instadebit but limits are low and you can only keep it in CAD. I could not get an instadebit account because it requires a social insurance number.


Around this time in December 2013/January 2014, the news skrill was no longer servicing Canadians for gambling transactions, many people just withdrew their funds to skrill. I then looked at my matchbook account and noticed there was basically no option for me to withdraw without skrill so i asked matchbook support if there was an option since i was an american... they told me yes, i could always do a wire if theres no other option. Because they mentioned this, i didn't withdrew my balance to skrill. Thus if they said theres no withdraw option for me, i would obviously have withdrawn my balance to skrill before Jan 31 which is the last date skrill sent funds to gambling merchants.


After that, i asked matchbook multiple times if i were to relocate to another country, such as Mexico, would they be able to change my account to mexico so i could use skrill to u deposit/withdraw funds. Of course i have to give the documents to skrill first to change it and they said yes as long as you have a bank acct statement of the country you relocate to... yes you can do that. I had asked them at least 3 times just to confirm this. So after a few months, i was planning to leave Canada and go to mexico. However, i would be back in the US for a short time before i head to Mexico. So around June 2014, i decided to leave Canada and head to Mexico around early August but would be back in the USA in late June and July. I had also closed my canadian bank accounts as well as I don't know if i would go back to Canada and also because canadian bank told me if i want to open a new account again in future, i can easily so i just did that.


As most of you know, Matchbook left the Canadian market on July 21st and basically told everyone they have 30 days to withdraw their funds. As i was in the usa at the time and heard this, i contacted matchbook if i would be able to withdraw funds to a mexican bank account or skrill b/c i was heading to mexico soon. They ask me would i get the bank statements sent on time... i told them yes. So they said if i do that, i would be able to withdraw my funds to skrill... thus my mexican skrill. I then contacted them 1 week later to confirm this and this time another rep told me i would not be allowed to withdraw matchbook balance to mexican skrill because it requires a deposit first which i cannot do b/c my matchbook account is canadian. I said okay, but can i withdraw it to mexican wire? They didn't know and said they let me know soon by email. As i waited.. i didn't get any email back so i figure i would just head to Canada first, open a bank account then and have them wire me the money.


A week later or so, they contacted me i wouldn't be able to withdraw matchbook funds to a mexican bank acct via wire.
They then said i have to withdraw it to a Canadian bank account and they would need 6 active months of bank statements in order for me to withdraw which is a rule i nor anyone has ever heard of ever.


When I heard this, I obviously thought this was a joke. I told them I had an active canadian bank account for more than that but I closed it before i left b/c i was going to change my account to Mexico. I had said you guys left the Canadian market, why can you not let me cashout? I said theres no rule preventing this as they aren't sending funds to an american bank account. They basically said 6 months of canadian bank statements or no cashout. They only thing here is they say they are giving me 2 years to withdraw the funds. However, that doesn't really do anything because they basically holding my funds. Also the bank statement that i receive, basically its going to be minimum 7 months because of the statement dates.

[dynamite140]

I came back to Canada around 6 weeks ago and created another Canadian bank account. I then contacted SBR and filed a complaint on this issue. The person who responded back to me in charge of complaints told me this issue is very minor and they said they shouldn't have any issue expediting my cashout. I had spoke with a few others who are very knowledgeable about these issues before this and they also said this is a minor issue and they don't understand why Matchbook is acting like this.


SBR contacted matchbook and then sbr asked me numerous questions and i replied back to them to confirm everything. After that, sbr has reached out to matchbook but basically they told me they hit a standstill with the lower level employees and they escalating this to higher management. I was then told that matchbook higher management will contact them back in a week. It has already been 2 weeks and no response at all. SBR had contacted Matchbook about this 5 weeks ago when they first contacted matchbook on this issue.

[dynamite140]

There are lot of issues with this on matchbook.


1. I asked them where in their Terms and Conditions do they have a rule like this? The you need 6 month of active bank account in order to request a cashout? I asked them show me where it says that...they don't answer and basically say 6 month or no cashout and won't even answer the question.


2. I had spoke to a few canadians who cashed out their balances. I asked them did matchbook required them to submit a bank acct statement of 6 months in order to get their funds... each person told me no. One of them said if they did, they wouldn't even know how to prove that. You would print the bank statement online to do this. Also of all the canadians that requested their balance whether instadebit or wire... how many customers are there that told matchbook here are my bank account details for you to wire to and that particular bank probalby is 6 months or less? Obviously theres going to be canadians who gave matchbook a bank acct for them to wire it to that probably is 6 months or less. But did matchbook ask any of these Canadians for bank statement of 6 months? Obviously not. And obviously no one would even imagine matchbook would askthem this. The only reason matchbook ask me this is b/c i had told them previously that when i left canada, i had closed my canadian bank acct. But i would be able to open one without anissue.


3. I asked them if there was any other matchbook player in my situation to matchbook. They said no. I asked them what are they making this difficult as this shouldn't even be any problem. I had figured around the news broke out, worstcase scenario i just head back to Canada then cashout then go back to the usa then mexico.


4. They asked me why didn't I requested my balance when i was leaving Canada and closed my canadian bank accounts. I told them that they told me multiple timesonce move to mexico and submit verification mexican documents, i would be able to change my matchbook account to mexico and thus use matchbook like I did in canada along with using skrill to deposit/withdraw. SBR had asked me why didn't i cashout my balance before i left canada as i was back in the usa and left my funds in limbo. I told them same answer and also because pplwho relocate from one country to another soon isn't going to withdraw their funds then deposit it again. Since i was going to head to mexico after leaving canada in a bit more than a month, i had noproblem keeping my matchbook funds in my account. I'm sure anyone that moves from country to country keeps their funds there if they going to go there very soon.


5. The 6 month bank acct activity is basically a made up rule matchbook created. If that is true, why was it i was able to withdraw funds via skrill back when i created a matchbook acct and did a withdraw? My canadian bank acct even though i never withdrew funds directly from matchbook to my canadian bank... i didn't have it for 6 months. But i could withdraw funds via skrill? So basically if you guys left the canadian market say 1 month after i relocated... would that meant i wouldn't be able to cashout? Obviously you guys see the point here as none of this makes any sense.


6. I spoke to Skrill and pinnaclesports as i still had funds there and asked them would i have any issue withdrawing funds in my account tomy new canadian bank acct i opened recently. I had told them the previous bank acct i used to receive wires from them, i no longer have that bank acct as i had closed it. Both of them told me there would be no issue, i basically just have to link my canadian bank acct to skrill the new one and when i request a wire from pinnacle, just enter the new bank details. I then did that and requested a wire from both skrill and pinnacle... and i received each wire in 2 business days to my canadian bank account. So why is it Skrill and Pinnaclesports has no issue with this at all that im doing a wire to the new bank acct because old one is closed? Also, assuming Pinnaclesports leaves Canada... do i think they would make up a policy and say you can only cashout to bank acct if its active 6 months? Absolutely not because that wouldn't even make any sense.


7. How would I trust Matchbook to pay me 6 plus months from the date i came back into canada and opened a new canadian bank account? How would i know they aren't lying and making up a new rule 7 months later after i sent them a bank statement copy for each month? So what would happen if they were to be sold during this time period orgo under new management? As many of you guys remember,matchbook left the usa market back in 2011 and we americans had to withdraw our balances. Me and a few others i were in contact were actually the last ones to receive our bank wires back then.


I'm still in Canada at the moment waiting for sbr's response on this as they are still waiting for a response from higher level management at matchbook. However, its apparent that matchbook is stalling and doesn't want to pay out. For them to say it will take a week to review this... and its been over 2 weeks... and my case isn't even complicated at all and a cashout should never be a problem from the start. I had told sbr that i was going to head back to the usa once i receive my payout from matchbook but i'm still waiting since early August with this issue.

[dynamite140]

Cliffs


- American Who Relocated To Canada and Got Matchbook Account


- Played at Matchbook with No Issue


- Matchbook Left Canadian Market and won't let me cashout my funds without 6 months of canadian bank statements because I closed my canadian account because i planned to head to mexico


- Won't answer my question on where in their Terms and Conditions do they have a rule like this because there isn't


- Contacted SBR on this issue and they have contacted matchbook but matchbook is basically stalling and not answering anything because they don't have any position at all where anyone would support what they are doing

[jjgold]

I think you should get paid here
Plus Matchbook is an exchange is not like you beat them out of a lot of money

I guess now looking back closing that Can bank account got you in this mess

Lets wait for Optional....he is a solid guy and will try to help

[PharaohUB]

Sounds a bit shady like you were still in U.S. and playing games with VPN to play on Matchbook still. Did you move to Mexico? Or planning to move to Mexico? You said both. Who in the world would shut down a bank in another country for absolutely no added benefit to himself? What American especially who plays in this industry wouldn't want to hang on to a Canadian bank account for who knows what? Who "moves" to Mexico just to get paid? Then "moves" back again to get a Canadian bank account all while the case is still getting resolved. Sounds like you aren't leaving your living room in the U.S.

Regardless.. I understand why you can't be honest about the facts, and I still think you should be paid. Good luck. How big is your balance?

[Optional]

I think you should get paid here
Plus Matchbook is an exchange is not like you beat them out of a lot of money

I guess now looking back closing that Can bank account got you in this mess

Lets wait for Optional....he is a solid guy and will try to help

He already has a complaint in that someone else is handling.


Sounds frustrating. I wonder why the OP cannot just supply the 6 months of statements for the previous bank account.

[dynamite140]

Main reason why i closed my canadian bank account was because i didn't know if i would be going back to Canada. Also if you leave your canadian bank open for a long time without activity, they will close it.


I never logged into my matchbook account while in the US. I never used a vpn to play on matchbook in the us. I also never logged into my other nonusa accounts while in the us because if you do that, you risk your account get locked/closed so i have never done that. Not sure why you even said this as you probably didn't read my post clearly.


No I didn't move to Mexico because matchbook told me i needed 6 months of canadian bank statement first before i can request a cashout. So in order to do this, i needed to come back to canada first to create the new canadian bank account.


If you keep a canadian bank account for a long time without any activity for a while, it would get closed eventually and you would have issues with that so thats why I closed it. I figure you are an american and never went out of the usa to open a nonusa bank account which is why you say this but the banking system isn't exactly like how easy it is in the usa. I did not believe I was going to to back to Canada because I wanted to use skrill and Canada no longer allows it and the contacts that I had told me skrill wasn't going to change this anytime soon for Canadians.


I wasn't going to go to Mexico just to get paid my balance. That doesn't make any sense. I was going to relocate there so i could continue playing on matchbook and other sites just like I did while in canada. So basically had i relocated to Mexico before the date Matchbook left the canadian market and say i had gave them the verification documents before that... then this would not have affected me because my matchbook account would be linked to a mexican bank account and not my canadian one.


I wasn't even planning to go back to Canada but matchbook said i needed 6 month bank statement so i figure I have to go here first no matter what.


Again I was in Canada the entire time i used the accounts and none of this even relates to my issue here. So anytime i'm back in the us, i don't log into my accounts.

[dynamite140]

He already has a complaint in that someone else is handling.


Sounds frustrating. I wonder why the OP cannot just supply the 6 months of statements for the previous bank account.

When you close a canadian bank account, you cannot reopen the same account with same account number. Thus i wouldn't be able to print at least 6 months of the old canadian bank account. I had asked my bank could i have old estatements of that old account printed... they told me no because its already been closed.


Also i never printed an estatement of my old canadian bank account statements through online banking because i never needed to.


Also matchbook told me even if i could have printed 6 month of bank activity from my old canadian bank account, that wouldn't work because that account is no longer active. They said the bank account has to be 6 month plus and active as well. So assumed every month i kept a pdf file of my old bank account estatements in my computer... if i sent that, that wouldn't work because its not active anymore and thus they wouldn't send me my funds.


Basically matchbook is making up a rule that no one has ever heard of and basically doesn't want to pay out. The fact they don't even answer my question of where in their T and C shows this rule, they basically just dodge the question.

[Optional]

No book is going to tell you too much about why they want certain things if you are subject to a security investigation.

Their terms say they follow the OECD's "Know Your Customer" guidelines.

I assume that they believe this falls within that scope.

[dynamite140]

I'm well aware of the Know Your Customer guideline.


However, there is nothing in my situation where I did anything so no security investigation should even be done on this. This is on them because they were the ones who left canadian market. I had never had an issue with matchbook with placing bets at all. The fact that they left the canadian market and then tell me i cannot cashout my funds is pretty ridiculous with a policy that again, is basically them making it up.


Pinnaclesports told me a while back if i were to relocate to another country from Canada, as long as i submitted them proper documents they would be able to change my pinnacle account residency which is Canadian to say Mexico and obviously my funds would not be affected and just like normal. Thus i would be able to continue to play and deposit/withdraw as needed.

[SBR Forum]

As dynamite140 has been advised, upper management at Matchbook is still reviewing the complaint. We appreciate his frustration given the details he's provided so far. It's an interesting complaint which highlights in part how ridiculous legal departments and KYC can seem at times.

[dynamite140]

Yes the thing is i'm told upper management at matchbook is reviewing the complaint. The person handling my case at sbr said matchbook should give an answer in a week... and its been 2 weeks already.


The thing is I don't understand why it would take this long, as a review like this shouldn't even take more than 1 day max. This whole scenario they are making it lot more complicated than it ever should be.


Basically them allowing me to cashout to my canadian bank account just like everyone else in Canada shouldn't even be a question once they said they were leaving the Canadian market.

[jjgold]

The guy did not scam anyone there's no bonus issue here

I'm usually hard on players with sports book issues but this is clear-cut he should get paid

[lecubs28]

matchbook are a good and honest book. they will make this right in the end. i'm honestly surprised it has taken this long because usually matchbook are really on top of things.

i wouldn't be worried if i were the player. sucks about the delay, but there is 0 risk of getting stiffed.

[dynamite140]

There is another issue here. If I were to never go back to Canada, there would be zero chance I would get paid as they say they have to do a wire cashout to a Canadian bank account only. Thus if i had went to any other country, they wouldn't wire me my funds to bank account because its not Canadian, thus when i said i'm going to head to mexico soon, they at first said i could cashout my funds... then 1 week later said no thats not possible. The thing is they have given me wrong information multiple times already. Also had I already rented a place in mexico before i decided to confirm again that i would be able to cashout my funds to a mexican bank account, what would have happened then? I would have a place rented in mexico when i would need to go to canada first anyway to cashout my funds.


Also i told them when i was planning to mexico, i was going to continue playing on matchbook. I believe they said the canadian matchbook account you have to withdraw the funds... then you have to create a new matchbook account in mexico and then use that one to play. When i had relocated to Canada, they asked me if i had a matchbook account before and i told them yes i did, but that was when they allowed us customers and as many of you know again, they left us market back in 2011 and we had to all withdraw our funds. So when i told them this they told me to create a new matchbook account and thus they verified my information with my canadian bank to allow me to play there.


Also another thing. There are Americans that get rejected at the border as well into Canada. I had told matchbook this situation and they basically said this isn't their concern. I haven't had any issues going to Canada and back but i know there are lots of Americans have issues entering Canada and getting denied. They do some things that they are not aware of and thats why they get denied. I told matchbook this and said okay i'm going to head to canada to open new bank account again, then just cashout my funds but they just say same thing 6 month bank statement.


The thing is if this was an american book, that wouldn't bother me as much because well I'm an american and it isn't going to require me to travel back and forth for this. Thus if bookmaker did this... which they would never do, it wouldn't bother me at all because i know i would get my funds whether im outside the usa or inside the usa and it isn't going to require me to travel many times.


Matchbook basically is wasting my time and resources in this situation. Again theres no rule they are breaking as they probably cashed out funds to many canadians who probably gave them a bank account that might have been opened say 1 or even 2 months and said here matchbook transfer my funds to this bank account. I asked them did you confirm with each canadian customer that their bank acct was active for 6 months at least before wiring them the funds? And of course, they dont answer the question because they know the answer doesn't support their case.

[ronald]

I think you'll get paid once you or SBR talks to the right person at Matchbook. It doesn't sound like there has been any allegation of fraud, so Matchbook should find a way to pay you, whether it is via cheque, wire, etc.

One thing you might consider is this: ask Matchbook to do a book to book transfer to another book. I haven't done a book to book transfer with them in a long time, but they used to do them with Pinnacle, Greek, 5Dimes, CRIS and a few others I think.

[dynamite140]

Well they told me they in contact with the higher management at matchbook but again they are taking a very long time to respond back.


I would have preferred they paid me to a mexican bank account as that was where i was planning to go until they told me i couldn't get paid that way and it had to be a canadian bank account so thus i had to go back to Canada even though I left and did not plan to go back.
During the discussion i had with them, i thought it was frustrating if i had to go back to canada after i left recently just to open a bank account again to get paid. However, i figure this isn't going to be that big of a problem because i figure i just go back to canada stay there for 1 month or less get the wire sent to my new canadian bank account, then i wire those funds back to my us bank account and im done with that until they told me about that 6 month bank statement active i need for it which again is ridiculous.


Matchbook no longer does book to book transfer anymore. This isn't like back a few years ago when they accepted usa residents as i done numerous b2b transfers back then with matchbook to other usa books without an issue. Also, they would not wire funds to my american bank account as thats definitely not allowed since they are a non-usa exchange. But them wiring funds to my canadian bank account whether it was opened recently or 6 month shouldn't have any issue at all. Again i had an active canadian bank account for over 6 months, and i closed it before i left b/c i was going to change my residency from canada to mexico and they told me multiple times just submit proper documentation then you can do that.


I don't know why they are making this issue very complicated when again they are the ones that left the canadian market. Because had they left the canadian market earlier, while i was still in canada with my canadian bank account, i would have withdraw my balance via wire no problem. If it happened a bit later when i was already in mexico... then it wouldn't concern me at all b/c my matchbook account would have been changed to mexico from canada already as i would have sent them the documents pretty quickly once i relocated to mexico.

[SBR Forum]

Matchbook finished their review and will be paying the player in full.

[LordVodka]

Matchbook finished their review and will be paying the player in full.

How much was his balance? This guy is always going around talking about how others are small bettors.

[8ArIvd5]

If you were planning on moving to Mexico anyways, why not open a bank account there and wait out the 6 months? Were regular payouts a part of your ends meet?

[Hareeba!]

If you were planning on moving to Mexico anyways, why not open a bank account there and wait out the 6 months? Were regular payouts a part of your ends meet?

I can't believe anybody would find that an acceptable "solution" regardless of the sum involved.

[8ArIvd5]

I can't believe anybody would find that an acceptable "solution" regardless of the sum involved.

I'm not calling it a solution. I'm wondering why there was a problem in the first place. He withdrew out of fear of not being able to withdraw. If he really was going to Mexico and was still going to play, why not open the account and pay from Mexico? They probably wouldn't have wanted the 6 month proof to withdraw from there as it seems like an identity fraud concern from their end.

[Waz]

dynamite, you ever get paid?

[Ripsnort]

Hi,

Although the circumstances are different I am probably not going to see my funds. Most people on this forum will probably not be able to sympathize with my situation, but I am a very casual online gambler that only play in big events (WS, SB, SCP). I was unaware of matchbook leaving the market and tried to log on for my world seires play. Account is locked. I contacted them and they replied with a copy of the original email depicting them leaving the canadian market. I replied and said my bank account was not refunded like it depicts in the email and they have replied that my funds have been donated to charity.

This came as a bit of a shock. I don't believe they have that authority and no where in the email does it say that your balance will be donated. And ZERO follow up emails or phone calls.

I have asked for a receipt for proof of donation to the charity. At least I can use that with my taxes and get a marginal percent back. They are not sympathizing with the casual gambler and actually sound very rude in their replys. "As per the notice, and subsequent (2) reminders sent to the email on your account, the deadline for fund withdrawal was August 22nd 2014."

I have searched through my newsletter filed emails, and only found one sent July 27th, but no subsequent emails. Was anyone else sent subsequent emails?

Summary:
- If you didn't take action in the 4 weeks subsequent from the one email they sent out, they will claim that your funds have been donated to charity.

I will update if I get the charity receipt.

[dynamite140]

I'm not calling it a solution. I'm wondering why there was a problem in the first place. He withdrew out of fear of not being able to withdraw. If he really was going to Mexico and was still going to play, why not open the account and pay from Mexico? They probably wouldn't have wanted the 6 month proof to withdraw from there as it seems like an identity fraud concern from their end.

You obviously have no clue what you are saying here. I could not make a withdraw if i went to Mexico because they required the funds to be wired to a Canadian bank account. Basically according to matchbook, i could not withdraw even if i went to canada until 6 month of active bank statement. And because i closed my canadian bank account already, i have to go back to Canada to open a new account. They told me they could not wire the funds to any other bank account but a Canadian one. Not sure if you're slow or you just don't understand this.


If i wanted to continue playing on Matchbook in Mexico, I could not be able to do this because i still had the Canadian Matchbook Account. I'm pretty certain if I still had a balance in my Canadian Matchbook Account and couldn't withdraw my funds without 6 months of an active canadian bank account, they would not allow me to go and open another matchbook account in mexico while i still had the matchbook canadian account that still have funds in it.


There is no case of identify fraud. I submitted my Canadian bank account, US Passport and have a lease so i have the documents to play on matchbook. If there was any fraud, they would not have let me open a matchbook account when i relocated to Canada.


You seem to not have much a clue in what you are saying. I'm going to assume you are a usa player and bet at usa books and just bet 20-50 dollars a game at the us books using degenerate methods like westtern union and dont have a clue about banking in other countries or playing at books that do bank wires.

[dynamite140]

dynamite, you ever get paid?

Yes I did. I received the wire to my Canadian Bank account after receiving confirmation from them. The wire fee was a lot more than i expected but then again those things don't really concern me much.. It surprised me however that i get a wire faster from matchbook than pinnacle, and pinnacle bank wires are very fast.