Ladbrokes won't pay winning golf bet, more BS from one of the Big European books.
Winning bet that wasn't
GOLF fan Alan Jones thought his luck was in when he correctly bet on the first three finishers in The Open golf championship at the weekend.
But his excitement turned to anger and frustration when the bookies refused to pay out.
Mr Jones had placed the 'tricast' wager as a member of a syndicate for the Three Pigeons pub golfing society.
The men place regular bets and save the winnings for a golfing fun day for their families, so they were livid when Ladbrokes staff in Banbury backed off and refused to honour the bet.
On Monday they manned a picket outside the shop in North Bar and say they will never use the bookmaker again. They are also appealing against Ladbrokes's decision.
Ladbrokes, for its part, says the bet should never have been accepted and admitted it was a mistake by an inexperienced member of staff.
Mr Jones, who paid the £6 stake and held the ticket, said they expected to win several hundreds of pounds after Tiger Woods won with Chris DiMarco second and Ernie Els in third place at the end of play on Sunday afternoon.
"When they came in in those positions we were jumping with joy in the pub. We'd worked out that with the three accumulated bets, a double and a treble we should have won at least £2,500 without any other dividend.
"But when I went to the betting office on Monday they refused to honour it because they said the Banbury shop shouldn't have accepted the bet. But the cashier had worked out the odds on each player and filled the ticket out for me. In my eyes that was a contract. I got a call from the regional office and they offered me £20 which was a complete insult."
Mr Jones of Alma Road, Banbury, and on Monday some of the society's members collected signatures from customers who agreed that the bookies should pay out.
Ladbrokes upped their settlement offer to £50 and then £86 but the group refused.
Ladbrokes spokesman Robin Hutchison said the blunder was down to an inexperienced cashier and described the dispute as a 'massive customer relations problem'.
He said: "This man put on a bet that wasn't a bet.
"He should never have been able to put it on.
"We don't take tricast bets for golf at any time and nor does any other bookmaker. They are for horse and greyhound racing where the customer bets on the first three placings in the race.
"It was accepted by an inexperienced member of staff who should have been briefed that there is no tricast or forecast in golf. We are investigating how it happened."
Mr Hutchison said the company had apologised to Mr Jones and offered him £86 – the amount he would have won in a treble wager – which was more than the normal tricast payout for a horse race.
He pointed out that Mr Jones had placed the bet on Sunday afternoon, close to the end of the contest, and bets were not taken after a competition had begun.
"Mistakes do happen but I'm afraid he's not quite playing with a straight bat," he said.
But he added: "If someone had helped me work out the odds and gave me the ticket I'd be upset too. That's why we've got a massive customer relations problem. But I'm not sure what else we can do.
"I'm sorry he's upset and I'm sorry he's had poor customer service. We have tried to settle it but he's refusing."
Mr Jones said: "We are not accepting their offer. We're appealing through the Independent Betting Arbitration Service. We have nothing to lose but they are losing every day. None of us will ever go back into that bookie's."
The arbitration service will ask Ladbrokes for its version of events and an independent panel will make a judgment on what award, if any, should be made.
Mr Hutchison said he was confident the service would find in Ladbrokes's favour.
GOLF fan Alan Jones thought his luck was in when he correctly bet on the first three finishers in The Open golf championship at the weekend.
But his excitement turned to anger and frustration when the bookies refused to pay out.
Mr Jones had placed the 'tricast' wager as a member of a syndicate for the Three Pigeons pub golfing society.
The men place regular bets and save the winnings for a golfing fun day for their families, so they were livid when Ladbrokes staff in Banbury backed off and refused to honour the bet.
On Monday they manned a picket outside the shop in North Bar and say they will never use the bookmaker again. They are also appealing against Ladbrokes's decision.
Ladbrokes, for its part, says the bet should never have been accepted and admitted it was a mistake by an inexperienced member of staff.
Mr Jones, who paid the £6 stake and held the ticket, said they expected to win several hundreds of pounds after Tiger Woods won with Chris DiMarco second and Ernie Els in third place at the end of play on Sunday afternoon.
"When they came in in those positions we were jumping with joy in the pub. We'd worked out that with the three accumulated bets, a double and a treble we should have won at least £2,500 without any other dividend.
"But when I went to the betting office on Monday they refused to honour it because they said the Banbury shop shouldn't have accepted the bet. But the cashier had worked out the odds on each player and filled the ticket out for me. In my eyes that was a contract. I got a call from the regional office and they offered me £20 which was a complete insult."
Mr Jones of Alma Road, Banbury, and on Monday some of the society's members collected signatures from customers who agreed that the bookies should pay out.
Ladbrokes upped their settlement offer to £50 and then £86 but the group refused.
Ladbrokes spokesman Robin Hutchison said the blunder was down to an inexperienced cashier and described the dispute as a 'massive customer relations problem'.
He said: "This man put on a bet that wasn't a bet.
"He should never have been able to put it on.
"We don't take tricast bets for golf at any time and nor does any other bookmaker. They are for horse and greyhound racing where the customer bets on the first three placings in the race.
"It was accepted by an inexperienced member of staff who should have been briefed that there is no tricast or forecast in golf. We are investigating how it happened."
Mr Hutchison said the company had apologised to Mr Jones and offered him £86 – the amount he would have won in a treble wager – which was more than the normal tricast payout for a horse race.
He pointed out that Mr Jones had placed the bet on Sunday afternoon, close to the end of the contest, and bets were not taken after a competition had begun.
"Mistakes do happen but I'm afraid he's not quite playing with a straight bat," he said.
But he added: "If someone had helped me work out the odds and gave me the ticket I'd be upset too. That's why we've got a massive customer relations problem. But I'm not sure what else we can do.
"I'm sorry he's upset and I'm sorry he's had poor customer service. We have tried to settle it but he's refusing."
Mr Jones said: "We are not accepting their offer. We're appealing through the Independent Betting Arbitration Service. We have nothing to lose but they are losing every day. None of us will ever go back into that bookie's."
The arbitration service will ask Ladbrokes for its version of events and an independent panel will make a judgment on what award, if any, should be made.
Mr Hutchison said he was confident the service would find in Ladbrokes's favour.
