Hi everybody,
I'm totally new here so don't hate
I admit I've actually been a lurker just a little while now while getting a system/discussion together with friends on betting a bit (gotta get some new shoes ) and really like the environment though I couldn't find the time to participate yet.
But what brings me over to this subforum (which I hope's the correct place) is something that happened to my neighbor's (who would also be my best friend and off protecting our freedom across the world) grandma today. Even though he has tried to discourage her from gambling, he told me she only will play $5 and $10 at a time, and to her credit, she's more than doubled her quite small account (she told me today she only started with $2xx-$3xx) in less than a year.
Anyway, I helped her clean out some closets today and took some clothes to dry cleaning when she told me about what happened to her and Sportsbook.com today. She really isn't all that upset about it all, but more disturbed by the way that customer service handled her after the issue (which I'll get to later). And no, she definitely didn't ask me to post anything or to defend her, I'm just mentioning it here to know what you all think about the issue. Though there isn't really an issue since now she is still happy overall though definitely considering switching sportsbooks.
She told me it started yesterday during the afternoon/evening when she was "in mood to watch hoops!" (her own words, she's got two sons who played at the collegiate level, Division II) and watched the tournament and then the 2 ESPN NBA games after that. During that time, she said that she placed some "Live Betting" bets and some pre-game 1st half bets and there would be no issue with those. However, during the Suns/Mavs game, she admits about 3 minutes or even halfway into the third quarter, she clicked on "Live NBA Quarters and Props" and placed a bet on the Under 51.5 3rd quarter total, believing it to be a live bet (she also admits though that both teams "laying bricks" motivated her to bet slightly bigger than normal, though very small compared to you all in general). The Under clearly won, but her bet, according to her, sat there as "Pending" from midnight to late morning when she checked again and it would be graded as a win.
Sadly though this would be temporary because hours later, without explanation, Sportsbook deducted the winnings from her without any notification. Sensing something amiss, she said that she then chatted immediately with Sportsbook, who explained to her that the wager was considered "Past Post Wager" and that the line had been supposed to be closed at the start of the 3rd quarter though the Linesmaker had forgotten to do that. She told them that she understood that, though wondered why it was under "Live NBA Quarters and Props" in that case since her other Live bets which she made before could be made in the middle of the game as opposed to the beginning of any timeframe. Sportsbook didn't like this question very much and subsequently treated her as if she were trying to cause trouble to the point which the customer service supervisor stopped chatting altogether. I don't have a copy of the transcript or anything since I didn't ask her for it though she told me a few of the things which they said/admitted: (a) that a lot of customers also had their bets go from "Win" to "No Action" today and that they would send out emails immediately, but according to her, as of 8 PM, still not a notification email or note anywhere (b) they kept on referring her to vague house rules instead of answering her questions (c) kept on saying there was nothing that they could do (d) instead of being courteous and apologetic to her, treated her as if she'd been trying to abuse the system, which insulted her since she'd placed what in the betting world would be viewed as insignificant.
Anyway, that is about it, I am not certain what I can do for her but I wanted to know the input of you all on that matter because I want to know it myself too honestly and also obviously if I can do anything for her I will. I am very, very sorry about the long post (blame my college education where I had to write 5,000 words by the night) and I swear everything from now will be just my noob betting analysis.
Though I guess, also, anyone got a recommendation on which of the A+ books would be a good idea to her, or to myself, if we are small but we still want some good lines and good customer service? (I'm at Bodog, and they can definitely be hit or miss)
TIA! (Again I'm sorry about long post though)