[alexwalstow]

Hi all, long time reader, made an account to lodge a complaint against Marathon and wanted to tell you guys too.

UK member, made a Marathonbet account a few weeks ago after seeing they sponsor are team in the EPL so assume they must be legit. Made a couple of bets, champions league and europa league, not betting on fixed games in Albanian second division like some people with disputes on this board. See screen grabs.

The day I set up my account I sent in copies of the front and back of my full UK driving license and a scan of a recent utility bill. My account was limited after winning 2 bets (par for the course I hear) so I had no choice but to withdraw. First withdrawal of £10,000 went through fine then 2 further withdrawals totalling just under £12,000 never made it back to me.

Marathonbet are now telling me they want further ID which I just don't have. Lost my passport coming back from holiday recently which I told them so they said birth certificate (f*ck knows where that is) or a military ID (I'm not in the military!). The issue is I sent in my government ID straight away, the full UK driving license is as official as it gets, much harder to get than passport and it seems that Marathonbet just don't want to pay me out. Deal with these crooks with caution.

Cheers!

[alexwalstow]

Better quality images

[SBR Forum]

Thanks for sharing with the board. MarathonBet does discuss cases with SBR, so an analyst will speak with a manager on your situation. But generally, complaints range around Know Your Customer (KYC)/verification matters... passport is a standard request most places, and not too difficult to get in most countries.

[SBR Forum]

Thanks for sharing with the board. MarathonBet does discuss cases with SBR, so an analyst will speak with a manager on your situation. But generally, complaints range around Know Your Customer (KYC)/verification matters... passport is a standard request most places, and not too difficult to get in most countries.

You didn't pass their KYC checks. They need a passport to verify your ID.

[Mikelo]

You didn't pass their KYC checks. They need a passport to verify your ID.

They need? Well, do they know that not everyone has a passport? For example I need a passport only if I want to travel in a country outside EU. Are you telling that if this was me, I need to apply for a passport, pay fees, wait 30 days to get issued just because Marathon need to see my passport?

[Dunhill]

You didn't pass their KYC checks. They need a passport to verify your ID.

Didn't he already pass their KYC verification? If he didn't pass it, why did they approved the first 10k withdrawal?

[SBR Forum]

Didn't he already pass their KYC verification? If he didn't pass it, why did they approved the first 10k withdrawal?

We're not at liberty to disclose details that could compromise their security. Suffice to say, additional verification has become necessary.

[Dunhill]

We're not at liberty to disclose details that could compromise their security. Suffice to say, additional verification has become necessary.

That's fair enough. Guess it shouldn't be that hard for him to get a new passport to withdraw the rest of his money.

[milank]

Except if he play under stolen id;-)

That's fair enough. Guess it shouldn't be that hard for him to get a new passport to withdraw the rest of his money.

[alexwalstow]

Of course I don't play under stolen ID. As I already said 'Milank' I am from a developed country, not Eastern Europe. The issue here is when is enough enough? And as someone has already rightfully said they cannot expect everyone to have a passport. I did a semester of grad school in the States and was surprised by how many 18-21 yr olds didn't have passports, but then you can get everything you need in the USA (skiing, beaches etc). I have already sent in the front and back of an official government document (full UK driving license) and a recent utility bill. Everything was clearly fine because they did my first withdrawal for 10k. Now 'additional' ID is needed, typical book scam. I didn't expect SBR to be much help as they are in bed with the books. Some foreign drone from Marathonbet says "Didn't pass KYC' and that is that. The thing is you can put the driving license number into their system (much like you can do on many sites such as 365) and it immediately verifies it.

Looks like I'm going to have pay to get my passport replaced, wait the 4 weeks or whatever it takes to come and all the while Marathonbet are illegally holding my funds, earning interest and screwing me right in the ass. Oh well at least I won plenty from them

[Dunhill]

Of course I don't play under stolen ID. As I already said 'Milank' I am from a developed country, not Eastern Europe.

So... the only ones that use stolen/forged IDs are from Eastern Europe?

[alexwalstow]

Far higher incidence in poorer less developed countries. The ones that do come from the UK etc are probably nationals from these smaller nations who have moved their. Not a coincidence that every other post on this forum is a complaint against a book from a name like 'Milank' written it pidgin English.

[bettingstation]

what if the player submit again the passport? the withdrawal will be ok?

[jjgold]

Passports are easy to verify identity when they run the number on it

Without it the person can be anyone

[alexwalstow]

The exact same can be said of a UK driving license. They are 100x harder to get than a US license, it's not just a case of going to a test centre and driving round some cones. Each one has a unique number like a passport which can easily be used to verify identity. As I mentioned earlier you can do this manually at Bet365 and Ladbrokes to name but a few showing that it is just as good as a passport in terms of identification.

[jjgold]

Alex any updates??

[bigballa]

Alex any updates??

lol jesus jj calm down bro, dude has already says it takes 4 weeks to get a passport....cant imagine he got it in 4 days or whatever the hell it is......

[Vaughany]

he is correct, much harder to get a drivers licence than a passport! quite ridiculous that there isnt a choice.

[alexwalstow]

I took an entire day out of my schedule to drive to Peterborough and pay an extortionate fee to get my passport replaced in one day in person. I sent a copy to Marathonbet as soon as I got home. They are now telling me up to 10 days for it to be validated. They are such crooks lol. It's a 2 min job. I have asked SBR if they can help speed things up due to the length of time I have been waiting for my withdrawal.
I'm not sure what the answer is here, I sent in government ID and utility bill as soon as I opened the account like others on here suggested. But bottom line is if the book doesn't want to pay you they will find a way to at the very least make it slow and painful.

[hristo1971]

I took an entire day out of my schedule to drive to Peterborough and pay an extortionate fee to get my passport replaced in one day in person. I sent a copy to Marathonbet as soon as I got home. They are now telling me up to 10 days for it to be validated. They are such crooks lol. It's a 2 min job. I have asked SBR if they can help speed things up due to the length of time I have been waiting for my withdrawal.
I'm not sure what the answer is here, I sent in government ID and utility bill as soon as I opened the account like others on here suggested. But bottom line is if the book doesn't want to pay you they will find a way to at the very least make it slow and painful.

should be 10 seconds not 10 days to validate... disgusting book

[Digo]

he is correct, much harder to get a drivers licence than a passport! quite ridiculous that there isnt a choice.

Very well said.

[SportsMushroom]

I hope you get your money

out of sheer curiosity, you said the limited you after a couple of bets and then you say you won a lot of money from them, how big were those two bets?

also, were you arbing or did they just get afraid of your action?


Im asking cause they have crazy odds and Im wondering how fast and for what reasons they limit players, with those odds and stale lines its a miracle they havent gone out of business yet

[jjgold]

alex seems legit here and did everything they wanted. Verification at busy places should take tops 2 days. I do know even top books take 24 hrs at times. Let shop this guys gets paid soon.

[Vaughany]

I took an entire day out of my schedule to drive to Peterborough and pay an extortionate fee to get my passport replaced in one day in person. I sent a copy to Marathonbet as soon as I got home. They are now telling me up to 10 days for it to be validated. They are such crooks lol. It's a 2 min job. I have asked SBR if they can help speed things up due to the length of time I have been waiting for my withdrawal.
I'm not sure what the answer is here, I sent in government ID and utility bill as soon as I opened the account like others on here suggested. But bottom line is if the book doesn't want to pay you they will find a way to at the very least make it slow and painful.

its strange that this is happening to somebody based in England! Perhaps understand (rightly or wrongly) if it was some random dude in Macedonia! Based on this I wont be signing up to marathonbet in future

[kkkkk]

marathon never liked winning players and limited them very fast, but this new attitude doesnt sound good, maybe they are short of money. you must be mad to put your money there.

[Kelly_F]

You didn't pass their KYC checks. They need a passport to verify your ID.

Do you mean he failed their kyc checks - or that their kyc checks failed?

[Kelly_F]

alex seems legit here and did everything they wanted. Verification at busy places should take tops 2 days. I do know even top books take 24 hrs at times. Let shop this guys gets paid soon.

I agree - he does seem legit.

It sounds like attempted no pay/stalling tactics by the book to me. As mentioned previously the UK driving licence can electronically verify the ID and age of a person just like a passport can.

Seem to be seeing increased frequency of complaints about Marathon so maybe their cashflow is in question. After all, they do take strange positions on lines.....

[alexwalstow]

Hi guys I can give final update here and it's good news. Received my 2 outstanding withdrawals this evening. I don't think Marathon ever intended not to pay but did intend to make it as difficult as possible. Hey I could have been hit by a bus in the 2-3 weeks it took for them to send me my balance! I think the industry standard for KYC should be one piece of government issued ID and a utility bill / bank statement if requested to prove residence. Books shouldn't be allowed to ask for 2 peicesof government ID as some people just simply don't have them.

Sportsmushroom - I wanted to take Gala double chance and the most efficient way to do it odds wise was to take both Gala and Draw with Marathon. Maybe they took a dim view on that, I'm not sure. Account still had full limits the next day until I took a europa league handicap for £3k and then it was lights out. The stake on the winning bet on draw in the Gala/Chelsea match was fairly hefty, about £4500.

[RedDevil1974]

Why dont you ask them why they dont request these details from people BEFORE they accept large deposits and bets?

It is nothing to do with their or his security which is why they paid him his initial money.

[Kelly_F]

Hi guys I can give final update here and it's good news. Received my 2 outstanding withdrawals this evening. I don't think Marathon ever intended not to pay but did intend to make it as difficult as possible. Hey I could have been hit by a bus in the 2-3 weeks it took for them to send me my balance! I think the industry standard for KYC should be one piece of government issued ID and a utility bill / bank statement if requested to prove residence. Books shouldn't be allowed to ask for 2 peicesof government ID as some people just simply don't have them.

Sportsmushroom - I wanted to take Gala double chance and the most efficient way to do it odds wise was to take both Gala and Draw with Marathon. Maybe they took a dim view on that, I'm not sure. Account still had full limits the next day until I took a europa league handicap for £3k and then it was lights out. The stake on the winning bet on draw in the Gala/Chelsea match was fairly hefty, about £4500.

No way will there ever be an industry standard for kyc due to the fact that there are so many regulatory environments. Glad you got paid.

[Kelly_F]

Why dont you ask them why they dont request these details from people BEFORE they accept large deposits and bets?

It is nothing to do with their or his security which is why they paid him his initial money.

Simple answer why they don't do enhanced kyc on every customer who signs up - administration costs.

[jjgold]

Alex would you ever play there again??

[Optional]

Skrill has now suspended my account and asked for ID documents 3 times over the 10 or so years I have used them.

It's something to do with the UK money regulation environment.

I am at the point of avoiding UK regulated businesses totally.

UK is turning into the wild west of gambling related companies.