I wanted to share a recent problem that I had with withdrawing from Rebate Wager. Although this problem mainly concerns Canadians, it has the potential to cause problems for people outside of the US (depending on the banks in your country). So here's what happened:
I recently made a withdrawal from Rebate Wager for $5000US. I received ** money orders totaling $5000US. Rebate Wager did an excellent job in getting these to me the next day, but this is where the problem starts.
The next day, I go to my bank to deposit these into my US Dollar account. I'm told that since these money orders are drawn in US Dollars, they would have to apply the usual 30 business day hold on them. I'm sure Canadians are familiar with this when they deposit anything in US Dollars. I tell them that I need the money right away and that I'll try a check cashing place, like a Money Mart. I go to Money Mart and end up cashing $1500US in these money orders simply because I needed the money. I ended up receiving only $1391.83CDN for this $1500US money order. To cash a $1500US money order, I ended up paying exactly $134.34CDN in fees (foreign exchange fees + processing fees + flat rate conversion fee). That day, my $1500US was worth $1526.17 and I only got $134.34, which means I paid 8.8% in fees to cash my money. I ended up depositing the remaining $3500US in my US Dollar account. The hold will be taken off the funds in mid September.
I contacted Rebate Wager about what had happened before all of this. I told them that I went to the bank and that the ** money orders they sent me were subject to a 30 business day hold. I asked Rebate Wager if I could send the money orders back to them and for Rebate Wager to pay me through another method. I was told that there was nothing they could do because they had already printed my name on the money orders and they now belonged to me. In light of these circumstances, I had asked Rebate Wager to compensate me the $134.34CDN that I lost in fees when I cashed in the money orders they sent me, which they refused to do. I didn't ask for anything on the remaining $3500US even though I won't have access to those funds for another 4 weeks.
My analysis on this:
If you are Canadian, you are very limited with withdrawal options at Rebate Wager. They don't use Insta Debit, Moneybookers or even regular checks. My only option were these ** money orders.
With them you only have two options:
1. Deposit them in your checking account and wait 30 business days for the funds to clear.
2. Cash them in at a check cashing place and pay the 8.8% I did. This would have cost me $440US on my $5000 withdrawal.
None of these appealed to me, but since I needed $1500 right away, I bit the bullet and took the hit of $134.
Although this is a good book in terms of lines, customer service and website, the lack of withdrawal options, and the problems when you receive your withdrawal, are reasons why I would not use this sports book if I'm Canadian. This book completely limits your options of collecting your winnings if you are Canadian. The ** money orders in US Dollars cannot be cashed immediately in your bank account. Your only other option is to Money Mart them and pay high fees. You can either wait 30 business days to get your money, or pay almost 10% juice in order to do so. If you are from Europe or elsewhere, and your banks have the same policies as the ones in Canada, then you could be facing the same problems as me.
My final thoughts:
If you are Canadian, use another book. The headaches this has caused me is simply not worth it. There are plenty of other books out there that are just as good as Rebate Wager and even better. Their promise of getting paid in 24 hours doesn't apply to us.
I recently made a withdrawal from Rebate Wager for $5000US. I received ** money orders totaling $5000US. Rebate Wager did an excellent job in getting these to me the next day, but this is where the problem starts.
The next day, I go to my bank to deposit these into my US Dollar account. I'm told that since these money orders are drawn in US Dollars, they would have to apply the usual 30 business day hold on them. I'm sure Canadians are familiar with this when they deposit anything in US Dollars. I tell them that I need the money right away and that I'll try a check cashing place, like a Money Mart. I go to Money Mart and end up cashing $1500US in these money orders simply because I needed the money. I ended up receiving only $1391.83CDN for this $1500US money order. To cash a $1500US money order, I ended up paying exactly $134.34CDN in fees (foreign exchange fees + processing fees + flat rate conversion fee). That day, my $1500US was worth $1526.17 and I only got $134.34, which means I paid 8.8% in fees to cash my money. I ended up depositing the remaining $3500US in my US Dollar account. The hold will be taken off the funds in mid September.
I contacted Rebate Wager about what had happened before all of this. I told them that I went to the bank and that the ** money orders they sent me were subject to a 30 business day hold. I asked Rebate Wager if I could send the money orders back to them and for Rebate Wager to pay me through another method. I was told that there was nothing they could do because they had already printed my name on the money orders and they now belonged to me. In light of these circumstances, I had asked Rebate Wager to compensate me the $134.34CDN that I lost in fees when I cashed in the money orders they sent me, which they refused to do. I didn't ask for anything on the remaining $3500US even though I won't have access to those funds for another 4 weeks.
My analysis on this:
If you are Canadian, you are very limited with withdrawal options at Rebate Wager. They don't use Insta Debit, Moneybookers or even regular checks. My only option were these ** money orders.
With them you only have two options:
1. Deposit them in your checking account and wait 30 business days for the funds to clear.
2. Cash them in at a check cashing place and pay the 8.8% I did. This would have cost me $440US on my $5000 withdrawal.
None of these appealed to me, but since I needed $1500 right away, I bit the bullet and took the hit of $134.
Although this is a good book in terms of lines, customer service and website, the lack of withdrawal options, and the problems when you receive your withdrawal, are reasons why I would not use this sports book if I'm Canadian. This book completely limits your options of collecting your winnings if you are Canadian. The ** money orders in US Dollars cannot be cashed immediately in your bank account. Your only other option is to Money Mart them and pay high fees. You can either wait 30 business days to get your money, or pay almost 10% juice in order to do so. If you are from Europe or elsewhere, and your banks have the same policies as the ones in Canada, then you could be facing the same problems as me.
My final thoughts:
If you are Canadian, use another book. The headaches this has caused me is simply not worth it. There are plenty of other books out there that are just as good as Rebate Wager and even better. Their promise of getting paid in 24 hours doesn't apply to us.