02-22-2007, 08:22 PM
GET YOUR FUCKING MONEY OUT OF SPORTSBOOK.COM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
After deciding I wasn't going to bet on the Superbowl, I tried to withdraw my $110 via an e-check. Problem was, I needed some kind of PIN in order to process this, which I didn't have and in fact never had. So I requested that the PIN be e-mailed to me. Except that they have my old, nonexistent address on file, and there is no way to go in and change your e-mail address without calling, which I didn't feel like doing at the time. So, I decided instead to have them send me a regular check, until of course I realized they also have my old street address on file and, yup, there's no way for me to change that either. Conveniently enough, there are no links, no FAQ's whatsoever regarding how to withdraw your money. So I ended up calling in to request both addresses be changed, which I was informed takes 24-72 business hours. A couple of days later I re-request my PIN and get it e-mailed to the proper address fairly promptly. So I log back in, enter the PIN and re-request that an e-check be sent.
A couple days later I got an email verifying that $105.75 has been sent via e-check to my checking account. It is minus $4.25 because that is the money left over from the $20 bonus deposit money they gave me when I initially made my deposit back in November. So all I had left in my account was $4.25, which I couldn't use to bet on any sports since the minimum for that is $5. I played four or five hands of blackjack before losing the $4.25, putting my balance right where I wanted it at $0.
About a week passes and while I'm logged into my bank account I realize there are no deposits of $105.75 anywhere from sportsbook. So I check the sportsbook account, and what in the fuck? The $105.75 is back in there. I didn't get any e-mail or notification of any kind on this. Perplexed, I call customer support.
Sportsbook.com's customer service headquarters is located in Costa Rica. As such, every single representative is a dirty fucking $3/hour spic with a grasp of the English language that can best be described as “fucked.” I was able to surmise from Enrique that between the time I requested my withdrawal and the time they began processing it, they ceased using their e-check system and could only issue regular paper checks. So the money was automatically put back into my sportsbook account, hoping I'm sure that I would suddenly have a change of heart and bet on the Superbowl.
Okay, no problem. I'll just have them issue me a paper check for $105.75, right? Wrong, dickless. Now when I go to withdraw it's only allowing me to withdraw $101.81, minus $3.94. "What in the fuck is this now?” I ask Enrique. I really wish I could have recorded the 5-10 minutes that followed. He was trying, so hard, to explain to me something that I still cannot fucking understand. Something about roll-overs and bonus money and since I didn't make the $4.25 last long enough, there is still $3.94 that is their money from the bonus they gave me. After a couple of minutes all I heard were words, being somehow strewn together but not having any sentence structure or comprehension whatsoever. I explained to him as best I could that I was allowed to withdraw $105.75, then there was some problem with your e-check system, so you're charging me $3.94 for that? What sense does that make? One day I'm entitled to $105.75, then the next, through no fault of my own, I'm only allowed $101.81?? But it was futile. His babbling continued until I stopped him and requested an e-mail be sent to me explaining this procedure that he clearly has no grasp of himself. I verified they have my updated e-mail address on file, and hung up with a slight headache.
I let a week go by, and still hadn't received any e-mails. I called back with more of a pissed off tone in my voice. Alejandro had an equally hard time explaining why $3.94 is being withheld. Again I was only able to make out every third or fourth word, which again dealt with roll-overs and that since I didn't do enough with my $4.25, there is still bonus money being withheld and blah blah fuckity blah. After informing him that he is doing an awful job of trying to relay these strange roll-over rules to me, I once again requested somebody e-mail me a clear, coherent explanation as to what the fuck is going on with my money. Just for fun, I pressed Alejandro as to why Enrique ignored my initial e-mail request. Naturally he had no response, so before hanging up I reminded him to please try not to ignore my e-mail request again.
This time I let two email-less weeks pass before calling back, having to use all of my strength to refrain from calling Jesus a fucking filthy spicface. (Probably not the smartest thing to do when they have access to your bank information.) This time I didn't even care about the whole not receiving any e-mails thing. Now I just wanted to speak to someone with an above 10th grade understanding of the English language. I began by requesting to be transferred to a supervisor, which he never did so I just started ranting to him instead. Once again, it was the same fucking roll-over story. Jesus, however was able to shed some more light on why the initial withdrawal was bounced back. According to him our good old US government enacted some new regulations disabling internet gambling sites from being able to issue electronic checks. Interesting. Still, the US government isn't withholding $3.94 from my sportsbook account, you are. After about ten minutes, Jesus was clearly getting aggravated with me, so I just kept arguing with him for a few more unproductive minutes. After hanging up on him mid-sentence, I just said fuck it, it's $3.94. It was never about the money, it was the principle of the thing. But clearly I wasn't getting anywhere and at least they were consistent. I might not have - still don't, in fact - fully understood, but at least they were consistent in their explanations, as incoherent as they were. They may not understand much English, but they do know how to read and interpret a script.
So a week or so ago I withdrew the $101.81 and still had $3.94 in my account, which I was going to keep there until the check cleared. Yesterday I got an email with my FedEx tracking number for my check of $71.81. Apparently there is a $30 fee for all paper checks issued less than $250. A paper check that I DIDN'T EVEN WANT IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE. So just to recap:
-On/around January 23rd I had $110, though I was only entitled to $105.75
-On/around January 26th the US government said "fuck you, you use that $105.75 to gamble with, cocksucker!"
-On/around February 8th I was only entitled to withdraw $101.81
-Today I am only entitled to $71.81
So I haven't placed a bet since the Dallas-Seattle wild card game, yet I've still somehow managed to lose almost $40 in a month. Yeah, that seems perfectly reasonable.
I called last night and finally got to speak with a supervisor, who basically told me to go fuck my mom. There's nothing we can do about the $30, homes. He feigned interest and sympathy to my situation, but I know he really doesn’t give a shit about my account.
As I explained to him, I live in fucking Vegas. I can gamble anytime I want, anywhere I want. But I liked the convenience of betting sports at home, in my underwear without ever leaving the house. I liked the fact that their parlay cards offered every single game and did not exclude "unfavorable" games like the casinos did. But if you win money at a casino, you can be goddamn sure they're not going to bullshit around with your money. So between blackjack and video poker I knocked my remaining $3.94 down to $0.04 and e-mailed them demanding to cancel my account.
Sportsbook.com is excellent, as long as you never ever ever want to withdraw any money from your account. Which, to me, defeats the whole purpose of gambling in the first place; if you can never actually see or use your winnings.
So to make a long story a bit longer, I encourage everybody (Sleeper) that’s using sportsbook to quit while they’re ahead and try – just try - withdrawing your money. It was fun while it lasted, but I have a feeling with all these new regulations and restrictions put into effect that the whole offshore internet gambling thing is going to become even more shady than it already is. Get out while you can.
After deciding I wasn't going to bet on the Superbowl, I tried to withdraw my $110 via an e-check. Problem was, I needed some kind of PIN in order to process this, which I didn't have and in fact never had. So I requested that the PIN be e-mailed to me. Except that they have my old, nonexistent address on file, and there is no way to go in and change your e-mail address without calling, which I didn't feel like doing at the time. So, I decided instead to have them send me a regular check, until of course I realized they also have my old street address on file and, yup, there's no way for me to change that either. Conveniently enough, there are no links, no FAQ's whatsoever regarding how to withdraw your money. So I ended up calling in to request both addresses be changed, which I was informed takes 24-72 business hours. A couple of days later I re-request my PIN and get it e-mailed to the proper address fairly promptly. So I log back in, enter the PIN and re-request that an e-check be sent.
A couple days later I got an email verifying that $105.75 has been sent via e-check to my checking account. It is minus $4.25 because that is the money left over from the $20 bonus deposit money they gave me when I initially made my deposit back in November. So all I had left in my account was $4.25, which I couldn't use to bet on any sports since the minimum for that is $5. I played four or five hands of blackjack before losing the $4.25, putting my balance right where I wanted it at $0.
About a week passes and while I'm logged into my bank account I realize there are no deposits of $105.75 anywhere from sportsbook. So I check the sportsbook account, and what in the fuck? The $105.75 is back in there. I didn't get any e-mail or notification of any kind on this. Perplexed, I call customer support.
Sportsbook.com's customer service headquarters is located in Costa Rica. As such, every single representative is a dirty fucking $3/hour spic with a grasp of the English language that can best be described as “fucked.” I was able to surmise from Enrique that between the time I requested my withdrawal and the time they began processing it, they ceased using their e-check system and could only issue regular paper checks. So the money was automatically put back into my sportsbook account, hoping I'm sure that I would suddenly have a change of heart and bet on the Superbowl.
Okay, no problem. I'll just have them issue me a paper check for $105.75, right? Wrong, dickless. Now when I go to withdraw it's only allowing me to withdraw $101.81, minus $3.94. "What in the fuck is this now?” I ask Enrique. I really wish I could have recorded the 5-10 minutes that followed. He was trying, so hard, to explain to me something that I still cannot fucking understand. Something about roll-overs and bonus money and since I didn't make the $4.25 last long enough, there is still $3.94 that is their money from the bonus they gave me. After a couple of minutes all I heard were words, being somehow strewn together but not having any sentence structure or comprehension whatsoever. I explained to him as best I could that I was allowed to withdraw $105.75, then there was some problem with your e-check system, so you're charging me $3.94 for that? What sense does that make? One day I'm entitled to $105.75, then the next, through no fault of my own, I'm only allowed $101.81?? But it was futile. His babbling continued until I stopped him and requested an e-mail be sent to me explaining this procedure that he clearly has no grasp of himself. I verified they have my updated e-mail address on file, and hung up with a slight headache.
I let a week go by, and still hadn't received any e-mails. I called back with more of a pissed off tone in my voice. Alejandro had an equally hard time explaining why $3.94 is being withheld. Again I was only able to make out every third or fourth word, which again dealt with roll-overs and that since I didn't do enough with my $4.25, there is still bonus money being withheld and blah blah fuckity blah. After informing him that he is doing an awful job of trying to relay these strange roll-over rules to me, I once again requested somebody e-mail me a clear, coherent explanation as to what the fuck is going on with my money. Just for fun, I pressed Alejandro as to why Enrique ignored my initial e-mail request. Naturally he had no response, so before hanging up I reminded him to please try not to ignore my e-mail request again.
This time I let two email-less weeks pass before calling back, having to use all of my strength to refrain from calling Jesus a fucking filthy spicface. (Probably not the smartest thing to do when they have access to your bank information.) This time I didn't even care about the whole not receiving any e-mails thing. Now I just wanted to speak to someone with an above 10th grade understanding of the English language. I began by requesting to be transferred to a supervisor, which he never did so I just started ranting to him instead. Once again, it was the same fucking roll-over story. Jesus, however was able to shed some more light on why the initial withdrawal was bounced back. According to him our good old US government enacted some new regulations disabling internet gambling sites from being able to issue electronic checks. Interesting. Still, the US government isn't withholding $3.94 from my sportsbook account, you are. After about ten minutes, Jesus was clearly getting aggravated with me, so I just kept arguing with him for a few more unproductive minutes. After hanging up on him mid-sentence, I just said fuck it, it's $3.94. It was never about the money, it was the principle of the thing. But clearly I wasn't getting anywhere and at least they were consistent. I might not have - still don't, in fact - fully understood, but at least they were consistent in their explanations, as incoherent as they were. They may not understand much English, but they do know how to read and interpret a script.
So a week or so ago I withdrew the $101.81 and still had $3.94 in my account, which I was going to keep there until the check cleared. Yesterday I got an email with my FedEx tracking number for my check of $71.81. Apparently there is a $30 fee for all paper checks issued less than $250. A paper check that I DIDN'T EVEN WANT IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE. So just to recap:
-On/around January 23rd I had $110, though I was only entitled to $105.75
-On/around January 26th the US government said "fuck you, you use that $105.75 to gamble with, cocksucker!"
-On/around February 8th I was only entitled to withdraw $101.81
-Today I am only entitled to $71.81
So I haven't placed a bet since the Dallas-Seattle wild card game, yet I've still somehow managed to lose almost $40 in a month. Yeah, that seems perfectly reasonable.
I called last night and finally got to speak with a supervisor, who basically told me to go fuck my mom. There's nothing we can do about the $30, homes. He feigned interest and sympathy to my situation, but I know he really doesn’t give a shit about my account.
As I explained to him, I live in fucking Vegas. I can gamble anytime I want, anywhere I want. But I liked the convenience of betting sports at home, in my underwear without ever leaving the house. I liked the fact that their parlay cards offered every single game and did not exclude "unfavorable" games like the casinos did. But if you win money at a casino, you can be goddamn sure they're not going to bullshit around with your money. So between blackjack and video poker I knocked my remaining $3.94 down to $0.04 and e-mailed them demanding to cancel my account.
Sportsbook.com is excellent, as long as you never ever ever want to withdraw any money from your account. Which, to me, defeats the whole purpose of gambling in the first place; if you can never actually see or use your winnings.
So to make a long story a bit longer, I encourage everybody (Sleeper) that’s using sportsbook to quit while they’re ahead and try – just try - withdrawing your money. It was fun while it lasted, but I have a feeling with all these new regulations and restrictions put into effect that the whole offshore internet gambling thing is going to become even more shady than it already is. Get out while you can.