William Hill - seized my balance

Hi Gerard1984 - welcome to ThePOGG.com!

We look into every complaint that's submitted to the site, but our response depends on the specifics of the case. For obvious reasons if there's a clear breach of terms and conditions that we can already identify then we wouldn't contact the casino about it. Whether we move forward with the case will depend specifically on the individual aspects of your experience so I can't give any assurances until after you provide the details of your issue.

Thanks,

ThePOGG

Hi Gerard1984,

Can I presume by your lack of response that you no longer wish me to look into this issue for you?

Thanks,

ThePOGG

Okay then here is my story:

I joined William Hill in January 2010 and played there a for a while, but then quit again. In July (could also have been June, not entirely sure anymore) 2014 I decided to start betting there again. Because Bwin had shortly before invented the 3% Skrill charge I still had a lot of Ukash email codes left from withdrawals from Bwin of a few months back. Since William Hill are one of the few bookies accepting Ukash I thought it would be a handy way to use my Ukash vouchers. So I deposited about 16 times 200 euro in Ukash vouchers and my balance was 3200 euro approximately. Then I wanted to start betting with it but I could not place a single bet. I was told it was because of the legislation in Germany (where I was still registered since I lived there in 2010 when I signed up) did not allow sports bets anymore. Since I was already living in the Netherlands anyway I decided to send them my documents in order for them to update my account details to my new country so that I could start to place bets. But there was a very very bad communication about all of this. They did not reply on emails, livechat was only giving useless standard answers etc. And also them stating they had not even received my documents. All in all, this whole address update dragged on for months, also because I went on holiday in between. But just when it looked to go the right way, I had sent them a recent utility bill but they asked for a clearer copy (finally we had some communication at least), things went from bad to worse when one day in November I tried to log in to see if my details had finally been updated, only to find out my account had been closed. I went into the livechat to ask what was going on and was told "your account has been hacked and will remain closed". I was flabbergasted but I could not get more info out of the livechat employee than just this. I was promised I would be placed on a call-back-list and a manager would soon call me to give me more info. So I gave them my number and preferred time to call and waited. No call came for a week. Again I went into the livechat to ask why I had not been called back and I was told they were busy but for sure they had not forgotten about me. So again I gave them my number just to make sure they had the right one and again I waited. Again no call. It's unbelievable that this really happened, but this cyclus of me livechatting and asking what's going on and them promising to call me back really went on for about 6 weeks. Then finally the point came where I had enough, and I decided to call them myself. But the first time I called I had to wait 15 mins and then to be connected to 3 other persons before finding out that the relevant manager was not in the office. The second time I called again the manager was not in the office but another employee did manage to tell me "your account has been permanently closed and you will not receive back your deposits". Shocking to hear for me, but no further explanation was possible. However, she did promise for me to be called back by their manager, this time for real she said. But you guessed it, no call. So all in all I have been extremely frustrated by their behaviour, but mostly shocked by the fact that my account was suspended suddenly in the middle of my address updating and even more that they say my funds will not be paid back.

The Ukash deposits did come through, so they did receive their money. This could not have been the problem. Also because they only suspended the account months after the deposits were made. My account also cannot really be hacked because I am very strict with my passwords and I do not store them on my PC. I have different passwords for all kinds of websites. And IF it would be hacked then ofcourse the first thing a bookmaker would do is to contact the account owner to let them know it's hacked and let them send their documents to verify they are the real owner of the account, and then re-open the account. But I was only told "your account has been hacked" after I asked for this myself in the livechat.

It's all very very weird behaviour from such a well respected bookmaker towards a customer who has been on their website for 5 years already.

I want William Hill to either re-open my account or credit back my Ukash transactions. And I would also like to receive an apology for their behaviour and the many many hours of frustration and extra work they caused me. They really made these last months a hell for me. Ofcoure I am able and willing to send them all kinds of documents and utility bills they want to prove that I am the real account holder.

I will email my William Hill username to ThePogg because it would not be wise to list this on here ofcourse.

Looking forward to hearing back!

Hi Gerard1984,

I want to offer my apologies for the delay. I am still chasing down the right person to talk to this issue about. As it's been a while since I've dealt with a complaint against the extended William Hill group, some of my previous contacts have moved on/changed roll. Bear with me.

All the best,

ThePOGG

Hi Gerard1984, I think at this stage we can conclude that William Hill have no intention of responding to this issue. The only response I've had from this is as follows;

If you have already raised your issue with our Customer Service team, but after their full investigation you remain dissatisfied, then contact our Second Opinion team at second_opinion[@]willhill.com. Where possible please use the email address you've registered on your William Hill account and include: · Account number & username · Any reference numbers you have already been given

This is very disappointing, but I would suggest your at least try the above and if you have no luck I'd suggest taking your complaint to William Hill's regulator in Gibraltar (http://thepogg.com/regulator/gibraltar-regulatory-authority/). Sorry I couldn't have been of more help, ThePOGG