If You’re Not Being Paid By Your Sportsbook
As you’ve likely read on our scam sportsbook page, the reality of not being paid when you request a withdrawal at an online sportsbook is a real one. We’re certainly not out to scare bettors from depositing online, but experiencing a ‘slow-pay’ or a ‘no-pay’ is something that all long-time online sports bettors have gone through.
Betting at online sportsbooks is still easily the best way to go about wagering on sports if you’re not located in Nevada. There are many more pitfalls offline dealing with local bookies than there are when betting in online betting markets. With that said, it’s not a great feeling, to put it mildly – when you’ve deposited money and won at an online sportsbook, requested a withdrawal and are not being paid.
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What Constitutes A Slow-Pay At Online Sportsbook
One could make the argument that a ‘slow-pay’ would constitute any withdrawal request that takes longer than the timeframe given by the sportsbook. Let’s say an online sportsbook states they process checks in two weeks (10 business days). Once 11 days have passed, one could make the argument that the sportsbook is now slow-paying the player and technically, they would be correct. However, the reality of the situation is a bit more complicated.
There is a select number of sportsbooks that almost always meet their withdrawal timeframes and often process payments quicker than advertised. Though there are many others that pay their players, but at a much slower rate than other sites in the industry and regularly miss their self-imposed deadlines. Sites missing their deadlines and having issues with payment processors is something that is going to happen. Despite sports betting being perfectly legal for the individual federally, these offshore sites operate in a robust legal environment. It’s understandable that there are going to occasional delays.
We have to look at the industry speeds as a whole to determine what constitutes a slow-pay. There are few sites that send out checks in under a week, but money transfers via Western Union and MoneyGram are almost all universally processed in under 72 hours. The best sportsbooks send out checks and bank wires in under two weeks. However, it’s not uncommon for many mostly reputable sites to take a month to a send a check withdrawal to a player’s doorstep.
Two Month Payment Delay
There are other methods available at sites, but the ones mentioned in the above paragraph are the most common. If a sportsbook pays a player within a month, in today’s market, we simply can’t qualify it as a slow-pay. It’s about the two-month mark that players should begin to get truly worried about being paid.
If a site can’t pay you in two months, we recommend going elsewhere. There’s little excuse for a sportsbook not to being able to pay a player within two months through one of their available withdrawal methods. Once you reach this threshold, it’s absolutely a slow-pay and players should take steps to best work a way to retrieve their money.
Don’t Escalate The Situation Even More
It may be hard to temper your emotions when it involves your money and rightful winnings, but we urge players to try and keep it cool when interacting with support or upper management. Berating employees through email, phone, or live chat isn’t going to get you anywhere. Mostly because the people who man the email support and live chat are low-level employees who don’t have any influence on you getting paid. Secondly, it’s not going to do any good to curse at support staff or upper management.
If you’re being stiffed from a less than reputable sportsbook, your legal options are basically zero. Regulatory authorities in these countries may revoke the licenses of operators are scamming or slow-paying players, but this is usually much too late to do any good and doesn’t force them to issue a check.
No legal problems for Sportsbook Operator
Sportsbook operators, in almost all cases, won’t face legal problems if they are stiffing players in another country thousands of miles away from where they operate their land-based offices. You can ask for updates on your money through support and live chat, but try not to be a pest. They’re going to take it seriously if you personally insult them or threaten them.
As hard as it may be, being polite and courteous in your dealings with management is the best course of action. Remember, these are real people behind the chat windows and emails, and they’re not going to take kindly to threats and ad-hominem attacks. Like it or not, they have your money, and it’s up them if you get paid or not. Legal action isn’t realistic, so even though they are clearly in the wrong here – it’s best not to make things personal and to still be courteous and respectful.
What You Should Do When Sportsbooks Fails To Pay You
Just because we advise players to keep it cordial with support and management, doesn’t mean we want them to keep their mouths shut publicly on the matter. One could argue that it’s your duty if you’re experiencing a slow-pay or get scammed by an online sportsbook that you should warn others about falling into the same trap.
Posting about your situation publicly, on sports betting forum or other outlet is an excellent way to document your situation and warn other potential depositors about the situation. SportsbookReview.com does an excellent job mediating disputes between sportsbooks and players, the outcome isn’t always positive, but it’s nice to have a site in your corner fighting for you that knows the industry when trying to retrieve your balance. Filing a complaint is a simple process at SBR and they will help players free of charge.
You can also email us here at Safest Betting Sites, and we’ll be happy to look into your situation and perhaps report your troubles on our page to warn other potential depositors. These mediation tactics by third parties actually are the best way to produce a positive result for players. Discussing complaints publicly and professionally can go a long way in helping to get withdrawals processed.
Failure To Get Paid By Online Sportsbook – In Summary
Sportsbooks don’t want a black mark on them publicly and will do their best settle disputes. Even resolved complaints or disputes will show up when players search Google to look for reviews on a sportsbook. This will, no doubt, discourage some from depositing. It’s unfortunate that public outcry is necessary for some operators to act appropriately, but this is just the reality of the situation.
Sticking with top-tier sportsbooks and avoiding low rated operators is an excellent way to avoid being slow-paid or outright stiffed, but no sportsbook online is 100 percent safe. Our above advice will give you the best chance to receive your funds, but these situations regularly end of players losing balances with almost no hope of restitution.
