There is an outfit called Champsportsbook.com. I posted a thread here once asking if anyone knew of them, and got no response. But what they are doing now is an absolute joke.
Back in February, I somehow came across this place and found that they had the best available line on the NFL Pro Bowl over. Their max bet was $500, so I opened an account and put $500 on the over in addition to taking the over at all of my usual shops. My wife - yes, my wife actually gambles too, and sometimes on her own without my help - also wanted to bet on the over, since we've been making a lot of money on the Pro Bowl the last 4 years. So she opened up an account there too, and placed the same bet. Well, obviously the over came in. What follows from there is an unbelievable amount of dishonesty and theft on the part of Champsportsbook.com.
After I decided to cash out of this place, as I had zero interest in being a regular player there, I logged in to find that my account had been set to inactive status and to call customer service. So I called the customer service line (which is not even operated by the book - in fact there is no way of contacting this book directly - I didn't look into this beforehand because it was only $500). The customer service group is called PlayerSupport.com. They told me that my account and my wife's account had been disabled due to fraud - we signed up from the same IP address, against their rules, which I also didn't read. So fine, I fucked up, they are taking our winnings on a bullshit technicality. The real problems began when I instructed them to return my deposit - for some reason they didn't really want to do this!!
Unfortunately, I made my depost via credit card, since I had no money in Neteller and wanted to get this particular bet down at this number. My wife did the same. These "customer service" douchebags said that they could not refund my deposit to my credit card, would not send it to my Neteller account, and would not send me a check either. So I asked them how they propose to return MY money to ME, instead of stealing it. After about 3 phone calls and 6 live chat sessions, it was explained to me that they did not want to send me the money because I would then have my credit card company do a "charge back" to get the money a second time. So they instructed me to have my credit card and my wife's card both perform chargebacks. Well, my card did this, but my wife's bank refused to do so - Washington Mutual, horrible customer service, avoid them. So that $500 is still stolen for now.
After my card processed the chargeback (I had to fill out a dispute form and all of that), I got the $500 back. This was around June or July. In September, I received a letter from a collection agency in NYC called The Neville Group, stating that they had purchased my "receivable" from the sportsbook, and demanding payment immediately or they will "seize my assets" and ruin my credit rating. Typical threatening collection agency letter. Well, I replied to their letter with a letter of my own, which included transcripts of my Live Chat sessions where I was specifically instructed to have my credit card process a chargeback for the $500. About three weeks after mailing this in, the letter gets bounced back to me by the Post Office as undeliverable, even though I sent it in a pre-addressed envelope provided by the collection agency!
So I call up these idiots the Neville Group, and explain to them what a bunch of criminals they are, and the guy asks me if I am calling to make a payment on my account! I said obviously not, and asked where I can send my dispute letter since their address doesn't exist. He then gave me the name of another company in NYC called National Debit Corp where I should send the letter, since Neville Group was "having problems" with their delivery address. Right. So I send the letter to the new address, and about two weeks later get a threatening phone call from the Neville Group saying that if I don't pay up by October 26th, they will ruin my credit, and they have "conducted a search of my available assets" and may sue me for some of those too. I explained to this scumbag that I had sent a dispute letter twice, and that he should go read it and shove it up his ass. He then checked the file and saw that my letter was there, and said it had never been logged in since I sent it to the wrong (National Debit Corp) address, which they provided to me!
I am convinced that this Neville Group/National Debit Corp is not even a collection agency, but a front for this PlayerSupport.com (who provide their great customer service for quite a few sportsbooks that I have never heard of), and they send these threatening letters hoping that people will just pay up, and they can re-steal my $500. I tried to find some info on Neville Group or National Debit Corp, and all I could find was that the NY Better Business Bureau has "recently become aware" of the Neville Group, and that's it. Now I have moved across the Atlantic and god only knows what kind of threatening letters these crooks will send to my old address.
I doubt there is anything the RX can do to help me, and I am in fact not asking for help. Luckily we are out only the $500 that my wife's bank refuses to confiscate, since I am pretty certain Neville Group is a fraud, and even if they are not, I have the evidence on my side. I just wanted to share this story about the incredible effort a book is making just to steal a measly $500.
Back in February, I somehow came across this place and found that they had the best available line on the NFL Pro Bowl over. Their max bet was $500, so I opened an account and put $500 on the over in addition to taking the over at all of my usual shops. My wife - yes, my wife actually gambles too, and sometimes on her own without my help - also wanted to bet on the over, since we've been making a lot of money on the Pro Bowl the last 4 years. So she opened up an account there too, and placed the same bet. Well, obviously the over came in. What follows from there is an unbelievable amount of dishonesty and theft on the part of Champsportsbook.com.
After I decided to cash out of this place, as I had zero interest in being a regular player there, I logged in to find that my account had been set to inactive status and to call customer service. So I called the customer service line (which is not even operated by the book - in fact there is no way of contacting this book directly - I didn't look into this beforehand because it was only $500). The customer service group is called PlayerSupport.com. They told me that my account and my wife's account had been disabled due to fraud - we signed up from the same IP address, against their rules, which I also didn't read. So fine, I fucked up, they are taking our winnings on a bullshit technicality. The real problems began when I instructed them to return my deposit - for some reason they didn't really want to do this!!
Unfortunately, I made my depost via credit card, since I had no money in Neteller and wanted to get this particular bet down at this number. My wife did the same. These "customer service" douchebags said that they could not refund my deposit to my credit card, would not send it to my Neteller account, and would not send me a check either. So I asked them how they propose to return MY money to ME, instead of stealing it. After about 3 phone calls and 6 live chat sessions, it was explained to me that they did not want to send me the money because I would then have my credit card company do a "charge back" to get the money a second time. So they instructed me to have my credit card and my wife's card both perform chargebacks. Well, my card did this, but my wife's bank refused to do so - Washington Mutual, horrible customer service, avoid them. So that $500 is still stolen for now.
After my card processed the chargeback (I had to fill out a dispute form and all of that), I got the $500 back. This was around June or July. In September, I received a letter from a collection agency in NYC called The Neville Group, stating that they had purchased my "receivable" from the sportsbook, and demanding payment immediately or they will "seize my assets" and ruin my credit rating. Typical threatening collection agency letter. Well, I replied to their letter with a letter of my own, which included transcripts of my Live Chat sessions where I was specifically instructed to have my credit card process a chargeback for the $500. About three weeks after mailing this in, the letter gets bounced back to me by the Post Office as undeliverable, even though I sent it in a pre-addressed envelope provided by the collection agency!
So I call up these idiots the Neville Group, and explain to them what a bunch of criminals they are, and the guy asks me if I am calling to make a payment on my account! I said obviously not, and asked where I can send my dispute letter since their address doesn't exist. He then gave me the name of another company in NYC called National Debit Corp where I should send the letter, since Neville Group was "having problems" with their delivery address. Right. So I send the letter to the new address, and about two weeks later get a threatening phone call from the Neville Group saying that if I don't pay up by October 26th, they will ruin my credit, and they have "conducted a search of my available assets" and may sue me for some of those too. I explained to this scumbag that I had sent a dispute letter twice, and that he should go read it and shove it up his ass. He then checked the file and saw that my letter was there, and said it had never been logged in since I sent it to the wrong (National Debit Corp) address, which they provided to me!
I am convinced that this Neville Group/National Debit Corp is not even a collection agency, but a front for this PlayerSupport.com (who provide their great customer service for quite a few sportsbooks that I have never heard of), and they send these threatening letters hoping that people will just pay up, and they can re-steal my $500. I tried to find some info on Neville Group or National Debit Corp, and all I could find was that the NY Better Business Bureau has "recently become aware" of the Neville Group, and that's it. Now I have moved across the Atlantic and god only knows what kind of threatening letters these crooks will send to my old address.
I doubt there is anything the RX can do to help me, and I am in fact not asking for help. Luckily we are out only the $500 that my wife's bank refuses to confiscate, since I am pretty certain Neville Group is a fraud, and even if they are not, I have the evidence on my side. I just wanted to share this story about the incredible effort a book is making just to steal a measly $500.